e Magus

If you looked hard at today’s online marketing, 2 things stand out. Ever recall seeing an ad of a website that you’ve visited recently, while browsing other sites? Also, did you notice that most brand interactions are from your Facebook profile – either through the FB ads or by what your friend in your network had done or recommends… Call it re-marketing, social marketing or whatever… digital has changed the way marketing campaigns are run Ask any advertiser and they would say that key differences about online medium (from the traditional media) are – interactivity, engagement, measurability. The bigger impact of digital medium on marketing is that advertising campaigns have become more ‘on-the-fly’… Gone are the days when ad agencies was thinking about finding the ‘Big Idea’ and launching the campaign… In today’s world, it is more about managing the ‘Big Idea’ on real-time basis As more and more consumers become an intrinsic part of carrying the brand communic...

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles. In most part of India, this festival is celebrated with a community fervour, with each locality having their own version and dedication to the Lord. Apart from being an object of reverence, for me the image of Lord Ganesha is also an object of intrigue. Intrigue, I'd say because here is image of the Lord, which comes in various shapes – from traditional to abstract, and all of them are acceptable. Most Hindus are deeply religious, but never had a problem of this Lord depicted in various forms apart from the traditional form. I have not heard of group of fanatics making a huge hue and cry over the nonconformist depiction of Ganesha. I tried searching the Net on how come a makeover of a popular image of reverence is acceptable to all. Since, I was not able to find any articles on the same, I set my creaky shallow brains to work. Here is what I think the reasons could be - ...

Now a days I learn more by watching my 16 months old kid… There are 2 things he loves to play with – My Blackberry and MacBook Air. In fact, he loves these 2 things much more than his toys. Every time he sees this, he would want me to give it to him… and ahem, sometimes I do He finds the touchscreen functionality on my phone intriguing… he can go on for hours just pressing the screen and waiting for some response to happen. Now, I think he believes that any screen is touchscreen. Whenever the television is on, he would run to it to touch the screen. This habit of his got me thinking of weaving in the content and real time user interaction. The technology is out there and it is only a matter of time before it becomes a regular feature. How it might work especially on a popular medium like television: Gamification of content: Instead of following a single common sequence of event in a plot, the content would be tweaked basis the user interaction....

Digital advertising is built on the story of performance measurement and ROI. Be it the CPM, CPC, CPL, CPA…and the other entire sundry C’s, the story is about everything being able to be tracked and measured. It is also about remarketing, behavioural targeting, etc… but frankly, is digital advertising all about WYSIWYG of the data that is shown in the ad-serving tool? I think not. While there needs to be a bias towards the numbers, there is also an untold story of a banner ad being effective but not captured in the tool. Few weeks back, I was looking for purchasing a formal pair of shoes. I checked few online stores on different brands, and the prices and offers they had. One particular site was Jabong.com . After visiting the website, I was shown remarketing ads of Jabong (the communication being of the Shoes :) ) on various other websites that I was visiting. On spur of the moment, I decided to remove all the cookies in my system I got busy and a we...

The most preferred time for marketers and advertisers on Television is the ‘Prime time’. By definition it means – “ the time period when the television or radio audience is the largest”. Now for years, this block of programming is based on time (Evening hours between 8 PM to 11 PM) or between programming that gathers maximum eyeballs, like sports events. One of the reasons of prime time being there, as mentioned in Wikipedia is – “ Most people tend to watch television at prime time because most people who are usually tired coming home from work or school tend to watch TV, usually right after dinner…” But, is reach of the communication the only reason for advertisers to flock across to prime time? I guess not. Literally, there is much more than what meets the eye (and when) We all are aware that advertising works on the basis of stimulus and response.   Psychologist Daniel Gilbert in his essay “How Mental Systems Believe” theorizes about believing...

One good thing about writing about future trends is that no one has been there. If you are wrong, nobody notices; and if you are right, you could tom-tom about it, saying, ‘I said so…’ So, here I go with my 4 safe bets for the year:: 1) Facebook will become more Google 2) Google will become more Facebook 3) Year of engagement (likeable and shareable) 4) Convergence – One content, many formats Facebook will become more Google: Even today, advertisement revenues happen to be lifeline for most online platforms. The success of the Google PPC campaigns is based on the ability to place preferred advertisement, with high relevancy. This Google business model hinges on its algorithm. Be it the ubiquitous search results or their adwords, it all is possible because of the logic that is build basis the data. Advertising on Facebook has so far been on the basis of the user profile. But, unlike the profile, which becomes mostly static (as most people do not update it after creating it)…....

Marketers are an uneasy lot now. The traditional Marketing Mix everyone is used to is expanding. The 4 P’s extended to become 7, and now with the rise of digital media there is an eighth P – Publisher. Till about few year back, creating content for the brand was limited to the communication (advertising), product information (brochures, etc) and some PR (which was company’s POV or related to events etc). Even during the early days of the Internet, content was just an adaptation of the traditional medium – be it in form of mailers, website, or advertising communication. Today however, Internet is a sum of Content + Conversation. Every second, millions of content (text, images, videos, games, etc) and conversations are created, shared, and consumed. The platforms could range from websites, widgets, emails, blogs, to social networking sites. While most content and conversations might not be relevant, but to its creator and a few people within their network, still a vast portion of con...

There was a time when the roles were clearly defined and work demarcated. Each person and department knew what their function were, where it began and where it ended. As technology got adapted into business, the lines began to blur. And as technology evolved, the lines have almost disappeared. Now-a-days, it seems like, you need to be jack-of-all-trades and maybe master in some too. The same can be said about gadgets. Each gadget found its origin for a specific task. Be it the pagers, mobile phones, computers, music players, cameras, etc.. all having a specific role and function. However, as the technology grew, so did the blurring of roles and functions. Newer gadgets came across amalgamating different functions - Laptops, iPods, Smart-phones, iPads... The most versatile of the gadget is the one that hogs the limelight. Imagine, today, with a versatile gadget one can do 'normal' stuff like - - make calls, access internet, click pictures, check mails, listen to songs, c...