Indian Companies Jump onto Social Media Bandwagon

Haven’t written anything for quite sometime. I don’t want to make any excuses but when you are busy handling the entire social media portfolio of a big client and handling an outreach program for a month long event, where is the time to pen down thoughts or memories.

Finally it is over and we have been extremely successfully in grabbing eyeballs. The experience has been awesome. Promoting a month-long event in the social media space has indeed been a learning experience.

I am happy to note that companies in India are ready to experiment with social media however they need to be educated about social media. It is a great beginning in itself. It is interesting to note that some companies like Kingfisher, Deccan Chargers Sports Pvt ltd, Club Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and others have made a beginning by opening a Twitter or a Facebook account but must say… it is a long road ahead of them.

I would say TCS will surely achieve success in social media space as they have realized quite early that they need a social media specialist to take forward their SM initiative.

Companies must understand that just by jumping onto the social media bandwagon by setting up account will not help them. Success will only come to those who will be able to choose the most appropriate social media platform, handpick social media specialists who understand the finer nuances of social media and then embark on the social media blitzkrieg.

Among the three companies mentioned above, I would say TCS will surely achieve success in social media space as they have realized quite early that they need a social media specialist to take forward their SM initiative. It is probably the first company in India to have placed a social media specialist vacancy on a job board. Look like a beginning has been made.

Companies like kingfisher Airline http://twitter.com/flykingfisher and Club Mahindra http://twitter.com/clubmahindra have although created a presence on the micro blogging site -- Twitter however the profile pages of both these companies look lackluster. Look like they do not know how to use Twitter to their advantage. I think they are in desperate need of a social media strategist. In my next blog, I will discuss these two twitter profiles and how they can use twitter to their advantage.

Tata Nano--how global markets are reacting to it?

I am quite curious to know how people will take to Tata Nano globally, especially in a downturn. Is it really the right time to launch a product which may not find takers globally. Well, guess time will tell. One can gauge the response and reaction the vehicle is generating in Europe. Any thoughts or updates on that!!!!

Lets hear it from the market.

If you have any comments, post it on the Tata Nano group on Facebook.

Tata Nano's social media efforts ineffective

Indian Companies are taking baby steps in adapting themselves to “becoming social” or Web 2.0 compliant by engaging with social media tools and networks. An interesting case in point is Tata Motor’s NANO—‘the poor man’s savari.’ The product, having attracted eyeballs internationally owing to “the affordability factor’ is nearing its launch date.

Given the potential market for “the people’s car” (domesic/international) one would have expected Tata Motors to be a little more social media savvy. It is surprising that given the potential of the market and inspite of having a dream team (branding and marketing), Tata Nano website looks lacklustre in terms of social media usage.

The website has a link only to social media networks such as Facebook and Orkut. Agreed, these are the two social media networks that have large number of Indian users. But, well I didn’t expect the website to be so boring.

Moreover, the facebook page of Tata Nano does not meet the expectations. I wonder whose artwork it is anyways! Although Indian companies have to be educated about what social media can actually do for them, one would expect a brand like Tata Motors to be more social media network savvy.

The next questions any reader would want to ask is how they could have been different?

Better pictures, display interesting discussion among users, fans, better and more interesting postings on their wall. And yes, they could have easily integrated Tata Nano application available on the Tata Nano website on to their official facebook page.

Facebook offers API’s to create smooth integration and interface to link websites with user accounts on Facebook. This means, you could bring your entire facebook crowd onto your website and vice versa.

I would say they have also missed out on twitter as a tool to brand and promote Nano. An inclusion of a mobile application would have surely added glitz to Tata Nano’s Social Media Campaign.

Although Indian companies are trying to understand what social media is, they are a way too slow in learning the art of implementing social media strategy.

On a positive note, a beginning has been made. I am happy to see Indian companies making an effort to connect socially.

Indian Slumdog wins 8 Oscar awards; bigger things to come

Today I am not going to write on social media as I simply cannot ignore the Eight Oscar awards that a film based in India with Indian artists has received.

Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, a movie made by a foreigner with India artists for the western markets managed to take home Eight OSCARS including the one for best direction and motion picture.

Slumdog Millionaire was unable to make a place for itself in the heart of most Indians as after watching the movie they felt a sense of déjà vu as India has produced numerous movies on similar lines… right from Satyajit rays of this world to present day Anurag Kashyaps… (of Dev D fame), the list is endless. Some extremist are of the view that it hurts the Indian sensibility. In this time of economic gloom, India and china are the only countries showing reasonably good growth figures. Ignoring that fact and showing India in such a poor light (slums) to the world at large is indeed prejudicial. Why didn’t Boyle portray the success story that India has become over the years. These are the questions that most Indians are asking!

And the West has lapped it all up…the slums, the dirt, the beggars….and also given eight awards to the Slumdog.

Well, I think it is the time to rejoice and not sulk. Let us look at the positives. Eight OSCARS to a movie that not only has Indian artists but also showcases our very own Mumbai. By recognizing Slumdog, the West is trying to communicate to us that Indian film industry is not just recession proof but it is a goose that lays golden eggs hence it is time to collaborate. The Hollywood-Bollywood marriage makes perfect business sense! Will it also mean moving social media networking consultancy for Hollywood films to India. Well, let’s hope we will get a pie of the social media networking business of the Hollywood. Hence open your doors to profitable marriages, mergers, collaborations, and big bucks…..not just ‘big cinema’.

Cracks becoming more pronounced on social networks

Are cracks in the social media networks becoming more pronounced as this industry is virtually on a fast forward mode? Well, the recent facebook fiasco definitely points towards that. And why not? Facebook had a unique visitor base of 54,552,000 as on December 2008.

It all began on February 11, 2009, when a slight change in Facebook’s terms of service pertaining to the ownership of user content after being deleted, created an uproar in the blogosphere. The company reiterated that its licenses on user content expired upon account deletion.

A company statement clarifying the deed as reported by CNN said, "We are not claiming and have never claimed ownership of material that users upload.” "The new Terms were clarified to be more consistent with the behavior of the site," it said. "That is, if you send a message to another user (or post to their wall, etc...), that content might not be removed by Facebook if you delete your account (but can be deleted by your friend)."

Facebook officials, I am sure were not expecting such a public display of anger. What started off as a public debate soon snowballed into a massive controversy? And why not! Social networks have gripped the attention of the net surfing communities globally.

Whether its chit-chatting with friends, promoting a brand, social networking or measuring consumer response to new products, social networks have become the one big networking playground for all of us. Huge money is riding on social networks like Facebook, hence our content better be safe with us.

This brings me to another question! Will the recent controversy involving Facebook trigger social media network users to be more cautious about content in social networks? Well, if such networks offer infinite benefits to users then they also must be ready to face the music.

In a damage control exercise, with much haste Facebook changed the policy statement to what it was in the first week of February. As it stand now, Facebook's terms of service claim that the company does not have ownership over content, yet that it does have "an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (to)...use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works, and distribute" material as long as it doesn't violate the privacy preferences set by the user.

So users be aware! Before you upload your content, pictures et al, be careful….for you might end up seeing your stuff on the promotional pages of one of the third party vendor s (of facebook).

Outsourcing is the Future of Social Media

Haven't written anything for my blog in a long time. Have been following some of the top social media agencies globally to understand how they operate. Having interacted with some of them, I have come to the conclusion that some of them are a worried lot. Looks like it is a stiff competition among the web 2.0 followers.

They should not have any cause for concern as social media pie is really large. There is enough space for everyone in social media segment, whether it is a start-up or an established firm.

However going forward, each social media will have to create a niche market for itself to grow. Outsourcing of social media will only help the industry.

So join hands, reduce your insecurity and become truly sociable.