Aggregate or Die!

I wrote about aggregation of all social media into one single platform some time back. I can see that many of my friends are already irritated with the prospects of managing a Twitter, Facebook or a Linkedin. Clearly, it is time consuming and not an enjoyable task. To top it all, one can see many more social networks,micro blogging sites with niche offerings practically every day.One cannot be definitely be all around the place. So what does the future hold ? Google has come up with Gmail Labs which has added several features to make the inbox a central communication platform. From video conferencing to SMS to instant messaging, Gmail is no longer only for e-mail, it’s growing into an information and communication hub. So on and so forth with a Hootsuite or a Tweetdeck where you can manage multiple platforms on a single dashboard. The future of course lies in having an inbox which will not be just for checking mails but also to manage identities across various platforms. So you will get Flickers,Twitters,Facebook updates all in an inbox-one single identity.

Changing roles of Marketing Managers

One of the most visible changes due to the prominence of online media is the shift in the role of a Sr.Marketing Manager/Director. Besides being brand experts, they are becoming more data savvy as digital media creates a need for converting all data into actionable formats. Understanding insights generated through digital channels are the need of the hour since along with other metrics such as customer value and potential are becoming important.The digital media is a real asset to organisations which in conjunction with traditional marketing disciplines such as segmentation, strategy, media management etc.can be a useful weapon for all Sr Marketing Managers. At the end of the day a marketer is essentially working on three aspects with customers : acquisition, development/maintaining them and retention. Marketers that combine all channels into a holistic view of their customers will surge ahead of competition and companies that make investments in this area will most certainly have an edge.

Prospects of Social Media in India

Potential for Social Media in India

View more presentations from Pankaj Muthe.

Is the buzz with Google BUZZ fading?

It would be close to a that Google Buzz was launched. I have used it on and off and everybody would agree, its no great shakes. What started off with a lot of potential, looks to end up in a mess.But again, it’s been a month so there could be more, lets wait n watch. I also wonder if it could have started with some different feature, rather than just "updates". People are not excited by that anymore. I mean agreed FB was the first kid on the block and Twitter popularised it but you can throw the same stuff again and again.

What Google could have done was to do something with its location-based service: Latitude. But I wonder how many use Latitude. Or if they do, they likely don’t even realize they’re using it because it’s just turned on in the background. And that’s precisely why Latitude doesn’t appeal or is not exciting.

The past several months have proven that consumer demand for location services is dependent on one thing: the ability to “check-in.” That is, rather than having a service that is always on in the background transmitting your location (like Latitude), people are actually using the services that allow you to display when and where your location is sent out.

Checking-in is cool for people because of two main things: user friendly and privacy. People prefer checking-in because it drives in logic. You hit a button to say you’re somewhere, and it gets sent and displayed. You don’t have to worry about whether your cell phone is always transmitting because you’re in charge of it. In the future, as people become more comfortable with the concept, I suspect some form of “always-on” location will become the norm, but for now, it’s just a beginning.

Maybe Buzz is the location-based service that Google should have thought of to be built in. It has the idea of checking-in built into it; you simply do so by buzzing from your cell phone. When you do that, Google offers you the opportunity to tag your buzz to a certain location and instantly send it out to your friends.

Lets see if they do it? Keep buzzin' in!