4 Cs of Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is simply 'word of mouth' on the internet. It's another technique of online marketing on selected online channels.

By placing a video or creating a widget for your service or business is not going viral. Especially so in the very cluttered internet space of today. A viral initiative on it's own, without planning, research and creativity, is going to be another punctured affair. Just like being lose about your online advertising campaign.

With limited budgets, time and resources, we need to ask ourselves: "Is viral the right tactic to use?". Once we answer that question, we can than define what, how and where the viral campaign can be. I'll assume once again that viral is relevant to the product and or service you like to market.

Viral should be used to/as:
1. Increase Mind Share for new or existing products or services.
2. Pre-launch teasers (and with subsequent follow ups) for a new product or service.
3. Brand recall of your product and services (it doesn't always have to be a new product)
4. Expand your current networks.
5. Drive demand.
6. For fun!

Now that we have defined why we should proceed, we need keep in mind when planning and executing the viral initiative.

Here's a quick snippet over the 4 C's I thought about:

1. Course: Determine the direction of the viral campaign with the end in mind. This includes the objectives, the viral channels and viral methods and the message.

2. Creativity: Being viral is not about placing an ad on Youtube or a widget. Understand the key objective of the viral campaign and be creative when crafting out the 'piece of art'.

3. Control: Once the virus is out, there is hardly any control. So plan a campaign with 'control' in mind so that you play devils advocate. Don't let a great idea come back and bite you in the end. Think like a consumer. Will this viral campaign end up damaging your brand?

4. Conversions: After all, it's all about converting it to something. That would be sales numbers, web traffic, and increase in awareness, depending on what you like it to be. But when you think of conversions, remember it's not just the viral effect you want to achieve, you also want it to be driven back to your website, brand or product.

Tell us your thoughts!

*Image from http://www।sxc.hu/

A digital marketers technology wishlist

It's a constant battle to keep existing technologies up to speed in the ever changing internet landscape.

More importantly, finding what's relevant and what's not.

Believe it or not, a marketer with a good sense of technology is vital in todays digital marketing landscape.

You need to be a 'geek-marketer' as well.

It's a challenge that we constantly face as marketers. How can I.T keep up to constantly have our websites and portals current. I'm not talking about content. That's a staple. Let's discuss technology from a non-technical angle.

With open source, applications are being churned out by Facebook, Google and by many other boutique agencies for clients and the communities they serve. How can we keep our client's or our own sites updated. CIO's face the challenge of operations and profitability. Re-using what they currently have and whether it makes business sense to build something from scratch.

Here's my take from a non-technical point of view. Let's just say, it's a wish list.

1. Websites are now aggregators. Websites should always be built to be scalable. Use a platform that allows 'plug and play'. While we plug in, applications and features need to be easily customised to maintain branding and design consistency.

2. Partnerships. Tons of people have specialties. Maps, Geo-Tagging, Business Intelligence softwares, Wikis, Games, Widgets, etc. We don't need to keep building and coding from scratch. Form strategic partnerships with development companies thats are credible and passionate. This way, we get the best of both worlds. A component technology that is always updated.

3. The Changing I.T Mindset. I consider good I.T managers and developers the 'rock-stars' of the internet age. Simply because they have the power to create something powerful if they have the right mindset. We need passionate people who love technology and more importantly, the passion to bring that to the business and clients (or the online community). Being pro-active and always looking at how the latest technology can be applied is crucial. Re-using and re-working technology they currently have must also be on their minds constantly.

4. Beyond Operational Mindsets. Nothing is worse than having an operational mindset. We need to think beyond that in this day and age. No doubt operations in I.T or in any team is important to keep work well oiled. But with today's 'plug and play' format, being prudent and working out a systematic model to MANAGE them could be the answer.

5. Balance. Let's not go overboard. Technology is important but we don't have to throw everything new in the pot. Filter out what's relevant for the business and the website. Last thing you want to do is create a 'Frankenstein'.

What do you think? Leave us a comment.

*Image from http://www।sxc.hu/

Be specific when advertising online

"Advertising is all about a big budget".

I find it somewhat true, but it all depends on the OBJECTIVE of the advertising campaign.



Once again, the online space is now facing the same clutter we now experience on TV, Radio and Print.

So how do we make online advertising stand out and touch the people you want to reach? Before placing up an ad on a magazine or newspaper, we usually ask some traditional questions:

1. Distribution reach
2. Readership profile and numbers
3. Subscription numbers
4. Frequency and/or time frame
5. Cost
6. etc (Feel free add a comment to add on)

Relevant questions I'm sure, but for online, it's a different ballgame where some basic rules still applying.

We should ask these question when advertising online:

1. How to spend wisely?
The online platform is not exactly a place to splash ads everywhere and anywhere. Even if you can afford to do so, the probability of 'wastage' is high. It's like giving out flyers on the street hoping someone will buy your second hand Converse sneakers. Determine the number of traffic the site or page is currently getting and work out an effect cost per click. Based on the category you are advertising in. In short, do some research. SearchEngineWatch.com reported some interesting numbers for the US market. This will help you determine how much to spend.

2. Where do my target audience (visitors) come from and what tasks are they performing?
The internet is an extremely task oriented playground. With a specific search string or URL, you head to a certain website for something. This would help you determine where to advertise.

3. How will the ad appear? Which formats should I go for?
There are many different types of online ads you can use depending on the site. From videos to simple text links. Ask the site owner (or media buying house) for advertising performances from previous advertisers. Through that, you can gauge the objectives of the ads and how it performed. For example, a video to launch a new something new could work well for gaining mind-share and awareness, however, a subtle text link works fine for a service perhaps.

Conversion numbers are the great indicators,but how they get converted is important to note. So get the right numbers and streamline your ad message towards what you want to achieve. Understanding this and you will be able to capture their attention with imagery, videos or excellent copy writing to direct them to your website.

Be short, precise, attention grabbing and don't be gimmicky. Being vague won't help at all. This will help you answer how you should craft your ad and on what format you should go for on the sites you have identified.

Tell us what you think।
*Image from http://www।sxc.hu/

Proof that Facebook and LinkedIn are indeed living networks

NOTE: This is one of the most read articles and by the looks of it, we'll have to keep updating it simply because there are more true examples to share.


Scenario 1:
A DJ friend working for Oracle called me yesterday and after we spoke, I asked for his email address. This was what he said: "Drop me a note on Facebook."

Scenario 2:
I bumped into an old friend who did National Service* with me at the office today and guess what he said to me after handing me his name card. "Are you on Facebook?"
What shocked me was the fact that he just gave me his name card!
*(For readers not in Singapore, all males need to serve the army for two years when we turn eighteen.)

Scenario 3:
The Butterfactory, a club in Singapore that hosts local DJs and acts uses Facebook for their RSVP. People who click attending will have their names registered and don't have to queue up to get in. It has become their official 'guest list' system. Works like a charm. I wonder why people actually still bother to queue. Maybe they should use Facebook more often.

Scenario 4:
This one is for LinkedIn. I have put up my profile on linked in for a while and recently updated it over the past 6 months to keep it abreast of what I am currently doing for my day job. It is a FACT that recruiters are using LinkedIn as a platform to look for potential candidates for job vacancies. As a professional network, I have been asked for interviews, to release my full CV to the companies that wish to speak to me. It works, and it works well. if you are looking for a career change. Don't leave out LinkedIn.

Funny no one ever asked me to 'Friendster' them though.

Leave us your comments. :)

Anti-Social Networking?

Written by Kelvin Lee. Kelvin works in the Corporate Marketing department of one of the world's leading global news & infomation company and is based in Canarf Wharf, London.

Do you still have friends who are not registered on Facebook or Friendster? Unless they are not connected to the Internet, it's quite amazing in this time of age, isn't it?

During one of the keynote speeches I attended at Internet World 2008 in London, one of the speakers spoke briefly about a relatively new anti-social networking site called NOSO.

Perhaps you can now recommend NOSO to those friends who prefer to remain anonymous in the online space. The idea is that NoSo gives people an opportunity to now 'revolt' against the social networking revolution. Hence, the name of the site - NOSO(cial).

Instead of traditional social networking sites allowing you to set up an online personality (which you would usually try to spice up as much as you can with photos, videos, descriptions .. and then start adding friends, groups, events etc), NoSo gives you none!

Well, almost. You are only allowed to have a few fields to fill in during registration and profile editing - of which the fields are ones such as 'Where you do NOT live?' and 'What you are NOT interested in?'

And if you're still wondering - no, you cannot upload photos of last night's wild party at Ministry of Sound or your latest travel trip to Bangkok. In fact, one can only choose one of the supplied silhouette images (much akin to Apple's iPod campaign) to be used for you NoSo profile picture

NoSo is the complete opposite of how popular sites such as Facebook & YouTube have defined social networking in the past couple of years.

So what's the point of NOSO, you ask.

According to the company profile, 'NOSO is a real-world platform for temporary disengagement from social networking environments. The NOSO experience offers a unique opportunity to create NO Connections by scheduling NO Events with other NO Friends.'

'NO' events are then organised at random designated places where NOSOers (people who use NOSO) can turn up at the venue and ... NOT say anything. There are no ice-breaking games or activities whatsoever participants who turn up just know that another NOSOer is also at the venue.

After 'remaining quiet' for 1 hour or so, the participants then disperse and carry on their normal lives. They can however choose to take photos and upload them into the Flickr-NOSO page.

There was an event held in a restaurant in San Francisco in the early part of May 2008 but I can't seem to find any stats on how many actually turned up though.

What do you think of NOSO?
NOSO - http://www.nosoproject.com/
NOSO on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=noso
Internet World (UK) – http://www.internetworld.co.uk/


Written by Kelvin Lee

Currently based in Canarf Wharf, London, Kelvin Lee works in the Corporate Marketing for one

of the world's leading global news & infomation company. Born, bred & educated in Singapore (along with an international exchange stint in The Netherlands), Kelvin's previous marketing experience consists of a mix of b2b and b2c traditional and new media programs & campaigns for leading companies in the telecommunications, eLearning, lifestyle and entertainment industries. Away from the corporate space, Kelvin traverses the music globe as DJ Keishi & immerses himself in the latest dance music from the world's best DJs & producers.

Mobility...the next wave

I'm waiting at the Singapore Changi Airport and using my Nokia N95 the surf the web, killing time and catching up on news.

It's old news that everyone complains about the web page being mobile unfriendly.

I met Onn Yeoh, a mobile and internet researcher and writer in Kuala Lumpur who writes for his blog, The Star and The Edge in Malaysia. He has a great passion for mobile and was in Singapore last week for a mobile conference.

We discussed about how mobile was a such a great platform and yet usage for mobile transactions were still lacking in Singapore and especially so in Malaysia. The potential is unbelievably great.

The key challenges telcos and businesses face were how to get to the mobile market (assuming they want to...and why not).

1. Telcos need to open up the data pipes more to increase data, 3G speeds.

2. Telcos could make data even more affordable or free and find alternate revenue streams. Focus on mobile. The home has only one internet connection but possibly five mobile phones.

3. Businesses, content providers need to make their content mobile friendly and 'm-abling' their websites.

4. People are used to remembering URLs. This is the same when they use their mobiles to connect to the web. Thus, stressing on point 3.

With these and Government funding, doors will open and marketing channels will develop. People's lives will be connected at their discretion and things get less intrusive. (I received 5 advertising SMSes today and deleted them. Soon, I'll be unsubscribing).

What do you think?

*Image from http://www.sxc.hu/

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Targeting your audience just got easier with social network connectivity

Digital marketing is beyond just the ideas and knowing the channels. We need to understand it better and understand it as it evolves...quickly.

MySpace Data Availability, Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect were launched in quick succession and this really got the industry buzzing. With this technology race, what does it all mean to a digital marketer?
Let's take a quick dip:

1. With data portability, social networks now become one big saturated pie. This means you could be engaging the same person three or more times if you advertise on Facebook, MySpace and a site with Google Friend Connect.

2. Google Friend Connect could ultimately be THE place to conduct targeted marketing initiatives. Why? MySpace and Facebook are almost purely social (pokes, add friend, send a gift). Google Friend Connect on the other hand is task and interest oriented. For example, a design website will have a network of people interested in design. The profile of Google Friend Connect sites thus become very targeted. Perfect for a marketer. (To Google: Will there be Google Adsense?)

3. User behaviour would change. We all have different groups of friends who are all on Facebook or MySpace as one 'cluster'. Now, I could be enjoying Kyoto Jazz Massive's latest track with a bunch of friends on a music site and discussing business topics with work related interest groups on another. Here's a quote by Google: "Visitors to any site using Google Friend Connect will be able to see, invite, and interact with new friends, or, using secure authorization APIs, with existing friends from social sites on the web, including Facebook, Google Talk, hi5, orkut, Plaxo, and more."



In a nutshell, Google seems to have the winning formula (yet again). They technically don't own anything but provide the most important aspects of the internet to people who need it.

Google just made our jobs hell lot easier.

Do leave us a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

BlackBerry Bold to take on iPhone in growing retail market

It's an exciting time for the mobile and wireless industry.

BlackBerry is just about to debut the BlackBerry Bold to take on Apple's iPhone.
The market for Asia is looking big as the BlackBerry Bold is on the 3G network.

Read more on the report by the Telegraph.


Related links:
> BlackBerry Bold
> Apple iPhone

6 simple steps to developing your website

Image from www.sxc.hu

I've had the humble opportunity to develop and create a range of websites and portals from lifestyle sites to huge sites which serves the general public over the years.

When I first started out, I never had a structure. It was a process of logical steps.

Over time, I've created this methodology that should cover all grounds when you embark on creating a website for your business or for yourself.

6 steps to developing your website:

1. Business Objectives
Determine what the website will serve as the overall marketing strategy. It could be as simple as an informational website, a microsite for a product launch or an e-commerce site with payments, transactions. Let's not forgetting customer service. It's always good to ask this question: 'www.yourwebsite.com is __________________'.

2. Branding
It's important that the brand promise is delivered through your website. This includes creating a brand persona for your site (For example, the character of a person would be sporty, bold, creative etc), the tone, language, typography, font types, image types and the rest that represents your brand.

3. Information Architecture
This is the foundation of the website that will be built upon. An information architecture groups sub-sections into logical labels. The best way to do this is to think about what you want to be on the global navigation of the website. The drop down menus that go under the top headers are your sub-sections. Remember to make it scalable. Don't create a top navigation label for the sake of convenience. Take time to classify and group your information. I would suggest a card sorting exercise.

4. Wireframe
This process is what I call 'real estate management'. Image you own a shopping mall and you need to allocate the spaces to be most effective to your business. You will allocate spaces for shops, toilets, information counters, restaurants etc. You will draw boxes within your 'web browser' and allocate spaces of your information architecture. It starts with the home page (most important) all the way down stream to content pages. Remember the general rules of usability, navigation experience and other logical web development processes. Make it scalable so when you have new sections to be included in the future, you don't need to do a site revamp!

5. Design / Mockups
Here's the interesting part. With your wireframes (which are just boxes) you will create the entire look and feel of it. This is where you will apply your branding mentioned above. Once again, remember the general rules of usability, navigation experience and other logical web development processes.

6. Web Technology & Work Flow
This goes together because you speak to the same bunch of people developing it for you. Before you bake a cake, you need to know what makes the dough. With Web 2.0 tools and portal software programmes like BEA, Oracle, Microsoft to Joomla and Drupal, you need to know what technology is used to build your website. This makes the following steps much easier. So RSS feed capabilities, content management work flow, widgets, email your friend, comments, moderation, publishing rights, access rights and approvals etc. All these are important components to operationalise and share (market) your content.

Finally, the developers and designers all come together to work this out and hopefully you have the product that suites your business objectives stated right at the top.

Please feel free to add on!

Levi Strauss creates viral buzz with Back-Flipping Jeans Clip

Wired.com reported this last Friday and it's definitely worth sharing.

Clocking over 1.4 million views, it's a perfect viral campaign without hard selling the Levi's brand and product.

Coca-Cola wins Webby Award for Best Use of Motion Graphics

2008 Webby Awards results are out.

I really liked the one by Coca-Cola called "Happiness Factory - Now Hiring"
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The Ten Cs of Social Media by Nedra Weinreich

Came across this interesting read and set of slides by Nedra Weinreich of Spare Change.

Check it out:

| View | Upload your own

Marketing is a passion. Nothing more.

Everyone goes on about the future of technology, the internet, how things will change. But, one key aspect that I would like to touch on is the future of marketers, well not really, how about the fundamentals.

Marketing is a passion. Nothing more.

It's about the passion for:
- People
- Ways to connect
- Build relationships
- Listen and learn
- Understanding consumers
- Creativity
- Being resourceful

Why? It's simple. If we don't do the above, we would probably fail because of the following:

x. Creating a product or service which no one wants or needs
x. Inability to connect them with the how consumers are connecting
x. Without connecting, we cannot build relationships
x. Without listening, we don't create what consumers want
x. Without understanding, we are not listening in the first place
x. Without being creative, we cannot connect or delight our consumers
x. Without being resourceful, we are just not being creative enough

It's an eco-system. You can't squeeze an elephant in a Mini-Cooper. You can't feed goldfishes pasta.

With that said, here's my take on what marketing is not:

- Marketing is not sales
- Marketing is not advertising
- Marketing is not PR
- Marketing is not just about meeting KPIs
- Marketing is not a quick fix
- Marketing is not branding

What's your take? Do leave us a comment.

Pop! Marketing Online just made the list...barely!

Pop! Marketing Online (www.popmarketingonline.com) has been running for about 5 months and it was nothing but pure fun and passion about marketing culture.

It's all about passion for Digital Marketing, Social Media (Thanks to Kevin from theory.isthereason.com), Technology and Music. All these in one eco-system does spark plenty of questions and ways on how things could be done.

Anyways, we received an email today that we BARELY made it on the 'Up and Coming' list on Junta42 at position #118. It's the last slot but we don't care! It's already good news for us. (Click HERE and scroll all the way to the bottom). (Never been happier to be in the last place!)

Thank you all for your time for the interviews, the discussions and support. Drop us a note if you have any ideas or feedback.

THANKS!

Shoplette.com - Shop and share!

Shoppers, here's your chance to show off what you have bought to your friends.

Created by Singapore based Mobrick Pte Ltd, Shoplette is a service you can use to tell your friends what you bought and where you bought it. You can use Shoplette to check out what your friends have bought and where they’ve been shopping, discover new stuff to buy and new places to shop, and find out what’s hot and where to shop in other countries. It’s all about shopping!

We would be speaking to Shannon Low, one of the founders of Mobrick and Shoplette, on this new social shopping and sharing site in our interview feature 'Industry Speak'.

Watch out for that in the coming weeks.

Related Links:
> Shoplette on Tongue in Cheek
> Industry Speak: Interview with Joe Wan, Head of Sales from Juzzweb

Executing that one great idea...

Let's face it. We all talk too much. Either with our mouths or with the QWERTY keyboard. From reading blogs to speaking with consultants and marketers. Myself included.

Here's a list of what everyone (myself included) have be TALKING about:
- Social Media and how it is affecting people and in the marketing, Comms or PR field
- Digital Marketing (Everyone needs to go online)
- The changing internet and consumer trends
- How to effectively use Search as a marketing tool
- How to gain online market share
- How to use the internet to build mind-share

The list goes on...

Everyone loves to be consultants and the advisor. Even is the advise is correct to the point, it all boils down to the execution of the one great idea.

Though online marketing is a hot topic today, it's really another marketing channel, and to some, it could be THE marketing channel. I'm a firm believer of it with personal experiences of how the online platform has exponentially helped in communicating with our audience and growing the brand awareness and ultimately dollars and cents.

Online may not be relevant to every business but I'll assume it should be for many.

To achieve awareness and growing the customer base, the online presence was constantly the key communication channel and 'product' - the communication channel. The website/portal is the place where everyone went to transact (purchase), communicate, and interact with each other (and with us).

So if you are looking at starting a website for your business or a community based portal, here are some points to consider.
- A good product/service/content/concept.
- Branding: Build a strong sense of belonging to the brand and maintaining that throughout the different stages. (Your core emotion for the business)
- A series of great ideas/campaigns. (Market penetration, growth, sustainability)
- A strong drive to web strategy.
- Database recruitment strategy. (Your potential customers so you can start selling to the right people)
- A good mix of offline activities. (Nothing beats meeting your audience in person)
- A strong PR strategy.
- Leveraging off social networks to grow mind-share.
- Meeting performance measures and KPIs.
- Executing all of the above.

So, we can all talk. Let's put those words into action. We love to hear more from you guys so drop us a note.