Is necessity no longer the mother of invention?

I hear about the greatest inventions of all times like the bulb, telephone, email, etc. and marvel at the way they have made life simpler. The need to keep in touch invited modes of communication, the need to increase productivity in the absence of the sun introduced us to light and so on. Everywhere there was a need that was addressed by intelligent minds.

We get excited about announcements like hashtags on Facebook, video on Instagram or for that matter, longer Dreamliners. Is that it? Imagine the excitement when Edison turned on the switch that lit the room and compare it when we were introduced to say, touch phones. In our times, I highly doubt we will feel that rush, that happiness about solving a problem that could change millions of lives. Hence, we adopted a way to embellish our achievements, decorate them with appreciations and create a hype so strong that people 'think' they are life changing pieces of work. And that's where marketing found its place. Assisted what was good and beautified what was not so good.

Zoom out a bit and take a look at the bigger picture; where are we headed? According to me, we are treading towards a virtual world in which we 'create a need' and fulfil it with something that we want to 'create'.

I can imagine, Facebook 'likes' being used like equity shares by companies, Instagram photos being used at high-end auctions and twitter followers being counted as assets. If you've watched Zeitgeist documentaries, you'd know what I mean when I say that we are constantly forming new entities and running a world that no longer depends on things of the past. It is precisely how the much sort after, money was created by few who could decide what the world  would transact in terms of in the future. 

Will marketers and data analysts lead the transformation this time? Will they be the ones to decide what the public accepts or rejects? Huge responsibility lies ahead, don't you think? 

Hashtags and the road to social embarrassment

Just a few weeks ago, I came across an update on Facebook that read something like this: '#Workout #at #the #gym - #bestfeelingever'. And this was before Facebook even hinted upon introducing hashtags! I wanted to know (for the mere satisfaction of my own intrigue) the rationale that went behind hash-tagging words like 'at' and 'the'. 

I mean how wrong had Chris Messinar (founder of the concept of hashtags, 2007) gone in conveying the hashtag story?! When it comes to a lot of people I know, it seems like he went pretty wrong.

 So this guy's answer to my question was that he posted that photo directly from Instagram and hence, the hashtags. But it still didn't answer the #at and #the! Never mind, I let him enjoy the sheer joy of adding that fancy sign wherever he wanted. 

I am no social media genius or hash-tagging queen, so I had to teach myself the art of hash-tagging a few months ago as well. So when I think of hashtags, I think of various clubs we had in school. You know how being popular was synonymous to being a part of all the cool groups in school? The more one participated, the easier it was to be noticed by like-minded people or for that matter anyone. 

According to me, it works the same way for the content you curate through various social platforms that support hashtags. If you want to make your content 'participate' in meaningful conversations or get 'noticed' by people who will possibly be searching for similar interests as yours; be my guest and hashtag all you want. But it is important to remember that while you are busy inventing meaningless hashtags on your own, especially using random names of people or sentences as long as Adriana Lima's legs; someone out there in the digital media landscape is having a good laugh! 

We all are aware of water surfing, isn't it? Think of hashtags as the waves surfers use to ride upon. Let your content ride upon existing available hashtags to have a smooth sail. So if you're up for the hashtag game, take a deep breather and repeat after me - 'Using a gazillion hashtags at once in a sentence will not make me rich or better than my ex's boyfriend/girlfriend.' 

Happy hash-tagging! 

Father's Day 2013 - What's the story?

It's very natural to take things for granted all our lives until we lose them.
The infamous statements from heartbroken girlfriends - 'I didn't know what he meant to me until we broke up' or my family's reaction to our cook declaring his vacation - 'The scrambled eggs will be different from now on' and so on. Everything/everyone has a way of being missed and nothing we can do can reverse that feeling.

Until last year, Father's Day was just another marketing gimmick I noticed because the store, Archie's made it so obvious with their tacky advertisements. This year, it seems like everyone around me is talking about Father's Day gifts, brunches, etc. Suddenly, my focus went from Burberry's new collection to the ties they had displayed for Father's Day and from real estate adverts on the radio to the ones screaming about Father's Day. 

My father had a simple philosophy - 'no day comes again'. So he never believed in giving one specific Sunday more importance than any other day. And it was not only for Father's Day, I once told him about the importance of the date 11/11/11 and his response to that was - "So you are trying to imply that something like a 8/9/10 or 2/4/09 will come again? So what's the big deal about 11/11/11!".

With not so much excitement about this particular day as a kid; it was a usual ritual, I would get my father a card and write a short note. My father never had an off on Sundays so I would leave it with my mother because he was long gone before I woke up.

I'm not the only one who lost her father comparatively early in her life, so do people like me become a minority for present marketers? Isn't there any story  curated for us?

If I was in their position, I'd be weaving a great story about how my mother plays the role of my father, sometimes, even better than he did. Why wouldn't any luxury brand touch upon this emotion? Why wouldn't a Burberry introduce a boyfriend shirt for those mothers who play a dual role for their children?

In a recent book I am reading - 'All Marketers Tell Stories', Seth Godin talks about how you have to appeal to a small niche group in the market who share the same worldview (thought process) and they will help you forward your story to the larger audience. 

Aren't we ideal ones to buy a story, a story that doesn't make us feel like outcasts on a day like Father's Day? I really believe that it's true that people have started following trends and trust people like themselves more than people of authority but, at the end of the day we buy something because we tell ourselves a tale. A tale that justifies the need for something or someone. 

Isn't that the reason why people buy expensive phones, designer clothes, trusted cosmetics or even luxury cars? Father's Day isn't just one opportunity to explore, there are millions! And masses waiting to be tapped. The question remains who'd take the risk to take advantage of their sensitive spots elegantly.