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. 

So which league are you in?

If you have ever travelled to work (preferably Gurgaon or Noida) by car, you would've noticed that there are windows of time when unbearable traffic collects. 

After travelling the route to Gurgaon for almost 2 years now, I have come to a conclusion - there are different leagues of people who choose different windows of time to travel  which according to me clearly defines their work ethic. 

(A tiny disclaimer here: these are purely my thoughts and I take full responsibility if you get pissed off, remember exceptions are what keep us going) 

So which league do you fall in? 

1. The early risers - Look around your workplace, identify that one person who reaches work early and complains about it all day. I'm sure you recognised more than one! Now, these early risers are the ones who would like to believe that they are the smartest as they beat the morning traffic and reach work first. Hats off guys, you have cracked the traffic dilemma but trust me you aren't leaving before the entire work gets over in the evening! These people generally never take risks and are very comfortable watching other people work hard. 

2. The peak commuters - this group actually knows that it's going to be real crowded in that 8-8:30 am time window when everyone is rushing to get to work at half 9 but that does not deter their determination to choose that very time to travel. Even at work, you can recognise  them easily - always there in a group discussion saying exactly what other people are saying just a little differently! 

3. The smart-lazy combo - this league is close to my heart as it chooses the 'sweet spot' to travel after months of clear observation and detailed analysis of its route. You know there is that time in the morning when the 'peak commuters' have left and the 'late crawlers' have yet not considered leaving. That is the 'sweet spot' - they might be a few minutes delayed at work but take the least time to reach. Even at work, I'm sure you have those who are always on top of things, yeah? See them. Salute them. 

4. The late crawlers - trust me, let's get over the fact that people who come real late to work are cool and actually have a life. The truth is - they always 'think' they will make it on time and eventually succumb to fate. You might beat the peak traffic but honey, you were never competing! So think of those people at work who always think the deadlines work according to them and not the organisation, keep your hand on their shoulders and say - 'it's okay' when they come late. See their reaction - it's priceless

You say Facebook, I say Work!

4 years of engineering makes you breathe numbers, digest concepts and play with applications. And then you drop it and choose a whole new path for yourself. And guess what, to top it all, you choose something that isn't so mainstream at all. 

The last time I tried to explain to someone what do I exactly do led to the following conversation -

- Oh so you mean you sit on Facebook the whole day? Or 

- What's the difference between Facebook and Twitter anyway? Twitter is just Facebook without photos, isn't it? 

- People actually get paid to do that? 

- YouTube is a social media channel? 

Honestly, I don't blame them because how much so ever updated one might be; explaining digital, especially social media management to them remains a painstaking task. 

Entering the digital space as an outsider and living in it for almost a year now, I have learnt a few things that are absolutely unique to the kind of work we do and people will never get these. 

1. Others might not believe it but launching a Facebook page can be as demanding as bringing up a baby. You check on it time and time again, you feed it with new content and then you protect it from spammers! 

2. We too have crisis! Recently somebody asked me - after all, your work is not about life and death, so what's the panic about? The panic is about protecting your property from unwanted people at any hour - day or night. 

3. Having a social presence is not only about 'posting' out-of-context quotes and getting a million 'likes' or following everyone on Twitter so that they follow you back. There is 'strategy' that goes into every aspect of what we do too. 

4. 9 PM - 5 PM? Come again? 
The web doesn't sleep so how can we? You never know who, where, is sitting and waiting to be offended by something that your client sells or does. So next time you give a bad review/remark online after eating dinner late at night - remember someone like us is getting thrashed the next day! 

5. It seems to everyone that we never work. Whenever someone will come by our desk - they will see the likes of HootSuite, TweetDeck running all the time. This doesn't mean that we aren't working, that IS OUR WORK! 

6. Lastly, people always say - 'you guys are so lucky'. Seriously? Try being on Facebook/Twitter as 4 different people with completely different personalities for a week and the same tools you love, you will despise. I mean imagine talking like 4 people - an engineer, a businessman, a corporate executive and a social worker at the same time. 

Is social media making us better at what we do?

Just yesterday my brother performed solo at one of the leading theatre events in Delhi. While he was getting ready for it, I asked him - why was he being so finicky about the white shirt, it wasn't going to show when he would be so far away on the stage.

He looked at me as though my question had really offended him. He said that the group he was opening for had a live twitter feed, an updated Facebook page and a videographer present at the event. Also, he himself has an active YouTube channel among other social media sharing outlets. To add to that, his friends would be present at the event who would definitely share his images and recordings online.
He basically meant that technically his performance doesn't end that evening. It'll be carried to different platforms where that tiny mark on his shirt could create potential crisis or unwanted conversation.

I was a little taken aback. So this 15 year old boy had not only thought about his performance live but also the aftermath of it on social media. So is the fact that there are no boundaries to sharing and no event is technically closed to an online audience making us perform better than before? Or for that matter, micro manage things that we would've ignored earlier?

What one does on stage can trickle down positively or negatively online. Delhi concerts have been a clear example of this. A few days before the Tiesto concert, we were hearing rumours about it being cancelled. The organising group did not choose to pick a publication, print a life size advert and erase that rumour but just published an online interview of Tiesto talking about how excited he was to come to India. And moments later, people were posting all over social media about the confirmation of the Tiesto tour. This definitely relays the trust people have in what other people like them post online than someone unknown sitting behind a printing machine.

Coming back to the point of performance. Are we paying more attention to what we create keeping in mind the kind of platform it would be shared on? According to me the answer is yes. Taking the example of Instagram - how many us who have that application installed on our phones don't think about what filter a certain thing would look good in? The fact that photo sharing has become synonymous to Instagram is a clear indication that people are putting articulated thought into things around them and how to best capture them.

At a polo event last month, I was sitting amongst Delhi's elite and was overwhelmed by the talks of leading make up and clothing brands. Something mentioned by one of the ladies surprised me - she said - "I bought this Louis Vuitton Damier bag just two weeks back and she had it a day after I did. I think she saw my Greece vacation pictures on Facebook and decided to buy it." I wanted to tell her - "Honey, I don't think she dropped a few thousand dollars just because she looked at how good the bag looked on you in your profile picture" but I stopped. Because yes, there could be a clear high possibility that this trend-cheater just saw that bag on her friend's profile and decided to buy it. So is sharing helping us convince other people's choices and set trends like never before?

I personally believe it is the beginning of a never ending era of sharing and crowd sourcing. So would you thinking before you wear that shirt or watching your pronunciation while you speak at a presentation. According to me - please do, you never know who is sharing. 

Are you making these mistakes?

Well I am no one to judge but since we do have a right to opinion and live in a somewhat democratic country, I am going to go ahead and share what's been on my mind for a few weeks now.

There are these incessant mistakes that people make while dressing up in India. Now don't take it personally but yes, it's true and you'll agree with me by the end of this post (hopefully).

#1 Skin show - fail
So it is THE most accepted rule in the fashion industry - "show some leg or show some cleavage, never both!". Here it is the extreme - either you'll see women dressed in the most skimpiest of clothes at parties or completely covered up. I mean yes, you love that ultra mini skirt so put on a block colour short sleeves top with it or for that matter if you love your skinny jeans put on a low neck line top. But why, oh why would you wear that ultra mini with the low neck line top?

#2 Socks with stilettos
I literally feel so sad when I see women do that. I mean yes, I don't expect everyone to have a closet full of shoes (guilty here) but it is basic to keep one summer sandal and one closed shoe for winter. And wear socks, it is completely fine but don't wear I-just-got-these-from-Disneyland designs!

#3 White on white
Now I do appreciate your effort to wear sheer clothing to work but this is a dangerous area and not everybody can handle the consequences of the inappropriate sheer. Wear white sheers but please NOT with white bras, choose a nude colour instead.

#4 Sneakers to work, seriously?
Now this one is heart-breaking. God has given you a great female body and you're lucky to be working so why would you wear sneakers to work! It's beyond me.

#5 "I'm not wearing any" leggings
Nude leggings is a new trend and women are flaunting these all around whether with tops or kurtas. Nude colour leggings make me think that you're not actually wearing any lowers and trust me it isn't a great sight. Choosing a white or darker colour instead could not only streamline your body but also bring out the colour of what you wear on top.

#6 "Jhola clothing"
It is common nowadays to put on an ultra loose pajama-like lower but why do we forget that it only suits a certain kind of people? If you're home, be my guest but if you're in public you might want to think before copying that friend of yours.

#7 The Matching syndrome
"If my outfit is pink then shouldn't my sandals be pink and not to forget my hair accessories, jewellery, etc?!" Good lord I feel like people just over do it completely.