Economy of Social - Social Media Tips, Marketing and Business

A lot has been written about Vijay Mallya and his airlines (Kingfisher) in the last few days on flight cancellations and the mounting debt. It has occupied news-space, public and private discussions and our mind-space. Out of many such discussions, an interesting idea came out yesterday night. Why didn't Vijay Mallya invest in the hospitality industry? It fits with his outlandish larger than life persona. Kingfisher hotels would've made more sense and fit in better with his identity. Maybe it is a hindsight bias but it is definitely worth looking into. An interesting ET article  presents a detailed insight on the congruence of the personality at the helm of a brand and a business. Although I feel the article is biased to an extreme (while talking about Vijay Mallya) and does not present a neutral argument, the opinion is still noteworthy (like this statement): " how can a beer baron assure you the safety of an airline? " But a beer baron can definitely give you goo...

E-commerce companies have got substantial investment and consolidation in the Indian E-commerce industry has already begun. With Amazon entering India with Junglee.com, and FlipKart armed with million dollar investments, there is a huge pressure on getting figures. Can the Indian market provide sales to justify this investment. There are two factors that can give rise to a bubble - The Sunday factor and the Enemy at the gates. The Sunday Factor The first factor is the Sunday Factor. The Indian consumer, especially the one that is responsible for majority of e-commerce sales is city based and earning decent money. Cities are equipped with huge malls that give the consumer a holistic shopping experience. Majority of shoppers are under the age of 35. This represents a population that is young, with many who have recently got married (late 20s). Young guys and girls would like to spend time with friends, partners in a place that can give them a restaurant, pub, coffee-shop, brande...

Social Media is about people in a social environment linked to each other through a new medium i.e. web 2.0. That's it. Now companies want to capture this environment and establish a hegemony. Similar to the pursuit of hegemony by big countries (or one if you know where I am pointing to). Big corporations should realize that social media is more about people, than a profitable product. If you look at the new Facebook timeline, it clearly highlights the fact that people are building their identity projects on it. Timeline is your collection of the photos, posts and experiences that help tell your story (or your identity project). If brands don't become a part of people's identity and melt into a culture, spending dollars on social media engagement or marketing is not going to work. What fulfills the identity requirement of people to a greater extent: General Motors or Lance Armstrong? The answer is reflected in the amount of Facebook fans each has. General Motors :...

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." ~ Oscar Wilde. Before I begin talking about an idea, which I'd like to call the Chetan Bhagat Syndrome, I'd like you all to know that I love Chetan Bhagat and this is not meant to demean him or his work but to highlight an idea, an idea I think is seriously hindering the progress of economies world wide. The Chetan Bhagat Syndrome Anyone who has read Chetan Bhagat from his first book "five point someone" would find Chetan Bhagat's work now increasingly predictable, bordering on boring slowly distancing itself from creativity. His first book was good, but then Mr. Chetan Bhagat decided to get full time into the work of writing and that's when the problem started. To sustain himself he needs to write, something which he thinks he maybe good at, but the problem is that he is a product of an educational system that kills creativity. Here is how. It is a well establish...

Success build confidence. But, confidence is needed for success. It is like a vicious loop that feed each other and need each other. The problem is getting the loop started. How do we get the success to get confidence to start the loop? How did Sachin Tendulkar get it? How did Lance Armstrong get it? Was it practice?

The marquee of Indian growth has been the Telecom sector. While it has been the necklace of the growth of India, the 2G scam has unfortunately shown the decadence of Indian value system. Social scientists often debate on the influence of the western culture on the Indian value system, what we see today is nothing close to it. The huge flow of money has eaten the Indian political leadership with ministers such as A. Raja and Kanimozi suffering from what can easily be called moral leprosy. Surprisingly it is being catalyzed with  outbursts against seemingly harmless comments made by celebrities such as the one made by Jay Leno which showed golden temple as a vacation home. Is it the religion and commitment to the religion? If it is, then where does it disappear when the soul is traded with devil for money damning the soul for eternity? Can god help this country? Can God help my country? While God safeguards the morals of this country, it's sec...