social media is about changing the conversation

Are you caught up on Mad Men?

In this week’s episode, the agency (Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce) deals with the fallout of losing their largest account. New clients are hesitant to hire them, because word about town is that the agency’s future is cloudy at best. Peggy’s advice, which Don Draper takes to heart, is simple: “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

There couldn’t be a better motto for social media marketing.

Brands of all sizes are realizing more and more that social media is the conversation, but with super powers: while in-person conversations typically begin and end at the water cooler, online conversations don’t. A negative take on your brand can spin wildly out of control on Facebook or (especially) Twitter, with thousands of people joining in the conversation. Positive messages can circulate too, but the negative ones typically have more steam.

That leaves brands with three options for how to get social media on their side, requiring increasing levels of buy-in: they can monitor the conversation, they can engage in the conversation, or they can change the conversation, Don Draper-style.

Monitoring the Conversation

Monitoring the social media conversation is a good start, and while it doesn’t do anything to change public perceptions of your brand, it may provide the compelling data you need to get your CEO on board with a social media strategy.

There are a few tools you can use to quickly get going, and they’re easy to use:

Google Alerts – If you manage a brand and aren’t using Google Alerts, start now. It emails you with regular (or as-it-happens) updates when you get mentioned online. It works well for tracking bigger things like blog posts; less so for lively Twitter discussion.
TweetDeck - One of a number of Twitter clients that pops up notifications for search terms (like the name of your brand). TweetDeck is especially useful if you’re handling several Twitter accounts at once.
TweetBeep – For if you can’t handle keeping a Twitter client open. It’s basically Google Alerts for Twitter, keeping you posted by email on what’s being said in tweets.
Kurrently – Searches Twitter and Facebook in real-time, and you can grab an RSS feed of its results.
Collecta - Attempts to combine all of the above, searching the web, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and others, offering RSS feeds for your search terms.
If your brand is big enough or interesting enough that people are talking about it, then you need to be monitoring the conversation. Once you do, you’ll realize that your social media efforts need to go a step further.

Engaging in the Conversation

There are a few terrific examples of brands engaging in the conversation and winning big because of it. Often Twitter becomes a vehicle for world-class customer service, and we’ve seen if from Southwest Airlines, Dell, and, of course, Comcast.

Clicking on the Comcast link in the paragraph above takes you to an article from way back in 2008, as Comcast has been on the forefront of Twitter conversation about its brand from the beginning. They’re generally credited with pioneering the “customer service on Twitter” model, in which company reps monitor Comcast-related tweets and then respond to people that are having trouble with their cable service.

But even better than just reacting to customers’ conversation is creating an environment where your customers know they can come to you online. If discussion flows freely between your company and your customers, and not just in times of crisis, then you’ll be poised to dramatically strengthen relationships and foster new brand advocates. Which drives the bottom line.

Changing the Conversation

The brands with the strongest commitment to social media, however, are also the ones reaping the greatest rewards. Changing the conversation means turning bad vibes into good vibes, or (more commonly) creating a conversation where there wasn’t one before.

Citing the best examples is almost unnecessary. Old Spice, of course, generated no end of conversation with the “Smell Like a Man, Man” character and series of online videos. The commercials would have been a successful TV campaign of their own—but it was social media that really got conversation about Old Spice going.

An even better example is Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice campaign on Facebook—not because of the details of the campaign itself, but because of how it changed the conversation. It’s Burger King. It’s fast food, it’s served by someone making minimum wage, and the menu features items like “funnel cake sticks”. And yet, Burger King (thanks to the good folks at Crispin Porter + Bogusky) made us forget about greasy hamburgers for a while and got us talking about a brand that wasn’t afraid to push buttons.

In Mad Men, Don Draper’s reaction to losing their big tobacco client was not to wallow in self-pity and board up the office windows. The prevailing conversation was about the agency’s failures, so he changed it. And if twenty-five years of TV watching has taught me what to expect, then we’ll see it pay off handsomely.

The conversation is always going on. If your brand is big enough, you’re already being discussed. And if the message isn’t good, then you know what to do.

Change it.

Regards

Vicky

enthiran - my review

If you have plans to relax and have a great time with your family this weekend then Endhiran-The Robot is the perfect weekend masala flick for you. Rajnikanth is back with a bang and although he does not really utter “Enna Rascala…Mind It!” his body language and style is still over the top.
Rajnikanth–Aishwarya chemistry is extraordinary
The movie is about a scientist, Dr. Vasi (Rajnikanth) who creates a humanoid robot that looks just like him. Dr. Vasi creates The Robot (Chitti) to serve the purpose of humanity and much more. Trouble starts brewing when Dr. Vasi teaches Chitti to feel emotions. It was surprising to see that Rajnikanth –Aishwarya pair looked ravishing on screen and their chemistry was palpable.
The story cannot be tagged as science fiction, simply put it is a romantic-comedy-masala-action–thriller set in the future where the laws of physics no longer apply.
Endhiran starts to have romantic ideas about the scientist’s girlfriend Sana (Aishwarya Rai). Thus develops the love triangle of the 21st century between Aishwarya Rai, Robot Rajnikanth and actual Rajnikanth. The fight between man and machine is taken to the next level in Endhiran-The Robot.
The best part about the movie has to be the special effects, report suggest that the producers hired the special effects team from Avatar to design the CGI effects for the action sequences. This movie has some of the most awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping action sequences that Indian Cinema has ever seen.
Some of the special effects are so breathtaking that they might give certain Hollywood movies a run for their money. A.R. Rahman may not have shown his brilliance in the CWG song but he is out in his full glory for Enthiran. The dance sequences have been choreographed by Prabhu Deva and look surreal.
The Robo is the perfect get away from the real world and allows us to have 3 hours of absolute, no-holds-barred entertainment.

Performance apprisal -
DrVasee ( Scientist rajini)- 3 out of 5
Good robot chiti(Rajni good robot)-4.5 out of 5
Bad robot chiti (Rajni bad robot) - 5 on 5
Aishu - wow she is dam cute - 5 on 5
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh black sheep dialogue stands out .

Overall sooper dooper movie
My rating for the movie would 4.5 out of 5 .
Regards
Vicky

an inner battle

Life is a very strange object as i would like to say. You don't know what is going to happen and what will happen after a certain things has happened. You just go with the flow. But then i ask myself isn't there any way through which i can control the happenings of my life. A voice form inside me says maybe by following your gut instincts, which if i see from a prcatical point of view is a very risky proposition but if i think from the heart that is the safest options that pops out before me. In this onging battle between heart and the brain i don't know who is right who is wrong who is going to win and who is going to lose but i only hope whoever wins brings the right judgement but somewhere i think i really want the heart to win. Lets wait and watch.

AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY

It feels good to write about my journey with Times Group , It was one of the most pleasant experience i had .Made lot of new friends , learnt a lot from my seniors and collegues . I am indebt to Mr. Ninan For giving me the responsibility to lead RIS . i would cherish Each and every moment i spent during my work stint with Times .

Coming to the Profile of RIS , i should be lucky enough to get taht profile . a divison were we have access to 360 degree media . learnt alot about how various media works . Thanks to Guru - Mirchi , Preeya - Times Now , Arun - Zoom and Nitin - Indiatimes for helping me learn various aspect of new media .

RIS gave me fame . i would cherish Billion hearts beating campaign for the rest of my life . It was also fun to hang around with Few interesting characters like Rizwan ,Murali, Iyyapan , Alex

On the whole My Journey with Times and RIS would be termed - "AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY"

The poem thats not mine

This has to be there on my blog.. as a memory of my days back in Vivekananda college :)

Under the same tree

By R Prasanna Venkatesh

It was under the same tree
The days of youth, carefree
Hours of fun, right under the scorching sun
What was there to fear, with many near and dear
A craze inflicting aura, dangerously contagious,
All books lay forgotten, the fun voracious.
It was under the same tree
The bond developed, defying differences
It was under the same tree
Egos clashed, then dissolved
It was under the same tree
dreams became reality, lived through words…..
Rain or storm, it stood, just like us
Rooted from deep within, togetherness
like birds we were, seeking shelter
And the day came, when we needed to part
flew we did, fortunes sought
Under the same tree
I sit now, thinking deep
Would we all flock again, under the same tree……

womens day

Shahrukh Khan-Actor:Earning Rs 247 per minute,
Brij Mohan Lall Munjal - Chairman: Earning Rs 255 per minute,
Amitabh Bachchan - Actor: Earning Rs. 361 per minute,
Mukesh Ambani - Chairman: Earning Rs. 413 per minute,
Sachin Tendulkar - Cricketer: Earning Rs 1,163 per minute,
INDRA NOOYI - CFO: EARNING RS 2,911 PER MINUTE.

Indian Women are rocking the corporate world!
http://timesascent.in/womeninc/
~*~*Happy Women's Day*~*~

what exactly is the purpose of life? Does is exist?

what exactly is the purpose of life? Does a purpose exist at all? Why do we value something which is temporary? why do we have to attach ourselves to something and then feel the pain when it is taken away from us? why exactly are bonds made? Why do we have to look forward to things.. what is the whole meaning behind expectation and hope. Why are we being tricked day in and day out? Why do we wake up thinking today will be better? Whats the difference between living a life of accomplishments and a mediocre one.. cos death is still the same… Whats the fishing difference? why this struggle.. why this pain.. why this agony.. and most of all.. why so many questions?