Just a few months ago when i was in college i remember very clearly that I had a bias against a few of my classmates who were social media trainees at that point of time. I never considered anything they did as work, to me it seemed like all they ever did was log in to Facebook and while the time away. I may have even been slightly envious or intrigued but instead I chose to ignore social media as a career option and put all my effort into writing and ideating. However as time progressed and I started working I slowly began to realize the error of my ways. One simply cannot sit back and let opportunities pass by without at least giving it a shot, its best to get into the thick of things and give it a go first and then consider if you are capable of being creative across the board. So when i got my chance to write content for social media I had a go and I am glad i did because I can say quite honestly that I am in love. And it’s no puppy love either it’s an almost obsessive stalker like love that i feel for social media. I am enamored by the depth of things you can achieve via a social media platform, the reach is incredible and the results are quite staggering. You can have a constant interaction with your fan base and can get to know them on a personal level. Social Media to me is like a love child of advertising and marketing. It combines the best of both worlds and leaves out all the boring bits. To make it even better you know if you’ve succeeded in captivating the attention of you’re fan base or if you’ve ticked them off instantaneously, traditional advertising does not allow you this liberty.
Owing to my new found love for social media I have also begun enjoying statistics, I wish i could go back in time and tell myself that someday statistics would thrill me and be more than just a bunch of squiggly lines on a graph that determines the number of oranges on a tree or something of the sort. I am spellbound by the stats and i compete with myself every single day to get the graph to hit new highs and at most times I find myself bitterly disappointed that I couldn’t get a new like or my clever bit of writing was only noticed by my girlfriend. Irrespective of whether social media will reciprocate my love or not I will keep trying to woo her. I may or may not succeed but what’s important is I will end up learning a whole lot in the process.
By Wayne Mathias
Author is a Copywriter at Merry Men and has promised to contribute regularly to this blog.
Bell Bajao, one of our clients asked us to come up with an idea to coincide with 16 days of activism by UN, from the 25th of November to the 10th of December. Seeing that Bell Bajao’s influence on Twitter was relatively poor as compared to the following and influence they carried on Facebook, Merry Men came up with the idea of 16 days of Tweetism. A special hastag was created for the occasion: #16dot and we started to seed the tag amongst social influencers on Twitter. We also created a special logo for the event and threw in some limited edition t-shirts (shown below) for interesting tweets. We then got in touch with influential bloggers who blogged regularly on the issue of women’s rights or domestic violence and have them write 16 different pieces for everyday of the activity.
The idea was simply and catchy. People following us or following #16dot would read interesting tweets from around the world on the issue of domestic violence for the 16 days. They could join in the campaign by either retweeting these tweets or by writing an original tweet.
In just a few days of launching it became obvious that we had struck a nerve. Tweets started to pour in from all over the world. At last count over 500 tweets have been accounted for in just 7 days! The blog to which people were redirected has received so far over a 1000 page views and over 600 unique visitors. And Bell Bajao has added over 50 new influential followers whilst being upgraded in Twitter’s opinion to an ‘influential person’.
You can follow the tweets by typing in #16dot on twitter search or by following @bell_bajao.
Yesterday was a big day for Home Review Designquest, our maiden project. Against the backdrop of the gorgeous Tote bar and restaurant, the winners of Designquest were announced, by the MD of Hansgrohe India – Nicholas Matten. In the words of Nicholas – Designquest is the first of its kind contest (in the world) being organised for Designers, by someone from the publishing industry. And that he was stunned such a concept (using mainly online and social media to generate participation) was coming out of India and not a fully developed economy! A proud moment for Merry Men and team Home Review.
What certainly started out as a contest for designers and young architects, has blossomed into a vibrant community of over a 1000 fans in facebook alone and growing everyday. Read what DNA had to say about the event and the entire process.
We can help your brand also come up with a winner like Designquest. Drop by for a coffee if you’re in the neighbourhood or just send us a mail.
Gandhi used non-cooperation to infuriate the Raj. Lowe India, pulled out of the ad festivals many years ago to protest against the judging process, but if they continue with the same policy even today, its because it has helped differentiate them from the award-hungry agencies. And recently Pepsi America showed non-participation in the Superbowl can be just as effective in generating a viral hit as buying a spot on prime time sports.
It becomes apparent that in a world of undifferentiated products, non-participation when used effectively can be a strategy in itself. Will non-participation in the IPL be someday a calling card for a big Indian brand, like say Sahara? Can boycotting expensive traditional media for digital be turned into a brand event?
Just love the Gaping Void, a blog started by a guy who doodles behind visiting cards for a living! Posting his 38 commandments for anyone
who wants to be in the creative business. Our favourite is #19, which is yours ?
IGNORE EVERYBODY
So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever.
Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years.
1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
Leave today for a week’s well deserved rest in Kerela. Where the only PALM they’ve heard of, grows on trees. No internet, poor mobile connectivity, and if my wife’s prayers are answered – no newspaper. It’s almost like those rehabs the Japs are having to put their netaddicted kids into. Only, this is supposed to be God’s own country!
