SmartCrowds Blog

For the last 2-3 months, BrandAdda  has been in lights-on mode. The site has been up, but there is no action on it behind the scenes. Due to lack of success on the business front, we have decided to shut it down.

At this unfortunate juncture, a saying comes to mind:
It is better to have loved and lost than to have not loved at all

We loved building BrandAdda, enjoyed pursuing our dream, and learnt a lot from the experience. We do wish the outcome was different, but not all was lost.

There were many challenges we faced in building the business, and a few we faced building the product.

• Working without a founding partner was extremely hard
• Hiring quality talent was super tough (see previous post)
• Brands have not yet appreciated social media, specially in India. It was a hard sell. It was hard enough explaining the concept to them, forget selling a service. They need to first warm up to it, and then organize themselves appropriately to take advantage of it. That will take longer than we had hoped for
• The budget for internet marketing is a tiny fraction of the overall marketing budget
• BrandAdda wasn’t giving consumers something compelling or solving a pain point, so consumer adoption was poor. We were counting on Brands to be able to offer something of value to consumers, but with no traction from Brands, this never materialized
• There was no one from the Marketing industry in the team. We were outsiders to the industry, trying to reach Brands through a well-established layer of Agencies around them. That was hard. The soft business climate made matters worse.

So what were the key lessons in it for us?. To be honest, easily the most important lesson was that SUFFICIENT VALIDATION OF A PRODUCT/SERVICE WITH THE PAYING  CUSTOMERS IS ABSOLUTELY VITAL. We did not do much here. We should never have moved forward without being convinced that we did plenty of validation. A lot of the challenges we faced later would have surely surfaced earlier. Shorter distance. Less pain. More time to try other ideas.

Some of our other learnings include:

• Start with a partner
• Do have an expert from the business domain in the team, atleast in the role of an advisor
• VC Funding has its pros & cons. But an overriding pro in India is that it eases hiring greatly. By and large, we found people to be risk-averse, and putting more  emphasis on cash compensation than on equity
• There are some great tools in the startup ecosystem in India, such as pluggd.in,  WATBlog, TiE, HeadStart, Proto, etc. Make good use of them. Participate.

As we sign-off, we wish the current and new crop of entrepreneurs all the very
best in turning their dreams to reality.

Our throats are hoarse screaming “Engagement Marketing” for a long time. No idea how many have listened :). Here’s a report by some well known entities (WetPaint, and the Altimeter Group - which was joined by the famous Jeremiah Owyang recently) that should be a good read for Brands that are scratching their head about allocating Marketing resources to Social Media/Engagement Marketing. Here’s an excerpt from the intro:

“A surprising conclusion: While much has been written questioning the value of social media, this landmark study has found that the most valuable brands in the world are experiencing a direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement. The relationship is apparent and significant: socially engaged companies are in fact more financially successful.”

Enjoy!. We won’t say “we told you so” :).

Nice article on Adage that talks about the impedance mismatch between company structure and the benefits that social media could bring.

A great article by Freddie Laker on adage, with the following comment from yours truly…

“Love the article!. Not only am I big believer, but have actually built a product to promote this concept. I agree with jamiesocial that a “campaign” is not the right frame of reference for conversations, and that what is best is to have an ecosystem where those who care about a brand just plug in and express themselves, and the brands can participate meaningfully. I think the concept of Brands & consumers conversing is in its infancy, and over time the mechanics and the models will mature. However, it is a critically important direction in Marketing.”

We couldn’t agree more with Mr Vaidyanathan’s views in this article published by Economic Times. Our experience talking to some brands can be summarized as follows. They agree that online engagement is important and highly impactful, but they are reluctant to invest the time, are happy with the status quo, and are comfortable thinking that this can be postponed to some time in the future.. Online engagement is held to a far higher “ROI” standard compared to advertising even if its cost is a small fraction of the traditional advertising budget.

With the support and impetus given by folks such as Mr Vaidyanathan, the powerful force of Engagement Marketing will surely come to be part of the mainstream sooner rather than later. The concluding part of the article carries the gist:

“An even better approach would be to use the force to work for you….

Finally, user generated content is not just more information, it’s more credible. We can discuss the trappings, but can’t hide from the wisdom of the collective. Better to harness it. “

Mashable posted a thought provoking article on the question “Is Social Media making Corporate Websites irrelevant?”. Our short answer is “no”, but our long answer is about the role that corporate websites play in the overall digital footprint of a brand. Adam Ostrow, the author of the Mashable article, articulates a good set of pros & cons of using Facebook vs Corporate Site in a campaign, and concludes by leaning towards a Facebook based campaign.

The either-or question posed by the article is a limited one, or rather is subtext in a larger question about the role of each of the online elements (Corporate site, BrandAdda, Facebook, Ning, Myspace, Orkut, Youtube, Flickr, Twitter, etc etc) in a Brand’s digital presence. We believe that Brands sorely need Engagement with Consumers to thrive in the new world, and need an Engagement platform that goes beyond the boundaries of a specific Social Media destination, even if the destination is something as large as Facebook. In other words, a “portable” or “multi-platform” engagement experience that “integrates” the best of each destination is what’s needed. It frees Brands from trying to pick one or the other, or investing in multiple, disconnected campaigns.

Corporate websites are great for “informational content” around a Brand. Building engagement tools into a corporate website is expensive (time, money, security vulnerabilities, performance, traffic acquisition, etc) and a silo’d effort. Engagement is best left to destinations that are focussed on it. Traffic is best leveraged wherever it is. What is needed is an effort to integrate the best-of-breed tools and destinations into a cohesive platform.

Imagine this scenario, which we’re enabling with the BrandAdda platform.  Brand X has FAQs and other informational content / support content on its corporate site. It shares “how-to” videos, and exclusive clips of its Brand Ambassador on YouTube. It has an “Idea Center” to tap into the creativity of its audience. It has a “Promotion Center” where it publishes its offers/promotions. It has an “Ad Center” where it publishes its big-budget ad-campaigns content to solicit feedback on how the campaigns are doing and to optimize its campaigns. It needs to do quick dipstick studies with polls. Wouldn’t it be great if a consumer can experience all of this functionality & content, regardless of whether they are on Ning or Facebook or a corporate site?.

You may call this “Engagement in a box”, or “ONE-Social”. We call it “BrandAdda” :).

In a recent post, we outlined the what of Engagement Marketing. We laid out the essential characteristics of Engagement Marketing. Hopefully, this will help Brands understand it better. Naturally, the next question a Brand might ask is “Why is it good for me?“.

The very core of Engagement Marketing is to tap into the hearts & minds of your consumers. It doesn’t have to be all consumers - just those that are interested in your Brand and are affected by it in good and bad ways. When a Brand is able
to connect with consumers in this way, the sky is the limit for the value that it brings.

So what are the ways in which you can benefit?

1. A perennial source of ideas on what consumers would really like from the Brand
   You expand your pool of creativity & innovation beyond your company’s borders.  You have thousands, if not millions, thinking for you.  Apparently, Dell & Starbucks love this, and so do many consumers. And there are many startups that try to  provide exactly this service (SuggestionBox.com, Uservoice.com, CrowdSound.com, ShouldDoThis.com, etc)
2. An instantly available focus group you can reach out to help with your decision-making
3. A way to measure and optimize your ad campaigns in traditional media
   All you have to do is ask, and you can optimize the gazillions you spend on advertisement without a clear understanding of its impact and effectiveness.
4. A great audience to help you with Product Testing before launch
   Note that you’re dealing with an audience you know. This helps you get just  the feedback you need.
5. A highly impactful PR channel
   When your involvement is trust-generating, you don’t just have a PR team anymore, you have an army!!. Imagine the waves & vibes that this army can generate for you, both online and offline.
   A common concern you may have is “What if it is negative vibes?“. Wouldn’t you rather be there to address the reasons for the negative vibes and tackle the problem before it becomes a crisis?. Imagine the positive goodwill you will gain when you deal with it head-on and turn the tide. Will the problem go away if you hide or suppress it?. The Streisand Effect could work against you.
6. A sound way to nurture leads for your products & services
   When you’re there to listen, talk, and share, you become a very personable brand.  Your Brand gains the aura of the human touch. Borrowing a phrase from this fine article, you become a magnet. Its better to be a magnet than a hammer!.
7. A great way to share useful and fun content with consumers
   It could be exclusive photos or video clips of your Brand Ambassador. It could be a how-to video. It could be free downloads of music, ringtones, wallpapers etc. It could be your promotions & offers. There are many things you could share with an engaged audience. Not just any audience, but an audience you know something about, and an audience that is loyal to you.

We, at BrandAdda, are building just the platform, tools and applications to help you realize these benefits. Do take a look and let us know your feedback.

Engagement Marketing is a new genre of marketing that is enabled by the ease of access and interactivity of the internet, and by the penetration of internet usage in every aspect of our lives. Some call it Conversational Marketing. We like to call it Partnership Marketing. Even Dialogue Marketing orTwo-way Marketing fits the bill. Folks at Hubspot call it Inbound Marketing. So what is this thing?. What’s behind these buzzphrases?.

We think it is best to describe it in terms of its essential attributes. Here are the 7 essential characteristics of Engagement Marketing:

1. There is a Dialogue between the Brand and the Consumers
   Its a two-way street. Consumers talk. Brands listen and respond. Brands talk. Consumers listen and respond. Openness & transparency are the hallmarks of the conversation. Any “acting”, “staging”, or “hidden agenda” is harmful in the long run. Trust leads to loyalty and tolerance. So Brands that build trust will do well.
   Brands should be willing to accept that the dialogue may not always be rosy. The Brands that work through a tough conversation with openness, honesty and willingness to listen and act will get ahead. Dell did a remarkable job in going from Dell Hell to Dell Swell. Brands that shy away from “critical” conversations, or those that try to suppress problems invariably end up losing Brand Equity. Look at how Skoda decided to deal with a customer complaint, and the gigantic proportions this issue has gained.
   This goes to show that, in the brave new world, Brands no longer have the control over Branding that they did in the past.
2. There is value in the conversation for both the Brand and the Consumers
   Consumers are in it because they perceive value in it. It could be some content for free; something entertaining; a new product they get to try out first; information about how to use a product; the emotional satisfaction of letting their feedback out where it counts; the pride of flexing their intellectual muscles in terms of new ideas; the fun of sharing their experience, their collections, their knowledge; etc.
   Brands are in it because they learn about how they are doing, about what exactly they should be building, and most of all because there is no better way to build a robust, healthy business than by nurturing a base of happy customers and leads.
3. Quality of the Consumer audience is more important than Quantity
   The conversation is meaningful when it is conducted with genuine interest. A handful of engaged participants can lead to a lot more value than a huge mass of disinterested individuals.
4. Brands are in the conversation to listen more than to talk
   They listen, respond and listen some more. They are not eager to sell, sell, sell. A good listener has many friends.
5. The entire Company is behind the Conversation
   Its not just the Marketing department. Product design, customer service, quality assurance, manufacturing, sales, etc have as much to do with the conversation as Marketing.
6. It is a continuous, living, breathing process
   It is not just a campaign with a start & stop date. It takes constant work and nurturing. The Brand gets value out of it in proportion to the effort that is put into it.
7. All Engagement Marketing is Social Media Marketing, but not all Social Media Marketing is Engagement Marketing
   Case in point: an ad blast on Facebook has no engagement factor to it.

The knight in shining armour when it comes to this mode of Marketing is Dell. Just look at all their efforts on building and empowering a community.

We believe Engagement Marketing should be an essential component of any Marketing Mix, alongside the traditional methods that focus on sending one-way Marketing messages to a mass or niche audience. We’ve built BrandAdda to nurture and promote this new form of marketing. Watch for our next post on why Engagement Marketing is good for Brands.

We are happy to report the latest addition to the SmartCrowds team - Arun Prabhakar.

Arun completed his graduation this year at MEC, Cochin.  He likes to tinker with code and websites. He was part of the design & editing team for his campus website, and was also the organizer for the hack competition during the college techfest this year. He has won prizes, too many to list, at various Coding Contests - most notably a First prize during Shastra ‘08 at IIT Madras. He blogs regularly at http://digitalpbk.blogspot.com/ (warning: very geeky stuff).

Welcome aboard Arun!.

This wonderful description of a brand was given by Tom Bernardin, Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide. We often perceive a brand to be just a product, but really it’s so much more. It’s a face, a warm fuzzy feeling, a bright light of cheer on a dark rainy night, a memory of something happy…. and so much more. That’s the secret behind the long life and growing profits of a McDonalds or a P&G.

At BrandAdda we’re giving life to Mr Bernardin’s statement. By bringing the brand and its consumer face to face and helping them to interact in a meaningful manner so that the results achieved are satisfactory both. After all, the consumer has a right to speak out for or against the brand by virtue of his/her loyalty to it and the brand needs that feedback to grow and thrive.