WAS: The era of TAKING from the internet.

The web used to be a place where most people who uses it is not contributing anything whatsoever but rather ‘extracting’  something out of it. So the web was a giant digital library. This was the era of WEB 1.0.

IS: The era of SHARING with the internet.

Then comes WEB 2.0. This blog and this post itself is an example of WEB 2.0 at work. So instead of users only extract information from the web, we’re actually the ones that provide or submit the information. Now most websites that survives and still has its power to keep people coming back to their sites are UGC sites (UGC = Users Generated Content. So the content of the site is coming from its users). Easiest examples? Facebook, blogs, reviews in amazon.com, rottentomatoes.com, and so on. Billioaires are manufactured from these kinds of sites.

WILL: The era of LIVING in the internet.

Today’s technology and digital trends are proving that the internet isn’t stopping at WEB 2.0. So get ready, cause WEB 3.0 is coming, and its coming fast. Many speculations and rumors about how the Web 3.0 is going to work. But what i know is that the internet is not going to be only about sharing information, but it’s going to be your FUNDAMENTAL / ESSENTIAL part of your day to day life. With Web 3.0, you wont need to search in Google and browse through the search result pages and see which one is relevant with what you’re looking for. The internet will do it for you. Yes, its that intelligent.Example: If you’re looking for a place to eat, you usually type in something like ‘asian food’ or ‘fusion restaurant’, and so on. With Web 3.0, you can type ‘I want to eat at a restaurant, with cozy atmosphere, delicious asian food, good service’, and the internet will give you not only relevant recommendation but also detailed information that you didnt even think was possible to be given by a ‘machine’ called the internet. And you know what, you can do those kinds of things while you’re walking along Orchard Road, or while looking far to the Eiffel tower, or while sitting on the toilet with your pants down.

So how are those going to affect my brand campaings? Simple. Campaigns that still focuses itself in ‘telling’ people about their product benefits, promises, and other ‘goombahs’ sweet talks, will DIE. Yes. I said DIE.

What’s gonna happen is that companies will need to involve the consumers EVEN BEFORE THE PRODUCT IS CREATED. So the consumers will no longer become the VICTIM of a brand, but they will become the FOUNDER + CONTRIBUTOR + USER for the brand. How? Well the ‘how’ part is different for one brand and another. But I’m telling you, if you don’t start now, 10 years from now you’ll be looking at your brand in a dark alley with ‘RIP’ signage on top of it.

does your email reach its target?

Im guessing you’ve opened your inbox today. How many email have you got today?

The first thing most people do at their first time in touch with the internet is setting up an email address. This makes email an essential part of everyone’s life nowadays. The days of gluing or licking stamps and ink are washing away. Today, its clicking and reading.

Based on a recent research by a top email marketing corporation in San Fransisco, most people in the US have at least 3 email account for themselves. One as their primary email account (for business or primary correspondence), one for their not-so important emails (used for online form fillings, online purchases, etc), and the other one is a free web-based email (yahoo, msn, gmail, etc) Why? Mostly because they want to avoid SPAM.

As much as spam filters has grown, people still feel at risk with their emails. You can’t blame them. Some email marketing are just too ‘rude’ in the way they ‘invade’ people’s inbox. They send email advertisings (email blasts, newsletters, etc) with whatever email address they have in hand. We call this method: ‘Spray and Pray’. They spray without clear target, they pray at least a few percents made it till people read it.

Is this really how email marketing works? Seriously, can this even be called marketing? Cause the way I see it, it’s more like ‘murdering’ a brand slowly to the point people hate the brand.

The more effective way to use email marketing is not the ’spray and pray’ method. Clever brand owners will use email not as a mass marketing tool, but more as a relationship channel between the brand owners and the brand users. Customized email messages with customized content, subjects, and so on, can break the walls users create to filter spams.

The key is to make them WANT to receive your emails. How?  A lot of ways. Surely spamming is not one of them. Having hundreds of email database in your hand isn’t necessarily a starting point for your email marketing program. Most clever email marketing works out a ‘clean’ database which makes the email addresses in the database are relevant with the brand and the email messages they want to send. One online motorcycle apparels company, uses email marketing very wisely. They first tracked which users buy which kind of apparels at their online store, and then a customized email content that’s relevant with the users previously purchase behavior is sent. This makes the email very relevant to each and every single one of the users. This is one of the many ways to use email marketing effectively and efficiently.

So if you think email marketing is all about spamming, you’re soooo wrong. It’s simple, people dont want you coming into their properties unnoticed, especially if you come with promotional or commercial agenda. Unless they know you and they find you relevant with their needs or wants. Sounds familiar? Yes, email marketing isnt much different with conventional direct mail.

speak and spread

Mention 5 advertising medium in 10 seconds. That’s not hard, is it? TV, Print, Radio, Internet, Mobile. From those 5 mediums, you can break them down into more specific medias: Tabloids, magazines, microsites, sms, bluetooth, and so on and so on. You’ll be surprised as to how the advertising media has evolved. So what’s the first ever advertising medium in the world? Before there’s this box with moving picture we call TV, before this paper filled with text and pictures we then call magazine and newspaper, before there’s this little soap-sized box with buttons and numbers on it which then we call mobile phones, before all those, what kind of medium are people using for advertising or promoting their product? Back then, even the word ‘advertising’ might not been founded.

Word of Mouth. The first advertising medium in the world. While all other medias are losing their capability to effectively deliver a message up to a significant measurable action, this first advertising medium never loses its touch. Not from the very first time its used thousands of years ago till now.

When you want to find a good doctor, or a hotel for vacation, or a good romantic restaurant, or a fuel-efficient car, or a housing estate, or a maid for your house, or a school for your kids, or a driver for your family, or an employee for your company, or everything else in this world, the safest way is always a reference from someone else’s experience or a direct referral from a friend or relatives. That’s Word of Mouth.

Ever thought why its still powerful and never loses its touch?  Because its never been used ‘commercially’. When you ask your friends or relatives, you dont have this worry that his words about this or that product is because he’s taking profit from it. So the main reason is OBJECTIVITY. This is what’s been losing in the world of advertising.

Has products utilized this medium? Yes. One example, look at the back of book covers, full with quotes from famous people or relevant people. That’s more or less is word of mouth campaign, in a written and simple manner. You think if this or that guy thinks this book is good, then it must be good. That’s word of mouth.

For consumers, one thing that makes word of mouth an even better medium for advertising is that it requires the product to be really good. If you’re a mediocre trying to look good, word of mouth wont work.

The best part is, unlike other medium like TV, newspaper or even handphones, this medium is embedded in every single human being eversince birth. Beat that!

Battle for control

Look everywhere. Turn your head right, left, front, behind. Almost all media you touch nowadays have at least 1 campaign related to the BATTLE FOR CONTROL.

Yes, the seat for presidency is a battle. Its’ been a battle and it’ll always be a battle. Why? For control? Is it really worth it if the battle is for control? That question can only be answered if we can elaborate the word ‘control’ for this case.

What kind of control? Why do you want that control so much? Because you love your people so much? Because you love your country that much? Because you see things that aren’t right and you think you can do something about it?

Anyway, aside from its own personal objectives and ego war, presidential campaigns are always divided into these 2 categories:

1. The Defense Campaign – Message: What we’ve been doing are already right on track and working well
2. The Offense Campaign – Message: What’s been done are wrong and I can make it right.

Not really complicated right? The rest is only about finding which part do you want to focus your message to. Its pretty much the same like campaigning a brand. Endorsing existing brand, or promoting a new brand by mocking other brands.

We as people who understand branding, marketing or advertising, might sometimes laugh or applause presidential campaigns that are taking place in Indonesia. But nevertheless, this is our beloved country that’s at stake. So look deeper beyond the messages, drill deeper beyond the faces, and find the essential truth behind it all.

“This is democracy at work” the politicians said. “This is branding at work” I said.

Not sure about the insight of this ad. As far as i know, buying a mercedes is about buying a brand. Not the spec of the car, or the feature inside it.

Not only that, the long copy and the way they use the font and all are just not ‘mercedes’ enough. Addressing your product promises and features in a creative way is ok, but addressing it while not considering the heritage and hundreads of years-charisma building is a bit unforgivable.

a non-mercedes mercedes ad