Interactive Video "CONTENT" Usage for the Better

All those who are into social media, its evolution, its potential and what it can achieve in merely no time would be interested to know the power of compelling and interactive content and the way it has produced shifts in the educational paradigm. Far are gone the days when education used to be boring to many students; the days when students did not have real-time interactive resources to pursue their academic objectives. The situation today is altogether different. Education has become more interesting and more friendly thanks to resources outside conventional means. Exemplifying things always helps to gain a more profound understanding. 

Just recently, an excellet TED talk by Salman Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy revealed how their academy assist students to not only improve grades but also enjoy education and be more creative - their way of "REINVENTING EDUCATION". Take a look:

As I streamline this, the key takeaway from this video is how improving online content and making it more interactive can benefit all entities involved; students, teachers, content creators and the education sector on a whole.

ENJOY!

Spotify’s Magic Spell: Sustainable or Fragile?

Last Tuesday, September 28, 2010, Stockholm School of Economics received the visit of Anders Svensson, Sales Director (Sweden), Spotify AB, to deliver a seminar to inspire students. Students at Handels were psyched and looked up to the prospect. And why wouldn’t students behave in such a way or everyone else, for that matter? Spotify's uprising reputation and the way they have made an impact in the music industry in totally in line with the position they have earned themselves today. The guys down there have not only made a substantial impact in the way they have produced a service that has combated illegal music sharing but its image is still very much buzzed. The latter impression is likely to maintain the status-quo. It seems Spotify’s emergence to the limelight and its sharp rise to stardom is only going to rise. Just recently, they launched operations in the Netherlands which bears witness to the Spotify upsurge. Though Anders only shared information in bits and pieces regarding how they undertook the entire situation from conception, it was still very insightful. So, let’s talk the talk!

Inception of the Spotify idea dates back to 2005. Anders and Co. realized that music could be a prospective source of revenues. At that moment, music distribution was in chaos. Lots and lots of sites gave the consumer the probability to download music for free. This really concerned artists and different record labels. On the other hand, the consumers enjoyed the prospect of listening to free music. The guys at Spotify understood that unless they keep on providing music for free, no one would really care about their idea. At the beginning, Spotify comprised of good schools of thought that had a far-reaching vision. The way they went ahead with the venture was to promote their brand by building a product that is appreciated by the consumer. It was a huge challenge! Ander said they were lucky to have people who were really enthusiastic about the idea and decided to go ahead with the idea at all costs. It was hard work at the beginning. Anders depicted that it took half a year to construct the heart of Spotify which was one of the many obstacles they had to face. It was also important to convince record labels. It took Spotify 18 months to fabricate a business model that worked profitable on a mutual basis. And what a business model! Today, Spotify works with 80,000 record companies with a song catalogue that approaches 10 million hits.

As it is widely known that initially Spotify offered both the premium version and the free version of the service, there was reluctance to engage music consumers who were ready to pay. By looking at the number of subscribers Spotify has today, a mere 500,000, many would describe it as very small. This perception is contradicted by the fact that despite the small number of subscriptions, it is by far the biggest music subscription service in Europe. Anders asserted that one of the big grounds behind the success of Spotify is the surfacing of mobile devices. With these portable devices, people carry their music with them everywhere. As the buzz grew, Spotify executives forecasted that it would be extremely inconsiderate if they were to limit themselves to a product that provides the consumer with a streaming service only. The decided that they will correlate the service with something that is easy to manage and is user friendly, an excellent mode of attracting more consumers. Anders went on to discuss the role of social media in building the Spotify brand. Facebook emerged with roars and it was pivotal in building the Spotify brand. It allowed people to share content with their friends and disseminate it further. While the service reached the masses and gained appeal, it became a symbol of fashion within the young generation. Anders et al. understood the importance of sharing content over social networks. It was significant that the service should not hold technical facets but instead it should be easy to use which was also very advantageous for advertisers. Producing a combo that encloses music and ads was awesome. As Anders advocated, it was “FANTASTIC” for an advertiser. Music activates the sense of hearing which is very, very important in attracting consent and thus in building a brand in the online arena. Anders acquainted us with the concept that brands are not just about products anymore. A transition has taken place in the way brands are perceived, interpreted and positioned. Consequently, brands are more of an experience as we promote them online. To reach a point of critical mass, it is important that the brand experience canvasses around three other features as well namely emotions, exclusivity of the service provided to the consumer and the consequential engagement of the consent of the consumer. Once these four features are culminated together and are intertwined at each layer, it will ascertain the conquest of the consumer’s assent.

Anders concluded by saying that if you want to convince, Spotify is the way to go! I agreed on many aspects of his speech which contained humor, hard facts, entrepreneurship, branding and marketing. I would presume these traits should be enough to keep on growing and remain competitively advantageous as they plan to launch operations in the US. Will Spotify enter the US market with an alternating business model? Will it be able to cast its magic spell and reach the mainstream audience in the US the way it has done in Europe? Only time will tell!

The “Taxi 020” Social Media Urge …… Remains Urged!

The follow-up meeting in the Taxi 020 premises promised progress and undiluted enthusiasm. Company executives were already excited and recognized the potential of social media marketing if executed in a flawless manner. Though there are a number of decisions that yet remain to be undertaken, all entities involved are eager to get some sort of a campaign underway. Whatever decisions are made in the future in regards to online marketing for “Taxi 020”, they have to be built on the previous sessions we have had. Some of the actors who were present in the previous gathering remained absent. However, it did not distress the passion to carry out teamwork. Every person was really up to the task and tried to contribute in a positive way. A significant feature of the gathering was the way in which we utilized time. I felt the notion of time management was handled with effective measures. It can primarily be owed to the fact that, under the circumstances, everyone knew their roles pretty well. People knew they had to deliver and they had to make things happen. Commenting on each other’s insights was prominent, useful and fruitful. It allowed us to be more efficient and clarified our actions even more as we are only a few weeks away from executing what we have in mind.

Anne, an executive from an advertising agency based in central Stockholm and also a member of the team I partake in for this project, had performed her role pretty well. I noticed she was more focused on the subsequent steps the team should undertake. However, the element of uncertainty was a hindrance that eluded her vision a little. That was where analysis of insights coupled with appreciation and some critique on each other’s views made way to the forefront. This deepened our visions and illuminated thoughts and perceptions and registered them to a new level. Very accommodating!

Building on the first team meeting, I had to play my role and put together the very basis of social media, identification of best practices associated with it that can be implemented within the highly networked internet that we know today. I managed to convey certain valuable insights which I thought hindered us from the very first meeting. As I delivered the talk to the executives of Taxi 020 and Anne, the nod of the heads from them motivated me further. I engaged elements of humor in my presentation which eventually made the audience giggle. However, the most important aspect was that we had made precious inroads into the project. We had discussed how to boost the brand and what courses of action were central while we use social media strategies. I am sure everyone learned that to be able to utilize social media effectively, it has to be done in close connection with the audience we try to target. An interesting aspect that was unleashed was that using social media strategies in the online world had to be based on interaction with the consumer, gaining feedback from their experiences, their suggestions regarding a particular service and communication with them in real-time or nearly real-time are crucial to success in the online arena. This is merely a start. Once in possession of concrete social media strategies, one has to be extremely speedy and has to encompass symptoms that have to be derived from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Online marketing nowadays requires one to be dynamic, efficient, deliver quality content and interact with the consumers. A company that is a newbie and is about to fall within this sphere may be prone to undesired outcomes. However, this does not signify at any instance that success is a milestone that remains in a lone corner. Even if failure results as the first step in our journey, I believe success is eventually enjoyed and efforts are rewarded. It also forms the very roots of entrepreneurship. One has to consider the possibility of disdain while high hopes are to remain paramount in a new venture. I believe this is the way to go and I am certain whatever efforts, decisions and tasks we carry out, we will end up seeing green and healthy fields that bear resemblance to the gardens of Eden.

I may not have unearthed every single aspect as to what strategy we are moving forward with. I consider it would be harsh for the project and entities involved. I assume it would be implausible and unethical to give too much away. At the same time, as I reflect of this claim, I feel my act is full of injustice and betrayal towards social media. The essence of social media is to share. Unfortunately, I am unable to do that at the moment. This leads me to reflect on another very famous statement which says “Everything is fair in love and war”. Using this statement as a lame excuse, I feel obliged to extend this statement to something along the lines of “Everything is fair in love, war and ONLINE MARKETING!” I draw heart from the fact that at least a few people would agree with me at this point …

Web 2.0 on the Move

My recent return to “Winter Wonderland” has been marked with a number of interesting episodes already. I would love to express each and every single experience. However, right now I shall be discussing something very interesting which also relates to my curriculum. It has been two weeks that I landed in Stockholm after a great summer vacation and as I arrive, I have been obscured by meetings, events and projects. One of the projects I am working on has been in close connection with a Swedish consumer company namely “Taxi 020”. The aspiration here was to promote the company’s brand using social media or Web 2.0, for that matter. It has been widely accepted that social media allows maneuvering and exercising strategies that are both time effective and cost effective. The company executives believe that it is a good line of action to apply these practices in order to promote the brand of the company and build long term relationships with its customers.

Merely two weeks, attending a meeting with the Marketing Manager of Taxi 020, I gained insights about the company, its evolution, the manner it has approached marketing and what they are planning to do in the future. I understood that one of the strategies the company executed about 5 years ago was to smear yellow all over their cars in order to catch the eye-balls of the consumer. The strategy was successful as it exhibited features of the differentiation strategy that we regularly speak about at school. The company decided to increase the number of yellow cars to approximately 1000 in Stockholm. They also operate in other cities of Sweden as well such as in Malmo or Gothenburg. The number of cars in cities other than Stockholm is very small speaking strictly on a relative account. However, to the flipside of the company, the strategy fell short of establishing a long term relationship with the consumer as it would have wanted. This was attributed to several incidents that took place whose consequences have been very upsetting.

Since the taxi business is a very conservative business, it is essential that the product/service that is offered to the consumer is easy to handle in addition to deliver customer satisfaction, which is a key success factor for long term sustenance. At the moment in Stockholm, there are three major taxi services with “Taxi Stockholm” in the limelight. Taxi 020, on the other hand, had in mind that to be able to compete head-to-head with Taxi Stockholm, pricing was one aspect that could alter the consumers’ consent and attract them towards them. Consequently, Taxi 020 exercised the segmentation tactic quite effectively. The company decided that it would serve three categories of customers; the general public, companies and several government parties. It worked absolutely immaculately until the global economic recession came into the act. The consequences were massive for Taxi 020. The strategy started to falter briskly. However, there was one sector that not only sustained its state but instead the volume of consumers increased which was quite fascinating for the company. This sector was the public sector. It all owed to the famous but dreadful winter that hit Sweden last year. The bad winter resulted in a good season for the cab company.

A number of years ago, the company had also deployed other marketing communication tactics such as placement of ads in local newspapers. Sadly, the return was rather slim as taxi is a service that is only used when it is needed. A consumer never actually know when he may need a cab and why he may need it, suggested the Taxi 020 Marketing Manager, Frederick Scholander. Frederick asserted that one of the critical aspects that would attract the consumer to utilize this service is to know the telephone number of the company. Therefore, the telephone number should be so easy to communicate which, in turn, allows the consumer recall it on an immediate basis. This has been one area which the company has been trying to address for the last couple of years. Moreover, the company has also been involved in certain other endeavors such as the introduction of a special price for “Girls” that allowed its practice for a certain period of the day. The strategy started to work fine until government and law-enforcement agencies took the issue in their hands and ascribed the act to discrimination resulting in massive repercussions for the company. It soon became a big concern as the word was spreading at the pace of a bullet. More people used to speak about it habitually. Negative word-of-mouth marketing for Taxi 020!

As the company struggled to attain excellence and create a brand that is not only widely accepted but also assisted them to build a competitive advantage, the executives at the company acquired the support of Robin Teigland, Associate Professor at Stockholm School of Economics. Robin has always been very energetic and keen to try new things. She suggested that the company could potentially adopt social media as a channel to promote the brand as the channel is cost effective and gets the target audience spot on. Frederick was intrigued somewhat. He decided to go ahead with the venture and has assumed the essence of social media aggressively with sincere efforts and is hopeful it will pay off. I am also working on the project playing my role as a student to facilitate the marketing process. The campaign is well-underway and all the entities involved are willful that whatever endeavors we deliver result fruitful. This reinforces my belief that Web 2.0 is not only scoring big but it will be a key factor that will allow us to achieve the SOLO objective we pursue with so much perseverance.

TEDXSSE4M = “CHANGE AHEAD!"

It was a great evening at Stockholm School of Economics attending the TED event, namely TEDXSSE4M, organized by the 4M (Masters in Marketing and Media Management) class on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. The entire team falls no short of praise and tribute for organizing such an outstanding event. The amount of effort that was put into the organizing was clearly perceptible. The event comprised three awesome lecture sessions, each limited to an 18 minute timeslot, a TED standard, so they say. All lectures were great. However, it was Robin Teigland, Associate Professor at SSE who stole the show. Despite the limited time in which to deliver her speech, she managed to coagulate everything she wanted to say in an incredible manner. It was one of the best short speeches I have heard. The speech revolved around Second Life (a virtual world), social media and amalgamating these to leverage the marketing world in the days to come. The lecture solidified my perceptions and beliefs so as to look more aggressively into the future. The future looks very challenging, transitive and promising at the same time. The theories presented by Robin contained innovative and radical elements in terms of how to improve a business as we look into the prospective landscape. She gave examples of certain key firms that have exercised this strategy already. The potential for marketing to reach soaring altitudes via Second Life is out there for marketers to exploit.

I, personally, enjoyed the chance to be under her supervision in the first module of the Media Management course at SSE. She is truly a great inspiration and the way she goes around things is always worth admirable words. All in all, Robin seems to be thinking excessively into the future. It has to be appreciated that her endeavors are directed towards motivating marketing opportunities in new entrepreneurial ways. The unpredictable future looks somewhat predictable now. Should we be expecting colossal change ahead?

Give to Receive, Receive to Give

The new BUZZ word!!! "SOCIAL MEDIA" ..... Quite alarming, isn´t it??? Recent stats suggest that this term has been around for quite a while now. Does this mean that the so-called term "BUZZ" is implausible or is it really new? Well, this is quite a predicament which could potentially shape out to be an extensive debate.

My recent move to Northern Europe has compelled me to get involved in Social Media somewhat. Why so? Well, the reasons are two-fold. First, the nature of my daily routines involve studying a Masters program in Media Management at two of the finest institutions renowned worldwide namely, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Stockholm School of Economics in the capital of Scandinavia - Stockholm. Having spent a couple of months here assessing my curricular studies which reflected on certain elements pertinent to Social Media, I reached a conclusion that the best way to learn Social Media is to actually exercise Social Media, thereby conferring a practical perspective. I must outline the way I approached this entire situation. My initial involvement into practical Social Media was purely incidental and unconsciously driven. We are living in an era where it may be considered criminal not to be in possession of an email. It would be perceived to be really odd to make a statement along those lines in a world where boundaries are becoming fuzzier and hard to define. This, consequently, helped me establish an initial contact with this entire eclipse. This contact has strenthened significantly over recent years. The exponential development in the area of media technology and the brisk response to new services has obliged the progress in this particular relationship. I foresee this relationship would strengthen in the upcoming days, months and even years - so to speak! The second reason that justifies my association with Social Media is life in Sweden itself. It is considered a common practice in Sweden to communicate via email and having a strong acquiantance with social media for several purposes which, in turn, has proven to be quite successful in a variety of ways. Adding more spice to this speculation, it is considered a good line of attack to reach the masses here as well. Sweden is also among the top countries that encloses numerous bloggers. This entire story line has had an influence on me as well somewhat and has driven me to compete for the zeal to engage myself more into this communication exchange. It is considered a reasonable medium to express interests, thought, sentiments and emotions. Social Media is taking its toll pretty well here. Watch out, though! Bells may start ringing when I mention this. Is toll the correct terminology to be applied? I am a little skeptical right now. Possibly it is the correct terminology. Nonetheless, with the essence of social media becoming increasingly social (not to mention it is FREE to use), the term "toll" becomes futile. Anyhow, avoiding debates for now! This can be looked into further later on ........

I have to reiterate that a blog is good way to express and communicate thoughts, behavior, interests, sentiments and emotions. From a personal perspective, I would actually need to undergo this experience before I come out jumping to statements that I have heard from peoples' mouths. I will try to stay active on this issue and share my experiences of this wonderful country. I have had the opportunity to endure nice experiences here where I have come across several extraordinary, tender, humble and sweet people (one person in particular!) who utter flowery words that just steal the moment. I anticipate I am destined to continue towards this. I wonder if Social Media and Blogging assist this in addition to my aim to contribute to the development of modern media in ways I can. Time will tell. Effort is required. Anyways, this is it for now.

Hasta la Vista!