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There are 6 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India" The Idea of Outsourcing SEM to USA - Will it Work?
The idea in itself is not far fetched at all, as Peter backs it up with the points mentioned in IAMAI’s report. The biggest roadblock for the growth of the SEM market in India is lack of skilled man power, while the saturated US markets are looking for newer client opportunities. And what we have is perfect match to be tied in the binds of holy matrimony. According to Peter,
Very valid points. And to add to this he also mentions the experience that American SEM professionals will get on global arena which is fast becoming an imperative requirement in the flat world. However, this suggestion obviously would have its naysayers and doubting Toms, and on my part will play one for now. The biggest disadvantage to this suggestion is the dynamics of the cost. As much as the growth expected in the industry is true, it is still an Indian industry, and it still presents a huge cost advantage especially related to man power. I am sure the primary reason, Indian companies still look for Indian SEM firms is because of the price advantage that they offer even in a scarcely talented market. How our American counterparts would work this problem out would be an interesting story to read. The next thorn in the path is understanding the target audience itself. Considering its varied demography with nearly 20 languages and a mightily divided terrain with numerous sub cultures, creating converting copies and marketing efforts under tight spends to a divided base wouldn’t quite be easy even with the decade of additional experience in hand. There are a lot of industries in India with their own sovereign demands quite different from what you would see elsewhere. Understanding the working ethos also therefore would be quite a task at hand for the US firms. And thirdly, purely going by the number of GAP members, almost every other country has a lot to catch up on. There are only 3 countries with more than 20 Adwords Qualified companies (not including the US). Wouldn’t it be a better option for US based SEM firms to build a base in Europe before Asia? Just a thought. These are just some of the questions that popped into my mind while I read the article. Surely there exists an opportunity with the huge growth potential predicted, but are the firms in USA equipped to handle a distinctly unique market? Thanks for the mention and more importantly the post Peter, it is certainly an interesting thought. Hopefully someone can actually take it forward and see if it is an idea that can work. Image from MSNBC Media Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult 2008 The Webrising: Aamir Khan Leads the Bolly Brigade with Internet Only Promotion for Ghajini
According to SmashHits, which reported this story, Khan stands a chance to reduce his promotional expenses significantly by using the less ‘costly’ Internet medium, and it is this that drives the decision to contribute to an web only promotion. But WATBlog being WATBlog feels that the recent success of Jaane Tu a Jaane which had a predominant Internet presence might have been the crucial factor in such a decision. Aamir had used his blog extensively to promote Imran and his debut movie (which making it seem like a sales effort we must admit) . To my mind it was a complete and excellent Internet marketing strategy whether planned or natural, because it went beyond the movie’s release and smartly garnered repeat visitors for the flick. Like using the blog to ask a question about an additional song, and then using the evergreen tactic of time sensitive offer, “…the song would only run for a week,” was classic marketing and yet so new media in its execution. Read this post by WATBlog about other instances that Aamir used. Those who had a close eye on JTYJN’s digital marketing efforts might also recall some innovative advertising on part of MSN and the promoters of the movie, wherein we saw some cool rich media advertising. I will get the screenshots of the same later for you guys. They were certainly different from the regular banners and did a smart job of promoting a new comer the way it is meant to be. (The ad basically had Imran walking across the site and knocking on your screen and fading away. ) With Ghajini, Aamir also has a mobile phone version of the movie’s website in mind. And, the entire online promotion is planned to be out by the end of October. Now despite all the innovative efforts that went behind in his previous venture, we feel the power of social media wasn’t used to its fullest potential then. File and Media sharing, microblogging and other popular blogs weren’t used optimally then, and can provide a kick ass solution this time. I mean something as simple as goof ups during shooting or Aamir’s training regimen to build his bulk as a video on YouTube will set the site on fire and go viral like anything. And these are just two of the numerous gimmicks one can have. With Youtube launching their Indian version and Myspace still being a nascent player in the Indian context and to add to them the new crop of Indian social networks, they are sure to jump on this statement and would be licking their lips in anticipation. While the success of the film might not entirely depend on the online promotion given that it is an Aamir Khan movie, the fact that one of the industry’s biggest stars and now a successful producer has the gumption to look forward means we can see more people following suit. And they should. And forget Bollywood regular marketers need to learn a lesson or two that their MBA didn’t teach them from this effort. The opportunities are so many, especially with regards to social media. Have media sharing sites to promote the film and use sponsors to earn money from them as well. Have media downloads through file sharing services and save on costs. Use blogs to write a review of your website, and build links to get a good SEO result so much so that you won’t even need a PPC campaign. Use the mobile enabled social networks to your advantage and have a mobile enabled promotional tactic in place. The list is potentially endless, and with the right minds working on it, you can have a strong campaign working for you without lighting a fire in your pocket. Hoping this is the rise of the web in mainstream cinema promotion for the good. Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Percept Knorigin Is Online Agency For NoBrokerage.in - A No Broker Listings Oriented Property SiteNobrokerage.in is a site that aims to eliminate the broker from the property business. Surf and Fish Internet Solutions a company that has launched this site recently has said that The website does not encourage brokers and agents to list and is a pure-play customer platform (thats why the name of the site). The other property sites that have been around have been from the three online classified giants of India - Naukri group, Bharatmatrimony Group and Shaadi Group which own 99acres.com, IndiaProperty.com and Makaan.com respectively. But it seems Nobrokerage with its unique name and promise does seem to have hit a right note given that the property prices are very high and a 1-2% brokerage could mean 1-2 lakhs of cash! Inorder to communicate this promise of nobrokerage it has roped in Percept’s digital arm Knorigin which was formed after Percept broke ties with Id8labs (Then called webpercept). Percept knorigin was in the news earlier for being appointed as WAYN.com’s agency and for its acquistions enroute to being a full services agency. Percept also has its own adnetwork in adchakra in association with the international adnetwork adify. All in all it seems Percepts digital arm seems to be quietly adding clients and ramping up various offerings to give the other digital players a run for their money! Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult 7 Advanced Points to Remember While Choosing Your Traffic Monitoring ProgramIt is common knowledge that Google Analytics is the most recommended if not the most popular (it probably is, but I don’t have numbers to show) site traffic analysis program on the web. And for most basic and practical purposes it suffices enough for most webmasters and digital marketers. However, there are plenty of paid analytics systems that do rounds of the web, and they are there for a reason. It should be quite obvious for everyone that a premium service provides data that is in depth and comprehensive as compared to a free service. Now for small time publishers, whose only claim to publishing fame is running a blog (Like me, but I am slightly better, I run 9 blogs :D) this might be of no consequence and advanced services might actually be unwarranted. However, if you happen to run a website that is a business driver and is a platform your business to scale, then a powerful traffic measurement system (TMS) is what you need the most in your online marketing efforts. The question then becomes how do you judge the power of a TMS? Perhaps the following 7 points might come handy to that extent: 1. Real Time UpdatesOne of the biggest hassles with free tracking systems is their lack of concrete real time updates. For revenue driving websites, it is imperative that they have high traffic. Sometimes the traffic is pushed by social bookmarking services, and it often presents an opportunity to convert the visitors into potential clients or subscribers. To do this, it is important that you as a webmaster know that a certain crowd is coming in, and you can make adjustments to your site accordingly. For instance, add a customized message for them, or just let your web host know that you are expecting traffic surplus so that they arrange to keep your site alive. With the numbers that Digg and these days YahooBuzz show, this is more relevant than ever. 2. Tracking Without JavascriptNow Google Chrome might load JavaScript faster, but IE doesn’t and FF is not as fast as the chrome on that front. The problem is only 1% of the users use chrome, and you have 70% users still on the ancient browser and there are others who use adblock plugins which essentially blocks Javascripts. And therefore it is not a wild guess when we say, that there is a significant amount of people who don’t experience Javascript when they browse. Most analytics systems are Javascript enabled, so it is important that you choose one which provides an option of tracking even without JS. 3. Depth in User InteractionWhile a growing website might not need much of this, because it is growing anyway, understanding points of user interaction and activity becomes important once they reach a plateau. This is so that they can improve conversion metrics through user behaviour. So you need systems that track every action of the visitor till the point that he moves out of the site. Which are the points he is clicking. What is his first action on the site? What are the first action of most visitors on the site? This will help analyze questions like- Is this the action I want them to take? Can I make the first action for most visitors simpler and easier? Are they all exiting from a certain place itself? Is that a hole and if it is how can I plug it? 4. Depth in User DemographyThis is specially needed for websites that have big advertising revenues (even small for that matter). Understanding the user and his background and his browsing (or her) behaviour will help in conversions for advertisements. In fact, having such detailed data on the user base itself will lead to more advertisers flocking to your site. With behavioural targeting in vogue these days, I am sure sooner or later a lot more analytics programs will begin providing such data as a basic offer than something advanced. This will also help in knowing what are the most popular resolutions, flash support, javascript support, OS, etc. which also gives knowledge on the user itself with regards to his/her Geekdom so as to say. 5. Accessibility of InformationIf real time tracking is important, then so is real time access to information. So you might also need RSS or email updates, maybe mobile compatible versions, or even widgets that can be accessed from your website administrative panel itself. Essentially a product that will make your life easier and more productive. Accessibility also comes into the picture in terms of sharing data. So if you need to send a report to your upper echelon about the month’s performance, your analytics system should be powerful enough to make it a 5 minute job for you [4 of which goes just in logging into your email :)]. 6. Ability to CustomizeNow for all the jazz and features one might still need data or access to data that is unique to our demands. Or we might need to track multiple sites at the same point which is true in case of networks. So the system you use to track traffic statistics should be scalable and customizable. This can begin from tracking custom data to having a customized dashboard across the board. You are basically looking at developer API or Ajax enabled dashboards. 7. Powerful Yet LightYou need systems which do not eat up resources or slow your site down. So if you have to compare between two analytics programs one among which offers 15 different features and another which offers just 11, you might still want to go for the latter if it loads your site faster. Nothing should be a compromise when it comes to user experience. Otherwise you might not be left with any traffic to measure at all. These are what to my mind are the most important points to consider when dealing with an advanced traffic measurement or site performance system. If you are interested in knowing the different systems available for you to use, these two posts might come in handy for you.
Thumbnail Image: Hamed Saber Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Reliance Entertainment Acquires Willow.TvReliance Entertainment has acquired 70-75% stake in the cricket centric video streaming site willow.tv for an undisclosed sum. Reliance has also announced that it would be investing around 300 crores (75 M$) in this site going forward. Willow.tv had added a feather in its cap when it had acquired the US rights for the streaming of IPL matches which happened in april and may this year. IPL being the huge success it was gave both tremendous traction and I am assuming revenues as well as Willow.tv is a paid subscription site. Reliance Entertainment as a group owns multiple platforms on the web now with Bigadda (Social Networking), Bigflix (DVD rentals and movie downloads) and Zapak Digital (Online gaming). It also is working on BigMaps (Mapping company). It also has other media in BigFm which had has launched online podcasts as well. Willow.tv will be quite an asset for the Reliance Entertainment as cricket is the most favoured form of entertainment in India and people especially NRI’s would be a paying audience for this game on the online front. What will also be interesting is if Reliance rebrands the site into BIG Cricket? Or continues with Willow.tv. Also how it integrates this with its other properties. Reliance Entertainment President Mr. Rajesh Sawhney has himself hinted to a possibility of multiple integration of content and services. Commenting on this acquisition he said, "The acquisition of Willow TV is in line with our strategy to strengthen our presence in the global markets and reinforce our Group’s presence in new media. Not only, there is considerable scope to expand the size, scale and scope of Willow TV portal, we are also looking at launching a Video-Box Service which will seamlessly integrate cricket, movie and television content on the Television Screen which would give our audience great choice and enhanced viewing experience. There is a considerable synergy between Cricket from Willow TV, Movies from Bigflix.com, and telecom services from Reliance Communications which will be now ignited" Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Event Review: Google Social Web and Cloud Computing Conference DelhiNamaste,fellow readers, I am Divyansh sharma a regular reader here at WATBlog, and absolutely love the startup culture, so when i saw an opportunity to contribute towards it by writing an article for WATBlog, i jumped on it! On 5th september i attended Google Social Web and Cloud Computing Conference in Delhi, the event dealt with the basic introduction of opensocial, shindig, and google app engine, and since not a whole lot of new information was presented at the event, i have decided to tilt this Application - This is just a fancy way of saying it, just thing of it as HTML + some JAVASCRIPT thats it or to simplify it a little further, it is your webpage, shown inside an iframe. Shindig - It is a new project in the Apache Software Foundation incubator and is an open source implementation of the OpenSocial specification and gadgets specification. To put it more simply, any platform + shindig = would allow you to build social apps for that platform. What’s in it for me? Now as most of us already know that the most popular social apps are either flash games or appeal to a very general interest, and of course not everyone of us is a Flash game developer or can offer unlimited supply of free sms so its futile to expect or imagine that it is a child’s play to reach millions of users in blink of an eye but what is possible and feasible is to use it as leverage, to use social apps to generate ripples in the market, to expand your presence and attract viral popularity, and build more awareness towards your brand/website so instead of aiming towards millions in a week, target a more feasible number to begin with, how about increasing your readership/visitors by a thousand? or incremental viral increase of a few hundred a day? These numbers are not only possible, but also easy to sustain. This is where the seminar came in, it gave us brief introduction of open social api and a few demos on how to build a simple application using the api, though there isnt much to write about except javacode sniplets which can easily be found here ( http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/ ) Should social applications be a part of your internet strategy ? So make sure you leave a comment below. Ask any question or share your opinion so i can take this forward in the right direction. Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult More Recent Articles
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One of the simple benefits of blogging is the exchange of ideas that happen so smoothly, without even needing to talk to someone directly. So when 
The way Aamir Khan has been using the web recently for kicking things up a notch, is to my mind phenomenal. And now we hear that he is planning an Internet only promotion for his latest flick Ghajini. Internet only did I say? Yep, or the better way to put it, no television promos for this one baby.
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