‘The Creative side of technology and the technology side of creative’ – its not how usually people respond when you ask what they do for a living!
But earlier this year I met 9 other entrepreneurs, communications and media business – people from all over the world and I was delighted to meet someone who did exactly ‘that’. Crisscrossing The UK, on an insightful tour of the Creative businesses across the country, we chatted about the opportunities and business scenarios back home and compared notes. Inspite of the general doom and gloom (this was Mar 09, the nadir of the financial meltdown) all of us were extremely positive about the business we were in. Each one of us had great conviction in what we did. Some of us used digital tools to deliver unique products that were commercial and some used digital media as a tool for social change. The magic lies somewhere in the combination of the two.
If you think of digital delivery as a lens that can scale the reach of critical information the problem (of finding sustainable business models) suddenly becomes an opportunity. In the context of a large and diverse emerging economy glamorous digital businesses like news and music pale compared to the demand for educational and health based content. The Creative Economy program by the British Council creates the type of mini network and more importantly awareness which is needed for entrepreneurs to re-focus on ‘digital needs’ as opposed to ‘digital desires’ of their consumers.
Traditional news and music businesses have (much) bigger demons to fight, than the internet, to survive in the new world-media order. All that the rest of us have to do, is meet up! See you at C&binet 
commuincations, creativity, dreams of an entrepreneur
At the International Young Communications Entrepreneur’s forum in London, earlier this year, I was asked a simple question by Sir Chris Powell (the founder of DDB London & Worldwide), “How will you know when you’re successful?”
The question had me stumped. I gold-fished my way through the answer but the question stayed with me.
“How does one know when one is successful?”
100 more clients? 20 offices? Global product? Networks? million followers on twitter? A boat? private planes? Two divorces and three alimonies?
What?
How was I to know when I was successful? Would there be a sign or waving flags at the finish line? An invisible red tape that I could chest proudly? The problem is an enterprise is not a 100 metre run, it’s not even a marathon, more often than not its an entrepreneur’s lifetime. It’s a long enough time to get lost chasing short term goals and lose sight of the ‘big picture’.
The question had me thinking and prompted me to take another look at what we were doing and where we were headed.
To imagine ‘success’. What it would look, taste, smell, feel like!
The answer came to me as i prepared a case-study presentation for the National Entrepreneurship Network. I went through the entire story of how Phonethics was set-up, how our office got sealed off in Delhi, how folks did good and bad by us and how we went from a -40L to a 2Cr+ set-up in 15 months. It struck me that the journey is the reward! The very attempt to strike out, to do something different, challenge the status quo, create is an extremely powerful emotion! (the money helps and frankly there’s more of it chasing you when you no longer chase it)
I’m proud of this journey and of our goals, thankful to my co-travellers and the entire eco-system and determined to never confuse ’success’ with ‘intent”
commuincations, dreams of an entrepreneur, storytelling
A start-up needs them all.
Friends who will self-lessly provide connections, introductions and listen to you at the end of a dark day when it’s all working against you. Who will be honest yet compassionate as they test the Beta. You cannot (or at least should not) take them for granted.
Employees, who will (hopefully) deliver at least what they’re being paid for. Maintain confidentiality, perform as competent resources and believe (reasonably) in what they’re (and the venture is) doing. They are critical to your success but don’t brood over some you lose along the way – there’s always more where that came from.
Partners, who will share risk, stand by you come hell or high water, be open and bring on the table distinct value creation abilities. These have to be chosen wisely. The success of the venture and your personal health (as an entrepreneur working in infra strapped India) depends on these people.
Lovers, will be the most difficult. These are the folks who feel just as passionately about the idea as the founders. They will kill, maim, beg, borrow and die for the ’cause’. They will also be the most difficult to
manage and please. They are the self image of the entrepreneur and will demand the confidence and attention that can sap ordinary folks. Don’t (and you can’t) cheat them. Unfortunately, You don’t choose them, they choose you!
Every organisation has all of these within. Sometimes people will switch from being one to the other as they spend more time or change roles, grow older or simply come to ‘believe’.
The challenge for the entrepreneur is to figure who s/he is dealing with and respond accordingly. Everyone else please figure who you are.
commuincations, dreams of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship in india, storytelling, vision document
Spotted this on Paidcontent. Amidst all the hullabaloo about Chri Anderson’s new book ‘Free’ it remains to be seen if media in India or for that any kind of proprietary material is ever going to be distributed free ‘officially’. In fact it remains to be seen if the free-mongers will survive the end of their VC funded runs. I’d written about why Free Digital Media was not just a bad idea but probably also an impractical one. (Rupert Murdoch has famously said the obvious that ‘free is not a business model’)
The irony of course is that we’re a piracy ridden economy so the argument (for paid media) gets diluted every time a pirate hawks the latest book or movie at the traffic light. If they’re doing it, shouldn’t we? Won’t it get us MORE readers/viewers/lovers/anything? Won’t these default users shower us with riches someday? surely more users are better than less in today’s globalised hyper informed world? NO
While nothing makes it less illegal, unorganised piracy is still only a minor dent and doesnt have either the access or the many comforts that professional packaging and curation provides. It’s when the content creator promotes the notion that it costs nothing to create digital content simply because it is ‘Digital’, or even worse, throws open it’s doors to a third party (i’m thinking large benevolent colourful yuppie search company) that steals (yes, it’s theft) and serves proprietary material monetising it for piles of gold, that the entire business model needs to be reassessed.
Ask any content creator in India who’s dealt with aggregators and telcos in India. Till last year noone ever saw a dime from revenue shares, in the same time VAS (Value Added Services) revenues shot through the roof. The race to be ‘mobile’ without an indigenous business model filled third party coffers and trivilaised the very product being hawked by the digital baniyas. The race for users will do the same to proponents of ‘free’.
Next – So, if we agree it’s not going to be free, What is the model? How about a digital news-stand?
Add new tag, commuincations, creativity, dreams of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship in india, Mobile Content, social media management, VAS
Design and function are ever so often confused for each other. In designing a web based application this becomes even more critical since most calls are taken by one or two people teams that have no prior experience of either building User Interface or creating an interactive layout. Get this folks, it is NOT similar to a print ad, so you cannot request multiple ‘options’.
The purpose of ‘design’ is to provide a quick and simple interface that allows users to access the ‘function’. If it stands in the way of that or hides your best features behind 6 clicks, your app is dead in the water.
‘Function’ is NOT i-click-here-and-go-there. It is the central premise, the business ‘reason to exist’, of your site. If you’re creating something with a high function factor, make sure it works fast, loads quick and runs smooth. The form factor should aid this and not add layers to it. In a country where internet speeds are from the Stone Age, this can make all the difference between a successful site and a dead site.
Add new tag, commuincations, creativity, Viral Marketing
Does it make sense for companies / brands to manage a social media outlet? Will it evolve into a full blown retail channel instead of an aggregate of user feedback and a few weak leads?
This is similar to –
Telemarketing. The current rush to buy Social Media Optimisation solutions is similar to the phenomenon of tele-marketing in the 90s. Sellers saw it as an opportunity to scale traditional one on one selling. Acquiring leads from dubious sources enabled the telecaller to (somewhat) narrow down the target based on subscriptions (extrapolated to a broad spectrum of ‘interests’) that the potential buyer might have. Telemarketing ran into rough weather immediately with its complete invasion of privacy and dehumanized approach. What could have been a great relationship management tool was almost lost to short sighted goal oriented marketing.
Of course we know how that turned out – the new avatar in the form of large, professional outsourced tele-callers catered exclusively to a captive database of clients already part of the business database of the client.
The challenges for the newbies managing social media campaigns are similar. As Seth Godin put so succinctly- ? “the internet is not about how many, it is about who”. Marketers generally impose the usual metrics (page views, clickthroughs and engagement) for measuring this 21st century phenomenon. But how do you measure impact in a medium where the user’s personal network is also a formidable source of feedback, information and competition analysis. Add to this the fact that the network is sometimes global and mostly comprised of ‘trusted’ sources (read friends). So a simple inquiry about buying a new digital SLR can be referred to a global network. not only can I scan blogs and youtube, which is a bit tiring, but also post a message on my ‘wall’ and invite opinions. The social ‘one-up’ accrued from accepted recommendations or the opportunity to display one’s knowledge ensures that the post will get enough responses.
In this scenario, what can the brand do? Does it sit back and watch as people decide amongst themselves or can it influence the discussion in any way? Is it productive even to engage? Worse, can it be counter-productive? Surely the manufacturer of Digital SLRs is the best source of info on them but does s/he know how to speak the language of the web-verse? Dell has tried this with relatively small success (LINK) and managed to get a trickle of a sale as well. What about CRM? Would consumers be open to adding a brand as a friend? There are hundreds of brand fan pages on social networks today but most are either used to distribute coupons/special offers or simply for the like minded to congregate. Surely this can evolve into a sophisticated, always-on relationship management tool which allows brands to hand hold a customer through the product purchase cycle and service him/her at a very low cost by providing information.
This brings us to the most critical utility of the social media apart from ‘fun’. The social networks of today are vast libraries of collective knowledge and experience. Qualified, trustworthy (at least from the source perspective ) ‘information’ can be sought out and delivered in an instant from practically any corner of the world. What happens to the Lonely planets of the world when you can ask friends for advice while planning a vacation? Some of them might recommend buying the book but aren’t you more likely to receive quality info from someone who’s ‘just been there’? This ability to tap into real time networks delivering instantaneous data on random queries empowers the consumer. What does it do to the brand?
The fears –
Most brands worry that the instantaneous scrutiny of the web and its virala-bility pose not just an opportunity but a significant threat. A negative review can spiral out of control and undo years of brand building efforts (can it?)
The Social store
To begin with a nominal social media retail presence could be one where the brand gathers users and brand fans, identifies broad interest streams that it can serve and then serve as a social ‘lubricator’, letting people do all the work. This seems easy enough but requires dedicated teams that understand communication, content, consumer psychology and most important the ethos of the brand/service they represent. The challenge still remains on how exactly does one measure this dynamic, fluid medium
branding, commuincations, dreams of an entrepreneur, social media management, social media participation, Viral Marketing
so 10 different people from all over the world, literally!
so many challenges and yet the main stuff remains the same – recession, digital shooting up, agencies gobbling up work credits and finding internet in england!!
and guess what slumdog millionaire city is how everyone knows bombay!!
the dude from ghana actually asked me if the eye gouging stuff actually happens to children in india!! and mr amitabh bachhan is THE man! EVERYONE and i mean EVERYONE knows him!!
commuincations, london, slumdog millionaire, Viral Marketing