My First Individual Assignment at Hult

Analyzing a website is not an easy task. But we, the MDM students at Hult have to each pick and analyze the website of a brand listed in the Interbrands list of the top 100 brands of 2011. When we were given the project, I presumed it was very easy; but I guess I was not thinking of it from a marketeers POV.

At first, I was very confused! But then I picked the one I thought would be interesting to do - Nescafé. One of the reasons for picking the site was that I wanted to know what a coffee brand could and would do with their website.

Although there are a million things you can suggest, implementation is not always as simple! I am sure they wanted to do a lot with the site, and will probably do so, step-by-step.

Most people would wonder why Nescafé? The answer lies in the fact that after looking through a number of websites, I could not bring myself to understand how and why Nescafé was 30 on the list! The brand was popular, but that popular that Interbrands ranked it in the top 50 was a bit of a surprise.

For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to analyze the website. While this may seem like a cakewalk, it is not quite so! Analyzing anything takes time. A website is no different. There are several theories that can be applied and various results that you get out of it.

But if there is one thing that I did understand during this time, it is the fact that there is a lot of scope for improvement on the site! Maybe someday I can make these suggestions directly to Nescafé!

Homesick For The First Time!

The past few days have been maddening. We have been getting one project after another. This is why I have not been able to update the blog! Although I must admit, I have not spent the last two weeks doing only project work! It's Diwali, and as I wrote in my last post, London is in a festive mood. The whole city seems to be celebrating it in some way or another!

I was honestly quite surprised to see Diwali posters on the 'big red bus'! We had a bash at the house on the weekend before Diwali. 3 days of non-stop fun!

So does this mean I didn't miss celebrating Diwali the way we did it back home? NO!

My Diwali started with me waking up late, but still managing to reach class in time. Sad thing was I had Accounting - a subject that I am not very fond of. By evening I was quite homesick! Diwali is just not the same when you don't celebrate it ON Diwali and when you don't have a late night party with friends!

I had honestly never thought about how much I would miss Diwali at home! It's not about the fireworks at Diwali. I know London will have Guy Faux day where the fireworks will beat that of Diwali (or equal it). It's not even about the dressing up and partying -- Halloween has that covered! It's something that for some reason I cannot put into words!

But then I decided to change my mood! We watched a movie and had our own fun! Next day, it was back to school! For now, I have to get back to working on my assignment!

Festive London

I have been in London for more than a month now. The start was super-exciting (if that's a word!). With time, it just started feeling like a second home. I'm sure eventually it will feel like a home, but as of now, it still hasn't taken that place, my 'home' is still Delhi!

I had thought that I would miss all the Diwali fun, but the fact is, I am not... surprisingly! I went to the 'Diwali on the Square' festival a few days back, and I realised that here, Diwali is far more than just being the 'festival of lights'. There were so many (should I call them) 'foreigners', who were dressing up in Saris, and trying to get a flavour of India, that I completely forgot it was a Diwali festival, it seemed more like a Cultural Festival!

This weekend, we are starting of Diwali celebrations at 'home'... Although the actual festival is still a week away, the festivities here tend to kick-off much before (or in case of the Eid festival much after)! I have loved every minute of it. The whole of London seems to be keen on discovering everything there is about other cultures--and that's what I love about this place!

Soon after I had come here, I had gone for an Eid Festival (although Eid was almost a month before the event) at Trafalgar Square. I had the same feeling then, as I had at the time of the Diwali festival. Everyone was having fun, listening to music, some were dancing, some were just photographing others--It was beautiful.

While on the one hand, Diwali celebrations are in full swing, preps for Christmas have also begun! Oxford Street has already started putting up lights. They turn on the Christmas Lights and officially kick-off the 'Christmas Season' sometime in late November. Although for me, it is just like back home, the festivities don't stop till New Years!

A special campaign for NOAH

I have been trying to think of a special campaign for my 'buzz campaign'! Personally for me, NOAH has turned into more than just a buzz campaign. It is something that I have believed in for a long time, but was just not able to bring it to 'life'! Now that I am 2 weeks into the campaign, I have managed to bring about a 100 fans to the page! But now I need to think about ways to increase this number.

People may say that with time and through word-of-mouth the name will spread and people will realise the use of the campaign. However, I have decided that since I am learning digital marketing, I will use some of those techniques to build on NOAH as a brand! By New Year, the aim is to get 1000 fans on Facebook.

Think I can do it?

I am sure I can! Yesterday, I spent about an hour on the page, and got around 22 fans! Now I know that is not enough, but I think it's a start!

But just getting likes on the page is not enough. I need to push people to actually post stuff and interact with the page. Which to my joy is actually happening! There are new posts that are shared by those who like the page. This also means that through mere engagement, people will start spreading the word.

The idea behind NOAH is to build a non-commercial, non-regional network linking people worldwide but for a specific cause--helping animals. What better way to do this than use platforms that link people already--like Facebook and Twitter?

A Tweet is NOT Just a Status Update!

I have been thinking about the various things that people do with social media. Since I myself have started getting onto several social network sites, I realized the uses of each are different!

My biggest misconception is finally getting cleared! Twitter is not just about status updates. It is more about conversations and discussions. I know many people who read this might think, she just posted to days ago about 'Getting the Hang of Twitter', and now she says she has understood it?!

To be honest I knew the basics... Hashtags, using the '@' symbol, sending messages, etc. I just didn't know how to use it when I don't have any friends on twitter (on a personal basis)? I used to do it for the company I worked for (although for a short time).

So then I just shifted my focus, from only friends to friends plus work!

My earlier perception was that twitter is mostly used only by people who have a lot of friends (who are on twitter) and by film stars and journalists! Why? Because most of my friends were not on twitter! These perceptions have changed thanks to some friends from my Digital Marketing program. I also always believed that social networking should only be used to connect to friends. That has been put into perspective.

Social media sites may have started out aiming at connecting (or re-connecting) friends, but they have come a long way since. People now have personal and professional accounts or some simply use different media to communicate with different people.

Personally, I have started enjoying tweeting! The only part I still need to start liking in twitter is shortening the URL. Even though twitter is supposed to shorten URLs posted in tweets, I don't think it always does!

Where Am I Headed?!

Since yesterday, I have been trying to think about the top companies that I would like to work for. And the first thing to pop-up in my mind is... a blank! In our class about Career management, we were asked to list out the top 20 companies we want to work for.

Every time I would think about it, I drew a blank. Until a few minutes ago, I was in the same pathetic situation!

I just could not think about a company that I would die to work for. I have classmates who know exactly what they want, and where they want to go, and I have many friends who know what they want out of life, but to be honest, I couldn't pin-point any one company per-say!

I have heard time and again that if you work where your passion lies, then you will be able to excel regardless of anything else. So I decided to combine digital marketing with some things that I just love doing, such as:

1. Helping Animals (as always)
2. Travelling
3. Cooking
4. watching music videos/movies

I decided to fuse the thing I like most with digital marketing (specially social media marketing) to create my buzz campaign.

Though, thinking about it from a career point of view, I didn't think I wanted to merge my hobby and work life together.

I would love to work for companies that deal with travel (and maybe allow me to travel too). All the other options can probably be followed on a more personal level. Managing the Facebook or twitter account for companies in the travel sector is quite interesting. There is so much they can do using digital media! They have hardly tapped into the market.

Digital media is not just about setting up a twitter account or creating a Facebook page. The crux of social media lies in the interaction. Since I am fond of travelling, I have a good idea of what will attract a travellers attention using social media--and I know that no airlines or travel company uses social media to its full potential!

From here I began working my way up to where I want to work. Although I have still not ranked my preferences, I have a good idea about what I want to do. So the next time I walk into the 'Lifetime Career Management' class at Hult, I will have some idea of where I am headed.

Getting the Hang of Twitter

A few years back, when twitter hit India, I thought it was just another networking site--like Facebook and Orkut (Google's first attempt at social media). But then I joined it anyway. Why? Cause of all the hype created by the Bollywood stars, the news industry, etc. I realised that there are a lot of things that I can gather from twitter rather than anywhere else. But soon I lost interest in it. My account just stayed with some 20 odd followers, and with just 2-3 tweets from me!

Last year, I started using my twitter account to promote the twitter account for the company I worked in. Since I had part responsibility in maintaining my company's twitter account, I needed to learn about twitter. So I followed some companies/people talking about Social Media, only to realise that I really enjoyed tweeting (for my company). But personally, I never understood the use of twitter. I always thought it to be more of a corporate tool, for companies to make brief announcements!

When I decided to get into social media marketing, I knew I had to understand twitter in-depth! Sadly, I have still not got a hang of it. I am still quite clueless of how to increase twitter followers for just a regular person!

When you are a star or a company, you tend to get followers, whether you like it or not! but how do you get followers by tweeting about your daily life? Is anyone really interested in what I am doing personally (since I am not yet a big personality)?

I have always had my doubts. This being said, we have repeatedly been told in class that since we are in the field of digital marketing, we must be on all the channels out there! And I couldn't agree more...

So to change my way of doing things, and to get used to twitter, I have decided to use twitter regularly from now. My tweets at start may be quite ridiculous, but I'm sure I will get the hang of it soon! But till then, I will not post anything directly to my Facebook Account! Everything will happen via my twitter account.

So here goes At least a month (if not more) of no Facebook posts! Twitter twitter twitter...

Make This World A Better Place

As usual I started my day with thinking about how to do something to increase the Facebook fan following of NOAH. Usually I visit other pages and share their posts for NOAH followers to re-share. I did the same today, when I came across a post that I had seen many times before. It was the picture of a dog being dangled and strangled by 2 teenage boys. There was obviously a 3rd boy photographing them.

I had first seen this picture some years ago when a friend posted it and asked that the word be spread so that people would take action against them. I remember how my blood had boiled seeing it.

Today, when posting for NOAH, I thought, what about people who see it in daily life? If you live in a place where the local police are not very active regarding animal welfare, there is no way you can expect them to help out in such situations! The fact is that when it comes to animal welfare, people need to first think about how to help animals and then the gruesomeness of the problems. That is what I did.

I posted the picture on Facebook, and promptly got a comment (quite unexpected) requesting that such photos not be shared time and again. Completely understandable. Quite honestly, when I saw the picture for the first time, I hid it too! 2nd time, same thing. After that I just tried to turn my face away when I saw it!

This time, I chose to use it to educate the fans about what should be done in such situations. although your local police may not always be interested in such things, there are laws in all (or most) countries to prevent cruelty to animals. If one cannot harness these, they should contact the local animal help group.

After posting all this information on NOAH, I wrote for NOAH's blog and then moved on to checking the details for Hult Global Case Challenge. I have been thinking about which tier to participate in, and how to form a good strong team. At present I am leaning towards education or housing.

The challenge is intended to make us, students, use our brains and pull in all the resources we have at hand to make this world a little better for others! An incredible idea! Whether or not we win the competition, I am sure we can all learn how to use various tactics to improve social services around the world.

I have always wondered why people with money can't put the money to some better use? What is the use of having a house with all kinds of fancy gizmos if right outside your gate there is a world which needs basic like food and water?! Think about it!

Maths Once Again!

Every since I was a child, I have never liked maths. In fact, I have kind of hated it. I suppose most people do. So I am no different in it. But, many are actually good at it, despite hating it. This is where the difference lies!

I have always been miserable when it came to solving equations! Although I have been reasonably good at basic arithmetic, I have never managed to grasp anything beyond that! When I came to Hult, I realized that I needed to learn business maths--a subject that I never thought I would touch in my life!

Business + Maths = Disaster

I didn't have a choice. It was part of our toolbox and so I had to do it! Good thing was, we had a professor who made it a bit humorous and put in a lot of energy. I must admit, at least I did not really fall asleep in any class!

The thing is, simple maths is never a problem, it is remembering all the zillion formula that is troublesome! I tend to mix up 2 similar formula, and get confused about which one to use when. But when it comes to the theoretical aspect of maths, it seems quite like any other subject.

So today we did probability and some steps in 'Decision Making' with the consideration of 'Risks and Uncertainty'. By the end of it, I realised it was more using common sense than any math formula!

After the maths class, I was happy... No more maths! (hopefully!)

A Day In

I spent my day at home today... why? No class! YEY for that! I had to work on my blogs, this one, and the one for NOAH. First helped my uncle clear out the dishwasher, and then went to my room and started on my work.

Every morning, the first thing I do is go and check the number of followers on the Facebook page. Even 1 follower up and I am happy! It in a way makes my day! So coming back to why I chose this topic for my campaign. For those who do not know me, I am from India. I have seen many animals out on the streets. But I have also seen people helping them. Often the feeling of being of no use would overcome me, when I passed a pup begging for food on the street. The next day, I would find the pup dead!

The thought always daunted me; I kept wondering how I can give them something to comfort them. The fact is even when you send them to an animal shelter, they can hardly stay there for long. I know for a fact that the animal shelters in Delhi are flooded with dogs, but the workers don't give up. They try taking every dog off the street.

People may talk about spraying and neutering, but that is a far fetched option for most places in Delhi, I cannot even think about other parts of the country! Why? Not everyone would like to contribute to getting their neighborhood dogs/cats neutered!

Personally, though I have not calculated it with formula, I can estimate that if 1 person gets 1 dog neutered every year, it would solve the problem of 'stray dogs'.

The problem is that in a lot of places, across the world, there are dogs who get abandoned by owners. For countries that don't have a stray dog problem and where the local animal police are very active, this tends to be a much smaller problem than for many other countries. The animal rescue organizations always try to make it a better place for these voiceless beings. However, they often face problems.

I realized that through social networking, we get connected to people who live in different parts of the world. Some folks in Ghana know people in China who know people in Canada who know people in Brazil who know other people in Ghana! So say there is an animal in Ghana who needs help, and a local rescue group has posted it on their wall, through the network, people could actually share the same post and that animal might get the help needed!

This was why I started NOAH. To link those people with the same mission! The second aim is to connect individuals and organizations in developing places to people in places where they have learnt how to get that help!

So that was what I did pretty much the whole day (apart from having some yummy lunch and dinner!). My first stage is connecting with organizations who help animals in different countries. And believe me, it is not easy finding animal rescue set ups around the world when you don't know half the languages they use -- it is even tougher to share their content in English! For now this is it.

I want to watch Castle and relax for a while, before crashing!

113 to Edgware

Sitting on the top floor of bus no 113, I can't help but look down on everyone else (coz of the height of the bus, off course! But maybe I should re-phrase that, since I don't look down too often! Most of the times I look straight ahead. I wonder how many people pass the same route and how many of them actually remember any of it.

For those who have never been on route 113, here are some pictures:

You may look at these pictures and wonder where they are taken ( if you don't know where in world I live)... They were taken in London... just not something you will find on postcards (if you use them anymore)!

So you must be wondering what a stupid topic to blog on, but the fact is that most of us, spend very little time logging what we do everyday... TRAVELING!

There is so much you do and think when you are going from point A to B.... But not many of us remember what we thought about on the bus... So I named this little post of mine after a bus that takes me to school and brings me home again! I have a number of things on my mind right now...

Firstly, wondering if this a new city will become my home forever, or will it just be for a year... To be honest, I am split in 2 or maybe 3 minds! I want to stay, I want to go back home and I want to go to a third place...

Just one look out, and I realized how similar something's are to delhi... The minute it rains, the traffic slows down like a flood hit town (in both places)! And then it clears out within seconds again!

Coming back to what I was thinking about, the second thing on my mind was NOAH. It's a social network project that I took up for myself. The idea behind it is to use the Internet to benefit animals...

People may think I am obsessed with animals, but then that is just how I am!! I have a weakness for animals and birds, and in general nature. Since we have such a wonderful thing such as the Internet, I wanted to put it to better use!

When one connects to people with similar interest, by default it happens within ones own country/region. However, with the Internet and social media taking over our day-to-day lives, it has become quite simple for people to get connected all round the globe!

It was in Prof. Ronan's class that I came up with the idea. He told us to create a 'buzz campaign' for a cause we believed in. The minute he said it, my mind raced--animals, animals, animals... How can I use the campaign for them? There are tons of rescue pages in every country... And then it hit me... I came back that night and just kept thinking about it. The next day, I decided that come what may, I was going to start off my campaign, and so I did!

My sister helped me choose the name, since NOAH is an acronym, and the real name, 'network of animal helpers' is not used by anyone else, I chose it.

My stop is nearing, and so I must leave... More the next time I am traveling by 113 (or maybe when I just feel like blogging!)