Mykarma.in

Being in the industry by passion and working for the industry by choice. I have seen a lot of action in my three years. The boom period, The hiring spree, The VC fundings, The innovations, The entrepreneurial spirit and The Rush for Moolah.

The recession has changed this a lot. No boom but actually a bubble on a brink of bursting. Yes the bubble 2.0 . Leave hiring, its a workforce slashing spree.VCs are tired.. they have lost hope that any of India’s digital properties will become a orkut or a facebook of India. Innovations are now rare and the entreprenurial spirit has gone into hibernation.

There was a boom in social networking sites… So much spamming.. oops ! I mean marketing but everything was the same just with a makeover. No one offered a unique proposition..

then came the ad networks boom.. I have lost count of the number of networks in the market. Everyone is buying each other inventory and selling it off to their local advertisers.

Yes how can we forget the numerous digital agencies that sprung up overnight and also washed out over day. Even the promising lot are living on the edge.

The twitter fad is still there. Many other portals came in with their own versions of twitter but still no success.

You can’t forget mobile ad networks.. Many came and I heard from them once and then were never seen again.

The current market scenario has hit many of them. One by one they go down. the spending spree continues, the employees are left high and dry. And one of the worst things is that some companies do hire new guys with handsome packages but fail to honour their commitment.

So what an agency/publisher/company/individual do if they want to survive ?

Its always survival of the fittest.

Agency

Digital agencies are suffering but some are enjoying attention as their clients have been put on a new track. As marketing spends are te first casualty in cost cutting Marketers are finding internet as a good low cost option to reach to their audience rather than the mass campaign on print, TV and OOH media.

The digital agency should approach clients with a proposition that will offer value without spending much. Dont pitch and propose big budget spends.. or else the guy you are talking to may have to cut his own salary to pay for it.

Other good way to go is “consolidation”. Digital agencies should tie up with offline agencies to offer digital marketing mix to the conventional plan. This will help both the players i.e the offline agency as well as the online agency.

Publisher

Go full blast in to the market and dont just approach agencies for business. Go directly to the client so that he would personally put you in the media plan.

Offer more value than just impressions. Give them customized plans and free inventory. Fixed spots and custom sections are one of the best ways to show value to the advertiser.

Also be flexible in approaches. Leaner times calls for more tactical and flexible approach. Money has to flow one way or the other.

Company

Reduce spends on the conventional medium and don’t cut your marketing spends.. he he.. I mean if you are reducing the marketing spends focus on more unconventional medium like internet and mobile where you can reach your audience at a fraction of your costs and can track every rupee spent. Internet is a great medium for ROI.

Even during recession the right approach is needed to get the audience and sales numbers. Communication and strategy should be according to the current economy.

The Indian economy is not in recession mode. People have money they just need to be approached right so that you have the money. The habit of savings is passed down from generation to generation and is a part of Indian culture which has saved us from the effects of the global meltdown.

Individual

Buckle up.. You are a part of everything I said earlier. Start working harder. Be proactive. Spend responsibly. Got laid off inspite your best efforts. Use your network to your advantage and find a new job and if you have that entreprenurial spirit. Now is the best time to grow. Recession mode reduces your monthly expenses and motivates you to reach further out.

How has the supposed global recession affected you ?

I just bought a bike for myself… After 7 yrs since I got my driving license, after a lot of rounds of negotiation over the years with my parents I have done it. I am now safe from the mumbai trains and the rush that I blogged earlier about. I just wanted to share how I feel and this video just says it all.. The speech by Shahrukh khan in the movie “Om Shanti Om”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILXywgm0Q1I[/youtube]

The dialogue in hindi

Kitni Shiddat se Tumhe Paane ki Koshish ki hai..
Ki har Zarre ne Mujhe Tumse Milane ki Saazish ki hai..

Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kayanath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai..

Picture Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Dost…

English meaning (Its from the alchemist I know)

“When you want something, the whole Universe conspires to help you realize your desire”

The movie is not over as yet, my friend.

Next wish is to get a toyota camry.

But getting to the significance of this.

The Internet has helped me to get my bike.

What I did to get away from the maddening crowd of mumbai trains

I kept telling my parents… I felt suffocated in the trains, I have to hang by my fingernails while travelling by the trains etc and also I kept assuring them – I will ride below 40kmph (yea right), Ride on the side roads, Wont overtake and wont go anywhere else than office.

I started my research on the best bikes in the market on the internet as I did not want to buy a new bike as I would require the bike just for 5-6 months. So I started checking out blogs, Review sites etc and I finalised two bikes – The Bajaj Avenger for its looks or a Honda Unicorn for its engine

And my choices and my budget never seem to match. Both these bikes in a good condition will lighten my pocket by atleast 43-50 k so than atlast I bought a pulsar dtsi 150 cc silver as it was maintained really well and looks good too for 38k.

I started looking out for bike dealers on the internet and classifieds sites like sulekha.com, kijiji.in, cartradeindia.com

And i found my bike from a listing by a dealer at andheri… Shalimar bike bazaar… I went there and then selected the bike that I wanted.. First I liked a black colour pulsar but then I got one of my colleagues at my office Gaurav to check the bike.. Gaurav is a bike enthusiast and has three bikes.. A yezdi, bullet and a caliber So he knows bikes well.. He rejected the black colour pulsar that I liked because the engine was not worth it and was roughly used… Then we took a test ride of another pulsar.. the silver coloured one. He liked the condition of the bike and the engine. After I took a test ride I also understood what the difference was between the two bikes. I booked it and bought it.

While buying the bike I saw a banner on the dealer shop of cartradeindia.com and then found out that the dealer did not do the listing of his bikes but a representative from cartradeindia.com had done the needful like clicking pictures and uploading the listing on the site… This approach of getting listings is more of a offline strategy like the shaadipoint by the people group and job centre by naukri.com. The advertisers pays for premium listing and the representative of cartradeindia.com comes and does the listing. But this also shows the fact that more of small advertisers are coming on the internet in a big way. And they have also found out the advantage of using the internet to their advantage which is evident from the fact that the dealer also advertises the website on his business cards. The dealer told me that he is also listed on sulekha.com as a premium advertiser. And he gets atleast 3-4 inquiry calls daily from the site. I was impressed by the change that is happening in India. Nowadays professionals are not getting enough time to go out and look for their needs like buying a house or buying a car, bike so internet is the only thing that they can access and use. Due to that sites like magicbricks, shaadi.com, sulekha.com etc comes into use as it is very convenient and easy. and more are going to come.

In the coming years I can see most of the shopping like getting groceries, paying bills and even getting services of electricians, plumbers, painters etc will be done online and I am already planning to take the advantage of the coming change. I hope all brands are too.

[ratings]

I have to go through a lot of things before I reach my office at Saki Naka.. The 20 minute Train ride then the 40 minute bus ride…Just check out the video of the daily rush hour train that comes to borivali and goes back to churchgate and then the usual time when you will find this rush is 8 am – 11 am.. The train actually starts from the station I get on .. But still the Rush is killing even I have a first class pass I have to hang by my fingertips…..

Check out the video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YncwJaLJogg[/youtube]

Will upload the Bus ride commute soon….

[ratings]

I thought why should I just blog about internet.. The world is huge and there are lots of things that need my blogs attention . So from now on I renounce my Internet theme. I will blog on random things alongwith Internet… I will also invite others to come over and blog so that my readers (like how many do I have! yet) get to read quality articles….. So all the people who by chance came over to this blog to read articles and hoped that I will stop blogging will be disappointed to know that I am not stopping yet.. I dont know what others will post so stay tuned…. The Blogs theme will change according to the bloggers. Social issues, Technology, Current affairs and whatever that I want to add in the future.
Signing off for today..

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