In the George Orwell book Nineteen Eighty-Four, an Unperson is someone who has been vaporized. Gone missing, moved, erased. Made invisible, banished. So good.
Since having read the interesting Time magazine Person of the Year issue – featuring...
# The Symbol of the Year
The first decade of our new millennium is coming to a close, and one key on our boards has seen a massive resurgence across the world. It's the humble #. What we call a hashtag in twitterspeak. Ever since the @ sign became the most used key on every...
Even the Navy's changing
One of my all time favorite quotes is from Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and visionary. “Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?” It’s been a mantra around here, one I have used over the years to challenge our staff, inspire them about the possibilities...
Maps and teeth
We ate too much. We drank too much. We laughed too much. And, naturally, we will do this again. This was my tweet on a party I attended at Ajay Juneja's house last weekend. To celebrate Diwali (the Indian festival of lights) and in general, shining...
The Gemas Effies 2010
This year’s entries were fairly balanced. Some of the categories had very strong, result driven entries which harnessed solid strategy unfolded via creative executions. On the other hand some categories were hugely disappointing – and we were reluctant...
Changes at MCN
Iain Akerman, editor of Campaign Middle East, in his op-ed 'perspective' piece in the 10.10.10 issue wrote about the changes at MCN – the Middle East Communications Network – where I spend my days. Tongue firmly in cheek he writes about how he nearly...
Paying for Earned Media. How to get the Buzz going
I've been reading a lot recently about the buzz around 'earned media'. A lot of digital agency heads now write about developing beautiful social campaigns that replace 'paid media' with their organic social media efforts – which in essence uses the...
Is social media marketing overrated?
Today, I found a twitter link to a rather interesting post by Nagi Salloum on his blog titled "Is social media marketing overrated?" http://nagi.loomni.com/2010/08/26/is-social-media-marketing-overrated/. He makes some very solid points, and I couldn't...
Social hibernation or rejuvenation.
Around four weeks ago (though it does seem like much, much longer) I did a ziplip, or a self imposed embargo on all social fronts, or at least on all fronts except on twitter. Truth be told, I went off it. Not sick of it, or tired of social, but just...
Adidas scores one over Nike
Adidas are launching a viral (created by 180 Amsterdam) about a South African boy who keeps an accurate and obsessive count of goals scored by players wearing the F50 shoe. He paints the tally on to a wall poster for the shoe. Simple creative, but a...
Corporate Social Media: Do you have a policy?
More and more brands are getting into Social Media these days here in the Middle East, and save for a few well organized ones, I've mostly seen fairly disjointed, unstructured, unplanned efforts. There seems to be a lack of social media policy. Which...
50+ surfers ride the new wave
In many a pitch, many a presentation, I've stood up and said "Online is bound to grow in our region (as in the Middle East) because more than 50% of our population is under 25. The youth naturally take up new media, new technology and new trends". Well...
Split at IPG. No, not what you think.
Interpublic Group has launched a new creative technology unit called Split.
The venture is tasked with developing global partnerships with agencies and marketers and creating proprietary products.
While Split is an independent IPG revenue center,...
Service, Social Media and Banking
To date, I've never used my blog for a rant. But since I speak and have a position on social media, because I preach the gospel of the power of the word of mouse, and I have a genuine beef, here goes...A couple of banks here in the UAE have really worked...
Nike breaks viral record
Nike isn't an official World Cup sponsor, but its three-minute "Write the Future" video broke the record for the biggest audience in the first week of a campaign with 7.8 million views. That record, incidentally, was by another Nike ad: the somber and...
I just wanted to watch some football
The FIFA World Cup is just a few days away. I'm beginning to plan my schedules, pack my fridge with a few cases of Coronas, and look ahead to some football on the telly. Except, of course, until I had to go on twitter to find out how and where I...
Here, There and Foursquare
I normally don't jump on bandwagons. I also do not like to tell the whole world where I'm hanging out or doing business. I tweet very little of my personal life – I'm no celeb and my non 9-5 is mine. No one cares what I do, or so I hope, And, no I...
Facebook & Open Graph API
Facebook and founder Zuckerberg are moving in big time to make our world wide web a more social, more 'like' friendly ecosphere. The Open Graph concept, at the moment, is about aggregating what people see, read, review, interact with and recommend....
Advertising vs Engagement
You’ve heard it in seminars. Your board meetings sometimes veer off from talking about P&L and major corporate issues to focusing on digital. Your one tech junkie in the corner, the resident geek pops his head in and rants about ‘digital future’....
The Webisode: Here to stay?
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either as a download or streamed content – as opposed to first airing on tv.
The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial....
Consumer centric advertising
For ad agencies like ourselves who work closely with multinational, regional and local brands, understanding 'consumer centric' is key. It's not a whole new mantra at all, it's always been around, but developing, engaging in 'consumer centric' brand...
2010: What lies ahead
2010: what lies ahead 1. Advertising will go mobile. We've been seeing this trend being talked about a lot, but this year it seems it's going to finally happen. Accurate measurement of mobile and the exponential growth of the medium (blame it on the...
