Let’s face it – at this moment in our industry, communications  on Web 2.0 platforms are limited to tracking, analyzing and responding to blogs/comments on respective client businesses. I would definitely like to know if there are any other substantial communication outreaches in this medium. Also what constitutes online reputation management (ORM)? What role does content play in this new communication?  

Guys can you give me some answers? Or even some more questions are welcome .

Tanay

Just like advertising, direct marketing and PR are different tools and mediums to communicate, so is New Media. Then, why is it so difficult to accept this change…or let me correct myself – ‘this evolution of sorts.’

Life doesn’t change much except that communicating to one’s audience can now even be done through another medium that offers us the potential to reach out more efficiently, in real time and across global boundaries.

New Media or an interactive channel of communication can like any other medium of advertising, direct marketing, or traditional PR can use innovation to capture eyeballs. Yes, the new media has its own rules. But don’t we have rules and ethics to follow in advertising and PR as well?

Today, keeping in mind the realities of the media landscape in India, we can never do away with the conventional form of doing PR but can definitely supplement our PR efforts with the New Media. The ratio of both is what would differ from brand to brand and audience to audience.

And this evolution does not need to come about only in agencies and attitude of communications professionals but also our audience needs to evolve. This will help define the ratio of the traditional PR and new media mix.

We cannot forget the demographic and cultural differences between India and the global community. This is the reality that will never let traditional PR and advertising methods become obsolete. But in the same breath, I would say that to quickly grab mind share and eyeballs with the youth, we need to do what they like and be where they are consistently. And that is the New Media space.

Now, it is up to us whether we get stuck in this never ending debate or appreciate the evolution and move on.

Deeba

I wonder who is benefiting out of this community and fan business? I think the idea revolves around image management on Facebook. But whose image are these communities managing?

As a communications professional, let me tell you, it surely is helping me as an individual carve out a specific image for myself within my friends’ list or peers. So I do appear cool if I am a fan of KFC or Reebok but how is it helping these brands beyond just assigning a number to the growing fan list is a question most brands and communications people need to debate.

It does not take much time and effort to create a community or brand page on Facebook but the engagement between the consumer and the brand ends within 5 minutes of enrolling yourself to the fan club.

Is that all that a brand can milk out of these social networking sites? Engagement is the key and the brands using it successfully, though few, in number are able to unlock and grab the mind space of the consumers.

I think it is important to engage and innovate to connect with the consumers on Facebook. Some brands like Ras-Vihar jewellery, Adidas, Coke, etc. have done precisely that by putting up interesting titbits about the brands, introducing a two-way interactive communication channel with consumers, uploading videos, etc. on the fan pages.

Some of these brands have also given the liberty to the consumers and the fans to create and upload what they want to see and hear and read on the pages of their favorite brands.

Engagement of this level is what will result in building and strengthening bonds between the consumer and the brands and will actually help some brands attain the iconic stature in future within the new-media space.

Deeba

When I say ‘real time’ I would like to elaborate with an example which happened recently. One of the leading telecom service providers was announcing its financial results and a journalist present was updating the online community through continuous Twitter feeds which were credible as the feeds were being posted from the spot.

This very aspect of news reporting will and shall be the future of news reporting on social media front.

With opportunities, come challenges. We need to brace ourselves and effectively utilize this medium in a coherent manner. Going forward, the key aspect of this medium would be – ‘How to use this medium in an effective manner and create value for brands in the online space in the near future.’ It’s now or never.

Let us not be judgmental on this new social media and look beyond traditional media to offer more value to our clients and start convincing ourselves first so it becomes easier for us to convince our clients to look, adopt, and embrace this new emerging media, which is powerful in terms of reach and content availability.
 
All that I can say that it’s a jungle out there and let us become lions of this fast emerging media.

Prem

This new media has empowered mankind like never before. Now people can express their views so easily that everybody gets the authority to express, interact through the new media.

In fact, these days before purchasing anything people tend to search reviews by users for proper understanding of the product. So nobody can be fooled by mere an advertisement like 10-15 years ago.

I have mentioned earlier too that it will take time to be an active part of this vast new media. But the journey definitely needs to start somewhere. Otherwise the whole world will be in our opposite pole and we will be gazing at them with our blank eyes.

But in our case the journey has already started. Thanks to Rakesh for continuously helping us better understand the world of the new media.

It is always said “Better late than never.”

Anuj

The brainstorming sessions have left us overwhelmed and we are feeling a transition in our thought process. Thankfully our apprehensions surrounding the New Media tools have been answered to a great extent.

The day-to-day work has been more eventful these days, as we gradually evolve and consider utilizing the New Media tools for our communication needs.

But frankly speaking, as communications experts we are still clueless how to do away with the traditional media in a country like India, where the New Media is in a nascent stage. How would we reach a certain set of our target audience sitting in Indore, Surat, Dehradun, Tezpur, etc.?

Undoubtedly, the New Media tools will make our life simpler by giving us a wider global audience and spreading our message much faster that was hitherto unimaginable. We also have to gear up to optimize our resources to take the “Big Leap forward” and counter the diversities that come along.

Now it’s time to showcase our newly acquired skills to our clients, business associates and convince them (better late than never) to adopt the new platforms. It could be a mix of both the traditional and the New Media. We are looking forward to more sessions in the coming days to equip ourselves to face the “Collaborative Web.”

We learn as we grow!!

Satyajit

Most of us have heard about Twitter and many of us use it. The popularity of Twitter has taken off astoundingly and most of the world is hooked on to it. Twitter has suddenly emerged as a new form of communicating ‘your’ news to the world.

Where Twitter started off as giving short condensed personal news to the world, it now has taken the fancy of organizations in communicating their corporate news. Today, most news organizations are sending out news feeds via twitter to anyone interested in following them, from CNN to Reuters everyone wants to be on Twitter.

Perhaps, most Western countries have realized the importance of Twitter. In India, we are only just beginning to catch up to the craze called Twitter but are still far behind in the game.

Certain recent studies have concluded that Twitter’s popularity is on the downward spiral. However, it is also true that nothing can sustain a meteoric rise. As Twitter catches fancy of countries like India, it will only continue to gain users and thereby gain popularity globally. What makes it great is that it is not just on your Net-connected computer but also your mobile phones, which makes it so much easier to use and be part of it.

The bottom line: – For our PR profession, Twitter is a great vehicle to communicate with our target audience. So, if Twitter is a great vehicle of communicating to the world then why aren’t you and your clients riding it?

Vidhi

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m talking about the frenzy that seems to have gripped the entire world – the Collaborative Web. As Mr. Frost had so profoundly penned down this line about a century ago, the real significance is dawning upon its readers today.

We are witnessing numerous instances all around us when fences are being demolished, walls are going kaput, boundaries are being dissolved and geographies shrinking all the time.

Today, a company in Atlanta could well have a customer in Agartala and for all you know they could be talking to each other more frequently than you talk to your neighbour.

Corporates are reaching out to their customers directly and customers have found a platform to interact, voice their opinions and get heard. Social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, etc. have connected people from all across the globe.

And chances are that even the Biblical Cain and Abel are on each others friends list! To cut a long story short, one can’t bury one’s head in the sand anymore.

Signing off with yet another borrowed line. Change your world or the world will change you!

Ayonava