Just a few days old at iridium (Delhi office), I was put in the team to work on this project. We were given a flat 15 days to get the new design and the entire back-end implemented, but kudos to our technical team (also consisting of new joinees) for getting the portal up and running. This year we also ensured active customer support (making sure that we answer each and every query) and extended it to social media (via Facebook); additionally we also used the fan page to generate buzz.

The project received a tremendous response of 40,000 business plans got submitted on the website.

The project exposed me to the absolute vastness in terms of budget, impact, brand awareness and connect and the impact such an activity could have. There was a lot of cross functional synergy required, a lot of fire-fighting (at times), a lot of unlearning and learning and hard work and all of this was worth when our team got the chance to attend the Grand Finale and to watch the participants we have interacted with/supported/helped deliver those business plan presentations. It was like reliving the entire 4-5 months of working on the project.

And then came the big one, the announcement of the Grand Finale winner! It was a great feeling for us to have helped someone to win a brand new WagonR and Rs 10 Lakhs.

In the photograph, this is our team with Ms. Aparna Bhatnagar (winner of the WagonR Think Big Challenge).

Not to forget we (our team) got a chance to meet Madhavan (aka Manu of Tanu weds Manu) and we even got a photograph clicked with him ☺

Overall it’s been a kick ass experience and we are already looking forward to its next edition.

“We have seen a clear evolution in demands from our customers. They are better informed and far more sophisticated in their expectations and requirements.”- Mark Redgrave of Hapax.

True!! With the advent of social media they now have their own platform to express their views and opinions. The main intention behind social media monitoring is to track these conversations as I have mentioned earlier. Determining if these conversations are positive or negative is called Sentiment Analysis.

Listening to the sentiments behind a customer’s voice is very important for any company that wishes to act upon these opinions. According to me, sentiment analysis is very important to any social media monitoring initiative. It is vital to analyze whether good or bad conversations are driving your brand in the social media space. In fact, tracking sentiments is one of the real reasons why businesses enter social media. At iridium, we use several tools to do this.

Automated sentimental analysis tools are generally used to give numbers to these customer sentiments. It is good if you dig deeper than the statistics to get a clearer picture. Also you will need to compare sentiments across several brands over a time period.

If the consumers have positive sentiments with a brand, its all good, but when there is negative sentiment it makes the analysis interesting when you have to uncover the reasons behind this particular sentiment. Sentiment analysis coupled with social monitoring tools make this study even more interesting. It is more like stepping into your consumer’s mind and understanding what drives their thinking about your company.

I would not like to confuse you further, so I conclude by stating that sentiment analysis is nothing but social media monitoring with a qualitative twist.

Here are some free Social media monitoring tools that you can use to assess all social media metrics.

1. How Sociable: it is a free tool that defines simplicity. Just punch in the brand you want to measure metrics for and you will get the visibility score for it across 32 social networks. http://www.howsociable.com/

2. Addict-o-matic: This tool provides you with a comprehensive view of discussions on a topic across the most popular social networks. In just one view you can see all the discussions on all popular social networks and blogs. http://addictomatic.com/

3. Technorati- This tool is used to find top blogs and posts on any searched item. http://technorati.com/

4. Google Blogsearch- This is also a blog oriented tool that generates top discussions happening in blogs on a topic you want to search for. http://blogsearch.google.com/

5. Googletrends- Shows the worldwide traffic/searches of this particular keyword. http://google.com/trends

6. Twitterstats-  This is one tool that serves all my twitter purposes. It shows all the relevant twitter stats for the Iridium account and allows comparisons with other accounts too. One stop for all twitter analytics is what this tool is all about. Check it out on http://www.twitterstats.com/

7. Quantcast- This tool is apt for tracking traffic to a particular website and gives Graphical display and demographics wise data segregation. http://www.quantcast.com/

There are numerous free tools available but its your requirements that defines your choice. After my stint in social media monitoring, these are the top 7 tools I frequently use.

Follow us on @iridiuminter or my personal twitter @sbharatam.

India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti, was launching a new scheme allows NRIs to gift a Maruti car to a person in India. The scheme would offer NRIs special prices, payment options and home delivery services.

Objective
iridium Interactive (ii) has a long standing e-business and Internet solutions relationship with Maruti Udyog, and this new project only strengthened it further.
ii was required to create an online, web-based, transparent mechanism enabling NRIs to gift a car to a loved one in India. This scheme would not only create a new revenue stream for the client, but also enhance customer loyalty, and give a fillip Maruti’s branding efforts.

Solution
Working with the briefest of instructions provided, iridium created a micro-site for this project, within the Maruti mother site. The look and feel of the micro-site was kept consistent with the main site in order to maintain brand integrity. ii designed the site in a simple manner, providing straightforward navigation around the site. The whole process of buying and ordering was kept open and transparent to the visitor: from getting a quote, making a choice (on model, color, etc), and ordering a car, to paying for the purchase and keeping a track of the order. The forms were designed to capture important information in a non-intrusive manner.
The site provides the buyer with three different options for online payment: Credit Card, Swift Money Transfer or installments through Citibank. As a part of the assignment, ii also integrated the website with that of credit card companies and the bank’s payment systems.

Results
The sheer simplicity of choosing, ordering and purchasing a Maruti car online and paying through the Internet has captured the NRI imagination. The possession of a car in India is still a status- defining possession. So the simple and real possibility of gifting loved ones something as special as a car without the usual hassles has brought in some very tangible returns for the client.
Maruti is now selling cars through their innovative and evocative website. The very concept and its appeal won the company terrific goodwill, extended its customer base and branding mileage, while increasing customer loyalty.
The website is truly interactive, simple and easy to navigate. It is transparent and straightforward. This site responds to many NRIs wishes to be emotionally connected to their loved ones in India.
About ii
iridium Interactive Limited (ii) specializes in providing online business solutions. With a presence across three continents, it has been at the forefront in integrating strategy, design and technology to build unique and robust user-centric e-business solutions. At ii, a holistic approach is adopted towards complex business problems to arrive at a complete solution. ii’s talented team has worked on a variety of disciplines for a multitude of clients drawn from various industries, and has a number of award-winning works to its credit. ii offers it services in the areas of interactive marketing, web marketing, e-learning, enterprise consulting and web accessibility initiatives.

The website is truly interactive, simple and easy to navigate. It is transparent and straightforward with a minimum of navigation for the user. This site is in response to many NRIs requests and their search for a means that would emotionally connect them to loved ones in India.

The site with the suggestive tag, ‘Dil Se’ – allows NRIs to gift a Maruti car of their choice (be it model, colour or variant) to a person in India. The site allows the purchaser to pay for the gift on line and in three different modes’ Credit Card, Swift Money Transfer or instalments through Citibank.

The whole process is open and transparent to the buyer. From getting a quote, choosing the car, ordering a car, paying for the purchase to keeping track of their order. iridium Interactive ensured that integration of the website with that of credit card companies and the bank’s payment systems are completely hassle-free for the purchaser.

‘Besides providing a service and giving the affluent and well-intentioned NRI an outlet to demonstrate his affection for a loved one back in India, the Maruti website has increased customer loyalty and expanded the company’s branding efforts’, said Mr Manish Kumar, Delhi Practice Head, iridium Interactive. ‘The site has also created a brand new revenue stream for Maruti Udyog’, he added.