Iridium Interactive Blog » Industry Sectors

Culture & Business: Why they must be in harmony

iridiumInteractive — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:59:39 +0000

Organizational culture is the sum total of an organization’s assumptions, experiences, philosophy, and values, and are expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. Simply put, culture is “how we do things here”.

The December edition of the NASSCOM Emerge Friday 2.0 talk held at Taj Deccan on 16^th December 2010, had Hari Thalapalli, the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief People Officer of Mahindra Satyam, addressing the gathering on ‘Effective business across cultures’. The forum began with everyone in the packed hall accepting that culture has become an integral part of the corporate world, yet ‘Culture’ as a concept is often misused. Hari defined Culture as a synchronization between what is said will be done and what is being done.

Talking about culture within the organization, Hari highlighted the importance of questioning. Organizations must encourage their employees to ASK. Encouraging them to ask questions empowers them to think individually. Indian culture has inculcated in us over time the notion of ‘respecting’ our elders, i.e., their word is final and not to be questioned. And this has led to Indians being viewed as subservient. Unfortunately, this has trickled down and penetrated into our corporate culture as well. As an organization you want to be known as adaptable but not rigid or subservient. Moreover, every individual member of the organization represents its culture.

What I found interesting was the fact that it’s in the first 90 days of a person’s job that she makes an impression of the organization. Organizations should maintain the impression created through the recruitments even after it is done. Hari illustrated this with a typical HR-Recruit instance. If the HR team believes its job to be over once the employee meets her manager, the employee develops an impression that the organization cares less about its members and more about its output. Instead, the impression should be that the organization cares equally about its members and output. It’s all about synchronization of what is said and what is done.

Speaking of working across international cultures, we often stereotype a region’s culture. “The American culture is very open”; “Italians have great style”; and we believe that every American or Italians fits the bill. However, it’s not always so. For an organization it is essential that they look at people and other organizations independently but within the culture. Organizations go out of their way to embrace other’s culture and practices, but a question raised by a member of the audience was, how far is too far? When do we stop being ‘flexible/accommodating enough’? To this Hari said, “When you get hurt”. That is, when you have to forego your personal values is when you stop.

Hari also spoke about change and its effect on organizations’ culture. Change is an inconvenient truth that organizations have to deal with. You can either make change happen, or watch change happen, or be the victim of change. Culture changes over time. While some changes happen gradually over a period of time, some are sudden. Either way, trying to fight it will do you more harm than good.

Being just an intern and very new to the corporate world, this discussion highlighted for me the new direction of the corporate world. Hari brought a lot of global experience and the audience was very responsive in sharing their own international experiences. It was interesting to sit amongst and listen to entrepreneurs and senior executives talk about the errors and corrections made by their companies.

Key Highlights:

Culture should be a synchronization of what is said and what is being done
You want to be known as adaptable but not rigid or subservient
Stereotyping cultures maybe easy but not necessarily reality
You can either make change happen, or watch it happen, or be the victim of change

Why Social Media Monitoring?

iridiumInteractive — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:42:52 +0000

With my experience with iridium in this sphere for some time, it is my observation that social media is spreading like wild fire and it is every company’s desire to be a part of what is being said about them, their brands, products, services and finally, their reputation in the market.

Social media includes blogs, forums, wikis, tags and any user generated content. This is where consumers and users saw the opportunity to share their opinions and thoughts with so much ease.

Word of mouth marketing saw unprecedented growth which it never did before. Listening to these conversations on companies has brought about the importance of social media monitoring and the various tools invented to track and measure the zillion conversations happening online.

Social monitoring tools monitor:

All websites
Every possible social network
Social news
Blogs
Forums
Microblogs
Images
User generated content
Tags
Videos
Almost every possible thing on Web 2.0

Social Media Monitoring tools will provide you with all the statistics. But it is sheer analysis that will give some sense to the random numbers and graphs these tools generate.

In my next blog I will talk more about these tools and provide you with more examples especially from my experience at iridium Interactive.

Why consumers befriend their companies on social media?

iridiumInteractive — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 06:08:54 +0000

To cut a long story short, social media was first introduced for networking, socializing, tracing back old friends, school friends etc. Like minded people started discussing their common topics. They discuss, complain and even rave about their favorite or not so favorite brands here.

Companies have their own reasons of joining the social network bandwagon as I have already discussed before, and so do customers who have already mastered the social networking sphere for their own purposes.

Here are some of the reasons why customers befriend companies on social media sites:

It is considered cool to be associated with your brand on such forums.
Or to simply be aware of offers and discounts they might avail (majority do this).
Just to be up-to-date with company information in real time.
Or even gain access to company information, exclusive only to company fans and friends.
Sometimes to show support for their loyal brands.
Follow the herd and be associated with brand making news.

Whatever the reason may be, this has surely provided an incentive to every company to promote their brands on social media, to leverage their marketing efforts by communicating with their community of followers.

Social Media Etiquettes

iridiumInteractive — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:38:03 +0000

Social media is like any face-to-face conversation. It is essential to understand the proper way to converse and behave online. I feel it is important to throw some light on social media etiquette and “why” people should be at their best just as they are in a live social environment. While there are many social media experts who talk about keeping your individual style, urging us to voice our opinions etc., there is still a corporate etiquette needed in your social interactions and relationships. Let me brief you with some must- know pointers on social media etiquette.

Introduce your self and your company before adding people relevant to you and your business.
Don’t blow your own trumpet: Do not talk too much about yourself and promote only your company without understanding the wants of your audience.
Talk what’s relevant to your audience and community: Double check and ask yourself before submitting a blog if it is what your community will be interested in reading?
Listen and Respond: If your community is actively responding to your blogs and tweets, it is a good gesture to acknowledge it and reply back in time. Engage them before they loose interest.
Constantly Participate in social media interactions. This will help you have an everlasting quality group of community and relationships.
Being Gregarious is one of a valuable social etiquette that rules the charts.
Be Politically Correct: Do not make any statements just because someone in some blog says so, without being backed by a solid source. This is basic ethic to not join the rat race.
Rise Above the Noise: If someone is making rude comments on your blog or other social networks, do not engage in a row over the matter. Instead, listen to what they have to say and politely respond back.
Do not engage in personal conversations on your corporate blog or social network.
Show your Soft Skills: Value your audience and respect them.

With these etiquettes, your company will develop an honest and authentic voice that your stakeholders will value over time. Do share your inputs with iridium Interactive about what your social media etiquettes are.

Social Media and B2B Marketing

iridiumInteractive — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:15:17 +0000

So far all I have shared with you is the use of social media to address your audience, in particular consumers. But on a wider perspective our audience- our stakeholders- consist of our clients, employees, suppliers, or even consultants and vendors we deal with in our day to day business. Social media marketing and networking is clearly a means but not an end to nurture every business relationship.

B2B is a complex sales practice which involves a lot of people and companies. It is not easy to start conversations between your prospect and the company. There has to be a way in which your ideas get the conversations rolling. Here lies the need to strategise your marketing content in order to broaden your reach.

It is a fact that consumers rule the buying decisions and companies can no longer dictate or push a product on the consumers. Sales guys have been worst hit thanks to the advent of social media since consumers look for networking sites which will help them make their purchase decisions.

This is the cue B2B marketers can take to enter the social media sphere and make the most of it. Facebook and Twitter are amazing stops for B2B marketing. But the approach for B2B marketing is similar to any non B2B marketing.

Here is what you have to do to start your social media marketing efforts.

1. First, listen to what is happening around your brand and the industry. Set up Google Alerts with your company’s name and also competitor’s name.

2. Second, monitor, analyse and make conclusions on where you stand and what should your goals and strategy be.

3. Third, after framing your business policies and strategies, design content that will inspire prospects and existing parties to start conversations with you.

4. Fourth, step into your buyers shoes and develop content relevant to them.

5. Fifth, do not start hard selling from the beginning.

6. Sixth, research on audience profile, what are they typically researching, what are the problems they are facing, etc…

7. Seventh, address the issues they may be facing and also the solution to their issues.

This way, you have set the stage for your pre-sales conversations even before you interact with them personally.

NASSCOM and iridium's pledge for a Clean Delhi!!

iridiumInteractive — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:12:31 +0000

NASSCOM Foundation in India partnered with Let’s Do It Delhi to help clean up Bhikaji Cama Place in Southwest Delhi, India on 20th March, 2010 at 7:30 in the morning. The small but inspired NF team comprised of 31 volunteers from various Indian companies like Newgen Software, WNS, iridium Interactive, MphasiS and Students’ Partnership Worldwide – India Project Trust. The enthusiastic iridium team- Manish, Sinchita, Janhavi and Nitu, along with the NF team took up to cleaning one of the many lanes at the Bhikaji cama complex. While cleaning, what came as a shock for the team was that the maximum garbage comprised of pan masala and gutkha packets – all of which are plastic and hence is non-biodegradable. Most people in the metros have the habit of littering after they have used the contents of the packet. What we don’t realize is that this garbage adds to the city’s dirt dump. Would we do it in our house??? I’m sure each one of us would say NO. When you wouldn’t dirty your own house with garbage, why do it to your city. After all, it is home to many people who do not have a house to live in. The open city space is their home.

This cleanliness drive has enthused us iridiumiites and we, right now, right here pledge to keep our city clean and also create awareness amongst people in our own big or small way and make our cities a heaven to live in. Spread the word and let more people join in!!!!

Manish is a Practice Director at iridium Interactive and spear heads the Web2.0 and Social media practice.

Integrating Traditional Marketing and Social Media

iridiumInteractive — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:40:43 +0000

While writing a lot on social media marketing and reading a very interesting case study on traditional marketing versus social media, I understood one common debate marketing experts and social media experts have constantly- do traditional marketing and social media contradict each other or compliment?

Think of the evolution of marketing from radio to television ads, from newspapers ads to billboards and print media; these newer techniques may have evolved but that does not mean we are done away with older methods, they still coexist and need an integrated approach by any smart marketer.

Social media, in my view, is a new way of marketing that allows a company to communicate their campaigns across multiple platforms consecutively. At the same time it is important to point out that campaigning through all the marketing channels should be similar and complement your online & off-line strategy.

The PUSH v/s PULL Strategy…..

Traditional marketing methods have been essentially stressing on the “push” method, where brand managers and advertisers are pushing their products on the consumers. Here the marketers had the power to create a need for a consumer and convince them to buy their products; Social media on the other hand is more like a “pull” technique, where the power is bestowed in the hands of the consumer who will dictate what they want and how the company serves their wants and needs. A sensible marketer would continue his traditional marketing ways while attracting potential consumer through the pull strategy of social media.

Brainstorming in traditional marketing can be combined with social media monitoring to know what exactly your stakeholders are talking about you. Visuals and audios created as a part of traditional marketing can also be aired on the internet that has a wider consumer reach. In my understanding, traditional and social media work harmoniously with wider and stronger customer coverage. For example, I have seen many companies’ online communities and website traffic swelling 10x times during the time they were present in an industry trade show, or when they sponsor a public event, or when their key thought-leaders increase their social presence through awards, interviews etc…This is the time a complete alignment of online v/s offline marketing is needed.

To simply summarize, different audience respond to different methods. Start developing parallel online & offline strategies.

From dis-engaging to re-engaging the Social Quotient of your employees

iridiumInteractive — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:30:02 +0000

So, now having filled you in on the basics of Social Media in my previous few blogs, I shift to the next level of social media insights. With the right base of understanding about this medium, your company can take a leap to explore it as a sand box experiment. Companies in India that block and dis-engage the social network websites for their employees will no longer be successful as mobile apps are now better engaging human networks. Smart companies know this and they have already taken the first mover advantage to re-engage their staff by creating effective corporate blogs. Sounds surprising? It may not, but they have figured out the essence of the network effect of socializing and are now using that to build company loyalty and stronger retention ratios. Lets find out what these path-breaking companies are doing.

With an open mind to allow social media as a corporate wide activity and not just limited to one department or a person, employee blogs are rising very rapidly. A classic case that comes to my mind is IBMer’s Blog

They encourage all their employees to be a part of the blogging process as it brings out the culture and vibrancy of the organization. Customers look out for these factors to relate to a company and IBM sure has played it right to attract more audience and consumers and most importantly their PEOPLE, the IBMers.

But before letting your employees start your social media initiative, there are a few things you should keep in mind for harnessing a sensible social quotient:

Train them and educate them on Social Media and the purpose of their engagement for the company.
Lay down the boundaries and the confines within which they can talk about the company.
Before making it live create an internal sandbox for them to learn and play around with.
Create a playground for your employees. Encourage some of the employees from different work areas to post their pilot blogs and engage them to collaborate via commenting, also called builds. @iridiuminter, for our own company blog, we have been successfully able to engage the employees by having them comment openly.
Do not punish them for speaking their mind. This is a great sign of creating trust both within and outside the organization.
It is always better to do a sanity check in the beginning on all that goes live from the employees. After a while this check can be removed as they now know their limitations.

Last but not the least, let them enjoy this activity.

Taking the Baby Steps to Social Media

iridiumInteractive — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:30:03 +0000

After sharing the C’s to Social Media or the basic approach to it, lets get on to implementing them in your organizations.There are no defined classes for teaching Social Media yet but from my experience with iridium Interactive, social media marketing takes time to learn and understand. Social media is a risky venture because when it goes wrong it can spell disaster for the company and its brand. Not to freak you out but lets take social media marketing slowly and step by step to set a firm foundation in social media.

1. The beginning of every possible thing done in the corporate way is to Frame a goal:

Why do you want Social media?
What business purpose will it serve?
What is your target audience?
Will this be an organization wide commitment or a seperate department?
What marketing initiatives will Social media be helpful for?

2. After answering all these questions it is important to frame policies. This is particularly important when your social media efforts are an organization wide endeavour as you have to set boundaries for the employees involved in it.

3. Start Research: before starting any thing new it’s always wise to take a look at the happenings around you. Research and analyse what the rest are doing in the social media sphere. Create your own inventory of links and resources that you can refer to in the near future.

4. Understand the world wide social media sphere and what you would want to implement in your social media activities. There are millions of social media applications out there, pick only those applications which you think you will use.

Not very different from traditional marketing, social media also deals with building trust and creating a community. If you know the marketing tricks this should not be a difficult feat for you. Just like the human evolution social media also has its own evolution, where you CRAWL, then WALK, RUN and then FLY the glorious heights of Social Media.

NASSCOM India Leadership Forum (NILF) ‘CONNECTS’ with iridium Interactive

iridiumInteractive — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:34:34 +0000

Coming February –The world descends on Mumbai.

February of every year, the city of Mumbai sees a different profile of visitors – not just the filmstars, sportstars and political leaders but the stalwarts of the global IT world. The NASSCOM INDIA Leadership Forum (NILF) has become an event that has become a ‘Must-Attend Event’ for the entire IT diaspora & related audiences from across the world.

It is a great sense of joy and pride that iridium Interactive has been selected to partner with NASSCOM for this event. iridium Interactive has been working closely for this prestigious event – our efforts and painstaking night outs have gone on to ensure the success of NILF in 2008. In keeping with the adage – ‘Good work begets more work’, we are pleased that iridium Interactive has continued its association for 2009 as well. iridium Interactive has now embarked on a grand objective to take the NILF event to a next level of virtual connectedness.

New tools and avenues have been designed, developed and implemented on the web portal – that enables delegates to virtually meet, interact and work closely together.

Check out the new look NILF site that is drawing huge crowds from across the globe already. The new additions are being raved about – the trendier looking NILF Blog and an all new NASSCOM Connect Section.

iridium Interactive has worked on the mission of developing solutions that would facilitate the event – by leveraging the power of IT and the web medium to simplify business interactions and streamline interconnected effectiveness.

The NILF, to be held from Feb 11-13th in Mumbai, will see the arrival of IT doyens from across the world. In their midst will also be the iridium Interactive team – working at the backend – to ensure that the event is captured in all this regal pomp and splendour for now and for posterity.

Cross functional teams across our Development Centres have worked on this NILF portal for the last many months – including the excited Chaaywallahs at the office. After Jamaal Mallik’s astounding success in SlumDog Millionaire, the Chaaywallah has become a sought after position in most IT offices across India :). JAI HO – ii