Staying Ahead with Mobile;Losing Fun in Life

When someone doesn’t pop the question – what plans for the New Year – it might seem atypical. Well, that is what happened to me. No one cared. But that is typical of folks now. The mobile devices keep everyone engaged. So engrossed are people that most have absolutely no clue of the time passing by. What do they care of others plans? I was mulling over the clutter of mobile applications – some device resident while others in the cloud – and a way to stay away from it when some marketing to-do list for the year struck me. 

1.   Stay focused – I had been repeatedly suggesting to people I meet to stay away from mobile applications that challenge not just their stress thresholds but the tolerance of others around. What is increasingly seen is a tendency to procrastinate with the belief there will tomorrow to make up for today’s indulgences. Marketers who are relentlessly pursuing ways and means to garner consumers’ mindshare are being asked to stay away from strategies weighing down their brands. No marketer would want to commoditize a brand, right? Similarly, we ought to focus on one or two applications that keep us and others around us engaged. 

2.  Be seen – One of the advices from my boss early this year was to be seen where it matters. The connected world permits one to work from anywhere. It also implies that one can find the most convenient place to expedite work. While convenience matters, collaboration between team members should be a priority and hence regular meetings an imperative. The other day, I asked a journalist friend if she would want to walk across the road to meet a common friend. She preferred to take down the number and call instead. The conversation lasted 5 minutes; ending with the note of a possible meeting at a later date. Be it friends or relatives, whatsapp, Facebook, hangout etc are challenging the social aspects of human life. ‘Walking is no more a verb’ in my vocabulary, commented a young colleague recently. ‘Texting, pinging…etc are more frequently used,’ she continued. 

3.  Spread word that matters - In our quest to gain prominence across social media, we tend to indulge in activities that diminish the significance of matters that demand attention. A nine year old missing boy in Mumbai was fortunately traced with the help of his father’s extensive social media network. Not many are lucky though. The unedifying demeanor of our elected representatives in the Parliament should remind us of obstreperous kids and neighbors who get ostracized during community activities. Their political sagacity lies only in hoodwinking people.

Did the refrigerator message you?

‘Let us go party,’ Allen commented as soon as he received Joe’s message about a promotion. They chatted for a long time about their school, friends and work. Both agreed to call up their respective families and friends and meet at Allen’s place that weekend. Allen called his wife, Tina, and conveyed the news of Joe’s promotion and his invitation for a weekend party. 

As he hurriedly left office that day, Allen’s thought retraced childhood days at a small yet bustling town on the outskirts of a tech city. He had gone to school with Joe, founded a technology company while at college and decided to part ways when Joe decided to work for a tech major in China. Joe had travelled the world and was announced the CEO on his return to the US only a month ago.

As his car emerged out of the parking lot, a message popped up on his phone. It was Google. It had a list of party organizers. Yet another message had a list of his friends – mutual friends with Joe – to be invited for the party. A subsequent message had a calendar invite with names of all family members. Wow, this is going to be real fun, thought, Allen as he drove into his garage.

Welcome to the ‘internet of things’ which will certainly and significantly transform our lives. A blog by Ian Cook on the subject states the following - the ‘internet of things’ is an idea that suggests that not just access devices can be connected to the internet, but a whole host of other ‘objects’ might be able to join in as well.  For example, the Economist describes pill jars that know when an elderly patient needs to take a dose of tablets. A call centre can then ring the patient and remind them to take their pills.

According to Tom Fishburne, ‘as everyday objects in our homes, cars, and general lives start to connect, this has the potential to bring tremendous utility to people. For marketers, it also teases mouth-watering insight into and access to individual consumers.’

Now, Google’s acquisition of smart home device maker – Nest – could potentially change marketing forever.  The once-imagined future is less distant than we may think. A digitally enabled household no longer means simply maintaining a personal Internet connection or even syncing portable devices to a home network. Now, the digital home is becoming a conscious home — one that adapts and responds according to our behavior, states Anjali Lai in her Forrester blog.  

Gone are the days of brand building or relationship building; marketers will have to scamper for data pertaining to individuals so as to be the first to address their wants.  Well, the world’s really shrinking. What say you?

The Business of Joy

What would happen if a company had half of their team with joyful members and the other without? I was reading excerpts of a book – Joy Inc., by Richard Sheridan wherein this caught my attention. This has been a concept close to me; something I always attempted. 

Imagine asking a client which half they would prefer to work. Obviously, the response would be to work with the joyful half. Why would they want to? What difference would it make? The joyful members would be easy to work, more productive, more engaged, and would care more about the outcome. 

Of course, you don’t have to wait to hear from your client that a joyful team would produce better outcomes, right? A joyful team will ensure that the work they are doing will be largely adopted and delightfully used by their clients. They care about the change they are making – even if it is minute. Businesses would perform better if only they realize that they can’t sustainably achieve outside joy unless there is inside joy.  

  

Samuel Pierpont Langley led a highly educated, well funded team of scientists to build the first powered, manned airplane. However, he lost the race to Wright brothers, totally unknowns at that time. Why? Langley was trying to build an airplane. The brothers wanted to fly. 

A pursuit of joy within a business context is not the pursuit of fame or profit. Humans aspire to a higher purpose. Teams desire to work on goals bigger than themselves.

Kerala - a land of promise for migrants

January is usually a relatively quiet time unless you are in a private hospital in Thalasserry, Kerala.  While the sun starts to glitter, fervent activities awake the ones hoping for a painless day. All of a sudden, the hospital is teeming with patients and their companions;waiting for doctor's update, crowding at the billing counter, repeatedly buzzing the nurse. At the canteen, accompanied over a glass of steaming tea and scattered newspapers, animated conversations about Indian politics as well as governance build up. 

The only strangers to this rising cacophony are the migrants mostly from North and North-Eastern parts of India.

Raju, aged around 18 and his sister, looking slightly younger are watching the day unravel with curiosity. They had come a day earlier from Rajasthan, according to Shukoor, owner of the canteen. "There is acute shortage for people to clean vessels and tables. At this time, anyone is welcome," says Shukoor who has been running the canteen for nearly five years.

"There has been a sudden spurt in the number of migrants in this part of the  State," comments Narayanan Panicker, 55, who is at the hospital, attending to his ailing mother. "Migrants are increasingly filling up the odd jobs hitherto unfilled - not only in hotels but plumbing, carpentry   and even in fields," continues Panicker.

Further away from Thalassery, the temple town of Taliparamba, has been witnessing a gradual increase in the number of Rajasthanis. Locals in the area are only relieved with the increase in migrant families. Rise in building construction, apathy of local labours and cost-arbitrage are in fact seen as incentives for allocating work to migrants. "Work gets done and on time with migrants," says Vijayam Nambiar, a local resident.

The non-descript towns of Kerala today present enormous potential for migrants. With a vast majority of Keralites now literate and preferring white collar jobs, residents especially in North Kerala, have been moving to India's Silicon Valley - Bangalore. "Proximity to Bangalore and the allure of being a part of the famed technology wave has seen many moving to Bangalore," avers aspiring software engineer, 23 year old Rajesh Gopal. In addition to this, Kerala is also famous for tapping opportunities in the Middle East.

Legend has it that every family in North Kerala has at least one member working in the Gulf. Kerala’s economy, propped up by diaspora remittances from about two million Malayalees abroad, can expect windfall remittances to touch Rs75,000 crore (Dh49 billion) this financial year which could form an all-time high of nearly 35 per cent of its net state domestic product, migration expert S. Irudayarajan says. It is this potential that migrants from other States look to tap. Increase in the number of migrants will certainly enable Kerala to be competitive.

With competition nibbling at the low-end and threatening to move up the chain, Keralites will be forced to increase productivity as well as look at much more promising markets. 

AAP Lays New Rules for Governance

A lot has been written about political campaigns and digital ploys adopted by political establishments. Digital experts have been assigned the job of not only creating buzz in social media but continuously analyzing the digital sentiment. What has however not changed is the divide between expectation and satisfaction between voters and parties. This is especially true when one sees the old establishments relying on individuals to mobilize crowds and then deliver a monologue; something that every sensible voter can predict these days. What is ailing India, deriding opposition, foisting cases and the list goes on.  

 The newest member in the fray – Aam Aadmi Party - seemed to have grasped this pretty well. They have not only lowered their center of gravity (power to the people) but also created a mechanism to capture public opinions. The Hindu, reflected this very well in their Editorial today where it stated, ‘the idea of a referendum itself was refreshing as a method of seeking the people’s endorsement of the way forward in this complex situation. It is also a vital instrument of verifying public opinion that is missing from today’s democratic political practice in India. Mainstream parties seem to be increasingly out of sync with the dramatic changes on the ground that indicates the soaring aspirations of new social groups.’

The political leaders should perhaps take a cue from brand leaders. For both, it is a new world. With transaction-based interactions between brands and consumers shifting to relationship-based interactions, new skills and sensibilities are needed to effectively address consumers’ need. Less tangible factors like emotional intelligence and psychological insight are becoming crucial as traditional structures are crumbling and consumers’ voices are increasingly overshadowing organizations’ (read political parties).

Political heavyweights will take note that in the brave new world of social media, political agenda will increasingly be shaped by citizen’s opinion and demand—and is decreasingly under their control. The sudden rise of AAP is a perfect example of how citizens can become valuable allies when the party truly engages them to discuss ground realities instead of dodging issues or attempting to spin them. By opening up a space for real dialogue and actually listening to citizens, parties can learn more about what people really want, crowdsource ideas or gather insights that could help improve governance and citizens’ experience.

Time will tell if AAP can walk the talk. However, what is more apparent is the emergence of fundamental social activities like collaboration and co-creation.  Resting on the principles of generosity and openness, these activities will be the glue that binds disparate people while transforming and challenging existing governance models.

The Road is Filled with Idiots; Luck Eventually Runs Out

Shanti's eyes remained affixed on the ring. She tilted it sideways and ran her forefinger on the inside, feeling each letter engraved on it. It was a deliberate attempt to travel back in time. The ring had been a gift, a day before Diwali.  He had grasped her arm, pulling her to the room, away from his parents who were glued to the TV. Gently closing her eyes with his palm, he slowly took out a blue rectangular box hidden in his jacket. She could see the gold ring with little stones running by the side, sparkling the moment he opened it and allowed her to see it. As he gently pushed the ring onto her finger, she was overjoyed and tears welled up in her eyes.

It had been two years now. There wouldn't be another day like that, she knew as she carefully kept the ring aside and with it the memories. Rajiv, 29, was killed in a freak road accident. Shanti didn't dwell into the details. All she gathered was that a man driving a sedan had lost control of the vehicle and rammed into Rajiv, who was waiting for the signal to turn green. Hailing from a family with political leanings, the killer had ensured that the case was quickly wrapped up as just another accident. Newspapers had extensively covered the incident highlighting the injuries sustained by the killer. That lasted a day or two. Yet another death by accident was recorded in the police records.

Reports say that nearly 1.3 million people die every year on the world's roads and 20 to 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many sustaining a disability as a result of their injury. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-29 years and cost countries 1-3% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Careful analysis of the highways in India would reveal absolutely no precautions by the authorities to curb speeding. Poor enforcement of helmet and seat belt wearing, speeding and inadequate ambulance facility for road crash victims in India has pushed up the total fatalities. With 1.43 lakh deaths in 2011, India tops the list of nations in total number of road deaths.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the death rate per 100,000 populations for road traffic accident has increased from 16.8 in 2009 to 18.9 in 2013. Statistics indicate that there is no guarantee that one will return home after a drive on Indian roads. No wonder tyre manufacturer CEAT chose to leverage the situation for its advertisement – ‘the road is filled with idiots.’ Most of us will find the ad funny but for people like Shanti, it is about reliving the horrific incident. If the government chooses to turn a blind eye, remember, it only makes matters worse. It reduces the luck factor. As they say, luck eventually runs out…