The Bubble Sheet Recession

A friend shared this video and asked me a very smart question - When crisis is beyond what the text books teaches us, how do you handle it the most effective way?

Having seen the video, I was wondering if the media agencies, traditional media companies, and content production units are well equipped to tackle the monster called digital integration into their core offering and recover from the media crisis?

Sustainable Design - How it works in India

Here's a lesson and advanced learning to all budding designers, architects and sustainability thinkers. How people in India, use their common sense to create the most practical and sustainable design for things that really matters.

Strangler Fig living bridges in Meghalaya, India from Christiaan on Vimeo.

Simplicity is next to godliness.

Now everyone is on sale

Holy Shit. Now we have a Social Media Exchange called Empire Avenue. It means we can all become millionaires by trading our friends and families to earn virtual money and grow our portfolio and find out our net worth on social media and stuff. Which means we're all on sale. Damn.

Now why on earth would I want to trade my friends and families for virtual money and trading them like equity shares? Am sure there are plenty of people who would do that but ewwww... why? Anyways. I have to sign in and check out to find out more, how it works. They've a detailed FAQs which explains how things work. Maybe there is something in this which will transform our future. You'll never know until you've burnt your fingers. And that's exactly what I'm going to do now. You can check out too.

Future.ly - Mapping global innovations

Here is Future.ly. They are mapping global innovations from everywhere. Great initiative. If you're an innovation freak and wanting to find out what cool things happening around the world in sustainability, social causes, CSR, Green projects etc., Future.ly is the place to be in. Good work guys. Cheers.

Broadband is your birthright.

India's telecom policy is strange in many ways. Though the govt. has good intentions but the way policies are formed, implemented and executed are rather chaotic and anarchic. A lot has has been written and said about the recent telecom scams that rocked the Parliament, the nexus between ministers, bureaucrats, corporates and other lobbyists. The spectrum allocations and pricing, the corruption and bribery etc. etc. A vicious circle that engulfs the good intentions into one deadly evil virus. Well let me not get into that side of the story.

3G has been implemented. Most telecom operators have rolled out their 3G services and purely focusing on speed and the mundane features that accompany 3G. Mobile internet, high speed browsing, high Speed mobile gaming, mobile TV, video calling etc. But sadly no one is talking about the great social change that 3G services can bring in India. No one is talking about why high speed Broadband shouldn't become the birthright of every Indian. Indeed it comes at a price just like education, eletricity, clean water, clean air. But real problem lies in handing over information and knowledge to the common man, to the poor people. Broadband is the gateway to information to people's life. Now this is where the core problem lies. When people become more knowledgeable from the information available on the internet, politicians will have a problem manipulating people and securing their vote banks. It's a power game here in India. Broadband will enable more transparency. Broadband will enable e-governance and along with it reforms in the banking and financial sector. Macro issues at a policy level.

Look at some of the figures and you'll be surprised:

• Today, total internet subscriber base is approx 70mn compared to 740mn mobile subscriber base.
• India is expected to have 120mn internet subscribers base by the end of 2012.
• Penetration of laptops and notebooks will rise from 4.91mn at present to 9.87mn by 2013.
• 10% increase in India's internet penetration will lead to 1.4% increase in GDP.

So where can telecom and broadband service providers play a role for the betterment of society? How can broadband service providers really help elevate lives? Can they become the true change agents of Indian society and not just restrict themselves with few features as means to make profit?

Let me give you some examples:

• In Dhanbad, the Old Age Pensioner's Payment and Monitoring System pilot project has brought about much required reforms in a system marred by graft, fraud, long delays and complete lack of transparency. No connectivity to beneficiaries is provided through kiosks, with biometric recognition and RFID cards. The pension is now credited directly into a post office or bank account and payments are dispersed within five days of the transfer of funds. In the past, getting pensions was a pain in the ass and not to mentioned the large sums of bribery involved.
• In Chhattisgarh is a similar case where the public distribution system and the implementation of the NREGA is transforming lives in Jharkhand.
• In Karnataka, Narayana Nethrayala rolled out the country's first tele-ophthalmology programme in infant blindness prevention in 2007, called Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity or KIDROP. Today KIDROP provides timely and affordable treatment by screening as many as 3400 infantts and successfully treating 328 kids.
• Moving from healthcare to community development, Chanderiyaan or the Chanderi Weavers ICT Resource Centre is another case in point. Set up in 2009 in Chanderi, MP, the resource centre has demonstrated the extent to which internet and broadband can make a difference, affecting livelihoods directly. Eighty weavers retailing their products using Chanderiyaan have seen their incomes double. They have been trained in computer-aided textile design, apparel design and tailoring new patterns and designs have been developed, looms have been set up for poor weavers, an in-house showroom is functioning, an e-commerce website has been recently established and a digital design library has been set up too.
• In Kerala, the tele-classroom initiative by Edyounet technologies aims at reaching out to college students in rural areas. Dealing with the problem of lack of interactive virtual classroom training in tier 2 and 3 cities, the programme is a network of digital classrooms equipped with LCD TV's, computer and internet connectivity. Students can visually and verbally interact with teachers and can even write or type on the LCD screen. using high speed 1 Mbps pipe, the programme facilitates delivvery of lectures from 'education studios' in prominent cities that have no dearth of high quality faculty.
• Unilever India's Project Shakti now reaches to more than 80,000 villages in India covering 15 states and providing employment to more than 25,000 women who are earning an average salaary of Rs. 10,000 per month.

Examples like these are plenty in India. Small, significant changes are indeed taking place and happening at the grassroot level. Real meaningful work is being carried out by unknown individuals. Pity the telecom and broadband service providers are busy in their pursuit of profit margins and market shares. What bothers me more is their inability to see competitive advantages beyond tariff plans and boring advertising. They could have made a big difference to society and building themselves as a social brand rising driving changes at the bottom of the pyramid. Driving these kind of changes for the betterment of society is not about ticking the CSR box or fulfilling their obligations as an organization. These changes help create long term value creation. It creates a sustainable source of revenue for them too. Alas, broadband providers don't think that way. Hope it changes for the good very soon.

Making money from doing good.

I really like and believe in what Mr. Noam Kostucki (Co-founder of Seeducation) says at TEDx. It only reinforces my belief that the sole purpose of making profit is for doing good. Period. Exactly the same point I mentioned in my ATTICUS paper.

Well, watch out. Companies who still don't realize this simple fact is bound to have larger problems later. Do Good or Die.

DO GOOD OR DIE

This is my second attempt at writing another ATTICUS paper. Do Good or Die is an attempt at understanding the paradigm shift from branding to service. The shift from making profits to being ethical and doing good to society and people. This paper explores how Return on Investment is making way for Return on Involvement. How Social Media and Social Responsibility is changing the way brands are marketed and its future impact on Earth and people living on the planet. How Social Media and Social Responsibility will help brands become more acceptable to people and society. It also explains how Sustainability will become the core focus of brand marketing in an era of increased globalization.

Do Good or Die

View more presentations from Roop Mukhopadhyay.

80% children between 0 - 5 yrs are on internet

Nearly 80% of children between the ages of 0 and 5 use the Internet on at least a weekly basis in the United States, according to a report released Monday from education non-profit organizations Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Sesame Workshop.

Via Mashable.

21 things that will be obsolete in 2020

Here's an interesting article that predicts 21 things that will become obsolete by 2020. Scary but really interesting. Wonder what the kids of 2020 will become. They might just make us obsolete.

Social health and free condom apps

Well things like this happens. But not in India. You don't need smartphones. You just to send a text message to people. You can even segment those people for precise targeting etc. Drivers, construction workers etc. Condom brands in India don't think this way nor does the govt. health dept or local municipal bodies. The telecom companies don't say anything either. But honestly so much good could be done, if only brand managers cared about doing good. I mean the other two P's apart from Profit while our Govt. stays busy cleaning its own mess from the scam.

Social health is a high potential, growth segment for the next few years. Imagine a future when Social Health + Mobile Health join hand to create an unique platform in India. Imagine if the Dept of Health + Hospitals + Pharma Companies + Health Insurances + University Research Dept come together? Imagine creating a (RED) equivalent using different platforms and technologies to do good REAL, TANGIBLE GOOD for poor people? Joining hands to eradicate poverty and illness from India. Doing what the Govt. is failing to do. Well, only if they really want to make any meaningful contribution other than making profits. Ha. Only if the marketing teams in India, understood how to approach the concept of doing good.

Get ready to face the challenges of future.

PHd Worldwide, the Future of Media Agency as they like to call themselves has put this video. It is indeed shocking for marketers and communication professionals. When computers become more intelligent than human beings and everything under the sun is interconnected, the consumers of future will indeed demand more. Not only will they demand but they will in fact guide brands, the way they want it to be. Tough times. Be ready to pull up your sleeves.

Change is always good. but its important to keep a tab on the pace of change and anticipate how it will change. Neuroplanning will become the most essential planning tool in a globally connected world. We hardly understand the functioning of Neuromarketing and Neuroplanning - things that will change the future of marketing. Solution will become easy when you can identify the changes about to take place. Here's an excellent speech from Dr. A. K. Pradeep (CEO - Neurofocus)

Be prepared. Cheers.

Egypt - The rise of Social Media Revolution (Update)

In less than 1 hour, of me mentioning about the Social Media Revolucion, we indeed have "The Virtual March" on Facebook. Go ahead. Bring a revolution. I mentioned here how Egypt is turning to be a great example of social change using social media, rather a regime change. This is a live event happening around us. I just hope more clients in India start listening to what people are saying in the social media platform, before they go out in the streets screaming, 'Viva La Revolucion.'

On a different note, I was wondering, the Communist Party of India is indeed stupid. They couldn't manage to use social networking and social media to their advantage, both online and offline. Am guessing a similar event about to happen in Kolkata very soon. Or maybe not. Didi ain't transparent either. Anyways. Change will prevail upon the regime. May the force be with you.

Egypt - The rise of Social Media Revolution

The latest developments in Egypt can become the new face of Social Revolution in the ear of Social Media. Surprisingly with several instances of people and society coming together to raise their voice against oppression, corruption and government wrong doings signifies an emerging trend - Social Media influenced Revolution.

Examples like:

• The Red Brigade taking over central business district of Bangkok, Thailand last year.
• Uprising in Tunisia against Ben Ali and people using social media to spread the word.
• The civil unrest in Kyrgyzstan and the spreading the news through social media.
• Suu Kyi's supporters using Social Media to raise awareness of the oppression and her house arrest.
• Thousands of people gathering near The Gateway of India after the 26/11 Mumbai attack coming together after spreading the message on Social Media
• Thousands of people sending Pink Chaddi's (Pink underwear) to RSS & VHP supporters against their inhuman action on Valentine's Day in Bangalore.
• Finally Wikileaks taking on Govt. of the world by releasing tapes and classified documents.

What is the new role of Social Media? Can Social Media become the most important channel when it comes to raising voice against wrong doings? Can Social Media become the platform for Social Revolutions? How will Social Media affect Govt. branding? How will it impact government functioning? Will Social Media finally bring in transparency at every level?

Well, these developments are serious issues with greater impact on the way we live our lifes, the code of conduct for govts., the economic state of affairs, etc. Think over. And please do share your views with me.