The following post was originally published on Campaign Asia.
It has been an exciting and enlightening two and half years on Twitter. It has been my micro blog related to my observations, opinions and questions on the world of brands, marketing, social media, digital, advertising—and the people behind it all who influenced me, made me think, learn and grow as a marketer. I rarely, if ever, have used it for casual updates of where I am or what I am doing—and [...]

The original title for this blog post was “Why I Want an iPhone.” I’m an Android girl, not because of any personal agenda against the iPhone, but because my last upgrade was available during the time of the AT&T iPhone-Verizon battle, and there was just no way I was going to switch to AT&T. For the most part, I don’t have iPhone envy, except when it comes to one particular app: Instagram. As a lover of photography, but not [...]

The following article was previously published on Thinking Aloud.
Through the eyes of a marketer who sees the foundations of success starting with A, B, C…
In a world where social media has freed the reins of expression and hugely democratized it, and technology and mobility has put the power to express with a click in the hands of millions and millions of people, a question topmost in the minds of marketers is how they can ensure the success of their [...]

The infamous hacking group Anonymous is allegedly planning to delete Facebook on Nov. 5, 2011. In a YouTube video, allegedly posted by Anonymous, the group announced that it will erase the social media giant to save the public from Facebook’s evil, privacy-stealing ways—though there have been conflicting reports of the group’s involvement, via an Anonymous spokesperson. Apparently, the hackers’ collective is just as uncertain as the rest of us if the attack will actually happen, because the hackers are (obviously) [...]

A recent survey by Bloomberg and YouGov found that Google+ is on track to become the second largest social networking site within the next 12 months. I’ve been a member of Google+ since it launched about a month ago, but I’m just not buying it—the survey, that is.
The survey (which only interviewed 1,003 adults, not quite a representative sample in my opinion) claims that Google+ is “chipping away at engagement levels on Facebook and Twitter” based on the following statistics:

30 [...]

The following article was originally published on Campaign Asia.
Everyone and every brand today wants to do social.
By embracing social media. By creating home pages on popular social networks. By reaching out to their consumers. Drawing them to their social avatars. And then attempting to engage and influence them. To “like” them. To interact with them. To hopefully at some point turn them into buyers. Brand loyalists. And ardent brand advocates.
That’s all very well. And noble in intent, too. But [...]

The following article was originally published on Campaign Asia.
July 13, 2011. A day that unfortunately saw a spate of bomb blasts in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai, India.
It was also a day that saw social media, specifically Twitter, come of age.  And not just come of age, but actually score over the big television networks in the manner in which the aftermath of the bomb blasts was handled.
Almost miraculously, within minutes, a community formed. Not of people who necessarily [...]

The following post was originally published on Mommylens.com.
There were 80,000 people in attendance at the U2 concert I went to recently.  And from what I could tell, all 80,000 were sharing their experience with friends and family through their own social networks and mobile devices.  As my husband and I photographed, tweeted and posted updates on Facebook, I was convinced that this was more than half the fun.
Rewind to one of my most favorite assignments over [...]

What we’ve learned in the past decade is that brands that want momentum, relevance and reach must ensure they are digital to the core. That means a lot more than having a cool website and delegating some people to talk about the brand in social media. In just the past few years, ordinary consumers have taken digital into every room of their house and with them everywhere they go. They’ve become digital to the core.
Digital is already massive, and it’s [...]

The following article was originally published on Campaign Asia.
There isn’t a day that goes by without chatter and excitement over some new way of measuring social media Influence—be it personal or that of brands.
In the good old days, clout measured influence. It’s not surprising then that in today’s digital interconnected world, clout still counts—except that it now seems to be spelled with a “K,” as in “Klout.”
I read somewhere, that today Klout scores are quoted on résumés. And if [...]