The following post was originally published on Campaign Asia.
The last few days have seen a great deal of chatter on Twitter and elsewhere in social media–on the changed algorithm introduced by Klout to measure social media influence. And how the changes have resulted in carefully nurtured (and built) Klout taking a tumble. In many cases, by as much as 20 points, virtually overnight.
The official Klout blog that has posts mentioning the changed algorithm is flooded with comments. I spotted over [...]

The email to me cautioned “Be careful what you tweet” and linked to Chrysler’s recent snafu, in which an employee of an agency hired by the automaker mistakenly posted an obscene tweet to Chrysler’s official Twitter feed. The employee was stuck in traffic and meant to send it to his personal account. Instead, it went to Chrysler’s Twitter feed and cost him his job and his agency the Chrysler account.
That story, and a few others that have made the news [...]

Hello, and welcome again to another Week in Social Media.
Facebook—my beloved social network and, as always, the first topic of this blog post. But this time it is not about the platform itself but the users. With almost 600 million of them globally, there is a lot to learn about the demographics. Have look at this SlideShare by Amodiovalerio Verde.
What would the Class of 2011 look like, if social media were a high school? Interesting question, right? What about [...]

It has been a while since we’ve heard people talk about “the death of advertising.” A few years back, the birth of social media and interactive marketing had ad watchers sounding the death knell, but we now know that although advertising (and media in general) has changed, the ad biz has certainly not disappeared—and is not going to.
But what is emerging and shaking things up is a new creative class of people who might not necessarily work within our industry [...]

“That’s how we do it in the black community; we give back to the people who made us who we are. We never forget that.” —Snoop Dogg (American entertainer, rapper, record producer and actor)
A product or service must be compelling in order for people to be inspired to buy or use it –that’s a given. But really, it’s consumers who raise a brand’s profile and create its reputation. And with interactions between people increasing at an incredible pace everyday because of [...]

“A sustainable brand is a brand or company that takes care of five sources of capital, not only industrial and financial capital but also natural, human and social capital” –Fernando Rodés Vilà, CEO of Havas, on CNBC (Watch the interview)
Thirty-one percent of Internet users aged 18-34 and 32 percent of those 35 and older are more likely to buy products from brands that are socially responsible. In the past, brands could influence politics only through lobbying, but I would say [...]

The words rumors and Facebook seem to belong together these days. But now we know that Friday’s rumor about the social network (“Facebook’s Gmail Killer, Project Titan, Is Coming on Monday”) is reality. Mark Zuckerberg announced the “modern messaging system” on Monday. (“This is not an e-mail killer,” he added. Okay, so that was one rumor that perhaps won’t come true. Stay tuned.) There are interesting possibilities for such a Web-based e-mail client. Due to the knowledge concerning relationships between users [...]

There is always something new going on with Facebook. So let’s start this week’s post by looking at the rumors I wrote about last week: Facebook Places’ Deals. It’s been confirmed; it is official since Wednesday: Local businesses will be able to offer deals when users check in to their place on Facebook. Deals will be starting over the next few days and will only be available in the United States (at the beginning [...]

Leading global FMCG group Reckitt Benckiser (RB) is exploring a variety of social media to raise its profile among the highly sought-after 18- to 30-year-old age group. RB produces a number of well-known household brands, which they call Powerbrands. These include Finish, Vanish, Veet and Clearasil, to name but a few. But awareness of RB as a corporate brand is low compared to awareness of these Powerbrands.
Working with recruitment and employee communications agency Euro RSCG Riley to develop the strategy [...]

As the dust settles over the debate about whether social media is indeed worth all the hype, the medical fraternity has been slowly pointing the needle (pun intended) towards a yes.
The lure of social media notwithstanding, the medical community has been apprehensive about using it. Lack of clear knowledge of usage and value, skeptical response and industry regulations have combined to turn social media into a Pandora’s Box in the minds of many who have taken the Hippocratic Oath.
Times have [...]