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Showing posts from 2008

Speed Of Time In Virtual World

Recently, I have been very active in facebook with posting and commenting and discussing as well. There was this post or a topic where we all were discussing. At late night, I and my friend were chatting on the same topic when suddenly, my friend said, "Look at the update in facebook." I went straight there and to my surprise found so many posts and comments waiting to be read. At that moment I said to myself, how can so many people post at the similar time and be understood with out any confusion. This took me into thinking of a problem that usually occurs in the banking sector. When, more then one person try to access the similar account at one time, the process needs to make sure that no false transaction occur. In technical term its called atomicity .  But the situation here seems a bit different and I was thinking of something else - the speed of time in the Virtual world . How are we spending our time in social networking site, and how do we look at these activities ?.

Add me as a Friend

Social Structure is based upon the connection between people enhanced by the technology around them. Starting from saying "hi" to the never ending relationships between people is amazing. Once the connection is made, it takes ages for it to break or may be infinity.  Being in a group and having a friend circle is a unique features of Human being that is studied in any  sociology  text books. The happening or making of a group is quite interesting to look at. Don't criticize me for being OVER scientific but mathematicians have some how managed to come with certain approximate ways of defining the social group in numbers. With the rising age of Online Networking groups available, it has become more easier to analyse the group and make a suggestion on them,NUMERICALLY. Also, the rising of the  REALITY SHOWS  like  BIGG BOSS  and others, it has given a  social analyst  a platform to analyse the social bonding and a structure.   Let me narrate a short observation that was made

Selling a Comb to a Bald Person?

Here my friend, Ashay, put it very truly to me that the marketer's most challenge is to sell a comb to a bald. First, I am not trying to justify anything here. But I just couldn't help thinking how on earth am I going to sell a comb to a bald. How? Just how? I kept pondering upon it till late night. I actually had very few options with me, the first was obviously to use Google and Find? :) But, I didn't do that. Some how I was still in confusion. Then just before going to sleep, I had an discussion with my other friend, on types of marketing on issues related to customer centric marketing. Hmm. Then some how it hit me. I went back to basic on my own philosophy, sell things that is needed. So here is a small anecdote I prepared : Sale Person   : Hello sir. How are you? Do you have a time, plzzz? Bald Person : (Almost confused and in social causality) OK OK what is it? I don't have time. Sale Person    : Here sir, do you want to by a comb?  Bald Person  : Can't you

Selling an Empty Box?

Have you ever sold anything? Or have you ever tried selling anything? The experience of selling is very different from any other experience. Its like, - finally someone understands you- kind of thing. Selling doesn't always include a transaction of cash. It can also mean making someone believe what you are tring to say. But, lets not get into that - its the job of lawyer. :) Let me share one occasion where I did manage to sell something. It was during my college days. I was working on a pet project of mine - making a micro controller programmer . It was targeted at programming a 89c51 /52 series of micro controller. Well, don't go on what that means, its one type of micro controller. After working for months on the design and layout and finally fabrication, on my own, I was almost tried of it. Testing took another month. But, finally it worked. I was more than happy. So, now I could use it. Let me show you how it looked.    Well, its not the one I made, but my product looked v

Choice to be made.

So far so good. Its been some time, where I have been pondering upon what to write about. Should I use some marketing brains to choose a perfect topic and just throw it in or just be me. Its time to make a choice here and its not going to be so easy. Therefore, I am not going to make any choice here. Let me think more on it. Starting from the experience so far, I have found some things regarding the Internet media that I want to share: 1. Blog is not Wiki : No matter how much you try, blog can never be wiki because wikipedia already exist and there's no reason to copy it. Blog is a place to share your views with people around the globe who understand what you are talking about. You can't talk about marketing with a guy from literature, right. 2. Social Networking, a place to Advertise: So far, I had used social site like: hi5 and facebook to connect to old lost friends and communicate with them. But recently, I find myself adding anyone in my friend list and updating my sta

Paralysis by Analysis

Have you heard of it? Getting all hooked up by the numbers and equations and graphs, it is very probable of getting overwhelmed by them and losing the motive of making any decision or conclusion. Acting or Making a decision or Coming to a Conclusion is the motive of analysis. You start by following methods: 1. Collect Data 2. Process Data 3. Analyse Data 4. Use the analysis to make a decision. What would happen if you get lost in the step 3 and cannot come to step 4? There can be many reasons, few are: 1. Lost track of reason 2. Not satisfied with the analysis 3. Stuck in confusion 4. Lazy to decide 5. Overwhelmed by the possibilities of new analysis method. Yes, the last one is one of the reason that I was pointing at. You get so excited about the range of types of data and the possibilities of new statistical tools, that you forget that you need to decide. This means getting paralysed by the process of analysis. Next time you analyse make sure to remember that you have to decide and

Opening a Dictionary....

Reading a novel or any article, sometime you stumble upon a word that you don't know. Soon the sentences doesn't make any sense, so you ponder upon the meanings of words. Reluctantly and lazily, you open a huge dictionary, though very uncommon now a days, and start searching for the word. Time passes by but you are still stuck with your dictionary. You are already learning many words but not the one you were searching for. What is this phenomenon? The phenomenon of getting lost into your own world. But some people are so focused that they find what they are searching for and soon return to their work. But some, like me, get lost and starts stumbling upon more unknown words. The mystery engulfs the mind and soon you are lost. But, yes ultimately you do find the word you are searching for and then return back to your work. I find life so similar to opening a dictionary. You are confused and lost and try to find the meaning by opening your horizon and soon get lost into millions o

Leader from a BOX?

The above picture has been taken from: www.rfidjournal.com/.../ catalogue/phpcMjv3U.jpg Leaders are not made in Universities or from any kind of training. It is not something that can be made. Leaders are the way they are. They react to the situation and take a lead of their life. They live by their choice and are not affected by the outer criticism. Now a days, we see so many leadership programs run here and there. My say is, its stupid and unnecessary. By training and programs, where the traits of great leader are imposed into the young mind, we only get a robot that react the way, they are trained to be. They go by rules and follow the dogma of leadership. Leaders come by breaking the glass in which they have been living. Everyone is given a choice to lead their life, some take it whereas some submit themselves. There is nothing wrong or right in it. Its just a way they are. But, saying that we can make leader, is a foolish statement. Yes, we need leaders to lead the tribe, but the

Integrity

Integrity , something that you need to save throughout your life. For whom do you save integrity? I say you save it for yourselves, and not for anyone else. Integrity is something that belongs to you, and you only. How do you know if you still have it, or not? You don't, until you lose it. It is the sadness thing that happens to human. Integrity is something for which people live in this world. For some one it is their only life. But what is this integrity and how do you recognize it in you. That is if you have one. Integrity is your power to say YES and NO. It doesn't matter if it is right or wrong, but you must be able to say it. This means respecting your decision and valuing your intelligence. If you cannot then, you have lost it. So I say, value yourselves in this world. Value your thoughts for what it is? Don't care what others have to say just believe in your reasoning. But remember there is difference in giving value and having a vanity. Recognize the difference

80/20 Rule of Marketing

Have you heard of it? Or are you aware of it? 80/20 rules, though not mathematically justified, is approximately an accurate description of the Business Rules and a reality that should not be ignored.  It states that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your total customers. Therefore, it is suggestive to focus yourself to these 20% of your customer rather the 80% of your non-profit customers. It sounds very unconventional that you should ignore the possibilities of business from the 80% of other customers. But logically, it sounds perfect. Why spend money on such customers that brings no business? Instead, it is very reasonable to focus your business's attention to those who really care.  Also, this rule also extends itself to all the other domain like 80% of your complains comes from 20% of those customers which really do not bring any business. It all sounds so obvious and true. Remember that any good rules always sounds obvious after it has been stated but it lies that it is

Social Theory in Online Community

Add as a friend, Join the group, Please Donate, Join a cause, Find a Date. Yes, all the things that you can do in the online social network. How interesting and imaginative!  But, do you think all the classical social theories apply to the online community . I mean does the human behaviour change in the Virtual World or is it the same any way? There are chances that the Virtual Worlds may see a human behaviour that is not seen in the real world. That might be strange. I mean, how can it vary. But the chances are that they will. This can be due to the new possibilities and the moral issues that bind us in the online network. The geographical barriers are breaking and a new kind of community is taking shape in the clouds and in the electrical database.  I have only one question. Is this the MATRIX ? Do you think that someday, we will be so into the virtual worlds that we will forget that the real world exists and that we may need some kind of saviour to make ourselves conscious of it. Th

Lost in Thoughts

When you are on your own, living a life and there is no one to scold you or guide you, you tend to lose every patience and every strength in you. And its obvious, especially, when there is no binding in the thoughts and you are free to think.  Its sometime difficult to make sense of everything, and then just conclude that nothing makes sense.  I believe, in such case, we need to be strong and fight with our emotion and find reason to do something in life.  There is no reason for a clay to be moulded to a statue but trying to give it some shape is what we try to do. Though both may make no sense. War and Peace. Can you imagine a place with no war? I doubt it. Its difficult, an extremely difficult situation. But can you imagine a world in mayhem, YES we can, its so easy. Destruction is so easy. But creation and stability is so hard. If we let the destruction overwhelm us than the society will go down. Remember we all are just trying to create a harmony and exist. We are trying to bring b

On War

There is a book named 1984 by George Orwell . This is the book with one of the most thorough analysis of the society that we live in. The society divided by the class and the society divided by the belief. No, I am not going for a book review, its an important issue that I am tyring to address. It is strange to ponder upon the thought, if the world is ever going to attain peace. If all the human are ever going to attain the equal respect in the society. If power is ever going to be distributed to all the people with out any fear.  Its a question which has almost no answers. But we all keep trying hard to attain peace because it makes sense and it is the only thing that balances the violence. It will be stupid to question if we are ever going to attain equality because that does not matter. What matters is that we bring a balance in the world and live in harmony. Harmony means bringing balance and not wining.  With recent Mumbai Blast and the terror all around the world, its difficult

Customer Modeling

Customer Modeling is way of understanding the psychology of people going to the market. Yes, I have been talking about it for quite some time. This time, lets try to be a bit realistic. So, lets start by questioning ourselves. For case study lets take an example of a Shopping Mall. What are the reasons that we find people in the Shopping Mall? Just visiting as time pass and hang out, kind of social gathering Visiting for the first time Searching for gifts to buy Family trip Tourist visit Visiting with a particular motive to buy something   These are some of the reasons that you find people in the Shopping Mall, assuming there is no movie complex in it. :) The reason for listing down these factors is to understand the categories of customers coming to visit the shop. Now among these 8 groups of people which one is the most valuable customer- meaning most likely to spend money. I personally see few, number 4,6,3. These are the likely customer because they are in the need of something. Fa

Maslows's Hierarchy

Yes, one of the fundamental laws of every things, the Maslow's Hierarchy . It doesn't need to be stated because everyone is aware of this fact. The need that needs to be fulfilled in this world is the thing that makes everything possible and run. It is the reason that the world is moving forward. It is the engine of life. Analysing the trends and everything might show us the relationship between the variables and their nature. But ultimately when we ask why then, we need to face Maslow's Hierarchy. All we need is Need .  Supply is dependent upon Demand and the demand is dependent upon need . So its need at the end. In marketing if we can only understand the need of the consumer, then its all we need. We call it a need based approach. That is only the thing that can work. Example: As soon as Internet was popular, people needed a damn good search engine that could just do search for them. Many tried but Google made it just the right. This is one example and there are more.

Modeling Organisational Behaviour

How often have you been able to predict your friend's behaviour. Hmm. Many times, isn't it? That is because, you have been spending years and years of time with your friend, so you know how your friend is going to react to a situation, unless the situation is something that is very very new. But, there are certain situations when, you get amazed by your friends behaviour and say "Ohh, I didn't know you thought that way?"  So, again, is it possible to predict the behaviour of Organisation. Very roughly, yes. This is what a social scientist try exploring and it requires a very high analytical observation. Also, you need to analyse the historical data for better understanding of the organisation. The possibility of predicting an organisation and an individual is somehow different. Organisation is a group of people connected with certain norms and values. The existence of the organisation is important for the sake of its goal and philosophy. Organisation put its goal

Richard Feynman

A child in a man. That is the best description that I can give. Richard Feynman is one of the most celebrated physicts and one of the very few people that have inspired me to Think. His way of life was simple as any. With his inquisitive behaviour and his way of dealing with the problem and solving it with impeccable accuracy, he was known to be a magician rather then a scientist.  He was also considered to have a unique mind of all times. A mind that was free from bindings of society. There is a book called " Surely, you are joking. Mr. Feynman ". It a book about his stories of life. It is very interesting to go into one of these great minds, and understand them.  But, what's so interesting about his life is the fight he fought against the society's way of thinking. That is what I see the most important aspect of his life. The reason I am writing about him is to introduce this great mind which must not be gone unnoticed. Instead of me speaking about him and his the

Bruce Lee

Yes. Bruce Lee . Remember all the punches and kicks in his all time hits movies. But why am I talking about him. Am I going to talk about his movies? No, I am not. I am going to say about his philosophies which have been so many times projected in his fighting styles. By the way, he also wrote a book. Many may not know but he had a unique way of thinking about the life and his art of fighting. Let me put forwards his thinking, in my own words.   He believed in efficiency and rejected any amount of redundancy that affected the performance. He believed that there is no one style which is correct. Everyone has their own unique way and must harness those skills rather waste their time in doing something that is not efficient at all.  There are many fighting styles carrying their own norms and values. Every style starts by assuming something. But slowly those assumption are taken as a Gospel truth, and people make them into rules which cannot be broken. But, without understanding the key me

Basic Hypotheses Testing

Hypothesis testing is one of the most interesting and important statistical tools useful in suggesting a decision or coming to a conclusion about an experiment. Where is it used? Its used in all kinds of fields ranging from scientific studies to economic analyses to business and so on. So what is this testing any way? Skipping the theory which you will find in any books or Internet sites. I will try explaining from the point of view of a problem rather than a solution. That way, the understanding becomes more better - at least that is what I think. OK, so lets start it. Lets suppose, one analytics purposed a marketing campaign that is going to increase the sales to 300 per months in each outlet. After the campaign was carried out the result was as follow: Number of outlet surveyed (n) = 50 Average number of sales (X) = 295  Standard Deviation (S.D) = 20 Now, how would you react to the analyst. Was he correct or was he wrong? Hmmm . That's funny, because his hypothesis was 300 but t

Complexity and Simplicity

In an analytics field or any other field, there is always a problem. A particular thing that you want to achieve. May be you want your sales to rise by 50% or exactly 2.5% or you may want to build a house on an ocean! Daunting as it looks, but that is the nature of the problem.  How do you go on solving it? I mean any problem or analysis? How do you do it? Obviously, you have to design a solution. I take solution as a design that has the potential to solve a problem. When you start designing for a solution, you start by constructing a structure of a foundation on which you are going to build your reasoning. Your whole reasoning will be based upon that foundation, that structure. If it is stable then your analysis or the whole system is stable otherwise, it will fall and that is inevitable. Also, remember that the solution that you provide is going to be valid only for that particular problem and not other, because as soon as the situation changes so does the validity of you solution. R

Rolling Stone Vs Stationary Stone

I am a rolling stone. I roll around round and round in search for answer and in order to satisfy my inner needs, in order to find a way, that is best for me. But, as the old proverb goes, Rolling Stone never gathers any mosses. Yes, it doesn't.  Then I look at all the other who have. I see no reason for it. Then I tell to myself, Rolling stone may not gather any mosses but at the end the rolling stone will be something beyond perfection. It may not gather any mosses but it will  transform itself to something else. I believe I will be efficient.  That transformation is what I am searching for and not attachment to anything else. Just a free transformation like energy like everything in this universe. A living organism. Yes, a transformation.  

Intellectual Value

My friend Bhupendra Khanal has put this very important post regarding the Intellectual Value.   The main point of the post is that the Internet has degraded the quality of Information. Further, it has put down the real serious researcher and has increased plagiarism and so forth. And I say, yes they have. But I want to argue on the basis of fact that its not due to the Internet alone but the changing society, which in itself is again affected by the Internet and other technology.  The information plays a key role to the changing society. It happened when radio and television was invented and it will happen with the Internet. How often do you hear a quality news these days in the news channel?.......Was it easy to answer or you had to think on it? Rarely, isn't it?  So you think Internet had to do with it? Whole Media is filled with JUNK. It has been like this for a very long time. The owner of the media has always been using it for his purpose and very rarely we find an unbiased s

RGB of Marketing Analytics

Your Analysis Report is your product , just like any other kinds of commodities that is available in the market. So, you can actually sell it, but how are you going to market it? Its a big question that I have been asking my selves for some time. How in Gods name would you do it? In search of answer, I have been going through some Marketing Books, then I stumbled upon one such book called " Everything They Have told you About Marketing is Wrong " by Ron Shevlin .  Well, it is a very unconventional Books, hitting at the target rather than beating around the bushes. Its starts with debunking all the rules starting with 4P's of marketing , replacing it with the 3P's. I have my own thought and I call it R G B TM  of Marketing. Why RGB? Well RGB is fundamental of any colors, so obviously RGB of Marketing means fundamentals and not complexity. Well, so let me put down the things that I have finally thought off, on how to start on Marketing your analysis or go on making one

Information 2.0

The age is of that of information. No Doubt. But, with increasing size of data and the redundancy, it is not difficult to get lost into the vastness of the data ocean. How often have you experienced that you sit in front of your computer to search on a specific topic and find yourselves wandering for hours, losing your focus. Very often isn't it. Google made it easy to find the data, making the search engine efficient. Today, people have become use to using search engine. Somehow, we all have become lazy to even remember the site's name, cause we have confidence in  search engine. So what is the NEXT step in this information revolution. Analysis??   Well, I am not trying to brag about my profession, but surely when the size of information is so large, you need some one to analyse them and ...and what?? And report them to the end user.  Ultimately, it is the defined information that we need. Thus, it is not surprising to find many reporting tools available here and there. But v

Beauty Of Knowing.

As a child or as a conscious being, we all look in amazement towards the life that we live. With questions filling our thoughts, we try to solve each one. Be it a scientist or an ardent thinker or any normal being. We all are conscious of the fact that we exist and that it is only for some time. Within these time, we struggle to understand ourselves and the world around us. We try hard to unravel each mysteries. But as we go along, few stop asking and few stop ignoring and few just become silent.  But during all these questioning and answering, we can't ignore the fact that knowing brings a satisfaction to us. Knowing things makes us feel happy and it makes you feel good because suddenly you are out of the state of confusion. This we call an enlightenment.  That instant when we discover something, for that very few seconds of our life, we become so clear in our thoughts. We feel blessed. Yes, we do and such is the beauty of knowing which can never be replaced.    

Add as a Friend

Social Structure is based upon the connection between people enhanced by the technology around them. Starting from saying "hi" to the never ending relationships between people is amazing. Once the connection is made, it takes ages for it to break or may be infinity.  Being in a group and having a friend circle is a unique features of Human being that is studied in any sociology text books. The happening or making of a group is quite interesting to look at. Don't criticize me for being OVER scientific but mathematicians have some how managed to come with certain approximate ways of defining the social group in numbers. With the rising age of Online Networking groups available, it has become more easier to analyse the group and make a suggestion on them,NUMERICALLY. Also, the rising of the REALITY SHOWS like BIGG BOSS and others, it has given a social analyst a platform to analyse the social bonding and a structure.   Let me narrate a short observation that was made in D