Reaching-Out Online

Colleges Can Leverage Word of Mouth

Recently a relative of mine was asking me about which engineering college should her son opt for. The son had got a decent all India rank (CET?), and stood a good chance of getting into a good college.

I thought a bit and amazingly I thought of the same things I was under the impression some 20 years ago! CS at REC (now NIT) Trichy is good. Suratkal is good (Chemical?). Mechanical at NIT Rourkela is good. In general computer science is good. All impressions I had formed decades ago!

Has the world really changed, or am I woefully out of tune? Well I guess both might be true!

One thing is for sure, of course – word of mouth sticks! The impressions I formed, for right or for wrong, have stuck a very long time.

I guess most colleges would love to leverage such impressions, and influence impressions in the first place.

Here is what colleges ought to do:

Create information newsletters and mailing lists, department and domain specific if possible
Create successes – journal papers, seminar participation, conduct seminars in college
Industry consulting – projects, lectures
Leverage alumni – have strong linkages with alumni through hiring, consulting, mailing lists, seminars, guest lectures, etc
Reach out to wider audiences through in-campus summer workshops thrown open to public
Create domain specific portals of general and academic interest
Participate in Top-10 kind of lists, or create one of one’s own on portals, etc

Providing something of value, to a wider audience, and creating a positive impression – the beginning of word of mouth.

Infosys: A Branding Oppotunity Lost

I was recently at Infosys's training facility in Mysore to drop my niece who was joining Infosys. Having heard a lot about the world's largest training facility, and expecting warm hospitality, and a dekko around the campus for a few tips, I was rudely surprised when we had to stand outside the campus gate for about 3.5 hours in a rough line, in the rain and sun.

With so many parents who had come to drop their kids from different parts of the country, it was a big opportunity of word of mouth lost by Infosys, by not providing even the most sparse hospitality. Even more unpardonable with Indians known for their hospitality, and Infy considered an Indian company to the core!

No facility to eat or drink in the walkable and visible vicinity, no roof to hide from the rain or sun, and no loo! What else could have gone wrong with their planning?

Religeous believers and brand loyalists

Religeous believers and brand loyalists are quite similar?

they hardly ever switch loyalties
both will fight for their brands
once they form an opinion, they hardly ever question it
they believe anecdotal infomation

Autorickshaws, Bidding and Google Adwords

Autowallahs not going by meter, on late weekday evenings, and asking for their "bidding" is always a bit irritating. But look at it another way - if we are not irritated by Google's bidding framework on Adwords, why do autowallahs irritate us? Google charges us basis what other users could pay us, and we need to bid accordingly. Autorickshaws do the same - they ask for what they feel others could pay!

IIM Ahmedabad Website: Reflection of the Brand?

Does the website of the India's best management institute - Indian Institute of Management(IIM), Ahmedabad, reflect the institute's brand value?

I think it is an emphatic NO!

If one were to go by only the website to assess the institute's brand value, I think the institue would not figure in the top 20.

Here is how I would rate the institue's website on the below parameters, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being excellent:

Overall Brand Positioning: 3
Design: 4
Usability: 3
Establishing thought leadership: 5
Marketing/traffic ready: 5
Showcases Industry Linkage: 4

I think a marketing student of IIM-A should take this as a project - what would it take to turn the website into a $100 million brand?

Unrealistic Expectations from Paid Search

It is one thing that Paid Search is measurable, and another that we want to measure it in a completely incorrect manner.

Paid search (and digital marketing) is not a panacea for all of one's shortcomings
It should replace the focus on making good products/ offering good services
It does not replace good prospect management
It does not replace, in many cases, human communication (face to face, phone, personal emails, etc)
In short it does not replace anything you would do with a prospect you meet at a trade show.

Paid search is only the beginning of a relationship. Post that it can still take the same time to close a sale, as when the lead has been acquired through another channel. Of course, it is important that one benchmarks the cost of lead acquisition through different channels correctly.

Labels: Digital Marketing, Paid Search, PPC