Archive for October, 2010

• Beware of CrowdForcing by Yashesh Shethia

  Date: 2010.10.25 | Category: CrowdForcing, Yashesh Shethia | Response: 2

  Social Media has ambassadors and advocates the world over these days. India included.
  That’s great. I mean, why would one not want to do it… (here are some ‘pros’ in no particular order)
  • It’s allows you to engage
  • It let’s you reach out
  • It let’s consumers reach back at you
  • It’s friendly
  • It’s democratic
  • It’s (relatively) free
  • It can create content
  • It’s viral
  • It amplifies
  • It can increase sales
  • It can you make you a celebrity
  • It’s also cool, hip and ‘with-it’
  But the reverse of all this is true as well.
  Another trend seems to be garnering strength; I call it CrowdForce or CrowdForcing.

  CrowdForce – the power of the people to force change.

  CrowdForcing – the act of curating or campaigning mass movement to force change.

  The same people and conversations that are the very essence of this social frenzy can pull you down.
  A recent example of this is what happened with the new logo that GAP rolled out; they were forced to revert to the old one in less than a week.
  This change was, even if not by design, engineered by social media.
  And it’s good.
  Taken in a positive way, it’s this ‘power-to-the-people’ that will keep up the pressure for agencies to do deliver great work, for brands and corporations to be true, to keep promises promised.
  To not jumping in to the social world without thought and strategy. Without the right attitude and reasons.
  It also establishes an important fact brands today co-ownership
  For brands and corporations, it also establishes an important fact; co-ownership with consumers and other stakeholders.
  About the Author, Yashesh Shethia
  
  
  
  
  
  Currently part of the senior management team and heading the experience design practice at chlorophyll, one of India’s leading brand consultancies/helping brands engage better, bridging the gap between online and offline/worked on projects for CG, O Hotel, The Lalit, BBQ Nation, BSE, AMG, HUL, Scintillus (Singapore), La Marquise (Middle East)/conceptualised a technology product and created it in collaboration with Federico Casalegno (MIT experience Lab) and Vivek Subramanian of the University of California, Berkeley/filed for patent in April 2010/inducted into the advisory board of EMF, the global Experiential Marketing Forum (EMF), based in the United States.

  A technology buff and an internet-a-holic.interests: experience design, experiential marketing, digital and analog networking, gaming,

  interactive installations (currently working on installations using Adruino) new media, gourmetologist