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84. Digital Event

Posted on by Neha Goyal

In the digital era, where people prefer interacting online than meeting face-to-face; organising a digital event can be effective. To interact with people organising such an event can be fun and can be a great learning experience. Creating an event digitally cannot happen overnight. To make sure that your work is reaching a larger audience, one needs to work on their social postings, how to reach the target audience, visuals that can be used and so on.

Recently, with my team at SCoRe, we have organised a mini-digital event on twitter called #SocialPowWow. In that, we interacted through a tweet chat on the topic ‘Emergence of Artificial Intelligence in Public Relations.’ We were the host of the event where we invited our guest, Aseem Sood and held a discussion over Twitter where a lot of people engaged with us.

While working on this event, we learned what things we should keep in mind pre-chat, during the chat, and after the chat.

Before dividing our work, we should clarify our intentions for the event with each other, will it increase awareness or will it educate our audience? We should always remember that content plays an important role and it should create value for them. We should invite guests who can educate us on the topic which we select. We should be prepared with what content and visuals will go online. One should create a hashtag for social media that can be posted online to create a buzz among the people. One also needs to create a buzz among the audience before the event.

During the event, one should have good internet connectivity; while at the same time, stay connected with the guest online as well as offline to avoid any issue. Everything should be communicated properly to all the people involved in the event. The host should be ready with all the content and visuals that will go online. It should be ensured that every post should go according to the schedule with proper hashtags. The host team should proactively post things online and also engage with the audience. They should keep uploading things during the event so that people don’t get bored and stop engaging.

After the event, the host team should thank the guest and people who participated and give a summary of the whole session for the people to go back to it if they have missed.

My experience as one of the hosts of #SocialPowWow was a great learning experience. It taught me how to organise a digital event and how proper communication can make any event successful.   

83. Male/Female/Third Gender

Posted on by Neha Goyal

If today we talk to people about transgender, many don’t even know what or who a transgender is. We have to first explain them to which they reply ‘Ohh, Hijra’.

Yes, that’s how a lot of people still address them as- Hijras. Even when the Supreme Court, which is India’s apex body, has given them their identity as transgenders, people live with a negative mental stigma about them. People still address them as the ones who beg on traffic signals, in trains or come to our house during occasions like marriage, baby shower, etc.

We as human beings don’t realise but directly or indirectly we are the ones who should be blamed for such behaviour towards them. Their gender is not identified through biology and they are neither like men nor women. They can be transsexual, gay, queer people or transvestite.

India is one of the countries where people don’t accept them so easily and are shunned by their families and society. They are usually not a part of the cultural or social life and don’t get access easily to education, healthcare, and other such public spaces.

Not many know, but they have always been a part of Indian culture. It is said that when Lord Rama was exiled from Ayodhya, people from his kingdom followed him into the forest. He told his disciples: “Men and women, please wipe your tears and go away.” People left but a group of people who didn’t belong to any category stayed behind. They waited 14 years for Lord Rama’s return, due to which they won a special place in Hindu mythology. Hijras have also served as sexless watchdogs of Mugal harems and became part of India’s Muslim history as well.

It is not easy for transgender to figure out how they should deal with gender misalignment, due to which many of them get depressed as well. Harassment and mockery make their life more difficult which needs to change through more awareness amongst people.

Transgenders should be allowed to receive proper education, jobs and also a law to protect them from harassment. We should understand that every human being is unique in their way. One shouldn’t judge, discriminate or behave badly with them as every individual has got equal rights. There are some who amidst all these are brave enough to achieve their goals, stand-out and break the stereotype.  

Reference: https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/government/the-life-of-transgenders, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/style/india-third-gender-hijras-transgender.html, https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/12/t-for-transgender-a-life-of-struggle-for-identityequalitydignityacceptance-and-love-2/

82. We the Women- Part 2

Posted on by Neha Goyal

As in my previous blog, I was talking about my experience at the event We the Women, which is an event by the women for the women. Issues like equality, depression, sexual harassment, sexism are discussed in the event.

The women in uniform, Nitu Bhattacharya was polite and such a welcoming person to meet and have a conversation with. Pavni Devi had her first interaction with the audience about her entrepreneurship in a small village of Rajasthan near Jaisalmer. Dee MC told me how even today, a lot of people in Bollywood still don’t accept girls in hip-hop culture and how she had to put extra effort to be at the place where she is today. Lisa Ray, Ashwiny Iyer, and Malishka were people who were so down to earth and had an amazing personality whom I meet and talk to.

The famous fashion designer Sandeep Khosla was a sweetheart who not only posed for me to click his pictures; but also asked me to wait till the time he changes his outfit so that he looks hot. The famous Miss Malini and Anaita Shroff Adajania had not only been polite to us but also answered some questions which I wanted to know about them. Poonam Muttreja saw us working hard, moving here and there since morning, made us sit and eat pizza with her.

Out of all the sessions that happened, I could attend the last session where the guests were Alia Bhatt and her sister Shaheen Bhatt. The session was about how Shaheen was in depression, she recovered and Alia’s point of view on it. During their conversation with Barkha, Shaheen says that the last time she felt like doing suicide was 2-3months ago. Her statement brought goosebumps to all the people present in the room and made Alia get emotional. Depression of Shaheen made her write a book about her battle with depression and published it named, I’ve never been (Un)Happier.

My day at the speaker’s lounge was not only fun, learning and meeting new people but also, handle a few difficult people. Some celebrities were down to earth and some didn’t bother to even behave properly. The event also allowed me to meet some of the journalists who were present there and not to forget Barkha Dutt herself.  

Meeting and interacting with different people, working in such an event, understanding how to deal with difficult people, getting to know their stories, being proactive was some of my biggest learning from the day.

We the Women- Part 1

Posted on by Neha Goyal

Recently, I got an opportunity to attend an event, We the Women in Mumbai. It is an event that is organised by one of the famous journalist, Barkha Dutt. People from arts, cinema, fashion, politics, sports, and real-life heroes come and share their stories and also interact. It is a platform to celebrate and talk about women from all forums to come and talk about their concerns, challenges, and what they have achieved.

From the past two years, I have seen the event through social media. This year in the third edition I got an opportunity to not only attend but to be part of the organising team. I was working in the speaker’s lounge of the event, where I had to co-ordinate with all the speakers of the day.

Volunteering at the speaker’s lounge gave me an opportunity not only to be part of the event but also to meet a lot of different people who had different stories to share. My day started at 8:00 in the morning that got over at 9:00 in the evening. Earlier I thought that I am missing the chance to listen to those speakers as I was not able to go and listen to them. But as we say it is on us that how we leverage the opportunity we get. I met the speakers personally, interacted with them, got to know little about them and also shared about myself.

The event started with Subbalaxmi who plays a really good saxophone and when I met her inside, she played for the volunteers exclusively who couldn’t attend her show. Dolly Thakore told us little about her theatre journey whereas Asha Devi, mother of Nirbhaya, even today tried hard to smile when everyone in the room spoke to her about her daughter. Aditi was a mentally disabled, sweet, bubbly girl, sitting with her parents and her panellist Revathi Roy was nervous yet energetic to speak and share the journey of her cafe among the audience.

To be continued in my next blog…

80. All Marketers Tell Stories

Posted on by Neha Goyal

‘Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but the stories you tell.’

Author: Seth Godin

Year of Publishing: 2009

All Marketers are Liars (Tell Stories) is a book which talks about how marketers can be considered as a liar but in reality how good storyteller they are. The book is written by Seth Godin who is an author, an entrepreneur and a speaker from New York. In this book, the writer says that ‘All marketers tell stories. And if they do it right, we believe them.’

The structure of the book is very simple which is 210 pages. It tells us the importance of storytelling. One gains the trust of the consumers when a story is believable and that is what is required in today’s market. He tries to say that consumers are the ones who choose to believe the stories that the marketers tell because that is what they want to believe in. 

The book starts with the story about the wine glasses. George Riedel is the one who built the story that wine tastes better in wine glasses and different types of glasses are there for different wine. Through this, the author tries to tell us that consumers buy what they want and not what they need. This insight helps marketers to build a story that leads consumers to buy their products even if they don’t need them.

The author shares a few steps to have a successful marketing and storytelling planning.

Step 1- Their frames worldview and frames got there before you did:

In this, the author talks about how all consumers have got a different point of view on things. Worldview is the beliefs, rules, and biases that a customer has and frames are the elements of the story to leverage the worldview which the consumers already have. To say the story, the storyteller should find a worldview that is shared by all, framing stories around that view, make the story to spread and then create a new market. A business should not try to change someone’s worldview.

Step 2- People only notice the new end and then make a guess:

Ideas are of no worth if they don’t live among the people. People notice things that are different and when they do, they start guessing about what will be next. Marketers can leverage this by making a product look different even if it is not. Authenticity plays an important role in this, as today the consumers prefer the brand and not always the product/thing.

Step 3- First impression start the story:

We all are aware of this statement used commonly and it is stated in the context to make readers understand that we don’t get much time to explain our story. Godin says “Humans are able to make extremely sophisticated judgements in a fraction of a second. And once they’ve drawn that conclusion, they resist changing it.” While making a story we should remember that the initial part is the most powerful.   

Step 4- Great marketers tell stories we believe:

Stories play an important role and it has the power to motivate or convince people. Stories let us lie to ourselves as well as to others to satisfy our desires. Stories work in marketing when we consumers buy even if they don’t need a product.

Marketing = Storytelling

Godin says that ‘Storytelling works when the story actually makes the product or service better.’

The book was a good reading and learning experience. It taught a lot about storytelling and how we should keep some things in mind while creating a story. Although the book was very repetitive, it had main ideas at the beginning of 70-80pages only.

He also stated that we should always keep our stories authentic and real. Compromise is the enemy of authenticity. If a person wants to be or is a storyteller, it’s a highly recommended book.

79. Brick & Click Store

Posted on by Neha Goyal

When a store has got its physical presence as well as got its presence online, it is called ‘brick & click’ store. Today a lot of retailers are available both online and offline, give their customers to purchase according to their convenience. Looking at how things are trending today, it is justifiable to have e-commerce business by the retailers.

Making their stores visible through websites helps a lot to brands. It has got its advantages and drawbacks to have their presence online as well as offline.

It helps an established retail brand to leverage the internet and have their presence there. It helps them to reach out to a much larger audience and can build a better reputation. Not only established brands, but it also helps new brands to start their brand online and then open a retail store.

The brick and click model helps retailers to improve their supply networks. The Internet helps to get in touch with a wider range of suppliers and allows buyers to order new products or types of equipment. An established retail store can also take the leverage of existing relationships with suppliers to receive good discounts. It not only helps to improve supply but also widens the distribution. Retail stores can not only distribute their goods to local people but also ship the goods across the world.

The model has got its downside as well. Retailers have to manage both the cost of retail outlets as well as online websites. Not all consumers prefer buying online and can go to the nearest store to buy. It can also happen that is a customer faces any bad experience through online purchases; they can opt-out of online shopping.

Either of them is a good alternative plan as customers gain more confidence in a brand when it has got its presence both physically and online.  

78. The Tampon Book

Posted on by Neha Goyal

Feminine hygiene products were considered as ‘luxury’ due to which they were charged with high tax rates. On the other hand, oil paintings, truffles, books and things like those were taxed only at 7%. When I got to know about this, I felt disgusted by how even today people have got such a mindset for menstruation. People are yet to understand that tampons and sanitary napkins are not a luxury but a necessity for women. A lot of women protested against this but no changes were made by the government.

‘The Tampon Book: A book against tax discrimination’ is a campaign, an initiative taken by a women’s menstrual hygiene company in Germany named, The Female Company. Through this campaign, the company tries to talk about how menstruation is not a luxury and also finds a way to sell tampons at a low tax.

The start-up company didn’t want to break any law but also sell tampons at a lesser price by taking less tax. Through their campaign, they tried to make a mockery of how men have been making laws for ages. We women should be smart by paying 7% of tax on books and, well, also on tampons. They came up with an idea of selling tampons by placing them inside a book, a book which was against the discrimination of tax.

They say, “We outsmarted the law, with the law itself.” The 46page book had fifteen organic tampons in it to save taxes. Other than having tampons in it, the book also speaks about gender inequality in the tax system by cracking illustrations. The content in the book had information on period and how people still consider it as something to be embarrassed of.

The book got sold out in a day and everyone including celebrities and media was talking about it. They didn’t break the law but also sold tampons at low taxes. The message became a political message and members of the German parliament were also talking about it. The content was temporarily banned on Facebook. Yet, it didn’t stop 150,000 people were signing petitions. The government is talking about it and plans to change this tax system by 2020.

It was a great campaign that not only went out of the box with its creativity and won an award at Cannes but is also going to change the rule of the German government. It’s a campaign which is going to stay with me for longer and is a great example for future communication.

Reference: https://www.adweek.com/creativity/the-tampon-book-which-protests-taxes-on-menstrual-products-wins-pr-grand-prix-at-cannes/

77. Vintage Charm

Posted on by Neha Goyal

In this age of all modern and digital era, antiques has got a different charm. Vintage items are like a memory box for our elders and an unknown thing to know about for today’s generation. Some vintage items that are not replaceable and they are highly valuable. Those things tell a story in itself and also make us a part of their story. A lot of people still believe in hunting for antique things for them to treasure or buy them by paying a high amount.

People preserve them by keeping it in museums, through books, movies. Not only these, but people are preserving the vintage vibes by having that old charm within the parts of the city. When talking about it, Kolkata is one of the cities that has still got the old charm vibes. The hand-pull rickshaws and trams still run in the old part of Kolkata. The city has got Victoria Memorial, which a museum is preserving antique items and their story for people to know and learn about it.  

In a similar way city like Delhi which has seen the fall of many empires, still, have a place which people call it ‘purani dilli’ where the old heritage of the city still lies. Sites like Qutub Minar, Agrasen Ki Baoli, Red Fort, Jama Majid, and Quila Rai Pithora are some of them. Udaipur looks surreal because of the beautiful palaces and monuments that people love to visit. People in Chennai maintain it’s charm by learning the old cultural things like books, dance, and singing. Not only these cities but also other cities in India like Varanasi, Puri, Madurai, Mysore, Lucknow, Gwalior are some of the cities which still maintain the charm and their unique history in itself.

Not only are the charms of places but people going back to vintage fashion and accessories as well. Fashion trends like bell sleeves, high waist and loose fitted jeans, hippie culture, oversized blazers, scrunchie’s, stacked hair clip fashion.

 A lot of vintage products and places never go out of style and stands out among modern things. They are passed on from generation to generation and gives a unique taste to people. Vintage products, places, and things are really important to preserve as the upcoming generation should also know about it and what charm they old.

76. How Friday became Black?

Posted on by Neha Goyal

Today, all newspapers, social media platforms, shopping sites are filled with offers as its ‘Black Friday’ sale. They are providing huge discounts on a lot of brands available. Looking at all those offers, I wonder what would have made brands or retailers to give such discounts.

In the 19th century, President Abrahim Lincoln designated the last Thursday of November as the Thanksgiving holiday. The next day to Thanksgiving is when the Black Friday sale happens. It is considered as the unofficial beginning of Christmas where many stores offer heavy discounts and keep their stores open from Thanksgiving night. It is regarded as one of the busiest shopping days in the US and many other countries across the globe.

To go back to the history of ‘Black Friday’, initially, it was associated with a huge financial crisis and not a shopping sale. Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, two Wall Street financiers bought a significant amount of US gold. They hoped that the overall price will change and they will be able to sell it in huge profit.  In September 1869, it was referred to as Black Friday where the US gold market crashed and Fisk and Gould’s actions left Wall Street barons bankrupt. 

Later, the name coined by the police officers of Philadelphia in the 1950s because of the huge crowd came for a football game. It created great havoc and shoplifting happened. They had to work longer on that day and referred to it as ‘Black Friday’. By the 1980s, retailers started to link it with their post-Thanksgiving sales to turn the negativity of the day into positivity. Today it is known as the USA’s biggest shopping event in a year because of which even other countries have started doing it.

It is an important time for a lot of retailers across the globe. They give products at a very cheaper price and kick off the festive season. It creates a big chaos in shops that give offers. A lot of shoppers camp outside the stores that provide a huge discount as some offers are available for the limited number of people. They provide discounts on all products like clothes, electronics, makeup, furniture. Not only the shops but even online shopping sites give huge discounts and also work on their deliveries to be smooth.

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/black-friday/2019/11/28/black-friday-name-meaning-how-history-sales-event/

75. Social Network and our Young Generation

Posted on by Neha Goyal

We are all aware of how our generation is highly active on social networking sites. Its impact is significant among everyone. It is transforming the way we interact with people via a few clicks. We interact, network and meet new people who are available online. There are different sites which we use to network like Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, Twitter, Tinder. It also helps in making business contacts through sites like LinkdIn.

Today, people who belong to my generation or elder know how the world of social networks is, its pros and cons. We are conscious of what we post through our profile, how it can affect us positively or how sometimes it can backfire us. We are aware of some things like cyberbullying, electronic aggression that can affect us. Somewhere in our social media journey, we have known someone or the other who has been affected by cybercrimes.

We are aware of some of the major disadvantages of social networking sites that affect us, but are our younger generation aware of the same? Do thirteen or sixteen-year teenagers who have just joined social networks know about this other side of the coin?

The rising trend of social media has affected all of us and today’s modern-day youth has been highly affected by it. Before reaching their teenage, they are making their profiles on social media. The young generation prefers being part of social media benefits but unfortunately, they don’t know its dark side.

The younger generation should not only be aware of how social networking sites can be beneficial but they should also know how it can harm them. The disadvantages not only include that they don’t go out and play or addicted to them.

The negative side also includes the risks associated with other people who are also available online. Severe things can arise on their privacy details over the web as they can miss out on reading website privacy policies carefully. Their browsing habits cannot be controlled and they can land up reading or watching something which they shouldn’t be. They can be a victim of cyberbullying or electronic aggression from strangers which can be hidden behind anonymity of people.

Considering the fact, that the younger generation is still not aware of some of these things, we as grown-up should educate them about these situations and how they should be careful. It is important to safeguard the young one over the web and let them know bad essential things that can happen on social networks.