kanikabains-blog

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No filter required when the view is like this. #holiday #walkintheclouds

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When you come home from a looooong day at work and pull this out of your fridge on your way inside the house. #cassata #icecream #nuts #cake #fruity #summer #longday #chillpill #craziness #love #instagood #tired #foodporn #dessert #dinner #digin #sigh

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How to NOT be a Twitter Brand Disaster

The Twitteratti of today must’ve witnessed atleast one or two brands growing larger than life, building up their following, indulging in mass user engagement and then… Disaster. The brand either gave into a name-calling game with a competitor, or ran a copy-cat campaign, or posted an inappropriate tweet.

And there you have a social brand disaster happening right in front of your eyes.

Here’s how to prevent tweeps and FB fans from having a field day at your expense, with what you thought was a smart retaliation to a jibe.

Maturity: Social is a two way marketing street. The only one of its kind. Retaliate to a comment by another brand / well known entity only if you can handle the backlash. So how do you handle it? The answer is: You don’t retaliate. You’re not a child, you represent a mature, well-known brand with thousands of followers. One brand that recently created a social graveyard for itself similarly was Tinder.

Spelling & Grammar: They matter. Yes they do. Social Media Marketing is all about communication. And if your communication is faulty (no, there isn’t room for typos either), you need to hire someone who will do the job properly. You don’t want your followers thinking: if they can’t even frame a proper sentence, they must be incompetent. People could be forgiving towards small brands, the bigger ones get a harsher treatment. Pepsi took a beating from Coke when it came to spelling / grammatical errors in their content.

Think before you tweet: There isn’t any room for regret on social media after you’ve posted something rude, insulting or racist. Remember, it takes only one second to take a screenshot, and your boo-boo will be recorded forever in someone else’s phone. Multiply this by the number of people who would’ve seen this and taken screenshots. You’re looking at a social disaster. Pigalle, a restaurant in Boston, learnt their lesson the hard way when their chef lashed out at a negative feedback on Facebook. You may delete / forget, but the internet always remembers.

Authenticity: Ensure that your content and creatives are original. If they have been lifted from somewhere, make sure you give credit to the original source. You do not want to get into a legal soup just because you were experiencing a creativity block, or were too lazy to come up with something original. Additionally, your brand will lose all credibility. You wouldn’t want to find out how much of an effect such stuff has on your brand’s actual service / product sales. Very recently, Amazon was accused on Twitter for copying their campaign slogan from another ecommerce brand, Royzez. Though, they issued a statement later explaining it, the displeasure of tweeps was still evident.

Awareness: Always keep abreast of public issues. If you do, and this reflects in your content, it will resound well with your followers. Another reason: you won’t end up injecting humour to current sensitive public issues, if you’re aware of them. Home Depot (an ecommerce brand for home furnishing & appliances) tweeted a racist picture a couple of years ago. They deleted it the next morning when there was outrage on social media. But then again, damage done.

Protip: There’s no such thing as a cautious creative. Presence of mind is key to being a super social media manager.

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The Instagram Magic

I am slowly falling in love with Instagram. I’m not a new user by any means, but I’ve been using it more often lately, mostly through the brand’s handle that I lead Social Media for.

My phone is invariably surgically attached to my hand, so, in my idle moments I end up scrolling through my Facebook or Twitter feed. Of late, I find myself going back to Instagram again and again.

What I personally love about it: Uncomplicated. Just a photo will tell you the story. Scrolling through someone’s posts will typically tell you what they’re passionate about. Words are few, if required at all.

The simplicity of UI is another element to enjoy. 

Due to the nature of my work, I mostly follow brands that I admire. Here’s a list of 6 that I think play with Instagram in the best way possible:

1. Virgin America @virginamerica

There’s only so much that you could you click in an airplane, right? Wrong. Virgin America sets itself apart with simple, catchy hashtags like #NowBoarding & #PhotosFromtheWing, and encourages fliers to share clicks of the sky as seen from their flight. What you get is beautiful clicks of the sky and ultimate user engagement. They also consistently share pics of their team having fun at Virgin America events. Check them out:

2. Benefit Cosmetics @benefitcosmetics

Some of the most pretty clicks happen here. Not because of the pretty faces, but because of the ‘clean’, consistent (peachy pink) creatives and the witty copy. Too much makeup talk can become boring after a while. Not here. The content, copy and beautiful creatives make it worth a scroll everyday. Have a look:

3. Levis @levis 

I love how Levis creates their style boards. They keep it simple and clean with just photographs of denims and they showcase it in the most glam way possible. After going through their instagram account, you’ll absolutely feel that going for a red carpet event in a pair of Levis is A-ok! Here’s a glimpse:

4. General Electric @generalelectric

GE? Really? You’ll ask. I’ll say ‘oh yes’. This is one account that has managed to revolutionize visual social media. They’ve gone against the tide and proved that you don’t need to be a clothing / food / travel brand to be able to have a great Instagram account. Transformers aren’t the only machines that look good, cop a look here too:

5. Ben & Jerry’s @benandjerrys

As if we weren’t already salivating at the mention of ‘icecream’, Ben & Jerry’s goes one step ahead to make you want to put your hand through your phone’s screen and grab one of those scrumptious looking icecream tubs. They focus entirely on the product and keep their copy simple. See it to believe it:

6. Chumbak @chumbak

They’re far ahead than most Indian brands on Instagram have managed. It helps that their products are the kinds that catch the eye easily, but they also just as easily boast of attractive, well-thought out clicks. You’re going to want to buy them instantly when you see their account:

Here’s a bonus account that I am personally biased towards, I totally accept that: @Paytm deserves a look-see for their self-designed creatives and doodles. An ecommerce brand that isn’t run-of-the-mill, they don’t just keep putting up clicks of the apparel / products on their website like others, they go beyond to connect with the consumer:

Do check out Instagram’s @Instagram account too. The most beautiful one by far. Those with large-screen phones will simply love it!

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#WhatSheWore

Its all very well to go in to work dressed like a 90′s Britney Spears’ video reject, but how about we talk style - it isn’t about how other people think you look, its also about how good YOU feel wearing what you are.

There will always, always be critiques. People who don’t get you. People who wouldn’t know style if it came and danced in front of them wearing Manolo Blahnik’s. Just FYI, I don’t own a pair, but there’s nothing wrong with lusting after them.

I personally know someone who has earmarked clothes for each day of the week. And they are repeated every week according to the tags of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on. She looks smart everyday. Her clothes blend in well with the office environment she works in.

I also know someone who works in a “corporate-y” environment where wearing formals (blazer, tie, the works) is a demand. He owns 5 suits (one for each day of the week) and mixes and matches his shirts with them everyday. The end result: he looks polished and sophisticated.

So is there anything wrong with repeating outfits at work? I believe, ‘NO’.

As long as you’re not wearing the same smelly t-shirt that you’d been wearing the previous day and the day before, you’re good to go. If Genelia D’Souza, being a celeb, can afford to repeat a lehenga at two weddings, and pull it all off with aplomb... Hell, she even got kudos from the fashion police for managing to fit into the same lehenga post pregnancy!

The trick lies in figuring out how to wear the same smart vest with formal trousers or jeans or skirts or pants. Being versatile is key. Play with colours. Experiment with different styles and see what works best for you. Peplums, jeggings, horizontal stripes, big block prints, colour blocks will look super on petite people. Not so much if you’re bigger built; go for vertical stripes and V-necks.

If you don’t know fashion from cheese, dress simply. Let that be your style stamp. ProTip: Do NOT copy. The worst thing you could do for yourself is becoming a copy of someone. Create your own simple look. Your jeans-and-tee look could give someone wearing a designer label a run for their money, if worn well and with confidence. 

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3 Best Practices for Social Media

I’ve been catching up on my reading today and one of the write-ups in my “to-read” list (yes, I have one of those) was the Tinder stuff-up on Twitter. So, in response to a statistically backed article by a journalist, Tinder did take the logical approach of defending their brand on Social Media, but their ‘stop’ button kind of malfunctioned. 

They tweeted 30 times in their defence. Without provocation. Leading to The Streisand Effect (another fascinating snippet of knowledge gained). In their hasty (and not very well thought-out) lash out, they ended up publicising the article that in reality they had set out to quash.

Made me start thinking of what I’d do if I was in that situation as a Social brand manager. Here are 3 best practices that I can swear by after trying & testing:

1. Finding the perfect balance amongst: a) Amazing Content b) Great Strategy c) Perfect Timing: Each without the other two generally results in randomness. Your tweets might appeal to someone short term, but seeing meaningless content being generated by your social channel will lead the follower to mute your posts or unfollow you. The same holds true for having a great strategy but sub-standard content.

2. Responding to malicious / negative content: Every brand has their own philosophy about this, but here’s a sensible approach: a) You’ve got to ignore the little barbs and pokes that you get / might get everyday. Create a support team or care team to respond to those appropriately with help and solutions, while tackling them at the root with your backend team. Being the brand’s main handle, if you’ve decided that your focus here is marketing or promotions or engagement, you’ve got to let your support team literally ‘support’ you (and your consumers) for this. b) For false information being posted about your brand, do take a stand on Social Media. Ensure your response is non abusive & states the corrected facts. Be to-the-point and know when to close the conversation thread. Resorting to name calling and maligning the original author of the post will definitely affect your brand’s social presence adversely.

3. The ‘Talk At’ Syndrome: I truly believe that we all love to hang out with people we can talk to. You wouldn’t really want to spend time with anyone who talks ‘at’ you instead of ‘to’ you. When brands starting talking ‘at’ people instead of ‘to’ them, they slowly lose popularity. Its equivalent to talking about the weather when someone asks you what you do for a living. Make sure that when you engage with your consumers, you BUILD a relationship instead of simply pushing your brand’s products or services in their face all the time. When you get a compliment, respond appropriately with a gracias. When you get a complaint, make sure your support team reaches out to them. When someone mentions you in a post, ensure that the suitable ‘Call To Action’ is being looked after. Additionally, keep abreast of current affairs and post relevant material from time to time. Use trending hashtags, but only when they fit into your brand philosophy/vision.

ProTip:

Brand Conversations: Being social never hurt anyone, did it? Conversing with another brand on Social Media has the effect of creating a ‘friendly’ aura around your brand name, not just on Social Media, but offline too. Brand conversations on twitter about Net Neutrality are a strong example of this. Do try and ensure though, that the conversation is relevant to your services/product/offering, and the strategy and purpose behind the conversation comes out clearly on Social Media.

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Show me your shoes and I’ll tell you who you are.

Agonising over which pair to wear in the morning (the new faux suede loafers or the white pumps), I sometimes manage to change through 3-4 sets of outfits just to centre around the pair of shoes I’ve chosen to wear. While I go through this daily dilemma, here are a few thoughts that run through my mind:

How many people would really know the exact names of all the styles of footwear? Men included. Are they moccasins? Or peep-toes? Or kitten heels? For most, its colour classified. As simple as it can get - I’ll wear the blue heels, or the yellow chappals. Or for others who rotate between two pairs (unlike me with my 27 pairs), it ain’t even a question.

Do other women agonise just as much as I do over which pair to wear? Or is this something that’s part of my daily morning ritual only?

Do others, too, attribute overall appearance to the beauties on the feet?

How many people, like me, own shoes that are lying untouched for months yet can’t be parted with; for all the memories of the parties spent dancing in that pair, or those special outings with special people wearing that pair, or perhaps, that amazing vacation where those shoes were purchased?

How I feel about myself on that day pretty much boils down to my choice of footwear. Feeling sexy? Will wear high heeled pumps. Feeling elegant? Will go for a pair of peep-toe wedges. Feeling low? Will wear my most comfy, worn pair of flats. Feeling manically happy? The expensive pair of designer sneakers it is.

I see this reflected in footwear choices throughout the day on colleagues, friends, family, passersby.

And then the thought that bought a smile to my face: Show me your shoes and I’ll tell you who you are…