I’ve been a loyal Dell customer for over 5 years and I somehow felt I couldn’t go wrong again with a Dell, not to forget I even made my company buy Dell for all our resources and few friends as well.  So, I decided to buy a brand new Dell XPS M1330 after reading some great reviews and feedback from owners, and long standing trust with the product & brand.

I placed my order with Dell 11/June/08, and got a followup call from their Sales Rep, who was quite cold (coz he really doesn’t have to sell nething, just take payment details and process the order) with his approach of selling me a Dell and in a very proud manner waived off Rs. 3000 from my total cost saying “Since, you are buying directly from Dell. We are giving you this discount”. (I really had nothing to say to him, he was just doing his job.)

Well fortunately or not, Dell Distributor in a nearby market offered me a Rs. 5000 discount plus some goodies - didn’t take that one cause I had to customize my system. But whatever, I wanted a good system whosoever was selling it to me.

This is what I ordered.

The days of Blue Started from the day it was delivered to me. (Why ME!!!)

On 16/June/08, I received my Dell XPS M1330 in a nice black color and I was surely excited to be a proud owner. Moments later, the minute I pressed the power on button - I saw a smudge on the screen. I thought, it would go away or must b dust or something - but it wasn’t. The screen was damaged and I paid Rs. 4000 extra for the WLED screen and this is what I get.

I called up Dell Customer Care immediately (it takes time to get thru).

They sent an technician over to inspect the system the following day and he tells me that the system is working fine. Then, I had to really show him the problem.

After some 30 mins of waiting - we get the customer care person back on line to request for a repair or replacement. I opted in for a replacement and they agreed then. 3 hours down the line, they call me back and suggested, “sir, what if we repaired your system and gave you a 2 GB pen drive free!!!” .

Dell needs to have some real high-sense-of-customer-is-duh-people. A 2GB (some Rs. 800) pen drive for a damaged Rs. 4000 screen, which I am sure if I had to get it replaced otherwise would cost me some 20k!!! I needed a replacement is what I cared about. I can’t accept a system not even 24hrs old not inspected by me before purchase go in for a repair on day 2 - NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Eventually, I get a replaced system on 23/June/08. Since, I was away from home I didn’t get time to test the system. Two days later I get a chance to test my new replaced machine, only to be let down again. This time one of the USB port is faulty!!!

Customer Care, “ah, some bios settings needs to be changed for it to work. We’ll find a technician on the phone and get right back at you.” Never happened and if ONE of the USB port is not working it is not working - it’s as simple as that.

I registered a complaint with them on 27/June/08 only to be told that Dell XPS Support team works out of Malaysia and they work till 4pm IST.  From 27/June till about 1/July, they could not get me a tech support guy to resolve - can you beat that!!! And, this is Dell XPS Premium Support service!!! I wonder what happens post the service agreement expires.

Finally, I decided to return both the Dell XPS’s and get a refund.

Their sales rep called me to check if they can replace my system with an upgraded processor or something, but by then their supervisor decided to send me an email confirming a refund. And, I’ve had enough of Dell and I didn’t trust the quality of product being delivered. I am sure the customer care guys would have also got annoyed with me - that they also gave in. Here is an exerpt from the email which I got from Dell:

Dell Reply to my Emails & Request

I logged my request for refund on 2/July/08 and they eventually picked up the system on 9/July/08 at 9:00pm, after exchanging a lot of emails & follow ups between Dell in Bangalore and Dell logistics in Gurgaon/Delhi.

And, now I await my refund which will take another 7 days to come through and I hope they would refund the complete amount.

I think Dell has done a fantastic job in getting the system to me and taking it back as quickly just to make sure I don’t get super pissed off (but i am).

It took both of us (Dell & Me) 1 month to get things moving and I am still left without a laptop to use & work on, not to forget the monies that are still pending from them.

I am not happy in the manner in which they are building systems in India. The built quality is very poor, the display hinge flexes, the plastic has dust on it, keys are not aligned properly on the keyboard, and the packaging is not strong enough to withhold the transit.

I am sure it’s a one-off-experience, but it has left me warned of Dell and resulted in this post.

Just check 1000 times before you buy a Dell next, especially in India. And, if it says “made in india” - you better do some double quality checks on the system. Preferably, buy it from a local Dell dealer in your city only draw back being you won’t be able to customize the system.

I continue to think Dell is a Dell, but for the time being I am not taking one.

Happy Shopping with Dell

Dell Time Line of Interaction (PDF)

I’ve always been interested on how brands start using the internet in India; and most websites they come up with I like to term them as “download wallpaper” websites - cause they didn’t offer any thing beyond that.

Sometime back in the history of time; I’d written a small white paper on “internet branding” which offered the much confused brand/marketing manager on how to step on the internet by designing what kind of website. And, that was a time when static websites was the way to go.

Today, Internet offers some level of maturity - but I see a long way to go. My colleague also discusses how FMCG co’s can utilize the internet better for their brand.

I’ve covered 3 websites here for different brands and how they match up to other style of making websites. Please note I am not paid by these guys to review their work and all opinions/thoughts are personal.

Johnson’s Baby

- Babycenter.in

Johnson’s extensive baby product line and legacy of users give’s it a strong reason to be associated with a website to do with “Baby Care”.

The site is largely a replica of BabyCentre.co.uk but they are in the process of generating content for the site given different situation which exists in India.

I like the simplicity in the website - as it represents an Yahoo! Answers approach, no flash or background music to irritate you.

It attempts to answer key questions for to be parents; and offers top level Q&A for many frequently asked questions.

The brand element is a little weak beyond the website’s homepage; but I am sure these guys are working on it.

Brand Integration: 1/5
Design: 3/5
Usability: 3/5
Content: 2/5
Overall rating: 3/5

Lay’s

- whatstheprogram.com

Firstly, this site was almost a week late before it came online & they kept advertising on the TV! Not a good thing to happen; cause I’ve seen a lot of traffic to micro-sites originating directly and followed by Google & other internet advertising efforts.

This site has a nice look & feel, but the performance degrades across different browser a problematic area when it comes to usability. Also, it tends to be a bit noisy with it’s default background music. Overall the site performs well with the load time, but I wish it had some bit of flash optimization done to improve performance of the site. Else, it’s a good site - technically.

The site’s aim is to integrate with the larger brand message of “whats the program”(pronounced as whatz the prograamm”) promo - which intends to position “Lays” chips as a key ingredient to any “program” you make - which translates to - group activity, i.e. bunch of friends getting together to watch cricket on TV, so “sports program” to watch cricket on TV & Lay’s the perfect element of snacks. Sure, but the TVC sucks.

So what it takes to be part of the “program”? The signup page is a little tacky & you have to sign up even to subscribe to the newsletter! The sign up page also allows you to create your avatar; but I couldn’t see it appear after my signup page not even on my profile page

The avatar are not customizable & the one’s on offer are just about ok & I don’t know why they have been randomized on display. Keep the 2 sexes in the same line! again bad usability

I donno what is the purpose of asking “when was the last time you ate lays?” & that too as a mandatory field! is this a sign up page or a survey form? This is a clear sign of a traditional marketing manager being a part of designing the website. Seriously - this information is redundant. I’d rather send out survey forms to my users than ask this once & forget about it.

I explored “Entertainment Program” section; which lists movies & theater events taking place in select locations. Since, the site revolves around the getting friends together - you have the option of selecting an event & inviting your friends to meet up! Ok, point taken, 1. I don’t see the point of having static pages, 2. What is the benefit of using Lays website to invite friends = will I get a discount coupon for Lay’s Purchase? nothing of the sort.

I see a good possibility of integration Yahoo Local or tie-ups with some local movie theater for better online prices or even some sensible mash-ups! the potential is yet to be explored of this platform.

Also, the site doesn’t have a Privacy Statement! So, I really wonder how would they use the information I’d provide them!

I am happy with the design of the website with some teething usability issues - which I am sure they’ll resolve. But if they can’t keep the content live & latest = the site is bound to die. It’s a good integration of the overall website; but I’ll see how the site evolves in time.

Brand Integration: 5/5
Design: 2/5
Usability: 2/5
Content: 3/5
Overall rating: 3/5

TVS Apache

- nowornever.in

This is one of the good bike sites around, and it brings in many factors of good site together. It has product content, community participating, offline ecommerce & little bit of fan site appeal.

This site also suffers from performance degradation across browsers & really irritating background music. Something most web designing company’s should now take into account - why put the music in the background! apart from adding on to the load time; it slows up the website. And the flash & html integration means - the music starts to replay on every page you load even if you decide to turn it off on the first page. Please get introduced to frames!

I like how the site integrates really cool bike merchandise - only problem is to buy the stuff offline. But you can buy tshirts, key chains, helmates, bike covers and whole bunch of other stuff.

I think they should tie up with ebay if ecommerce if coming up to be very expensive & cut the lag time to actually get these stuff moving. Seriously, if you are the site owner - get an ebay shop & start selling online.

The site has a whole bunch of improvement areas including content & engagement factors. The site comes very close to the “download wallpaper” kind, but I am sure TVS will bring in more aspects of the internet marketing tool kit & evolve this site.

Please seriously consider improving it - you have a great site going for yourself!

Brand Integration: 4/5
Design: 2/5
Usability: 2/5
Content: 3/5
Overall rating: 2.75/5

Sometime back when I went to a candy manufacturer and told them to do Internet Sampling for their product - they gave me that look “paagal ho gaya hai” (he’s gone mad).

Well, finally a good big brand has decided to take the big bold step and offer a website beyond “Wallpaper Download”.

Welcome Colgate MaxFresh - maxfreshclub.com

Finally a website which makes an attempt to bridge the gap between micro, sites, promotion, & contests sites - a site which makes sense & will eventually promote sales and not downloads.

The product sampling link is right at the home page of the website and it simply asks you to complete one questions - which is what is Colagate MaxFresh offering, punch in your email address & name, and you’ll get a validation email!

They are currently restricting sampling to one sample per household and there are select cities it’ll deliver the product to.

Still an excellent idea to reach out a set of audience which is interested to test your product or just get free toothpaste for a week

I am yet to get my free sample.

The site takes another step to integrate it’s brand values which is “freshness” and is linking it up with what interests the TG.

So there is a section titled “Fresh Ideas”; which has new product launches, travel destination and some generic ideas. What I like was link to websites which were offering travel solutions. Given the rate of growth of travel in the country - a good opportunity for travel portals to tie up & offer “Colgate MaxFresh Vacations” - it’s a win win situation for both the brands.

To drive traffic the site is using the larger internet ad networks to reach out to an audience; but I think they’ll burn out all their internet inventory in 2 days - so problem will be there to sustain traffic on the website.

Not to forget their are on Google Search paid results section too

I wonder where they’ll take the site next - social networking? maybe a site dedicated to build a community around dental hygiene?

But I think it’s an excellent platform that the brand has chosen to reach out to an engaged audience, and at the same time offer a chance to try the product & win goodies!

Go ahead and get your free Colgate MaxFresh sample at > www.maxfreshclub.com

In the beginning, there was discussion boards & forums. Then came sites like Ryze.com, Hi5.com, Batchmates.com, and a whole bunch of websites to get people together.

Social Networking seems to be a new fad in the world of Internet in India. I just donno how many social networks I would want to be a part of. See below the new Desimartini Social networking site - cool advertising on TV; but where are the users!

But Fropper has also been online doing lot’s of ads!

Enough of advertisements. The best place for social networking which has 20% of Indian users is still Orkut! and it never advertised or gave away free ipods like Yaari.com did.

The bigger problems with social networking sites is the level of abuse that someone has to go thru; from spammed invitations to “hello, i want to be friends with you”. Am sure we know many female friends who get spammed day in and day out for friendship requests. We are yet to come of age (globally) to respect the other person or give them their space. So now there are dedicated websites for women users; such as GangofGirls & Zapak’s website dedicated to women - but are they really women online!

But I have larger question to ask people funding these activities = do you see breaking up on investments?

Social Networking boom in India reminds me of the time of Dot.com Bust; how many of us remember uthplanet (youth planet)? not many it got hit my the no user meteorite; and it doesn’t exist any more.

All advertiser or portal owners are focussing on the buzzing age group that India thrives on today; but offer them something beyond friends, chat, news, dating, & community. Seriously, it’s getting boring!

Here’s a list of social networking sites to be launched or to be launched that I am aware of:

1. Yaari.com
2. BigAdda.com
3. Desimartini.com
4. Fropper.com
5. Orkut.com (still the best)
6. indyarocks.com (my money on them)

Any one making a replica of Second Life????, Anyone?

With social networking catching every dot.commer’s imagination, it makes all the more sense to add business sense to it. After all business is all about networking.

I started business networking back in 2002 with Ryze.com; the site stopped to evolve & I joined Linkedin.com. But with the evolution of web 2.0 and ajax support interfaces, we are now talking serious business networking.

My first example here is pairup.com : the site works on a simple concept of sharing your contacts & travel plans. And if it finds someone you know in the same destination - it’ll give you an alert! I wish it integrated with Plaxo!

KLM is taking Flying & Golf to business networking. They have 3 sites dedicated for business networking and the common platform - Golf. Cause all high flyers play it! It just reverses the approach & tells you whom you can find where. Check out there sites > www.klmclubafrica.com or www.fbgolfclub.com or www.clubchina.klm.com

If travel portals are smart enough like Yatra which introduced Raahi to garner traffic - imagin the potential it holds for travel portal to build loyalty & networking capability.

I am sure we in India are still busy deploying Adsense to make money… web 2.o can wait!

This post emerges from the tiring & multiple attempts online media managers make to traditional marketing managers of how online media works. And, I’ve been challenged when a manager comes up to me and say target this search marketing campaign to 18-24, SEC A, Metros, with annual income of less than 5 Lacs. O.K - is it April fools day already & again?

As humans we are used to one directional messages when it comes from marketers, but with evolving human behavior & interactivity - we all want more - similarly we need to change the way we segment our markets more importantly consumers online.

India as it is has low internet penetration; where we know that 70% of the users are SEC A. It’s about time traditional marketing managers got realistic.

Interactivity doesn’t mean “download wallpapers” For heaven’s sake stop creating micro-sites with the lame purpose, no content and talk about interactivity. That’s a long way. And, a whole bunch of people agree with me on this.

First step to unlearn is to watch your own online surfing pattern (please don’t make it the gospel truth). Aggregate these patterns across people you know, take a comfortable sample size of 25 people & observe for a week or so. Now take your product/service & segment it given your sample size against online media; chances are 50% of the 25 people will fit into your target audience from the traditional perspective.

Your assignment now is to identify tasks or content consumed by your target audience & then build your online strategy. You’ll instantly see the connect with all the 25 people or at least 98% of them.

Read more before you talk internet jargon. There is a whole bunch of online possibilities which your brand has not discovered. Whatever happened to the spirit of Marketing!

Ok, India has been just gearing up to “Social Networking”, the evolution of Web 2.0, and as some sites start to bring up new stuff for the Indian Web Junta to start to use…let me introduce you to “Social Shopping”!

Many of you think, “ab ye kya bala hai!” (what the hell it is

It’s simple. With so many commerce portals coming up…you don’t know what is selling on the internet (this is indian context), and you don’t know which portal to get the best deal from!

Thisnext.com, is a simple concept. The sends visitors down one of three paths: Discover, Recommend and Shopcast. The discover section lets users browse products recommended by others. Clicking on a item allows them to add it to their wishlist, recommend it, or find out where to buy the product. Users can recommend products by creating themed lists, or simply by clicking on an easy to install ‘Add to ThisNext’ browser button.

Though the idea is a little far fetched for the indian user, but imagin a site like Raahi.com or Ilaaka.com or burrp.com or ebay.in or mouthshut.com , integrating features such as buy a travel deal from one of the leading travel portal or get tickets to the multiplex or make a hotel/restaurant reservation?

Untill then, there is a lot to explore in the “Social” opportunity that is presented by the internet.

This is the most important question that many “adwords” users or advertiser’s should start to answer…are you addicted to low cost traffic?

Many of the advertisers that I work with are not flexible in understanding how to make the most of search marketing…someone really forgot to put the thought of “relevancy” in their head…a problem with MBA Marketing Managers for whom marketing is about brand building, reach & frequency…the more you reach out to your so called target audience at the lowest cost…someone would buy the product or  service…or better still I am the market leader I don’t need change! (but I still wonder why I advertise) or sales is not my KPI!

It’s interesting to see the marketing manager ask, Adwords got me 2,000 clicks today but only 2 people bought what I had to offer. First statement, “it’s not working”. Second statement, “you guys are not doing a good job”. Third statement, “why is no one buying?” . Fourth statement, “why is no one buying?”…(breaks down crying asking the same question).

The solution to such problems are simple.

Imagin a large store running a promotion for “25% discount on latest plasma tv” and when you enter the store there is no sign of the promotion! wah! you probably came to the wrong store!

This is exactly what happens to the user online who is searching for a good deal on a plasma tv, comes to your online store and doesn’t find any mention of the offer on the landing page!

More and more advertisers especially the online stores are driving traffic from every possible corner of the web hoping for a sale. One, it doesn’t work like that. Two, drive relevant traffic to a relavant landing page and then see the magic.

Over and over I’ve seen personally, that the moment you start taking the user to the right landing page the chances of him/her buying the product/service dramatically increases.

So, if you are an adwords user and are wondering why people are not actioning on your site, start with your keywords and narrow down to your landing page. If you need assistance call up your SEM Rep or me

How many marketers in India have seriously read the book “The Long Tail“? I’ll say 0.5 out of 10 marketers I’ve met. And, how many marketers heard about “the long tail” = 10/10!!!

This post again evolves out of a discussion with my friend Mohak, who now works with an emerging travel portal. And, I’ve been constantly been battered by many clients on, “we need to be on the long tail”!!!

Here’s a description of The Long Tail from Wikipedia:

Anderson argued that products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough. Anderson cites earlier research by Erik Brynjolfsson, Yu (Jeffrey) Hu, and Michael D. Smith, who first used a log-linear curve on an XY graph to describe the relationship between Amazon sales and Amazon sales ranking and found a large proportion of Amazon.com’s book sales come from obscure books that are not available in brick-and-mortar stores. The Long Tail is a potential market and, as the examples illustrate, the distribution and sales channel opportunities created by the Internet often enable businesses to tap into that market successfully.

ok, still don’t get it, read the original post on the long tail here.

Hello !!! “the long tail” is not about having 80,000 keywords in your search marketing campaign. But a combination of web analytics, traffic analysis, your search engine orientation, and the other smaller players on the web.

And, search contextual marketing is not long tail!!!

Many web-owners in India do not use their “web logs” or put to use popular web analytics. These tools forms the basis of data mining & looking at data which is driving traffic to your website, whether it is keywords people are searching for on the Internet or websites which are hosting your ads or websites/blogs talking about you. If you are a portal or a large website - this is basic hygeine. Here’s a good example of how “Weather.Com” put to use web analytics to drive their SEO efforts.

For Microsites or Web sites which are seasonal, don’t even bother to get into the long tail.

So, how do I benefit from “The Long Tail”

1. Start by collecting data driving traffic to your website.
2. Identify key offline trends which effect your traffic on your website.
3. Collect data for long time duration, give it atleast 6 months to settle in.

Once, you have all of the above put together, hire a data analysis company which specializes in web analytics. And, then you start working on your long tail.

But, I still want 80,000 keywords in my search campaign

No problem, here’s what you need to do:

1. Identify contexts in which your product/service fits the bill. Contextual marketing is relative & attempts to deliver the marketer’s message in a given context. So, it’s important to understand the importance of it.
2. Go back to your search marketing team/agency and help them understand your world of ‘context’, where you think your product/service will get the best results.
3. Don’t expect high & immediate sales from traffic coming from this approach. Collate data and work closely on those which are driving your “business results”.

I hope this will help clear some mess on the misconceptions of the long tail!

Ok, we have seen many versions of online classifieds & new one’s keeping coming on board the Internet.

I recently came across a site which thinks it’ll take “ebay” go offline. Hmmm…ok…but ebay is an auction site, and yours is an offer website…where did we missed the “Bidding” part? Any guess’s?

First things first, the website layout can take a serious upgrade & they need to hire a usability expert. The site seems to have evolved from 1990 web development standards or someone who read HTML for Dummies way to hard. The site surely needs a serious upgrade!

Secondly, we did see a surge of such websites during the dot.com boom..but not many are around. Then came hybrids of loyalty programs, that also didn’t last long. So what is going to be unique is something I’ll wait and watch. I guess the city approach is good…but don’t know how many people are actually making the most of it.

I’ll cut a long story short, if you are in Bangalore check out > http://www.offersforshoppers.com/ and see if you can get yourself some discount coupons which can be redeemed!