How Do I Know that It's You vs How Do I Know You

As a person working in communication field, I've been (and always) impressed and mesmerized by the advancement of communication device. Here I live in Indonesia, a developing country where we often lag behind developed world (especially in terms of technology). What I feel may not happen to everyone, probably only few of us. Okay, let's say it's my personal experience.

When I was a little kid, I haven't stayed yet in the capital of Indonesia. At that time I lived in a city that's in the intersection of modern and traditional world. To have a fixed telephone line at every home might be an impossible request. The national telephone company had always say that it's hard to reach your area, blah blah blah. Thus, when I needed to make a call to my friend (for homework thingy etc), I went to a phone booth rental. And when I heard my friend's voice, I was impressed,

"Oh, this is how her voice at phone. Is that really her?" And I was happy that I could talk and express something that's in my mind without spending many miles away to a face to face meeting.

 Besides telephone, I also ever been impressed with letter, a traditional mail. At that time I had a classmate went to US and I sent a letter to her (traditional one with stamps), and she got my letter (even though it took two weeks to receive). This might sound silly, but I was really happy doing that.

Although there's a correspondence address (for mail) and designated number (for phone call), sometimes I was wondering "How do I know that it's you?" It's a question showing how mesmerized I was, anyway.

Then mobile phone came for us to have. My Mom had that before me, but then all of our family members used it. Well, on mobile phone (even the very old one), there's a phone book feature. And it's a usual thing right now for us to see a name appeared on our mobile phone screen (when there's an ingoing call). But at that time, my Dad (who's less technology savvy than me) saw a name appeared on my Mom's mobile phone screen, then he's asking us "How does this mobile phone know that this number belongs to Ida?" We just laughed when we heard that.

Then the internet era came, and I used it a lot for chatting (with mIRC and Yahoo Messenger). Chatting to whom? Stranger, from different country, city, etc. At that time I was still in the 5th grade. (you may say that I was strange enough, though). Sometimes the person could say that his name was Shane, living in US (for instance). And some of my classmates even played around by saying that they were boys (but they were girls, in fact). In this platform, same question : "How do I know that it's you?"

Until right now, in the social media era, where Facebook is the king, and over than 80% of internet users in Indonesia are social media users; sometimes around 1/5 of our friends on Facebook are people that we don't know. And by any occassion, there may be some friend requests from people that we don't know, never met before, or maybe we simply forgot. Social media really makes communication becomes way easier than before. It's enabling us to reach people that's (logically) we won't be able to reach. Say it could be celebrity, public figure, industry experts, potential employer, or even the girl next door. Everything becomes visible and possible, until we get confused and ask ourselves "How do I know you?" (whether for case 1:  that finally we get to know and meet the person we want to reach and case 2 : when we get an unidentified friend request).

All in all, the advancement of communication technology shapes our mind generally and shapes our perception towards others. Different era = different way = different question rises in the air. The similar one is the sceptical nature of people, we always try to recall and analyze everything we see.

Have you ever been in the situation of "How do I know that it's you?" or "How do I know you?"

Nike Shoe Boxxxx for Shoes and Nike Lovers (bonus : hints to play the game)

I got a new toy....
Personally, it's seldom for me to play games/apps on Facebook.
But, as I heard that Nike created an app named Nike Shoe Boxxxx, I gave it a try.
This idea is amazing. Personally, I don't have great engagement towards Nike as a brand, but I love fashion and I love shoes :)

So,  Nike Shoe Boxxxx is an app created by Beacon communication (Leo Burnett Tokyo).
The purpose of this app is to bring back the 40 years of this 'iconic' shoes through FB app. Nike shoe boxxxx is as simply as we collect shoes from the whole Nike shoes collection  (since the first until the last collection)  and store them in our Nike shoes collection, get rankings by collecting the most numbers of shoes, and interact with other players.

This app so far has gained over 7k users around the world, with the players mostly come from Japan.
At the first time, this app is a bit confusing. However, there's 'How to Play' tab, and it comes with two languages (English and Japanese).

After we click 'Start', we will be taken into shoe box stacks, then we are to choose the box one by one.
For each round, the number of box that we can get is depends on our level (e.g. 3 boxes per round for level 1, 4 boxes per round for level 2, etc.). Anyway, different box colours and types define the type of the shoes. The brown box (the box that shows up most often) is for the latest Nike collection, the orange box defines the old (or maybe first collection of Nike shoes), etc. (Anyway, I never got a chance for the blue and silver box and it made me so curious).

Hints :
1) When you like 'Nike Sportswear Japan' you get 3 bonus shoes and you can choose any shoes from Nike Shoes List. If you get this chance, make sure that you choose the rare collections.
2) When you invite your friends to try this app, both of you will get one pair of Nike rare shoes as a bonus.
3) When you share your shoes by posting it into your FB, you get one extra chance to get Shoe box.
4) You can play the game again with the same round/chance (according to your level) to pick the shoe box tomorrow (reset at 3AM Japan time)
5) The blinking shiny shoe box is always made for Tailwind Night Track (No.1 in All Shoe collection)

The most fun part of this is when you choose Nike shoe box, and the curiosity you have about what shoe inside the box! You may like it, or you may get a little disappointed.

If you don't like the shoe, no worries, you can trade your shoes with thousand players in the world (or your own friend to make the trade easier).

Hints :
1) When you trade shoe, you and your friend will get one bonus shoe from Nike (added to your collection, but you can't which shoe).
2) A tricky way is to trade with the person you know so it's easier for you or your friend to ask about what each of you want, to be traded with what, and faster confirmation! More tricky way is to trade the same type of shoe (just like what I did in the picture above). Even though the shoe is the same, both of you will get bonus shoe.

To trade, there are several options :
trade with your friends; trade by choosing the shoe you want, or trade with any desired players. If you choose to trade with the players you don't know or haven't friended with you yet on Facebook, it will be harder. Thus, you need to do a little research on their collection and shoe selves, and make a guess of the shoe that they haven't got one but they wish to. Like what I did (on the picture above), I made a trade with players I don't know whom, and as a result they haven't confirmed my request! It's hard just like what I said.

I also got trade requests from several players whom I don't know, I confirmed some of them (if the shoe they offer is nice and as long as they don't ask my favorite shoes).

The picture above is my shoe selves and my Nike shoes collection. You can customize your shelves according to your taste. You can customize the color of the shelves, and organize which shoes you want to display. Personally, I try to organize the same type of shoes at the same row (but with different color). This will make a nice color gradation, haha. Although this is not my real collection of shoes, I feel like I am happy every time I got new shoe and bigger number of collection.

Hint :
When you got your level upgraded, there will be new colors added to modify your shelves and you can display more shoes there (for certain level).

By the time I am writing this post, I already have 39 shoes. The shoes we have determine our level. With 39 shoes, I am in level 3, and to get into level 4, I need to collect 50 shoes. And I am currently in rank 1335th. Because this little game makes me happy, I play this everyday (to get more shoes and surprise).

The picture above is the rank (per the date I am writing this post). You can see here that most of the players are Japanese. And the 1st rank already got 350 shoes and being in Level 7! You might think that there are only few numbers of players who got many shoes, but it's NOT! I found that there is player who already got 127 shoes and he's in ranking 511, Level 5. It means that there are over than 500 players who collected over than 100 shoes. This is a big engagement, seeing that to collect more than 100 shoes, you need to spend more less three weeks (by playing the game everyday).

Hint :
Saying that in your current level you can get three shoe boxes per day, if for one day you skip it over by not playing the game, the next day you won't get the cumulative numbers (you will just get three rounds instead).

The picture above is the Shoe List of Nike. (sort by year). And there are 350 shoes in the list.

2012 Fasting : Digitalized Expression

In 2012, the rate of social media growth in Indonesia is faster than last year. More users, more heavy expression and conversation. In terms of Twitter account, on February 2012, Indonesia is in 5th position of Top Countries behind US, Brazil, Japan, and UK (source : Semiocast). And recently it goes to the 4th rank I believe (source : ComScore). And Indonesia is a country having many netizens tweet so often, making it #3 rank of the chattiest Twitter nation after US and Brazil.

Start from July 21, fasting or Ramadhan officially begin. Another fact is Indonesia is a county with the biggest number of Muslim population, and it seems that during fasting they don't stop tweeting :)

On July 21, Indonesia contributed on the Twitter's Worldwide Trends and that's fasting expression related :

The image above is the Worldwide Trends on Twitter around 6:50 PM. On #1, there is "mEdh bUka pUaSa eAaa cEmenH-cEmenQuH" (very hard to re-write). That phrase means "Happy breakfasting my friends".

Don't know who initiated that phrase and conversation, but anyway, the style of writing in Capital and normal letters abnormally like that is "Ababil" people's style (teenager's style that is trying to create cute and different things but end up as weird), and many adults educated people hate that "Ababil" style.
But did those teenagers create this trend on Twitter? If yes, awesome. Not sure and didn't pay attention about the exact time when that phrase started to crawl on the Worldwide Trends chart, though, but 6:50 PM is the time when Muslim in Indonesia are done with their breakfasting.

Around 15 minutes after that, that trend went into #6 and #1 was something created by Indonesian as well. #PeopleIWantToBukaPuasaWith means "People I want to breakfasting with".

Nah, maybe because it was the first day of Ramadhan or fasting month, then that was a big hype happening on this nation with million users? Anyway, July 21 is Saturday, and Indonesian generally tweets more on weekend. Those two "Indonesian" phrases on the Twitter's Worldwide Trends might represent greeting or expression on the 1st day of Ramadhan. Let's say that "Digitalized Expression" is potentially gaining wider audience. Yeah, the world sees you!

The Platt 101: New York City’s Best Restaurants

The Platt 101: New York City’s Best Restaurants

Planning is an odd job title

Fern Miller, head of planning EMEA at LBi, explains why good planners are usually in great demand...

When I took up my new job at LBi, I used a Facebook status announcement to advertise to my social network that I was interested in recruiting new planners. The response rate was gratifyingly strong, but included several pitches from good, highly capable, friends of mine who work in event management, office services and other useful, organisational roles.

Planning, they all said, was exactly what they were good at. This was personally surprising and professionally interesting: as I say, these were people I have known for some time and who must presumably be baffled at my job title, since I am probably the least organisationally skilled person they have ever met. How on earth did they think I'd managed to hold onto a job for so long let alone become a head of it?

And on a more professional note, it was another reminder that what I call planning doesn't have much to do with what anyone outside an advertising agency might call planning. As I told my friends, what we do in planning in the companies I work at is more like strategy, or creative thinking, or consultancy. Few of us could organise our way out of a cardboard box.

Unlike my previous employers, my new company doesn't define itself as an advertising agency. At the last count, LBi's services included social media strategies, website design and build, CRM strategy and delivery, online communications, branded content development, managed services, analytics, user research, SEO and media, technology and several other disciplines I have no doubt missed off the list... it seems that the deeper you engage with your clients' digital futures, the more things there are to think about. The elegant simplicity of the Pollitt/ King agency account team has fractured into a proliferation of specialists and all-rounders, working together in a variety of combinations according to client needs.

Yet at the same time, there have been a series of industry-wide warnings that planners haven't made themselves invaluable or even necessary to clients. Some of these proliferations of specialists have come together without strategists present at all, and appear, to the general consternation of the planning community, to be functioning rather well. Perhaps our strange title hasn't done us many favours in defining what the point of our role is. Perhaps we have too long harboured an assumption that we'd be required, as the 'clever people'. Perhaps we've become a 'brains trust': awfully intelligent, but not awfully useful...
So, how do our 'new-fashioned' planners make themselves most useful? It seems to me there are many useful ways a smart person could help an agency. Providing a simple understanding of how ordinary folk respond to the messages your brand is putting out in all these newly available channels would be a good start.

As Jeremy Bullmore recently pointed out in his speech at the ICA, this would be an extension of the original vision of the planner as a dedicated member of the team whose job was to consider response rather than stimulus in the creation of marketing campaigns. There are useful roles in providing connections between disciplines too: I see my new colleagues in strategy working with teams comprising user-experience creatives, technologists, mobile specialists and media buyers, providing the overall strategic thread for the team.
There are also fantastic opportunities for those who can use their consumer insight to invent new ways for companies to express themselves, or even to invent new products and services altogether. Lastly, given the current economic climate, people who can use the many sources of data now available to define the value and relative effectiveness of any marketing activity should find themselves highly sought after.

The truth is, good planners are usually in great demand, whichever agency you work in. That's what prompted my original advertisement for more of them. And if they're any good, there will be people throughout the business tugging on the sleeves of people like me to send more of them in their direction.
In light of this, the upcoming IPA course, Excellent Account Planning, is going to call upon those people to tell us what they want from planning, so that our bright young things can consider how they can continue to develop the discipline in the future. My hope is that they'll think of new things to do altogether. Or at least a new job title that makes more sense to my friends.

The State of Cosmetics in 2011 With Exclusive Commentary About Becoming a Socially Conscious Spa

Re-write from : www.skininc.com

With the cosmetics industry earning record revenues, with niche sectors, such as “men’s” and “organics” rapidly gaining market share, and with social media, eco-consciousness and cause-based consumerism greatly impacting product purchasing decisions, the cosmetics industry is an ever-changing behemoth that’s become integral to the national economy. But, what makes this insatiable industry tick, and will it continue to thrive amid consumers' collective quest to remain youthful, attractive and self-confident?

Veteran cosmetics executive Edward Schack, principal of EES Cosmetics Solutions, Inc., offers insight on past and current personal care industry trends and how the beauty industry has become far more than skin deep.

Buoyancy of the ‘beauty bubble.’ Despite an ailing recession, the U.S. cosmetic and toiletries sector generated more than $10 billion in revenue last year from 13,000 beauty-centered stores nationwide, according to Ibis World Reports. How will the industry remain recession-proof?

The burgeoning men’s cosmetics sector. American consumers spent $4.8 billion on men’s grooming products in 2009, according to market data firm Euromonitor International. In 1997, the figure was half that—$2.4 billion. The fastest-growing men’s segment is skin care (nonshaving products such as facial cleansers, moisturizers and exfoliants), with the category growing more than fivefold during the period, to $217 million from $40.9 million. A 2009 report by market research firm Packaged Facts also expressed optimism for the men’s cosmetics sector.

Role of ‘emotional bond’ in consumer loyalty to cosmetic brands. Cosmetic brands scored high on a Brand Keys “Loyalty Leaders” report, which found that, even in a bad economy, consumers stick with their favorite premium cosmetic brands alongside cheaper ones, also noting that the emotional connection forged with cosmetic brands is due to impact on self-image.

Why cosmetics top the list of shoplifted goods. "Health and beauty care items" accounted for 20% of all items stolen from supermarkets in 2008, according to a survey from the Food Marketing Institute, with Oil of Olay skin creams topping the list of swiped items.

Youth and cosmetics. According to The NPD Group Inc., in 2005 the average age a woman began using beauty products was 17; today it is 13.7. Experian Market Research shows that 43% of 6- to 9-year-olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss, 38% use hairstyling products and 12% use other cosmetics (J. Bennett: Newsweek article “Generation Diva”).

Cosmetic buying habits related to perceived health and safety concerns. According to Datamonitor, 28% of consumers currently deliberately avoid certain cosmetics or toiletries because of fears about certain ingredients, and 39% are somewhat or extremely concerned about parabens or petrochemicals used in beauty product formulations. U.S. Food and Drug Administration statistics confirm that cosmetics are one of the safest categories of products used by Americans: With more than 11 billion personal care products sold each year, only 150 adverse experiences (mostly skin rashes or allergies) have been reported.

How being ‘green’ affects consumer spending in the cosmetic category. According to Grail Research, a full 93% of consumers feel that a company being green is important to their purchase decision, with 80% of consumers citing “natural” as the most important green attribute for cosmetic/toiletry products. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2008 Annual Survey, manufacturers of beauty products consumed less than a third of the kilowatt hours of electricity relative to the average of other U.S. manufacturers. However, most are either not aware or cannot recollect companies' green initiatives.

The importance of socially conscious business practices. Consumers also value brands that support causes—85% of Americans have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a good cause. The cosmetics industry is very involved in philanthropy and contributes twice as much to charitable causes than any other industry. Each year, beauty companies donate more than one million individual products and raise more than $2 million for cancer patients through the Look Good... Feel Better Program.

Schack tells www.SkinInc.com how can a company be socially conscious as well as make their clients aware of its social consciousness? First of all, the spa must genuinely have a heart for social consciousness. You can’t fake caring about the world around you and not just profits. When companies try, it’s usually quite evident and often fail miserably. In the realm of cause-driven commerce, actions speak louder than words and ultimately lead the way. It’s a way of thinking, and all staffers must be on board as social consciousness is a company culture, not a marketing strategy. Whatever the socially-driven mission of the company and no matter the cause being supported, it must be known to staffers at every level of the operation—from the CEO down to the receptionist—and implemented on a daily basis. 

A company’s social consciousness often starts quietly, behind the scenes. Spas should be engaged in the community that they are in while maintaining the bigger picture as well. They should be seeking opportunities to give back and looking for areas of need that, in this economic climate, are seemingly endless. The most successful social companies today typically send a portion of their profits to charities of their choice—something consumers are now monitoring closely. Consumers want to feel good about where their money is being spent and are even willing to justify higher expenditures in kind.

Some of the best ways for a company to convey its socially conscious values is to weave information about its efforts into applicable marketing vehicles: websites, brochures, spa menus and the like. Spas can also tactfully use elegant signage highlighting the charities they contribute to and events they have supported, as well as ways they are specifically safeguarding the environment. For example, “We use all natural, organic products.” It’s also effective for spas to teach their staff members to engage this type of discussion in their conversations with the clients. Clients will sense the pride staff members have in being a socially conscious business, and clients will soon share that pride in frequenting a spa with charitable, cause-conscious values.