crowdsourced group buying: philippine potential?

Online group buying has become a popular trend in the United States. Websites offer group deals - discounts, gift certificates, etc - that are activated once a minimum number avail.

Users are alerted on daily deals with promotions for restaurants, spas, stores, home services, etc. Each announcement includes the original price, discounted price and the minimum number of people that need to avail for the discount to be activated. Crowdsourced group buying.

Groupon is the most popular group buying site. Founded in 2008, it now operates in 150 cities worldwide. Its sizable user base guarantees a good chance for participation and its website claims that it has saved users almost $450 million.

I subscribed to their updates while in New York recently and got offers for discounted gym classes, maid service and restaurant gift certificates. Would probably have tried something if I'd been around long enough!

Would the same concept work here?
Have been wondering if this would work in the Philippines. Breaking it down, the operation would require

• Merchant partners
• a digital Distribution Platform
• Critical Mass - interest and participation, and an 
• Online Payment Facilities

And looking at how well we would do in each area —

The verdict?
Maybe not yet. While the right marketing could drive enough interest and participation in GMA, this might not be enough to constitute critical mass.

Who could capitalize on the trend
As internet penetration grows though, you never know! And maybe the offer needs to be put forth before demand grows.

• Coupon companies, e.g. Enjoy 
• Credit card companies who want to build the online shopping habit. Hmmmm!

Kindle conundrum

The funny thing about the Kindle is that I have no idea how long books are.

I've just finished Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Over breakfasts, bedtimes and while waiting for meetings to start, I finished it in just a few weeks. It felt like a pretty long book, or at least it covered a lot of information, from Wife 1: Katherine of Aragon to Wife 6: Katherine Parr, so I'm kind of proud that I finished it. Okay I am a lot proud! (This is one of the first non-business, non-fiction books I've ever read.)

The thing is, I can't be sure how valid my feelings are. The Kindle doesn't show page numbers, only page "locations" - I imagine this is because pagination changes depending on selected text size. So I have no idea how long the book actually is, and as a result, how accomplished I should feel about finishing it.

Book Completion pride
I never realized this until this Kindle problem came about but I think I feel different levels of pride or accomplishment depending on the type and length of book I've read. So to speak...

Frustration!
So I feel like I've completed something quite voluminous... though maybe it falls more squarely under Non-Fiction. But I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment. But it really frustrates me that the Kindle does not give me the satisfaction of knowing that I've read something long and hardy. As a result I wonder if the pride I feel for finishing this book could actually be misplaced.

To get to the bottom of this, I went back to Amazon to find a photo of the actual book, where I was disappointed to find only an image of the book cover. Bah.

Level of pride affirmed.
But upon browsing the Customer Images I found a photo of Weir's Henry VIII set, including (on the far right) The Six Wives.

Am relieved to see that the book looks positively serious, and as I assumed, quite "voluminous". Also the old-school binding makes it look completely bona fide!









Vicious cycle
So I have some ill feelings toward my Kindle since it doesn't allow me to feel as certain a level of accomplishment and satisfaction upon completing a long, real book.

This seems to be a digital shortcoming - when things are made of bits, bytes, ones and zeroes, how do we know what, or how much, we are really holding in our hands?

Then again I also wonder, given ownership of the physical volume, if I ever would have finished the book. Would I have brought it with me to the breakfast table, held it up every night before sleeping, and lugged it around in my bag in case of lull times at work? Probably not. Point, Kindle.

I also tend to get intimidated by said voluminous works. I think I get pressured by books that look long since it seems like it will take awhile to read them. In fact, while I just bought the Kindle edition of Jon Steel's Truth, Lies, and Advertising: The Art of Account Planning and have barely started into reading it, a fellow planner showed me her real-life edition of the same book - thick and hardy! I now feel a little like I won't be able to finish it. Who knows.

Oh digital world, when will you stop changing the rules of the game on us.

YouTube & Twitter show-and-tell

Monetization - the ultimate challenge for web platform hopefuls. Once they've reached critical mass, how to make money? The most obvious answer is to offer some form of web advertising, whether display or Google Ad Words.

But given the increasing banner blindness in consumers everywhere, social media sites like YouTube and Twitter need to show advertisers that deeper engagement can be achieved through their platforms. After all, credibility is an imperative for real communication or persuasion.


To help advertisers see how they can play a role in this, YouTube has launched a Show & Tell channel that showcases best-in-class case studies. Users can browse the latest in Interactive Videos, Brand Channels, Homepages & Viral Hits. The Creatives' Corner is hosted by the Art Directors Club and includes materials on storytelling, viral videos, opportunities, etc.

Twitter is also showcasing their most maximized accounts, but going less branded. Twitter Tales asks "How do you use Twitter?" and shares content in the categories of Life, Community and Humor.
I really like this effort, especially after attending the New York chapter of the 140Conference last Spring, where teachers, NGOs, TV personalities, humanitarians, musicians, comedians, and more shared their best uses of the real-time web (mostly not branded!).

mccann answers mad men

I wasn't sure what to make of Ken Cosgrove's dig at McCann Erickson in the latest Mad Men episode except to think that there aren't very many old school agencies that hold as much clout then as it does now. Besides that, well, I guess there are probably ignoramuses everywhere and somebody acquired in a hostile takeover would be the first to notice point it out.

But in the spirit of competition?, here is McCann's reply.



More from NYMag and the Times.

law of diminishing productivity

The longer you work, the less productive you are!

In celebration of all my recent overtime!