"Google is not God"

"It's a machine, a superb machine that benefits millions, but it's still just a machine. And what it turns up can have remarkably deleterious impact on hardworking people and businesses," says the founder of a firm that claims to "defend you and your family's good name on the Internet."

This story on Forbes.com tells you what some people do to save themselves from this "deleterious impact".

In my next post, I will focus on the Online Reputation Management brouhaha.

Marcom job at Reliance World

Reliance World is looking for a Marcom content professional (based out of its Navi Mumbai headquarters) who can strategise, conceptualise and develop ATL, BTL and online content. People with at least 4 years in Communication Design / Copywriting / Content Development Role (Ad agencies, Media, Web companies, Corporate Communications / Marketing Communications) have a high probability of fitting the bill. If you fit the bill or know somebody who could, mail the CV to me at subir[dot]ghosh[at]relianceada[dot]com, with a cc to subghosh[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thakur gets his revenge

This is probably the most forwarded viral done by Webchutney. Many of you would've seen this, but those of you who haven't, do it now. Keep your speakers on.

I see double

On TV, I do not see the same ad repeating back to back. In a magazine, I do not see the same ad appear twice, side by side. Why then am I forced to watch the same commercial twice over in cinema theatres?

A dark lady turns fair, thanks to copious amounts of a certain white paste. The dark world--that had been hitherto very unfair to her--also turns fair, and the lady suddenly turns into an air-hostess. You heave a sigh of relief that the ordeal is over. For you and for her. And then, she starts all over again.

It's probably got to do with ad slots being sold in large chunks and advertisers being forced to run their short films twice to fill those slots. This might make monetory sense for the theatres, but makes no sense for the advertisers and their brands.

Spare the air-hostess and spare the audience. Just once is enough. Not everybody is James Bond.

The Great Indian Gas Trick!

When the 5-star style hospitals are on a marketing overdrive, why should the quacks be left behind?

And will the overeducated MDs be ever able to cure medicines of their diseases?

[Pic source: email from Abhijit Gupta. Click on the pic for a larger image.]

Personal opinions and corporate blogs

In my last post, I had written about how a corporate blog had ruffled feathers across America.

Something similar has happened in our own backyard.

Anuradha Sengupta of CNN-IBN watched Sivaji--the latest Rajnikanth flick--and lambasted the film on IBNLive's blog. The post drew extremely strong reactions, with some people challenging her to visit Chennai and go back unscathed! (Her blog's comment count is 1528 as I write this and the number's ticking faster than our population.)

That's not at all surprising, going by the amount and extent of fan-frenzy Rajnikanth enjoys. What I want to point to is the fact that people treat corporate blogs as an extension of the corporate's official stand.

Here are just a few quotes (word for word) from the comments:

CNN IBN HAS GONE INSANE...I LOVED THE CHANNEL TILL THIS INCIDENT HAS HAPPENED

IBN should ensure nobody is hurt before posting such reviews

try to be more matured and smart partuiculary when you r carrying a brand behind ur name । (CNN IBN)

I strongly recommend CNN-IBN (was my favorite news channel till i read this article) not to release these kind of articles and loose the viewership and your brand image....

Irrespective of whether a corporate blogger is trying to promote his/her organisation, people are not ready to see the line between the official stand and personal opinion. At least, not just yet. That's some food for thought for corporate bloggers and corporates who run blogs.

Promoting your company through your corporate blog

...may not be as easy as it sounds.

Lauren Turner, an Account Planner with Google, saw business opportunity in a film release, and posted this on the Google Health Advertising Blog.

Then all hell broke loose and strong reactions poured forth like the Bombay monsoons.

Lauren posted a rejoinder about how her opinion need not necessarily be Google's too.

The reaction (somewhat extreme, methinks) to Lauren's post makes one thing clear--netizens see corporate blogs as an extension of the organisation's official communication.