Search Engine DuckDuckGo’s traffic explodes after PRISM news – Crosses 2 Million Daily searches

With NSA’s PRISM program of collecting information from tech companies going main stream, Search engine DuckDuckGo, has seen a huge increase in its searches. On its privacy page, the search engine states, “does not collect or share personal information. ” Since it doesn’t track the users, there is no way to base the ads on the users profile. Rather it is based on the keywords.This search engine was started in 2008 & in 2009 it was decided not to collect the IP addresses.

Google & other search engines collect user data & advts are based on the users profile. The site which usually gets 1.7 to 1.8 million searches daily, got a record searches of around 2.2 million on Monday. Below is a traffic stats chart showing how the search queries are increasing daily. After the media feature & Bloomberg TV interview, there is a significant increase in Traffic.

Burberry & Google Launch Burberry Kisses – Send Virtual Kiss through Google Maps

Burberry & Google have launched “Burberry Kisses”, that allows you to send a digital copy of your lip imprint through Google Maps. They have launched the site at kisses.burberry.com. You can access this through your smartphone, or through desktop chrome browser.

You can take an imprint of of your lips through webcam & also select Burberry colors for your lips imprint. You can select the address to which the digital lip imprint should be delivered & it can be seen flying across on Google maps.

India & Pakistan Connect Together Through Coco-Cola Interactive Soda Machine

Coco-Cola‘s Open Happiness campaign has created a lot of brand visibility for Coke. India & Pakistan, 2 neighboring countries have been at loggerheads for decades over the border issue. Coke is is trying to change all of that through a new advertising film. Small World Machines from Coca-Cola allows people to connect in real time, touching each other over the interactive machine & drawing peace, love, and happiness symbols together.Coca-Cola installed Smart vending machines in Lahore, Pakistan and New Delhi, India. This would promote happiness and cultural understanding between the 2 nations.

Marketing Management By Philip Kotler

This Pepsi Vending Machine Spits out Pepsi with a Facebook Like & not Money

TBWA Belgium has a created a unique campaign for Pepsi. A Pepsi vending machine which doesn’t accept cash. Instead it is run on your Facebook Likes. You have to like the Pepsi facebook page & select your flavor, which will get you a sample of Pepsi.

This helps Pepsi know who their customers are, what are their preferences & their facebook data. Pretty cool marketing idea. Rather than just liking the facebook page, this type of promotion gives a lot of info about the customer to the company & they can target better.

Mary Meeker’s 2013 Internet Trends

Mary Meeker of the VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has unveiled her 2nd Internet trends report at the D11 conference. This follows up her famed 1st report on the global internet growth & usage. Some of the important finds from the report are

1) There are 2.4 Billion internet users around the world.
2) Domination of tablets over desktops/laptops
3) 500 Million photos shared in the internet daily.
4) Around 100 hrs of video is uploaded every min on YouTube.
5) Flickr, Snapchat, Instagram & Facebook are the imp photo sharing sites
6) Facebook leads the Social media followed by YouTube, twitter, Google+ & others.
7) China now has more users of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile OS than US

KPCB Internet Trends 2013 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Coco-Cola India’s Coke2Home – Order Cola Online in India

Online e-commerce which has taken off in a big way in India in the last few years is attracting Big players into the field. Coco-Cola has entered the food e-commerce in India with its site coke2home.com. This is currently available in Ahmadabad Municipality Corp only. Businesses can also place bulk orders & energy drinks, juice drinks, mixers, soda & packaged drinking water are available. Minimum order for delivery is Rs 300 & before 12 noon order will get same day delivery.

Rising income levels, huge youth population, increasing internet penetration, mobile browsing & other factors are contributing for Increasing Indian e-commerce activities. Many brick & mortar companies are entering the e-commerce field.

 

Microsoft Cloud Blogathon – India’s first Blogging Based Competition

New age technologies like Internet, Social media, Mobile, Cloud & others have given companies better ways of connecting with their audience. Companies are investing more & more into digital marketing arena to connect with their customer base. Brands are using Social media platforms like Facebook, twitter, vine, instagram & others for their marketing activities.

Microsoft India has come up with an innovative campaign called as “Microsoft Cloud Blogathon“. This is a 30 day competition, 20th May, 2013 to 00:00 hrs on 21st June, 2013 & is targeted towards college students. As part of this, one questions will be provided every day & students are required to contribute. There are daily prizes to be won & 50 top qualifiers based on the selection process will win 4 week Virtual mentor ship opportunities with Microsoft India. This is India’s first blogging based competition & this provides students, once in a life time opportunity to be mentored at Microsoft India. More info about the Microsoft Cloud Blogathon can be had at their FAQ section.

Cloud computing technology has become a boon providing easy access to the required information 24*7. This helps students & faculty access documents, mails, engage in video conferencing & IM anywhere & anytime. This helps in easier collaboration & communication increasing productivity & innovation.

The Calgary Zoo Publishes World’s First Annual Report on Instagram

Bored of annual reports on PDF or Power point..? You can try instagram, pinterest or Tumblr. Calgary Zoo has made use of Instagram to present their 2012 annual report. You can check their entire report published through beautiful photos & captions on Instagram. This is a very innovative method of using photo sharing apps for publishing your annual report. Some of the ways in which this makes the report stand out in the crowd are

1) The pictures with information is easy to follow & understand. The visual way of communication is gaining momentum across the world.

2) Pictures captures the attention of the users & can be easily followed like a story.

3) It is social. Users can like the pics & also comment. They can share the information & this helps in building visibility for the brand.

4) Pictures can be tagged with the required keywords.

 

Cinthol Alive is awesome – #ChallengeVirat Campaign

Cinthol, which embarked on a brand revamp last year, with Alive is awesome campaign, is out with a Virat Kohli based Alive is awesome campaign. He is the brand ambassador for Cinthol & this has been created by Creativeland Asia. The official website of the Alive is awesome Virat Kohli campaign. You can throw a challenge at Virat & it will be settled face to face. #challengevirat is the official hashtag of the challenge. You can login with your Facebook or twitter account. Many challenges can be seen in the microsite & some of which have been replied by Virat Kohli.

This is a clever use of social networking medium to engage with the fans. This also helps bring the brand ambassador & the fans face to face & builds rapport with the brand. This campaign has created a great volume of conversations about the brand. This is evident from the search keywords in Google with people searching for various terms like Cinthol alive is awesome lyrics, Cinthol alive is awesome mp3, Cinthol alive is awesome download, Cinthol alive is awesome ringtone, Cinthol alive is awesome hindi, Cinthol alive is awesome English song download, Cinthol alive is awesome virat kohli, cinthol alive is awesome virat kohli ringtone & others. This shows that campaigns help build brand visibility. This helped them increase their Twiiter Cinthol, Facebook Cinthol & Youtube Cinthol profile membership resulting in more engagement & amplification.