Yes... I do do work and the result: www.dellswarm.com on Apr 27

Hi All,

Long time no chat. Been pretty busy at work... as most of my friends would know (apologies to all whom I have ignored). Just wanted to post about something that kinda ties back to my first post.

Crowdsourcing is not a new concept (as ID by my friend Lisa W in a recent article). Group Buying is also not a new concept (where a group of people get together to decide on a product they all want and then going to a manufacturer to negotiate group pricing). Lots of sites/blogs dedicated to is... especially for women.

Now imagine this coming from someone like Dell (together with Intel)! Yup... it's true. Starting on May 5, you can get the latest laptop from Dell via www.dellswarm.com OR #dellswarmsg as well as on Facebook (of course).

Check it out.

In short, Dell (together with Intel) has again reinvented the online PC buying model... instead of them telling you ONE PRICE and that's it... you now have a chance to influence the final price by getting your friends together and collectively get the best price.

Going back to my rant: I personally have been waiting 15 years slogging away as a digiteer to finally find a great idea + innovative (and awesome) client which is Intel and by extension Dell via the Intel Inside Program + an incredible creative team which is TUS (shout out you know who you are).

As my first post said: To Twit or not to Twit.... now you Twit because we have one heck of a story.

Thanks team for a collective awesome effort!

Talk soon.

My friend Ranji asked: Can you build a brand across online channels?

My short answer is YES and it can be quantified too...

My long answer:
Ever since I got started in digital/online marketing back in the 'what's the Internet?' days in 1994... the primary argument 'brand agency dudes' used against using online advertising to build brand was hinged on two arguments: a) mass reach and b) TVC/moving images has the impact to be able to dramatize and bring to life key product benefits in 30" A 'banner' just won't cut it. Even when, over the past few years, we see the advent of 'rich' creatives.

NOW ITS DIFFERENT (shouted with glee). comScore tells us that in Singapore, the average monthly time spent online watching video is now just over 200 min. Hmmmm... and pretty much anyone who we want to reach uses the Internet for something or the other in the past week... AND in-banner video... is it time that we digiteers can finally hold our head high and say that online is now also viable brand building channel?

I would think so. The best part is that we no longer need 'estimations' on reach and viewership (ahem) but can quantify down to the last second who, what, when, why, and where....

Not sure about you all out there... but I think we now have a pretty compelling proposition and argument...

So there you brand dudes out there... we digiteers are 'brand dudes' too. OK... now if the creative directors can get it around their heads that a 10" spot on FTA is not the same as a 10" in-banner video... but that's another discussion

Thanks Ranji for asking the question!

Talk soon.