As I have said earlier in my blog, Online is getting bigger and deeper day by day. The amount of time we spend online is startling. There is Facebook, Orkut, Yahoo, Rediff, Hotmail, Youtube, now a days we shop online, share our views on blogs, we tweet. There are so many things to do Online.

People have built their brands through this medium. There are many mediums to market the brand but the most effective and cheap medium is Online.

But you need to know the trick to market your story or your product or your brand or your resume or anything else; few people know how to use it, many don’t. 

What if you are Sony or Dell or Michael Jackson or Steve Jobs or Lindsay Lohan ? You name the medium and you have that, you can market it through every possible medium.  

PR, Print, Outdoor, Internet, TV, In-films and there are multiple options as well.

But the problem arises when you are not a biggie, if you are a common man, don’t have the money to spend on these mediums. But you have a remarkable product or a brand.

What you will do, How you will market it ? Which option you will use ?

Online is the one.

You can reach to millions of people around the globe, but the point is why they will waste their valuable time and look at what you are telling them to look at.  

Is there somthing interesting for them ? is it unique ? something innovative, something which they have never seen, something which makes them enjoy, something engaging…. It can be completely wired but the story should be convincing enough for the person to read it or see it.

There are few companies who have promoted their product or brands or themselves through online and they have succeeded in it.

I would like to share few online marketing case studies coz they are easy to understand.

Burger King – ‘Whopper sacrifice’ is a Facebook tool where users have to de-friend people from their friend list in return for a free burger. At the end of the campaign, there were a total of 233,906 users who found themselves dropped from their friends’ friend list. 

Blend Tec – ‘Blend Tec’ makes different types of blenders and these blenders can be used to make stuff like cappuccino, milkshake, making whole vegetables and fruits juices, grating cheese, chopping onions and much more.

 They came out with videos called ‘Will It Blend’, The videos feature Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson liquefying a range of items that are divided into the “Try this at home” and “don’t try this at home” sections. In ‘don’t try this at home’ section features some unusual items that portray the power of the blender from 50 marbles to handful of golf balls to a new iphone .

After being released on YouTube the videos exploded, receiving over 1.7 m views. The traffic to the company’s website, with Alexa ranking jumped to 108,000 spots in the end of 2006.

 BMW: ‘BMW FILMS’ BMW assembled a cast of A-list directors and actors & developed scripts within the basic framework of having a central character that helped people through difficult circumstances using deft driving skills—in a BMW.

 Of course it’s BMW so the production cost was super high but promoting videos was almost free.

More than 10 million films have been viewed from BMWFilms.com. Nearly 2 m people registered on the site, with 60% of those registrants opting to receive more information via e-mail. 

Sunsilk: ‘Sunsilk Gang of Girls’ – India’s first girl online community website. The website has digital makeovers, group blogs, talent shows, job discussion board for girls, chill out zone and many such things.

• Hindustan Lever claims 2,500,000 registrations to Gang of Girls site
• 25,000 girl gangs,
• 200 million hits,
• 12-13 million page views every month.
• The concept got re-launched for rural parts of India as “Sunsilk Saheli”

You might be aware of these online marketing campaigns, they are unique in their own way, at least they were when they got launched.

Like these campaigns (ones which I shared with you). Before few days, I came across one of the finest online marketing campaign done by a guy called Juan Mann, a man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. And his campaign name was ‘Free Hugs Campaign’.

To read about Free Hugs Campaign visit: http://www.freehugscampaign.org/

The video which is shown on Youtube is simply amazing and worth watching. In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

The concept is so unique that it got more than 52,000,000 viewers on Youtube. and the guy got a chance to meet Oprah Winfrey. What else you want….

Online is huge and has billions of users, we just have to know how to use it. If we know how to use it, we can build our product or brand only through this medium.

I hope you guys got an idea of Online marketing and seriously speaking this guy has done nothing great. He has taken our idea and gave an english name to it. Munna Bhai use to say it ‘Jadoo Ki Jappi’ Mr. Juan Mann has said ‘Free Hugs’. it’s always the other way round though.  

Have a look at the video, I loved it and am sure you will like it too…

Vreau sa va prezint o melodie care imi place extraordinar, o ascult de zile intregi. Se numeste All the same de la Sick Puppies.

Nu stiu daca ati auzit de ei, eu am auzit All the same cand am vizionat video-ul “Free Hugs Campaign” pe youtube, si mi-a placut la nebunie. E o formatie australiana, compusa din Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai si Mark Goodwin. Dar va invit sa cititi mai multe pe Wikipedia si sa vizualizati video-ul.

(The Old Water Tower.  Photo © 2009 by Robin)

I haven’t been doing much in the way of sightseeing today, and left the camera in the hotel room while I was out and about.  I wanted to do a little early Christmas shopping, but didn’t meet with much success.  Perhaps it’s because I dislike shopping so much.  I don’t have the patience to keep going from store to store to store.  Some of the salespeople in the more upscale stores irritate me.  The Magnificent Mile and Water Tower Place are probably not for me.

Sunday afternoon I wandered around the  Old Chicago Water Tower District, not going into any of the stores, but just enjoying the weather and the people watching.  The Old Water Tower was open, with free admission, due to a photography exhibit (the building is open during exhibitions).  The exhibit consisted of photos from the Philipines.

Looking for a little peace and quiet, I wandered into a church courtyard.  It was lovely and fit the bill, serene and quiet even though it was on Michigan Avenue and the crowds of people were just a few steps away.

(Church courtyard.  Photo © 2009 by Robin)

On my way back to the hotel I passed a group of people giving out Free Hugs.  If you are not familiar with the Free Hugs Campaign, you can read about (and watch a video) at the link <– back there.  Sadly, I didn’t see anyone stop to get a free hug.  Happily, I did:

(151:  Free Hugs!  Photo © 2009 by Robin)

Free Hugs are nice.  If you get the opportunity to get or give one, you should do so. 

When M finishes at the conference we’re going to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art for a few hours.  Tuesdays are free.  I want to see the Elements of Photography exhibit.  It looks quite interesting.

Tonight we’re meeting a friend for pizza.  Stuffed pizza this time around.  It’s one of my favorite places and I’m looking forward to it.

Staying true to the claim in the title, here you go: (((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))

This post is for the cause of salvaging the “Hug”. I think it really is misunderstood. And not explored beyond the “physical” boundaries! I have thoughts on the same that I want to share, few my own and some borrowed from literature and people.

Hugs!

 Image courtesy Google

Sometimes you can know a person all your life and yet not be close. And sometimes you can know a person for few moments and feel like you’ve known them much longer. Vibes is what we call them. We are like magnets!! Constantly giving and receiving vibes. Where do hugs fit in here? OH!!!!! Leave it to crafty to fit them everywhere!

I say so because a hug is what transfers these vibes from one heart to another in the shortest span of distance!

Once someone told me of how I should shed my inhibitions of physical barriers and hug from my heart, and consciously aim to reach the heart of the other person. And hold a conversation, heart-to-heart. I could not understand how it would work, but kept it at the back of my mind.

I met a friend, after a while of talking we had nothing more to say. I remembered about the advice and thought she made a good guinea pig… At the risk of sounding completely homosexual and putting at stake our years of friendship, I offered her a long hug. She being used to the irratic me, dismissed it as one of my illogical impulses and gave in. Feeling like a total fool, I tried to “converse in my heart” while I hugged her, and in my heart I ran the words that I really am glad to have her as my friend and that she can count on me at any time in life for anything. And I was stunned and panicked a bit to sense that she was crying! :| I couldn’t have smelt that bad surely…

I did not let go, did not utter a word, but in my heart asked her if she wanted to tell me anything. And I cannot put to words the warmth that filled my heart the second after I asked that question!! As if in reply!

As we let go of the embrace, she was beaming and so was I!! It was spookily awesome. Trust Crafty to kill the moment with her ill-timed attempt at humor, “Whew! So we passed the lesbian test! We didn’t go to the smooch level!”

After her customary punch on my arm, she told me that there was something that had been bothering her since few months, but could not put in words, to share. And it felt like she let go of it when we hugged. We never even spoke of it. But she said she feels like she has, and so feels relieved. Am I glad it happened! Now when we call up, we ask each other “When do we meet up for hugs?”

You must have read of how a hug is therapeutic. And it’s proven scientifically too. I won’t bore you with that!

What Crafty wants to request, is for you to Go and hug someone… Just to set yourself free of inhibitions. It feels great! Go spook someone. You will spook them only for few seconds, trust me! They will roll their eyes, act like they did not care, or were creeped out, or consider you are mad; but the next time you hug, you will not see resistance! Ideally, try this with someone of the opposite sex. And when you hug, try concentrating on what you want to say to this person in your heart. Replace your “physical consciousness” by focussing on the words in your heart for this person. It won’t seem that weird or difficult!

Disclaimer: Crafty assumes all who attempt this will do so with prior permission of the opposite person. Any sandal / shoe attack reports will not be entertained here. Hospital bills will not be entertained either.

I feel the hug is our easiest way to the soul of the opposite person. And we say so many things with a hug – “I love you”, “I’m glad to see you”, “You are a wonderful person”, “I’ve been waiting for you”, “I will protect you” “I don’t want you to go” … Spare the words, Give the hugs!!

I wish for a world where a hug is not doubted upon… doesn’t hold a sexual connotation… is not considered as “an opportunity to feel up someone”. It’s the purest expression of love. Love of all kinds. I think it’s time we shed the inhibitions of physical proximity that a hug calls for, focus on connecting deeper. It’s a conversation between souls.

Can we break the inhibition?! Make it a tradition! Start at home… take it to your friends… spook them, creep them, gross them out, amuse them, delight them … and get ready for requests of hugs the next time you don’t give it to them yourself!

Since hugs is a given feature at Crafty’s blog… let me add something more this time!!!

There was a beautiful campaign done called the Free Hugs Campaign by Juan Mann. Click on the link to read more of it.

The Illustrated Guide to Free Hugs
This is the book of the Free Hugs campaign. Its a PDF version of an awesome compilation of anecdotes and showcase of different types of hugs and the body language involved, and what it connotes! Go see what kinds of hugs you have given so far, what kinds have you received, and what’s on your wishlist!!

Jiya Se Jiya – By A R Rahman
Apart from a brilliant composition, this AR Rahman song has a video of the Free Hugs campaign. I loved it! I want to dedicate this song to all those reading this post! (Thanks for sharing this song with me EOG! You get Special Hugs and your fav smiley too – )

That’s it. I am done talking!! Can we get down to business??
*Crafty awaits with arms thrown open*

Por que un abrazo NUNCA esta de más. Quien no se ha sentido tan mal, que solo necesita que alguien lo abrace?, pero… y que tal si no hay NADIE quien te pueda dar ese abrazo? Así surgio esta idea:

Free hugs es la historia de la vida real de Juan Mann, un hombre cuya misión es ir y abrazar a un extraño, para iluminar un poco su vida.  Él cuenta:

Estaba viviendo en Londres, cuando mi mundo se volvio al revés y tuve que regresar a mi hogar. Cuando mi avión aterrizó en Sidney, lo unico que me quedaba era una maleta con mi ropa y un mundo de problemas. Nadie estaba para recibirme, ni un lugar al cual llamar casa. Era un turista en mi propia ciudad natal.

Parado en la terminal de las llegadas, viendo como otros pasajeros se reencontraban con su famila y amigos, con los brazos abiertos y sonrisas, abrazandose y riendo juntos, yo queria a alguien ahi que estuviera esperandome, que estuviera feliz de verme, que me sonriera, que me abrazara.

Asi que tome una cartulina y un marcador e hice una señal. Encontré el cruce de peatones más concurrido en la ciudad y mantuve esta cartulina en lo alto, con las palabras “Free Hugs” en ambos lados.

Por 15 minutos, la gente se me quedo viendo. La primera persona que se detuvo, me toco en el hombro y me dijo que su perro habia muerto esa misma mañana. Como esa mañana era el aniversario de la muerte de su única hija, fallecida en un accidente automovilístico. Que lo único que queria en ese momento, sintiendose la persona mas sola en el mundo, era un abrazo. Me puse en una rodilla y pusimos nuestros brazos alrededor de cada uno, y cuando nos separamos, ella sonreía.

Todo mundo tiene problemas y con seguridad, no se comparan con los mios. Pero ver a alguien que alguna vez estuvo enojado o triste, sonreir por un momento, vale la pena.

Realmente sencillo… y hermoso.

Enlace: Official Home of the Free Hugs Campaign

I felt all warm and fuzzy when I first saw this video. Great intention. Free Hugs everybody!!!!

Dedicated to Ali Zahir, the man who taught me about hugs.

Chagrin. Laughter. Mockery.

This is a true story of a man that simply wanted to enlighten a person’s day. This is a stretch on the subject of music, but while the video is playing, a remarkable song is played. Maybe remarkable is not the word. Perhaps, fitting. Not only is the mood expressed vividly during climatic moments in the picture, but the lyrics are beyond touching. The mixture of video footage and music can be a heartwarming experience for many. It brought me to tears…

I understand the feeling some may have when a stranger approaches them, but it seems odd that America is turning away simple acts of love and kindness. Last semester I talked to a stranger that told me in Nigeria a hug is never viewed as eccentric, as it often is in America.

“And I’ll take you for who you are, if you take me for everything.”
-Sick Puppies

This really made me ponder how the human race views everything.

Video Rights: FreeHugsCampaign.org

“All The Same” by the Sick Puppies, from the Free Hugs Campaign.

This never fails to leave a warm feeling.

Foarte tare ! Ar trebui sa se faca peste tot in lume, sa mai scoatem ura din oameni…

FREE HUGS !

Hugs for all ! >:D< >:D< >:D<

Am dat si eu din greseala peste o chestie pe net … Free hug Campaign ii zice . Sincer imi place ideea chiar si filmuletu de mai jos ce ar fi sa continui campania asta si in Romania ? ia sa vedem ce iese …
Corectez … tocmai am aflat ca a fost si in Romania in unele orase
Mai jos aveti imnul campaniei vizionare placuta

It’s amazing the impact a simple hug can have. If you don’t find this touching, you may not be human:

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

Be sure to check out the Free Hugs Campaign website.

Thanks to the superb black and white photographer Cole Thompson for making me aware of this.

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

In this age of social-disconnection most all of us lack that simple human touch from another, the effects of the Free Hugs Campaign are now felt around the globe.

In this society people are already drugging themselves with antidepressants at an alarming rate.

Science has a say in this: no drug is compared to what we feel when we experience connectedness with another human being. See the following video and tell me if it touched you.

Youtube video of the year 2006!

"Free Hugs"
©2009 Bob Johnson

A group of friends, headed up by Carlos Montoya, headed out to Union Square on Sunday afternoon for a hug-a-thon. I had my camera handy and had never realized how hugs create smiles. The group of huggers even got a big smile from Ted Danson. And, yes, Mr. Danson got a hug, too!

Several years ago, Montoya saw an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and was inspired to go out and do a little hugging of his own. It’s become an annual project for him. 

It’s all part of the Free Hugs Campaign. Here are some words from the campaign’s website:

Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. 

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

The most amazing thing—to me, anyway—is that some people who get a hug during the hug-a-thon decide that they want to join in. Luckily Montoya and his gang always bring extra signs with them!

All photos in this gallery ©2009 by Bob Johnson.

Click here to visit the gallery.

49 images.

Juan Mann aka "Free Hug-Man" in Australia

If you don’t live in an over-crowded city, chances are you haven’t encountered a (mostly) young, scruffy individual offering a free hug as you dash into or out of the subway or bus or are racing around the mall. But all around the world, expressions of unity and love are outpouring as more and more people are offering “free hugs”.

Years ago in Australia, Juan Mann found himself returning to his home country a stranger, with no one waiting to welcome him home. He had nothing, least of all what he needed: a hug from someone who was glad to hold him. So he wrote “Free Hugs” on both sides of a piece of cardboard, and a revolution was started. As I sit here, in a Starbucks typing this entry, I’m awash with tears from just having watched the short video documentary. So trust me, take three minutes and check it out:

Just a few weeks ago, an online social networking site I’m a member of, couchsurfing.com, was organizing a free-hug campaign in Union Square. I wasn’t able to make this one, but you’d better believe that at some point I’ll be organizing one of these events!

My friends, today’s guru is Juan Mann… and our mantra is…

We Are All One

It’s easy to forget this, especially when you live in a city where our animalistic aggression comes out more than we’d like it to and even the most yogic of people have moments where they want to stick a foot out and trip someone who’s pissed them off! So let’s remember that, when the chips are down, we’re never alone. The capacity of the human spirit to love and support is unceasing, endless. And, especially for those who often feel isolated in their sickness and suffering, knowing that humanity has your back can make all the difference.

Om Shanti, - Jacqueline

Sources:

• Free Hugs Campaign Official Website!
• Couchsurfing.com
• Free Hug Man in Australia: Article
• Campaign in London in 2005 using hugs to counter-balance election stress

Merry Christmas from Build Big Ships.com (well, ok, from me!)!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Its funny. Although we can jet halfway around the world or pick up a phone and call someone on the other side of the planet or chat with people from another country, sometimes, its difficult connecting with people right where we are. Here is a link to the Free Hugs Campaign site, which I first read about on Ryan Graves blog. Here is Juan Mann’s story:

“I’d been living in London when my world turned upside down and I’d had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.

Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.

So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words “Free Hugs” on both sides.

And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.

Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven’t compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time.”

Hope that the video made you smile.  I think that its the perfect way to say . . .

Merry Christmas!

Free hugs

We were new in town. We were tired and alone. And we needed some holiday cheer. So we visited a living nativity staged by a local church. Despite the winter chill in the air, they greeted us warmly: steaming Styrofoam cups filled with hot chocolate; oven-baked cookies with red and green sprinkles softening on top; sincere, toothy grins and firm handshakes through Thinsulate gloves; real, honest-to-God livestock that snorted mist into the starlit night.

Right in the middle of town, along a main thoroughfare, amidst everlasting, frantic holiday traffic and indiscriminate weather systems, this event had become a yearly tradition. For the friendly congregants we met that evening, the week-long living nativity had become a labor of love, a free hug bestowed upon the community, and a chance to slow down and contemplate the real meaning of Christmas – God with us.

We felt something that night. My wife and I smiled at each other as we shuffled to our car, both realizing perhaps simultaneously that we had found a church to call home.

The following year, we gave back what had been given to us the previous Christmas.

I played the part of the innkeeper, the one who had no room in his Motel 6 for Mary and Joseph. My son, snuggled up in snow pants and draped in a tunic, played the innkeeper’s son, a non-Biblical character we made up just so he could play a part and spread the joy of the season with his dear old dad. Visitors chuckled as he directed them, in his tiny yet boisterous six-year-old way, to check the stables, under the star. Maybe they’d find the baby Jesus there . . .

Then the church decided to relocate. The powers-that-be accepted a juicy offer for the land (where a Home Depot sprang up almost immediately after our departure), so we moved to the northern edge of town, occupied a prime piece of real estate amidst the sprawl of suburbia where rich young couples were building big homes and popping out babies that needed Jesus, and built a mega-church. We tried to stage the living nativity the first year on Mayhew, but the weather turned bad and attendance was spotty at best. So the following year, they presented a dinner-theater style production, complete with a four-course meal and minstrels singing carols.

The spirit had died.

Before the move, the nativity pumped the blood of life through veins that had grown cold and weary. The stress of the season succumbed to the joyous anticipation of a new year as young and old, rich and poor, donned costumes and braved the elements to share moments of delight with strangers and friends. We did it because we loved people above all else and wanted to thank them for pausing and singing hosanna with our motley, off-key and shivering choir of humans draped with plastic wings. We didn’t take ourselves too seriously back then.

But somewhere in the transition, we got way too serious. Just prior to the move our pastor died suddenly of a brain tumor. A gentle and friendly soul, he led our flock with a rare meekness, and kept his office door open. His death cast a pall over the church that eventually became a righteous urgency. Misguided vigor crept upon the members and the business of evangelism and outreach took over, for we were in new territory that stood ripe for picking. Simple expressions of compassion and love were replaced with committees and their organized programs and puffed up displays. The smiles weren’t genuine anymore. Instead they turned saccharine and omnipresent. Sickeningly sweet and bitter to me, and I hated them. We were a show, a summer blockbuster short on talent but long on special effects and marketing hoopla. People came, the pews filled up, but the heart had vanished.

In those years lay my own nativity of sorts. The circumstances of my surroundings, the trappings of organized religion, birthed in me a mind weary of The Show. I played the part and almost let the smugness of it all consume me. Fortunately, I have removed the blinders and can see now that what we all need, perhaps what we all cherish more than anything, is an unencumbered hug . . .

Free Hugs Campaign.  Read about it, and go hug someone . . .

[photo credit]