Arnie Gullov-Singh Talks Ad.ly!

Indians making waves around the world makes me a happy gal. And when it comes to Desis doing wonders in the Social Media arena, then I'm all about it. Meet Arnie Gullov-Singh (@arnie). CEO to Adly, which allows celebrities and brands to connect with people over Twitter. His clientele includes the very much in the news, Charlie Sheen. Arnie's company has made waves all over Twitter already and as he continues to rise in the Social Media world, he finds himself building a model for celebs in order to create the ideal brand for themselves. Check what he has to say in this quick tete-a-tete.

I think first and foremost, people will want to know who you are and what you do?

I’m the CEO of Ad.ly, which is a platform for brands to start a conversation with their target audience on Twitter.

Ad.ly is a network of 1,000 celebrities and a platform that analyzes who is following them, sparks a conversation with their fans and measures the impact of the conversation for the brand.

So for example, if a brand wants to start a conversation with moms on Twitter, our platform identifies celebrities who reach moms on Twitter, our creative team creates and delivers authentic messaging for the brand and our platform measures the click through, retweets and overall conversational lift generated by the campaign.

It’s been very successful: We’ve produced 24,000 endorsements with 1,000 celebrities for 150 brands including Toyota, Best Buy, Microsoft, American Airlines, Old Navy, NBC and Sony.

What does Ad.ly stand for and how did you come up with the name?

We wanted something short and simple. As companies like Amazon, Ebay, Google and Zynga have shown us, the value you deliver for your customers is more important than the name you give yourself.

Tell us about how you started Ad.ly and what it does for celebrities in the Social Media world?

My partner Sean Rad actually started Ad.ly in late 2009. He saw that consumer attention was shifting to Twitter and that celebrities were the driving force behind that shift because they were creating compelling content and amassing millions of followers. Whenever consumer attention shifts to a new medium in a big way, like it has with Twitter, advertisers will inevitably follow and so the goal was to build a platform to capitalize on that opportunity.

I joined Ad.ly in spring 2010 to help Sean scale the business. I had spent the previous 5 years building platforms to monetize social media at Yahoo and MySpace and had learned through experience that brands were struggling to get their arms around social media because the pace of change was making it very confusing and because the success metrics were unclear.

In figuring out the approach we realized that celebrities and brands had been working together successfully for decades doing celebrity endorsements in traditional media. In fact, it’s a $50B/year global industry. So we built our platform to bring celebrity endorsements online to social media and invested heavily in data mining and analytics to bring the much needed measurement to the business.

Ad.ly has been a huge hit with celebrities because until we came along they had no easy way to monetize their social media presence. In fact we’ve made it so simple that some in our industry have called us the AdSense For Celebrities.

Who are some celebs that work with you and how do help them gain standing and ground in the Social Media world?

The 1,000 celebrities in our network are listed here: http://adly.com/celebrities/celebrities-on-ad-ly/

Since the majority of them are already famous in real life, we focus on helping them bring their fans to Twitter. Over time we’ve developed a list of tactics and techniques and have recently started providing celebrities with tools and analytics to help them grow the size and engagement of their audiences.

We’ve also started publishing data on the most influential celebrities in social media, including the Ad.ly Consumer Influence Index http://bit.ly/kq9wbL and the Ad.ly Top 10 Most Influential Athletes On Twitter http://bit.ly/mkUKsh.

How do celebrities enforce or affect the Social Media world in your opinion and how does it impact their brands?

There’s no doubt celebrities are the driving force in social media. The data shows it. The top 1,000 users on Twitter are all celebrities. Celebrities create the content that attracts audiences social networks like Twitter and Facebook, just like they create the content that attracts audiences to television networks like ABC and CBS. And when the celebrities leave a social network, their fans follow, just like they did on MySpace.

Of course, the “in” man right now is Charlie Sheen. How did you work with him?

A couple of months ago, Charlie’s management team reached out to us to help him get setup on Twitter. We got him @charliesheen, got him verified with Twitter and shared some of our techniques and tactics to help him grow his audience.

He amassed a million followers in 24 hours, setting a Guinness World Record for the fastest growing Twitter account in history. A few days later he did an endorsement for Internships.com, driving over 1 million visitors to their site and putting them on the map with their target audience.

You went on to call him an “advertisers dream”. Please explain that idea because he really has been put in between a hard place and a wall.

In less than 24 hours Internships.com went from a start-up with a good product to a brand that everyone was talking about. Success on that scale is rare to achieve outside of a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad.

Now you work with Hollywood celebs, what about stars from India.

It’s been interesting to watch the adoption of Twitter in India and how the growth of the platform is being driven by celebrities just like it has been in the US.

How do you view the way and manner in which Bollywood stars are endorsed?

There's no doubt celebrity endorsements are big business in India, as they are in many countries around the world. Just look at the $20M+ Virender Sehwag is getting through his deal with Sunil Gavaskar’s new management company.

If you had to take your “model” to India, do you think it would work? Why or why not?

It’s an interesting question. On one hand you have an established celebrity endorsement industry and a burgeoning interest in Twitter. On the other hand you have an online advertising business that is maybe 5% of the size of the US. I think the question is: can celebrity endorsements in social media grow the overall online advertising market in India? It’s certainly possible.

What have you noticed about the main difference between celebs in India and Hollywood?

I think celebrities are generally the same around the world. They live their lives in ways that the rest of us wish we lived our own. They’re funnier than us, more controversial than us and more talented than us. That’s what makes them universally appealing.

How are their pulls different in the Social Media world?

Celebrities around the world are using social media to connect with their fans in a way that is unfiltered by the traditional media. I think that’s what makes the content so compelling.

How do you help celebs get richer?

We give them a platform to monetize their social media presence by endorsing brands that are relevant to their fans.

Where do you hope to take Ad.ly in the next few years?

I think we’ve shown that our platform for connecting brands and celebrities in social media is creating value for both parties. So we’re working on a number of initiatives to extend our platform to enable these connections to happen on a broader basis. Stay tuned!

Deepika Vs. Sonam

Mid-Day, my favorite tabloid/publication did this fab piece in which it put Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone side-by-side and basically compared every aspect of their careers thus far. And as it turns out, Deepika was voted the better actress. Er... I think they both are equal...as bad! None of them show any promise if you ask me, and apparently, because I'm honest about how untalented as actress I find Sonam Kapoor, I have been deemed a Sonam Kapoor hater. But that's a different story. In the meantime, it was interesting to see both the ladies careers side-by-side especially since both of them started at the same time.

In terms of projects completed, Deepika reigns with seven films to her name while Sonam has only three. And Deepika even takes the cake with hit films; she has three (Om Shanti Om, Love Aaj Kal, Housefull) and Sonam has a mere one (I Hate Luv Storys). While Deepika is admired for her toned body, Sonam is looked up to for her keen style of sense and so on. Okay the article goes on to talk about more interesting comparisons in their careers like Banners, Khans they've worked with, endorsements, money they make, future projects, blah blah blah. But what was most fascinating to read was this:
Number of followers on Twitter:
Deepika: 277,968
Sonam: 161,448
And why that piece of information is a bit odd, is simply because Sonam fans are incredibly faithful to her and can't hear a word against her -- believe me, I know. But at the same time, you'd think they would con and brainwash Deepika fans into boycotting her. Get on it Sonam fans!

Oh also, some SRK news for you guys! While on vacation in South Africa, he had the pleasure of meeting the very beautiful Waka Waka Shakira! Check out the pictures he posted on Twitter.

Source: Mid-Day

Twitter = War Ground for Celebs!

Normally I would sit here and give you the lowdown in the event (special event) that stars come out and argue on a social portal. I live for it! And I'm not afraid to admit it. I love the drama and the bitchiness. But in this case: Bachchan vs. Masand vs. Akshay Kumar, I am basically going to paste what started as a regular tweet - which in most instances would have gone unnoticed BUT was seen by Bachchan senior and then began the mayhem!


July 12th, 2010
@RajeevMasand: Need innovative ideas 2 promote films in competitive times. But Akshay Kumar grinning like a jackass at RKLaxman's hospital bed is a new low.

In response:
@SrBachchan: Dear All,
I was just turning in for the day when I went to check my account on Twitter and came across a few twits made by Barkha Dutt, senior journalist and anchor of great repute with NDTV 24/7.
I also discovered a remark by Rajeev Masand, a journalist and prominent anchor for CNN/IBN and one who reviews films every week end. Barkha Dutt accuses fellow journalists of 'spreading canards' and I react to it and she responds, and I respond back .. Rajeev Masand calls Akshay Kumar a 'jackass' and I have given my response to that and then linking it to what Barkha had to say subsequent to her 'canard' remark.
Read and see for yourself and judge too. And then they hound and criticize me for writing against the media on my blog ?  At least Barkha had the decency to admit her folly. Rajeev I am not sure.
For long have I championed the cause of those incidents that have been the victims of media bias and insensitive reportage. The media will and has since and before, made every effort to ridicule my stand on some issues and incidents that I have regularly brought up in my blog. Many have blanked me out from their dailies, others are giving adamant and feeble responses to our lawyers notices. It has merely strengthened my assumption that the media is above board and cannot be touched. They are superior and above all ethics. They are also the keepers of our morals and the true purveyors of our Constitution and our Democracy !  (read the rest here)

And then came a kick-ass rebuttal from Rajeev Masand for whom I now have immense  respect for. Check it out!

@RajeevMasand:
Dear Mr Bachchan,
In response to your message to me, my humble reply:
Dear Sir, Let's consider: if my fraternity won't pull me up for that 'jackass' comment, could it possibly be because they see some sense in my comment? Or could it be because that’s what fraternity does: Stands by each other? You should know, Sir.
I don't remember your fraternity pulling you up for the attack on photographers by security outside your house during Abhishek’s wedding. (ref: http://tinyurl.com/2btdfsw )
I don't remember your fraternity so much as expressing outrage when Abhishek ‘allegedly’ bashed up a photographer on a film set. (ref: http://tinyurl.com/2cwkdqp)
But your concern Sir, is the use of the term 'jackass'.
A strong word, perhaps, but appropriate I think, to express horror at the complete lack of sensitivity involved in a film promotion of that nature.
However controversial my choice of words, it is me taking a ‘stand’, Sir. Expressing my ‘opinion’. Two words your fraternity seems largely unfamiliar with.
Regarding your outrage/disappointment at my choice of words: Apologies, Sir. If expressing my opinion lowers your impression of me, then that is a cross I shall have to bear.
But finally, by your own logic, Sir: will your fraternity pull up Akshay for this tasteless gimmick? Or do you think it is innovative too?
Respectfully yours,
Rajeev Masand (read here)


And today, that is all I have to report. I think Rajeev has pretty much become a rock star (in my books at least). By the way, Bachchan Senior has yet to respond to the above. Doesnt look like it will happen.  Lesson learned: No celeb is allowed to shun your thoughts and opinions -- not even Amitabh Bachchan. Yeh public hai boss!!

Shutter Down, Dhukaan (India) Bandh!

July 5th 2010, India shut down: India Bandh. And you know its pretty darn serious when #bandh is trending on Twitter. Now, this isn't the first time the country has shut down. In the past, the country has shut down for various reasons. This time, the country has come out and is protesting against the rising inflation in the country. Just like the rest of the world, inflation has hit double digits in India and with the deregulation of oil, fuel prices have hit an all time high. So of course, the opposition party has come out in favor of the "aam aadmi" (average person) claiming to be their voice. In turn this means, the country comes to a halt. To those who decide that they would like to boycott the bandh, you basically put yourself in danger. Cab drivers have seen their tires punctured and a number of protests have broken out all over the country. But those are just the logistics. Is this an achievement?

I sit on the fence with this one which is rather odd especially since I always take a firm stand on every subject. So this may not be a completely awesome achievement but technically speaking, this demonstrates the need for serious change -- that I keep howling about nonstop. However, for some reason, it also manages to instill fear into its citizens who from some reason stay home when the country shuts down. Is it fear or camaraderie? Who knows. And the amount of chaos this causes in the country is numerous. It not only forces businesses to shut down but prevents the common man from going on with its regular life. The country will suffer monetarily in millions. Is it worth it?

What the country requires is a serious revolution. This is merely a small trailer into what can change the country.Will it have any effect? I honestly doubt it. Tomorrow India will awake to no change. Fuel prices will be same and so will the price of your regular amenities. Bandh or open, it will take more than a mere shut down to make a difference and it will require the entire country to change India. As UTV said, "I Change. India Changes."