لو كنت من محبي الـ “همبرغر” لعرفت طبعا شراسة المنافسة ما بين سلسلتي مطاعم برجركينج وماكدونالدز.

نعم أحبّ ال”همبرغر” جدا، لكنني لست من محبي ماكدونالدز برجركينج، لكن عندما وقعت عيني على هذه الإعلان وقع قلبي من جمال وعبقرية الفكرة.

الفكرة عظيمة وبالمختصر في كل سنة في الأرجنتين تطلق سلسلة مطاعم ماكدونالدز حملة تدعم من خلالها الأطفال المصابين بالسرطان، من خلال تخصيص ريع مبيعات يوم واحد من وجبات الـ “بيج ماك” -الوجبة الأكثر شهرة من السلسلة – للأطفال المصابين بالسرطان.

قررت برجركينج بالمقابل أن تحتضن الفكرة النبيلة لمنافسيها في ماكدونالدز وأن تقدم يد المساعدة للمصابين الأطفال، فقامت السلسلة بالامتناع عن تقديم أشهر وجباتها ” وابر” المنافسة لوجبة “بيج ماك” من سلسلة مطاعم ماكدونالدز، ولم تكتف برجركينج بذلك، بل قام البائعون في المحلات بإسداء النصح للزبائن بالتوجه لمطاعم منافسيهم في ماكدونالدز لشراء “بيج ماك”، بل أن الشخصية الرمزية لسلسلة مطاعم برجركينج عملت في مقرات ماكدونالدز في ذلك اليوم وهي تحث الزبائن على شراء “بيج ماك”، لذلك نشرت برجركينج إعلانها تحت مقولة ” لم نكتف بالامتناع عن بيع الـ “وابر” بل مددنا يدنا لدعم منافسنا في إنجاح حملته”.

بفضل الحملة إياها، نشرت سلسلة مطعم برجركينج أنها عبر فروعها الـ (107) المنتشرة في أصقاع الأرجنتين باعت عدد (0) من منتجها الأشهر “وابر” في ذلك اليوم، بينما على الضفة المقابلة حطمت سلسلة ماكدونالدز رقماً قياسيا في عدد مبيعات وجبتها الـ “بيج ماك”، فباعت بزيادة قدرها قرابة 75000 وجبة عن العام الفائت.

أشرف كنجو
 

انضمام ثلاثة من خريجي قوات دفاع الكيان الصهيوني إلى شركة جوجل عبر شراكة من نوع جديد رفضت جوجل الإفصاح عنها، حيث عمل الخريجون الثلاثة بعد تخرجهم حديثا على تطوير تطبيق للهاتف المحمول من خلال شركتهم حديثة الإنشاء تحت مسمى SlickLogin والتي لم تطرح أي منتج تجاري في الأسواق بعد .

فكرة التطبيق:

يقوم التطبيق بتوثيق آليات الدخول للمواقع الالكترونية بطريقة سهلة، بحيث يقوم الموقع الالكتروني بإصدار بصمة صوتية يلتقطها التطبيق على هاتف المستخدم، ويقوم بتحليل الإشارة الصوتية، وبدوره يرسل إشارة أخرى للموقع لتوثيق دخول المستخدم.

جدير بالذكر أن جوجل قامت بشراء ثلاث شركات اسرائيلية خلال الأعوام الأربعة الماضية،لتصبح SlickLogin الشركة الاسرائيلية الرابعة التي تنضم لجوجل. 

LabPixies

QuickSee

Waze

Apparently the messaging app WhatsApp is leading the wave of the messaging on smartphones. 

Facebook Messenger is still leading in the US. 

China always has it's own way, where WeChat is dominating . 

Ironically BBM is still alive in some places.

Most of the news sources which I have read about the post published by Google's Eric Schmidt on his Google+ profile about the advantages of converting to Android, no body highlighted the way Shmidt slammed Microsoft when he mentioned "Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back". 

He also recommended using Chrome over Safari, as it's "safer and better in so many ways" as he described it.

Here's the post as he wrote it : 

Eric’s Guide: Converting to Android from iPhone

Many of my iPhone friends are converting to Android.  The latest high-end phones from Samsung (Galaxy S4), Motorola (Verizon Droid Ultra) and the Nexus 5 (for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) have better screens, are faster, and have a much more intuitive interface.  They are a great Christmas present to an iPhone user!

Here are the steps I recommend to make this switch.  Like the people who moved from PCs to Macs and never switched back, you will switch from iPhone to Android and never switch back as everything will be in the cloud, backed up, and there are so many choices for you.  80% of the world, in the latest surveys, agrees on Android.

1. Set up the Android phone
a) Power on, connect to WiFi, login with your personal Gmail account, and download in the Google Play Store all the applications you normally use (for example, Instagram).
b) Make sure the software on the Android phone is updated to the latest version (i.e. 4.3 or 4.4). You should get a notification if there are software updates.
c) If you are using AT&T, download the Visual Voicemail app from the Play Store.
d) You can add additional Gmail accounts now or later.

At this point, you should see all your Gmail, and be able to use any apps and they should work well.  Be sure to verify this.

2. Update your iPhone or iPad
a) Power on, connect to WiFi, make sure your Gmail is logged in, and upgrade all of the iPhone software to the latest iPhone software release (typically iOS 7+).
b) Check that you are using iCloud to back up contacts.  Go to iCloud (in Settings) and enable that for contacts (“on”).  If not using iCloud, go ahead and sign up for it.  (The latest Mavericks requires the use of iCloud for Mac users if you want to transfer contacts.)
c) For your personal Gmail account, in Settings/Mail, turn on sync for contacts.  In the latest iOS, this should sync your Gmail contacts and iPhone contacts.
d) In Settings/Messages, turn “off” iMessage, as that messenger is an iPhone-to-iPhone messenger and if its on your iPhone friends texts won’t make it to Android.  Your iPhone will still use SMS messaging to reach your friends if you use the iPhone after this change.
e) Make sure your iPhone is fully synced to the Mac iTunes.  Your photos and music should all be backed up on your Mac when this is done. Go ahead and verify that on the Mac and the iPhone.

At this point you should see all your Gmail, have your apps, and have your contacts in the Android phone.  If the contacts are not in the Android phone, manually download the contacts as follows on your Mac:
a) Go to apple.com/icloud, login with your Apple ID, and click on contacts
b) In the lower-left corner, click on the wheel, and “select all” the contacts and “export” the vCard into a vCard file (in Downloads).
c) In a browser, go to gmail.com, click on the Mail button and select “Contacts”.  You should see a list of your Gmail contacts.  Import the vCard file into Gmail/contacts using the “Import contacts” command and it should have manually added your contacts.  Delete any duplicates or use the “More / Find & merge duplicates” function.

At this point you have your Gmail, apps and contacts on the new phone.  Also verify this.

3. On your Mac, connect your music to Google:
Download Google Music Manager onto the Mac, and run it.  Music Manager will upload your iTunes music to the cloud.  The standard version is free and handles most iTunes libraries.  You will need to sign up for Google Wallet and give your credit card information, but it’s free.  Be sure the music is going to your personal Gmail account above. See https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1075570

With the above complete, you should have your Gmail, apps, contacts, and music all moved over.  Verify this on the Android phone

4. Take the SIM out of the iPhone and insert it into Android.  You may need an adapter (from nano-SIM to micro-SIM), but then reboot the Android and you are all set !  For texting either use the Messenger app in earlier releases or the “Hangouts” app in Android 4.4.

Comments and additions welcome ! Eric

PS. Photos on your iPhone
If you have pictures on your iPhone, you will have to first copy them over to the Mac and then sync the iPhone with iTunes.  See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083   

It’s probably easiest to backup your iPhone photos to the Mac, but not copy the old photos to the Android phone.  New photos you take on the Android phone will automatically be backed up to your photos in the Gmail account (iAuto-Upload is normally enabled) so no action is required.  If the old photos are important, send them to Gmail and download into the Android phone or upload them to Google+.

PPS.  Some general advice

Be sure to use Chrome, not Safari; its safer and better in so many ways.  And it’s free.
https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/

Be sure to use two-factor authentication for your Gmail and Google accounts.  Makes it very hard for someone to break into your Gmail.  Also free.
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/180744?hl=en

Mashable

Facebook hit all the right numbers during its most recent earnings call last month.

Revenue was up. Profit was higher than any quarter in company history. And user totals were up in almost every category imaginable, including monthly actives, daily actives and mobile.

It's a safe bet that Facebook will see even higher revenue growth in the upcoming quarter — the holidays always produce great ad revenue — but that's not the only reason to be optimistic about Facebook's future revenue stream.

The social network has 1 million advertisers on its platform, a number first announced in June, and double the number of advertisers from a year before, said Dan Levy, Facebook's director of small businesses. One million advertisers is an impressive figure. Equally impressive is that Facebook has 25 million small businesses with active company pages, which means only 4% of companies that use Facebook to connect with customers are also using the site to advertise. That's a lot of potential advertising revenue sitting close at hand.

"I think that there is a goldmine waiting to be exhausted," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, told Mashable in an email. "The 25 million businesses with active pages clearly understand that having a presence on Facebook has value to them, and it is only a matter of time before a large number of them experiment with advertising on Facebook."

Pachter said he believes that as many as half of the small businesses on Facebook will eventually advertise, which would generate more than $1.25 billion in ad revenue.

There are a handful of reasons why small and medium businesses aren't advertising more on Facebook, Levy said. For starters, many small businesses don't have a product ready for an advertising campaign. Others may have only one or two employees, so finding time or resources to advertise isn't always easy.

Facebook is trying to prepare itself for when these businesses are ready to advertise. With SMBs, that means a simpler advertising interface that eliminates a lot of the work needed to set up a campaign on Facebook. Instead of having to specify age groups, interests or education experience for its target audience, a company can now write their post, and simply attach a budget to it.

Facebook then handles the task of putting the ad in front of the right users, mostly fans of the brand page and their friends, according to Levy.

In the last year, 62% of new Facebook advertisers have come to the platform through these simpler interfaces, Levy said, confirming the need for a simpler ad process for small businesses.

Pachter said that Facebook will need to experiment with other kinds of ads, including coupons and location-based advertisements. A success-based advertising model, where businesses are only charged if their ad brings in customers or sales, could eliminate risk and encourage small businesses to take the plunge on Facebook, he added.

The good news for Facebook: It has 24 million small business already using its platform. This means convincing them that Facebook can help their business is already complete.

"If you travel around to conferences and you talk to folks that work with small businesses, they tell you the hardest thing in the world is to get a small business to pay attention to you," Levy said. "For us, our potential clients are already on Facebook. They already get it."

Now, it's only a matter of signing them up.

Pinterest has launched its first set of APIs, which will allow third-party sites to add Pinterest content and help people discover the most popular pins on the web.

 First partners for the service are a list of big brands and retailers — including Zappos, Walmart, Disney, Nestle, Random House and Hearst — underscoring how the site is ramping up for revenue generation with advertising and cross-marketing.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate at the first Electronic Transactions and Commerce summit which was held in Dubai, hosted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

The event was one of a kind to be held in the middle east region, focusing on the latest trends in the digital marketing techniques, discussing the problems and finding solutions for them, exploring the visions and future of eCommerce, online shopping, and digital marketing.

I was honored to receive one of the event's awards as a representative for RLG Communication Group. 

الدكتور نبيل علي

تصبو العولمة الراهنة في العصر الرقمي إلى احتواء كل أنشطة الإنسان، وممارساته،وعلاقاته وأفكاره وقيمه ومعتقداته وأمور تنميته وبيئته وصحته وشغل أوقات  فراغه، بالإضافة إلى كل ما يتعلق بالسيادة والهوية وحقوق الأقليات والملكية الفكرية. العولمة إذن-كما يقول محمد عابد الجابري- ليست  آلية من آليات التطور الرأسمالي بل هي أيضا، وبالدرجة الأولى، أيديولوجيا تعكس إرادة الهيمنة على العالم.

إن العولمة في حقيقة أمرها، ما هي إلا أدلجة متسرعة ذات طابع انتهازي، تتم في غيبة من الأيديولوجيات المناهضة، وتستند إلى فكر منحاز ومعرفة عارضة وعلم زائف من قبيل نهاية التاريخ وصراع الحضارات، والفوضى الخلاقة، وما شابه، وعلى الرغم من طابعها الأيديولوجي، فهي تقدم رؤيتها الكونية بوصفها نقيضا للأيديولوجيا، زاعمة أن الجنس البشري لديه القدرة لأورة مرة على بناء مستقبله لا على أوهام أيديولوجية سقيمة، بعلى على مجموعة من الأسس والقيم العامة المشتركة بين البشر جميعا. وتنطلق هذه النظرة من اعتقاد مؤسسيها أن حداثة الغرب لا نهاية لها ولا تعمل على نمط نهائي فهي إلى تطوير مستمر، وأن نموذج الاقتصاد الليبرالي القائم على تحرير الأسواق هو نمط التقدم الذي يناسب الجميع.

وما أبعده حلما على الواقع، فها هي حداثة الغرب تعاني الأزمات على عدد من الجبهات، وترتفع الأصوات المناهضة لها إلى حد إعلان القطيعة التامة معها من قبل معظم مفكري ما بعد الحداثة، وتؤكد حقائق الواقع، وأرقام الإحصاءات، أن عولمة الأسواق لا تقيم تلك القرية الكونية الي لا يملون الحديث عنها، وعن ذلك الوئام الذي يعم في أرجائها، ينعم فيه الجميع بسلام دائم على أسس من خلق عالمي يلتزم به البشر كافة، وإن لم ..فإزلام يُفرض بقوة القانون من خلال المنظمات الدولية، وعسى أن يكون في الكساد الاقتصادي الذي حل بالعالم أخيرا، من جراء هذا الفكرة العولمي المؤدلج قصير النظر، عبر لمن يتعظ. 

Individuals in Angola, Namibia, Kenya and Botswana are more likely to access the internet, use social media and engage with advanced mobile services than other parts of Africa according to a recent report by Neilson. They are also more likely to use IM, Skype and other online services daily. Out of 15 countries surveyed, these are described as ‘Savvy Consumers’ as opposed to ‘Simple’ or ‘Selective’ ones.  Neilson also defines seven socio-economic groups and sees the key differentiator across countries surveyed as interaction with print media, mobile and online media.

The report includes case studies on three individuals, to provide a digestible overview of African consumers today. Patrick is from Nairobi in Kenya, for example and behaves just like any young, professional, consumer in Manhattan. He is passionate about gadgets, loves trying new technology and is happy to take recommendations from his extensive social media network.  He is defined as a ‘Trendy Aspirant’ in a ‘Savvy Culture’.

Patrick couldn’t differ more from Nelly, who lives in Kano, Nigeria. Her consuming habits are more like an archetypal 50s housewife, because although she discovers new products through TV and radio jingles, she is happiest taking recommendations from her friends and family. Nelly is identified as a ‘Balanced Senior’ in a ‘Selective Culture’. Finally there is 18-year-old Benjamin from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is an ‘Evolving Junior’ in a ‘Simple Culture’ and is like an excited child who always wants to try the next fun thing on the market. At the moment he and his friends are saving for a cool new energy drink that has received an attention-grabbing advert on the radio.

Part of the reason doing business in Africa is such a challenge for many people outside the region is because the continent is so vast and disparate. There is also often a lot of ignorance on the differences between various countries from people in the West. Although this Neilson report is a trifle simplistic and based exclusively on consumers, it does help provide a cohesive overview of the marketplace as a whole. In addition to which, it rams home the point that word of mouth is extremely important in African culture. In the ‘Savvier’ areas this extends to ‘virtual word of mouth’ but recommendations are still highlighted as more key than elsewhere in the world. 

Doing business in sub-Sahara Africa can be full of disparate challenges, and anyone looking to identify a classic African consumer will struggle. Despite sharing a common border, inhabitants of one country differ from those in a neighboring country with respect to their attitudes, buying and media preferences. Given this degree of diversity within and across geographies, new research from Nielsen shows that marketers need to look beyond the obvious to reach and resonate with both niche and mass audiences.

Significant advancements in digital connectivity over the past decade in sub-Saharan Africa have run in parallel with evolving living standards, rising wages and heightened consumption levels. At the same time, consumers have generally become increasingly savvy in the ways they admit brands and messages into their lives, making the marketing efforts even more challenging.

By observing trends in demographics, lifestyles, attitudes and purchasing behaviors with media consumption, Nielsen identified key patterns to classify 15 sub-Saharan countries into three groups of media consumers: savvy, selective, and simple. These segments offer insight into the diverse media behavior and preferences of the sub-Saharan African consumer, providing a more defined roadmap for marketing success.

For example, instant messaging and social media usage in savvy consumer countries is high. Among users, the frequency of accessing social media is daily. Selective consumer countries, on the other hand, have the largest and most diverse range of consumers who exist at various stages along the development spectrum, from less involved media usage to becoming more engaged. Simple consumer countries, in contrast, have the least media involvement and lowest GDP per capita. While media preferences and availability may differ among consumers in the three country segments, the power of conversation rings true for all consumers—both in person and digitally. While print and electronic media work well to create awareness in these countries, word-of-mouth endorsements can be true game changers when it comes to purchase decisions. According to survey results, respondents rate buying based on recommendations from their families and friends over all other forms of advertising. With the rapid rise of social media platforms across some countries, virtual word-of-mouth messages can be as powerful as in-person conversations. Consumers tuned into social media conversations may also tap into buzz from people they may not know personally, such as celebrities and community figure heads. In Africa, the message and messenger is as important as the medium. Despite growing media exposure—a myriad of TV and radio channels, print, digital, outdoor and mobile mediums—word-of-mouth communication is extremely powerful when integrated into marketing and media campaigns. But it needs to be adapted to the consumer segments within the different countries to be most effective. For more insight, download the Nielsen Blueprint for Media Strategies in Africa report.

ABOUT THE MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR AFRICA REPORT

To help businesses navigate sub-Sahara Africa opportunities, Nielsen surveyed more than 8,100 urban and peri-urban consumers across 15 countries. Through this survey, Nielsen identified seven consumer segments, using variables such as lifestyle, attitudes, demographics, and purchasing behavior, to gain insight into the minds of the diverse consumers of Africa. Further, by observing broad patterns in media engagement Nielsen has been able to delineate key patterns to classify countries into three groups of media consumers: savvy, selective and simple.