Your Adda presents to you Anaggh Desai who dons many hats – business veteran, food lover, mind-caster, someone who is passionate about consumer service experience and people observer (not necessary in that order) – and that too with aplomb! He is the one person to follow if you want to be up-beat with the latest trends and happenings in the retail world or have a penchant for discovering obscure places serving delicious food! Anaggh Desai, avid blogger at Anaggh’s blog and Anaggh Desai – (website) spoke at #WIN14 about blogs and brands. Read the complete interview to know what makes Anaggh Desai tick.
Q: You are a keen observer of people and thus often share your musings on your blog. Could you share with us the things that put you off and that impress you in the society today?
A: Attitude, behaviour, constant ranting, need for constant recognition puts me off. Graciousness, Willingness to take risks, approach to work, basic courtesy is what keeps the faith.
Q: As someone who is a keen observer, and also an influencer, of the consumer behaviour since 27 years — how do you think blogging and advertising in digital space has and will change consumer expectations and philosophy?
A: Advertising and Blogging are completely different. Advertising was/is a funnel where people are poured in and most pass through, without recognizing and some recognized and bought if they had a need. Things have changed over the years; Advertising still does that, with a bit of call to action thrown in. Bloggers act as a filter, where people read about how, why, what of the product and service (some paid, some unpaid) that helps them evaluate and arrive at a decision. Consumer expectations have changed over the years and they no longer trust advertising blindly as they once used to. There are many platforms of content and information which provide information leading them to being quite educated and hence increase in expectations.
Q: Food, people, travel, books— what do you love to blog about the most?
A: Actually I rarely blog about books. Those that I have blogged are mostly Indian authors who personally or their publishing house have sent me their books. On anaggh.com I mostly blog about Food, People, Observations, Rants, Raves. On anagghdesai.com I blog about Consumer, Brands, CRM, Loyalty, Digital, Experiences etc.
Q: You are a self confessed foodie. Do you love cooking or prefer someone else cook for you ? If you do, will you share a recipe, like a 3 am snack which our readers can rustle up quickly?
A: I am a ‘Food Lover’. I can cook basics and have blogged about this also. But mostly would like someone else to cook for me 🙂 A 3 am snack for me would rarely happen because I sleep like a log, but earlier when I used to travel, reaching home and not able to sleep, this has happened. The most simple if Egg Bhurji; Cheese Toast or just plain Toast butter.
Q: Do you plan your blogs for a week or just go with the flow? Do you make-it-a-point to blog a certain number of times in a week ?
A: Blogging is the only thing that I am completely unplanned for. I do make it a point to jot references about things I would like to blog; but typically there would be a flurry of blogs posts and then silence for a couple of weeks. Many people have asked me to plan and I am trying that, but keeping up with two blogs gets a bit difficult at times.
Q: In your speech at #WIN14, you spoke about the shift in the needs and attitudes of consumers with the onset of the social media.Can you please shed light on the advantages and disadvantages of the same?
A: It is very simple. The consumer/customer is better educated and a faster animal than a Brand today. Hence with changing needs, very little loyalty, they focus on their needs which comes out in their attitudes and expectation on the Digital platform. Brands whilst investing into learning about the change of consumer behavior, need, attitude is playing catch but will still take a couple of years. Big Data as it is called is of use to them, but analyzing and applying big data is where they falter given the speed of expectation of customers. I have written a bit more about different consumers and how they use Digital in the Business World Marketing White Book (#shamelessplug)
Q: Who/What influences this social influencer the most?
A: I presume you are referring to me. It feels very weird and embarrassing when strangers/prosepective clients come up and say, we follow you on Twitter etc. Personally, I am yet to come to terms with being called an Influencer – social or otherwise. As I tweeted today “A real influencer is one who knows when, where and how to wield influence.‘
Q: When did you publish your first blog and what was it about? How did it feel the first time a stranger acknowledge your post?
A: My first blog was in 2006 about CRM and consumer at Digital Summit. A lot of people read it and spoke to me, nobody commented, but felt nice. And that still continues.
Q: Do you ever suffer with a writer’s block? What do you do then?
A: Not really. Keep writing.
Q: What drives you to blog regularly? What is the most gratifying aspect of the same?
A: Collation of thoughts at one place. A blog is a kind of online diary, history of thoughts that may help define me or be of help to others.
Q: Do you promote your blog? What promotional techniques work best for you and why?
A: Not really except a couple of tweets and a post each on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Q: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?
A: It is very important. Mostly yes.
Q: What is your perspective on Indian blogs? List your favourite top 5 blogs.
A: There are many, many good bloggers out there, specialists in their own way; but I am a fleeting reader based on the context and content, so tend to hop across many. There are no Top 5 blogs that I religiously or regularly visit.
Q: According to you, what is the future of Blogging, especially in India?
A: With the variety of platforms/aggregators available like WP; Blogspot; Tumblr; Medium; LinkedIn; Quora; BlogAdda, it seemed to have gained traction again. Having said that, it requires a lot of discipline, commitment to continue blogging, so according to me there would probably less than 15% who continue with consistency. Out of this less than 2% have managed to have unique content that has paid them with online or offline work like constant articles, book etc.
Q: Would you like to give a few tips to the bloggers who have newly entered the Blogosphere?
A: Do not enter just because it is the in thing to blog. You will not become an overnight sensation or “Influencer” and neither will you make pots of money.
Q: Do you earn revenue through your blog? How does one go about it?
A: No, As a matter of principle.
Q: Let’s have a quick round of rapid fire…What is your favourite
Color: Blue
Movie: Godfather
TV Show: Criminal Minds, 24, The BlackList, Boston Legal
Book: Execution
Time of Day: Late night or early morning
Connect with Anaggh Desai: Blog, BlogAdda, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram.
Thank You Anaggh for a great interview!
For all those who missed #WIN14, you can relive it through the photos!
Bloggers, we hope you enjoyed reading this Interview with Anaggh Desai where he talks to us about the relationship blogs and brands share.
We look forward to your feedback about this interview.