‘Use technology to tell the story better’ – Prahlad Kakar, and 30 other quotes from Social Media Week 2016

For two days at Social Media Week 2016, over 40 speakers from a wide range of industries shared insights, trends and best practices in social networking and digital media. Organised by R Square Consulting, the event sponsors and partners included IBM, Web Marketing Academy, and ‘Respect the Road’ as social initiative partner.

The event in Bengaluru drew over 500 attendees, and this curation of 30 quotes from my tweet-feed captures some of the key takeaways on storytelling, Big Data, analytics, sentiment analysis, visual marketing, content monetisation, social change, news coverage, business intelligence, influencer marketing, brand building, customer connects, and offline-online synergy.

Social Media Week is hosted in 18 cities around the world, and the 2016 global theme is ‘The Invisible Hand: Hidden Forces of Technology and How We Can Harness it for Good.’ We look forward to the next edition of Social Media Week already, and to a wide spectrum of insights and excitement.

Don’t let technology steal the art of storytelling from you; use technology to tell the story better. - Prahlad Kakar, advertising guru

Technology can help children do amazing things despite disabilities and disorders. - Harsh Songra, MyChild App

Visual marketing is the bridge between the physical and digital worlds. - ArnavGhosh, Blippar India

Just as knowledge makes human intelligent, data makes software intelligent. - Amarpreet Kalkat, Frrole

If you want to charge for content, ask is it valuable – and convenient for consumer to buy. - Mahesh Narayanan, Saavn

Engagement goes beyond numbers, it’s about emotional connect. - Ganga Ganapathy, Ogilvy

The magnitude of what is measurable has changed dramatically over the past few years. The challenge is what to measure and how. - Anjali Gupta, IBM

Data that can be gathered affects not just marketing but all functions in a company. - Anshul Chaturvedi, QwikCilver

Social network + Social media = Greater digital social network. - Rima Mukherjee, Happy Marketer

Most Indians don’t report mismanagement of public spaces; social media can galvanise citizens. - Nitya Ramakrishnan, Whitefield Rising

We need to put Bangalore on the map for Democracy 2.0. - Utkarsh Singh, Save Whitefield

Journalists sometimes live in islands, they don’t read others’ work! - Gaurav Kalra, ESPN CricInfo

Social media gives you a new kind of surround sound from cricket matches. - Prem Panicker

I don’t watch cricket matches with humans, only with Twitter. You can shut off Twitter but not annoying viewers. - Ramesh Srivats

Travel is the best teacher – it opens your eyes, opens your mind, and gives you life skills and career skills. Social media has redefined the travel experience. - Ansoo Gupta, Pinstorm

Social intelligence moves the needle of your social media presence to social business. – Sandy Carter, IBM

Tell me the facts, and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. – Native American proverb

B2B companies have a smaller social media footprint, but the scope of damage can be bigger. - AL Jagannath, VMware

Occasional trending does not build long-term emotional connect with consumers. - Alokedeep Singh, Titan

No reasonably big brand can opt out of social media, but not many are taking big steps in terms of large investments. - Rohini Haldea, Wrangler

Social media has forced large companies to be more rapid in their responses. - Thomas Cherian, Cisco

Gaming which leads to ganging up defeats the benefits of social media. - Kiruba Shankar, F5ive Technologies

As an influencer don’t do things just to please people. - Nandita Iyer, nutritionist

Is influencer marketing a dirty word because their opinions are for sale? - Karthik Srinivasan, Social@Ogilvy

Some people think you are an influencer because you have nothing else to do! - G.Nivedith, GV Media

Every company is a data company. Data is the new electricity. - Jyotsna Makkar, Microsoft

In a city where people are dying because of potholes, the only person who can use a helipad has left the country! - Satish Perumal, comedian

Digital allows us to be disruptive by expanding reach without increasing local physical presence. - Rashmi Daga, FreshMenu

Social media and digital media have helped startups build brands across the country. - Ravi Gururaj, QikPod

With social media we are going back to the future, from mass media to personal communication. - Shakthi, TheQuill

Always blend offline with online activities for broader impact. - Aditi Gupta, Menstrupedia

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).