The Blog from Xische & Co.

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Our CEO Danish was asked to present a keynote on how ROI is measured for social media. He jumped at the opportunity because he believes asking to measure ‘ROI for social media’ is a bit like being asked to explain what the ‘ROI for a receptionist at an office is.’ It’s an absurd question. In his entertaining talk, Danish talked about why it’s the wrong question to ask, explains why brands are obsessed with nothing besides ‘number of fans’ and 6 key things to do in order to start measuring things that actually matter.

(Update: We’re thrilled to have won 3 awards! Details indicated below and on the organizer’s website)

It’s always nice to see our clients shine in the glory of work we had a little something to do with. At this year’s inaugural The Internet Awards, we’re humbled to see a treasure chest of our work nominated across almost every category.

*Best Government Website
DefinitelyDubai.com (Part of Dubai Tourism) - Won by Xische
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)

*Best Social Media Campaign – Consumer and Lifestyle
Burjuman – Safe & Sound - Won by Xische

*Best Arabic Website – Government & B2B
Dubai SME – Government of Dubai - Won by Xische

(more…)

This morning, Xische attempted something completely untried in the design thinking process. Here’s how the story goes: Our friends at Alchemy Films ran a project last week with the students of GEMS World Academy in Dubai, teaching them film-making with Flip cameras. The project was to showcase each of their lives through short features. These videos would then be shown to children from underdeveloped areas in Bangladesh as part of another initiative. The project needed a brand name, identity and a website. We decided to experiment and challenge the way typical branding gets done. (more…)

November is turning out to be a spectacularly techie month for us!  After the wildly viral barcode invitations we produced for TEDxDubai this year, we’re excited to follow it up with an Augmented Reality experience for our clients Jotun this week. See if you can spot the expression of most visitors’ faces!

Or take it for a spin right now here: www.jotashield.com/experience

Two days from now, Facebook is speculated to release its new product – an Email service. A user-base of well over 500 million people is strong reason to believe that Facebook Mail will have a massive adoption rate unlike any other email service we have ever seen. (more…)

We are incredibly excited to be able to announce our collaboration with the definitive event of the year — TEDxDubai 2010. Those of you who attended the first-ever edition last year know exactly what we’re talking about. Others that have just awoken to this phenomenal opportunity to — not network, not parade your creds around — but simply connect and learn, we’re happy to welcome you to this unique experience.

What really galvanised us to this year’s event was it’s daring theme: Reboot. As simply as the jargon now appears in our daily technology-overdosed lives, I hope this year will renew its meaning for many. The culture of failure isn’t exactly the most palatable cup of tea for anybody, least of all in the region. I for one am looking forward to seeing untold stories make their way onto the huge red letter ‘X’ that will mark the stage in 4 weeks.

The new website helps reflect the theme of reinvention starting with the color palette. It is not a fancy online presence, just a clean and simple one. The team wanted to let the stories and the many ensuing conversations take centre-stage, and I think the site’s visual language helps achieve that.

But the real adrenalin shot for us is the registration process for the event. We’re thrilled to be able to make the event as ticket-less as possible. Your entry will require a simple barcode scanned straight off your smartphone to walk right in. This, we are immensely proud of.

TEDxDubai.com has now rebooted.

Update on November 3, 2010 – Danish speaking at the conference.

Our chief Danish Farhan will be speaking at The Luxury Forum in Dubai this afternoon. As a take-home kit, he wants to share a collection of recent social media surveys conducted by Spot On PR with the attendees of his talk. If you were there, or just want a copy anyway here is is: Download Research.

Other noted panelists at the event include Saygin Yalcin, the founder of luxury fashion club Sukar.com and founder of StylenDubai.com Dawser Al Hadidi.

Job Reference: XB102 / Location: Dubai / Experience: Not essential

We are weeks away from an interesting fashion project launching out of Dubai. What we need now is a geek that has a passion for fashion, to help write descriptions and manage general site content. As always, we care less about your educational background, and more about what you’re passionate about. Knowledge of blogging is imperative. The position will be full-time, but based on your ability to work off-site, flexible hours may be negotiated.

We repeat this often, but our culture is the opposite of corporate. Ties are not allowed. We often work beyond the 9-5 PM barrier, but in a relaxed, playlist-shuffled atmosphere. Deadlines are non-negotiable.

If this sounds like you, send your blog link or Linkedin profile to May Olais at may@xische.com immediately to set up an interview. We will require you to start immediately.

Some of you might have attended our CEO Danish Farhan’s keynote yesterday at Social Media World as part of The Internet Show in Abu Dhabi. Danish wanted to share his slides, so here they are. If you’ve been to one of his talks, you’ll know that its the ideas that drive the presentation, not the slides!

Thanks to all for the applause and the absolutely fabulous response and interaction!