Facebook is on a growth rampage in most parts of the world, but other social networks are crafting niche identities to define their competitive advantage and some are these not-Facebook social networks are thriving. For Multiply social network, it is in a sweet spot when it comes to social shopping. Now, Multiply Marketplace has over 41,000 merchants, mainly located in the Southeast Asia countries – Phillippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. These micro-merchants use Multiply to setup their online storefronts to take orders (and currently, payments happen outside Multiply network).

“We have only just begun to offer tools and support to the growing community of sellers and buyers doing business on Multiply,” said Peter Pezaris, president and founder of Multiply. “We now have the largest number of online storefronts in the region. Going forward, our primary focus will be to make the Marketplace the premier social shopping destination on the web, making shopping easier, safer, faster and more entertaining.” In coming months, Multiply plans to upgrades its Marketplace with integrated payment system with expanded set of payment methods (including offline payments), shopping cart, self-serve advertising, seller rating system, promotional programs to increase traffic to shops and trusted seller program.

Multiply already been praised for its integrated media management feature and the social shopping function is the latest addition to the social network. The social shopping feature is a natural progression for Multiply, as it continues to craft and define its key distinctive advantages in the increasingly competitive social networking service marketspace.

Blending social networking and e-commerce in Multiply Marketplace originally appeared on GreyReview on May 21, 2010.

Today is the finale event of the Everyone Connects campaign by Telekom Malaysia (TM). The campaign revolved around a song titled Through My Window, performed by a local indie band, Bunkface. The song was released on October 19 2009 as a mystery song over the airwaves. During the past 1 month, it generated thousands of mentions on the social media space and also generated over 6000 user-generated versions of the song (audio and video). This campaign is both ambitious in scale and expansive in scope, designed to deliver a fresh narration to the TM brand. When it started, I predicted Everyone Connects as a social media campaign but it also involved the use of traditional media like TV, radio and newspapers. It delicately weave the online and offline activities to create a seamless brand experience. It involves several notable ‘firsts,’ in terms of tools and methods used. Anyway, here are the key moments of the Everyone Connects campaign:

October 19 2009: Mystery Song on Radio
The song ‘Through My Window’ being played over the airwaves (HITZfm, HOTfm, Xfm) – hear Rudy of HITZfm announced it. No mention of the singer. The website ‘www.EveryoneConnects.net’ with the song (for download) and lyric. Also, with this phrase “Everyone Connects is about getting people to communicate & collaborate because when everyone’s connected, anything is possible.” Twitter, Facebook and Friendster profile pages also went live.

October 20 2009: The Star newspaper
Appeared on the front-page of The Star, “Unknown song rocks the nation.”

October 21 2009: Pixelated Images
Blurred images of the band who sang ‘Through My Window’ appeared on Everyone Connects’ website.

October 23 2009: The Revelation
It’s TM campaign. TV commercial started to appear in the evening on major TV networks.

Full version of www.EveryoneConnects.com launched.

Banner concert appeared on the website too; the first time it is being used in Malaysia. Also, there’s an online mixer for people to create and mashup the song ‘Through My Window.”

October 25 2009: Super Dance Online Extreme Connecting Dancers Tournament 2009 Kick-off
The tournament is designed to reach out and engage the online games community, specifically the 150,000-strong Super Dance Online Extreme players around Malaysia. This is the first time a campaign song is inserted into the game’s playlist.

October 25 2009: Sing Along Booths
Sing Along Booths appeared at shopping malls, universities/colleges, office buildings and cinemas. Videos of people singing were recorded and posted on www.EveryoneConnects.net.

November 21 2009: The Grand Finale
Today is the grand finale event for the month-long Everyone Connects campaign; currently happening at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Some before-event photos:

The Anatomy of #EveryoneConnects originally appeared on GreyReview on November 21, 2009.

The Malaysians Unite for Road Safety (MUFORS) website is created to raise the awareness of road safety. According to the Road Safety Department, a daily average of 18 are killed on Malaysian roads due to road mishaps!

So, the call-for-action MUFORS website invites users to submit their pledges; be the change agent. Pledges can be made in the forms of text messages (SMS), photo or videos. Those who made the pledges are expected to honor them on September 09 2009, designated as Malaysians Unite for Road Safety day. This road safety campaign comes with social media ingredients – YouTube, Facebook, news feed, rating and poll.

As the time of this posting, MUFORS garnered over 99,000 pledges. And it’s unclear who’s behind this initiative and kudos to them. Anyway, go make your pledge today (I’ve just made mine).

UPDATE: This campaign started on August 18 2009 and supported by highway operator, PLUS and its partners. Thanks @feistyflo.

This Is NOT Your Plain Old Road Safety Campaign originally appeared on GreyReview on September 3, 2009.