Blogs | Indian Social Media Landscape - Part 6 Indian Social Media Landscape

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Brand Content & Tone: How Social It Gets!

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

What is spoken about here is the ‘hard to define’ nature of emotional connection of brands. How brand managers can think of ways to strengthen the connection between their brand and the target market. Also a light is thrown upon what some of the reputed brands have done with the emotion of content & tone. Moving further the statistics in this context bring in some awareness to this element too.

Behavioral psychologists have long argued that only 30% of human decisions and behaviors are actually driven by rational considerations. This means that more than 70% of consumer loyalty and spending decisions are based on emotional factors. And it’s these emotional experiences that create connected, passionate, engaged customers.

Therefore, Emotional Connection = Engagement.

Engagement is based on emotional attachment between the customer & brand that develops and endures over time. The more frequently and consistently a brand can connect with a customer on an emotional level, the stronger and deeper the customer becomes engaged with the brand. One of the key factors for forging a meaningful, emotional relationship with customers is the brand‘s ability to integrate into their lifestyles. Brand becomes relevant in the customer’s life when this is achieved. Foundation of the brand-customer relationship becomes one built on loyalty, relevance & dependability.

Every ad generates an emotional response. Emotional responses constructed through a strong content are hard-wired into our brains and essential to our survival. Familiar & pleasurable ads generate more attention and attract us, while painful or threatening ones repel us. Emotional connection is a powerful way to link the heart of your target market with the soul of your brand.

Image Courtesy: http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/finding-your-brand-voice/

We, as activators of our clients’ brands should:

Strategically let them think over two questions:

(a) Which emotion can they own?

(b) How much emotional intensity does their category and brand merit?

Both answers are defined and limited by the target market.

But within those limits, you can tailor almost every business decision you make to maximize the appropriate emotional connection.

We respond emotionally to everything!

Emotion in Advertising is Pervasive, Yet Misunderstood. Advertisers talk about importance of generating an emotional response from people. However, they rarely stop to specify exactly what characterizes such a response or why they believe it is important.

The subject of emotion in advertising tends to bring certain types of commercials to mind! Does any commercial come to your mind?

Lately, you all must have come across popular brands and the ads where emotion in the content was given a great importance.

Coca Cola- Haan Haan Main Crazy Hun

Click here to watch the complete ad

Coca Cola

• The theme of the ad is "Open happiness", which is a very good concept and surely a need of the time.

• It can change the mood of a person and help him/her relax, have a laugh & forget tensions for the moment.

• Ad comes as a beautiful surprise and might even inspire someone to do some crazy but useful act.

• The acts designed are from our day to day life.

• The tone is that of today’s people, they keep talking about dude this is crazy….dude she is crazy, so coca cola took that insight & made the copy.

• The positive associations also work to create a brand that is loved.

Creativity/Freshness:

• Unique in concept.

• Focus on spreading love & happiness.

• Fresh idea to share happiness even with strangers.

Coca Cola always comes out with something unique in its concept; however their campaign always focuses on spreading love and happiness. This advertisement is also creative in its own natural way as every character in this TVC is trying to shower happiness/ kindness through any means. So its kind of something fresh idea to share your happiness even with strangers.

Emotional Connect:

• Acts of kindness by feeding the dog, giving a bottle of coca cola build an emotional connect.

• Emotional connect is high as it shows how one gets peace by helping others or by making them happy.

It is at par in this TVC as one character is feeding stray dogs and other tries to make security guard happy by giving him a bottle of coca cola. Emotional connect is high as it is showing the height of peace you get when you make other person happy.

Brand Association:

Revolve around brand value & keep brand association intact.

Coca Cola beverages always revolve around its so strongly created brand value. It has featured its beverages bottles with highlighting the name Coca cola and thus brand association is kept intact.

Relevance:

• Relevance of this TVC lies in the fact that Coca cola always impart happiness through its campaign.

• This ad also paved on the same path with a new motto of spreading happiness in your own crazy ways.

Relevance of this TVC lies in the fact as Coca cola always try to impart happiness through its campaign, this advertisement is also paving on the same path with a new motto of spreading happiness in your own crazy ways. However, spreading happiness through a bottle of soft drink doesn’t make much sense to me still the picturization was so apt that it forces you to believe it.

Segmentation: This TVC has segmented people of all the categories still youth is the main center of attraction in it as there is nothing wrong if I say that youth are the main consumers of coca cola in India.

Pepsi- Oh! Yes, Abhi

To check what Pepsi is doing on Twitter, click here

Pepsi Facebook Page

Click here for an amazing website view

Pepsi’s new campaign & positioning: ‘Oh yes Abhi’

• Harping on the youth’s impatience & the need to do everything ‘right now’, the campaign reinforced the concept of living in the moment.

• Oh Yes Abhi! Translates into – live for the present as tomorrow is too late.

• Young people, they want things quick. Fast. Now. Hence the copy, Oh yes abhi.

• The campaign is a great combination of impatience of the cola & impatience of youth presented in a grand manner.

• Digital media like facebook, twitter, websites have also been used to promote the campaign.

Do you Recall these positioning of PEPSI?

‘Nothing official about it’ (1996)

‘Yeh dil maange more!’ (2006)

‘Pepsi ye pyaas heh badi’(2000)

‘My Pepsi My Way’(2009)

‘Change the game’ (2011)

‘Oh Yes Abhi’ (2013)

iPhone

"If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone“

• With this tone and content, the commercials then launch into a quick overview of key iPhone features.

• With the voiceover explaining the stuff you’re unable to do unless you’re a proud iPhone owner.

• People who carry apple product perceive themselves as above others.

• Hence the copy, if don’t have an iphone, well you don’t have an iphone.

• It is very important to understand the emotion of the copy. It should tie up with the brand personality audience and emotion.

Kit Kat- Dancing Babies

Click here to view

• Nestle’s new campaign urges people to take a break from their busy & hectic lifestyles & get surprised by some delightful moments in life.

• Their brand message, “Good things happen when you take a break”, the ad demonstrates that taking a few minutes to enjoy a Kit Kat can bring an unexpected & adorable delight to your day.

• Known for its youthful appeal, Kit Kat brought in smiling, giggling, singing & dancing Babies.

• They took babies as watching babies play puts a smile on anyone’s face. Watching them doing something we haven’t seen before is really great.

• Shows how taking a Kit Kat Break helps you notice something good which you might have otherwise missed.

Idea- Honey Bunny

How can we forget this “Honey Bunny”? Click here to view the ad

• Idea Cellular’s advertising has cut a wide arc, going from ‘What an Idea, Sirji!’ to “You’re my pumpkin pumpkin, hello honey bunny”.

• This jingle is on everyone’s lips, having become quite a rage across the country, just as the earlier campaign became a big success.

• Idea’s new ad campaign- ‘Idea Rings All India’ was launched after this teaser jingle.

• “Music is something which is universal, something which blends with every culture. It’s a hummable, likeable song, and that was exactly the thought behind creating the jingle.

• It went viral and was popular across the nation, on all platforms too.

ICICI Bank- Bande Achche Hain

• From concept to brand communication to creative execution, ICICI’s new ad campaign is a hit.

Campaign name: Bande achhe hain (They are good men)!

• Various situations are shown displaying caring nature of a family man, primarily as a husband and a father, who keeps fulfilling his responsibilities towards his family without really making a big deal about it.

• The tone of the TVC is that while men may be a little childish in their carelessness and forgetfulness, they’re a loving, responsible and caring still.

• The catchphrase in the background score is “Par bande achhe hain” (But they are good men).

• The ad ends with the voice-over: “Jo zimmedari nibhaate hain, jataate nahi. Unko suraksha dete hain hum. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. Zimmedaari ka humsafar”

• In a nutshell,

• The ad is relevant with a feel of family, their care etc. & hence accepted happily.

• A unique representation of an insurance ad.

• The song, the message, concept & the way real life situation and care is depicted is amazing.

Overall: The ad is Best in Class, Good Impressive and Appealing.

7Up – I Feel Up

View ad

• They used rhythm & unexpected choreography to enliven the mood.

• It is an extension of the ‘I feel up’ thought where quirky dance & music combination is shown.

• A Kathakali artist dance.

• Japanese woman in the station performing lavani .

• Highlighted the two most important equity properties as ‘dance’ and the ‘I feel up’ optimism, which the brand stood for.

• It was not much about the dance, but about joy & happiness that drives true ‘uninhibitedness’ through dance.

‘I feel up’ message resonated with one’s mind & communicated that 7Up livens up a break in the middle of a dreary boring day.

Cinthol – Alive is Awesome

• Cinthol in order to reposition itself came up with a fresh campaign.

• The new idea they hit upon with was – “Being Alive is Awesome”!

• Targeted at younger consumers who want to live their life to the fullest.

• Cinthol tried to squeeze itself in the entire scheme of things representing the brand essence of a very active lifestyle.

• They tried to relate to the new generation and successfully related to what the people of today want, think & aspire – to live their life, freely etc.

Just have a look at the Facebook page of Cinthol. Don’t miss the amazing video ad that enticed a lot of viewers who not only enjoyed the ad but could also relate to the tone and content of the brand. They also launched a YouTube app for this campaign.

The After effects of using Emotions in brand content

Real challenge is to focus people’s attention. If an ad is going to evoke a response that will last longer than a few seconds, it must create a memorable feeling. It must create a virtual magnifying glass that highlights something specific in relation to the brand — some fact, idea, or impression — and give it enough emotional charge to become established in memory. The response can be positive or negative, intense or weak. Response may not be intensely positive or intensely negative, it is still “emotional.” Product satisfaction is the biggest driver of emotional response.

Not all brands have the “right” to communicate messages implicitly through emotionally arousing content; that is a privilege that is earned over time. Brands spend decades building a connection. Example: Coke. Newer brands need to focus on establishing their functional credentials even when their ultimate intent is to “ladder up” to an emotional benefit.

We need to also believe that the choices are justified by reason, not just feelings. If all advertising generates an emotional response of some sort, the real question then becomes whether an advertisement will evoke any conscious thought.

What about the use of emotional content, context & tone in Social Media?

Well, this is a very important question because as social media is becoming the most integral element of the marketing strategies then its clearly evident that emotion and content of a brand will lay a great impact on the consumers online. And most importantly the response would be quicker than any other medium and results would be surprising. Therefore, brand managers should integrate this concept in social media too.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs explains this concept best.

Expectations

Desires

Unrecognized Needs

Finding the tone of voice in SMM

Authenticity = self awareness x courage

To understand one’s self and have the confidence to be true to your human nature takes courage. Amplify both and you get authenticity.

Now the question is are you ready for a deeper dive into your business?

If yes, then there are a few questions that when answered help brands to dive deeper and understand the brand tone & content they can use in their SMM and to connect to a customer in a deeper emotional level.

The three questions for testing authenticity are:

1. What business are we in?

2. What courageous, rebellious decisions have we recently made that could be perceived as brilliant or foolish?

3. What would it mean to the world if we didn’t exist anymore?

Irrespective of the desired response to advertising, don’t you think the first step is to create a link in consumers’ minds between the memories left by the ad and the brand? Shouldn’t an ad focus attention on the brand and the desired impression at the time of viewing? Customer engagement is all about emotional connections which have proven to be powerful and profitable. Lets see what is in store for brands in future and what reactions it generates.

Tags:Brand content and tone, Brand tone, Emotions of content and tone associated with Brands, Power of Brand Content & Tone in social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media, Traditional Media | No Comments »

IPL: Did Brands Play Well on Social Media?

Monday, April 15th, 2013

IPL, the Indian Premier League is indeed one of the biggest assets that bestow the brands with the most effective and a large platform to build a connection with their consumers. IPL 2013, the biggest eye catcher of this year has numerous brands making the best of the IPL & the amazing connect of cricket on social media. The power of social media is reinstated with lot of companies and brands that hit the best on the various platforms across social media. From the title sponsor PepsiCo to telecom service provider Vodafone. To multi business Muthoot Group and the personal care maker Garner, advertisers leveraged the social media to connect with their audience.

In this sixth edition of the Indian Premier League, nearly crores of money is generated by corporate advertisers through advertising etc. leveraging social media to connect with their audiences is another great strategy on their list.

To make the Pepsi IPL 2013 stand out from the rest, Twitter is one of the most important part trying to make this complete event an interactive experience for the fans. Google+ also evolved doing Hangout sessions to generate post match conversations. YouTube on the other hand redefined the experience of watching and enjoying IPL through live chat making it more social and further integrating it with Google+.

IPL as a product has become extremely social just like the consumers. With Social Media buzz hitting the grand league, the IPL players are now visualized as striking a ‘tweet’ to a bowler’s ‘post’ which is then ‘Like’d by the fans.

The strongest element & connection of Social media is content and engagement which of course brands are trying to leverage.

Brand promotions through social media during IPL are therefore, strategically envisioned, designed, executed and managed across the platform.

Image courtesy: The Economic Times

These brand promotions on social media are conceptualized and then brought to effect through strategic tie-ups, web campaigns and virtual events. In order to draw in the organic traction and gain public reaction to their brands they also offer prizes, rewards and recognitions to their fans and consumers.

The campaigns implemented through social media platforms like YouTube, Google+, Facebook & Twitter are catching the eyes of people away from the idiot box. They are getting more and more involved with the social media events developed by numerous brands.

Social Media has ultimately become like a café by the friends abode where people meet, discuss and share their ideas & opinions on various topics and events. So, if it’s like “everything on social media” then why not “IPL”?

Check below an insight by Unmetric, the social media benchmarking company from New York that investigates how the eight IPL teams are igniting passions and rivalries in the run up to IPL 6 using social media.

Image Courtesy: Unmetric

Social media is unquestionably the best insight tool for brands to get a lot of information about their interactivity level with their consumers.

Read through how some of the well known brands have taken a step to build a social media connect with the IPL. Strategies, promotions, ideas, engagement and a lot more.

PepsiCo

Pepsi, the title sponsor of the tournament and co-presenting sponsor on broadcaster SET Max, tied up with Twitter to allow the viewers to play cricket on the social media platform. They launched a Tweet20 tournament – a Twitter based application which allowed fans to play cricket on Twitter.

The mechanism is something like this: Pepsi India Twitter handle tweets a particular type of ball, maybe a short pitched bouncer on the middle stump, and the users will need to reply with the shot they think is apt for that ball. If one tweeted the correct shots they scored runs whereas, wrong shots costed them wickets. Special shots had bonus runs linked to them. Very interesting, this tweet tournament hit the maximum attraction level in terms of the engagement.

What next?

Well, the winner of this Tweet20 tournament gets to watch IPL from the Pepsi VIP box. A dream come true situation for any IPL fan who felt like on cloud nine during those two and a half hours match. Brand managers at Pepsi plan to utilize the social media platform to its great potential during IPL. They know the fact that youth today are increasingly engaging on this platform.

Click the image to view the ad

Vodafone

Vodafone revisited this year with their ZooZoos, with a new campaign that hit social media even before it hit the Television. ZooZoos this time come with an army. Their new army will target first-time users of mobile internet and sensitize them on what all they could do on the internet.

Click on the image to view the ad

On the other hand, Vodafone also launched a Super Fan Contest for the IPL 2013. It is a SuperFans contest that gives ‘money-can’t-buy’ experience where the winners of the contest would get special escort to the stadium, premium seating in the hospitality enclosure to get the best match viewing experience & an autographed ball from the winning captain.

In this contest 76 winners that means 76 lucky Vodafone customers would stand a chance to win an exclusive match ball autographed by the winning captain on Live TV during the 76 matches in the complete tournament. Vodafone has also partnered with IPL as the Official partner & on air co-presenting sponsor for the IPL for next 5 years.

Here, subscribers need to SMS Fan to 111 (toll free) to participate in the contest. This contest is available for Post-paid & Pre-paid Vodafone Customers with an active internet connection.

For each match, the Super Fan is selected centrally through a lucky draw, well in advance of the match date. (This is not applicable for customers in TN/Chennai). The contest is closing on May 20, 2013.

Click on the image to view the ad

Vodafone has over 10 million fans on Facebook, and with this new campaign, it expects to add to that number significantly. They strongly consider IPL the platform to create a buzz around their campaign.

Goibibo

Goibibo Launched Their IPL Promotion Called ‘Travel Premier League’ (something that is again very common among most brands). However, the way they implemented their campaign is more interesting than the name actually. Basically, the idea of this campaign is that:

“Every time your city team wins an IPL match, you will get discounts on Goibibo. As and when your team keeps winning throughout the series, your discounts will increase.” If Chennai is playing with Mumbai, then there will be a discount on flights between these two cities on that day.

Click here to view the details of TPL by Goibibo

Initial discount for all teams is Rs. 200, but as IPL steps forward, the discount amount is bound to rise higher for the cities that end up in the finals. If a city loses a match, the discount will reduce by 10 rupees & increase by 10 rupees if the city wins. This is how the scorecard looks right now. Well, it cannot be predicted how successful this campaign would be in generating sales, but it comes with a great amount of fun element for those who support this and are frequent travelers. Goibibo TPL is aimed at engaging with the consumers and leveraging Social Media completely.

Cadbury Gems

Cadbury Gems has always come up with something innovative and colourful. This IPL it was a great attempt by Cadbury Gems to come up with this amazing video that not only gives you a flavor of this league but speaks about the brand Cadbury Gems too.

Check this video for a colourful visual treat of IPL by Cadbury Gems:

Click here to view this amazing attempt by Cadbury Gems.

Yes Bank

One of the official sponsors of IPL, YES Bank came up with ‘YES BANK MAXIMUM’.

Basically, “Sixes” are the biggest excitement point in Pepsi IPL matches & in all 76 matches of the Pepsi IPL, “sixes” hit will be called “YES BANK-MAXIMUM”. This is complementary to YES BANK’s value-proposition of offering the maximum returns on Savings Accounts.

Click the image to view.

Another section includes ‘Play and Win’:

Everybody is crazy about IPL! So, YES BANK branches planned to host a lot of games & activities during the league.

One could also win Pepsi IPL merchandise and tickets just by logging in to Facebook and Twitter.

MakeMyTrip

MakeMyTrip launched three different campaigns:

Aaj Ka Raja which translates to Today’s King!

Users and audiences will have to book a hotel or a flight with the deal code ‘AAJKARAJA’.

A winner will be chosen everyday who will receive goodies.

Goodies would be: Return flight ticket to Hyderabad, a corporate pass to watch sunrises Hyderabad match, airport transfer, luxury hotel stay and a lot more.

Be the Umpire

In the campaign Be the Umpire, MakeMyTrip would post a picture everyday from the match & ask the fans to answer. “Tell us what happened next”!

They want to engage with the audience, get their content shared and improve the edge rank of Facebook. It is therefore, a complete win-win for IPL, MakeMyTrip and fans.

Ebay

Ebay gave its fans on Facebook a chance to take part in ‘Battle of the Fans’ this IPL. One is supposed to choose a team, predict the winner and invite their friends to be a part of it too. Everyone who takes part and wins would be entitled to amazing prizes and goodies!

Muthoot Group

Muthoot Group launched CSR campaign during the IPL. They planned to leverage the association with Delhi Daredevils through this campaign.

The campaign is all about people willing to support the cause by playing ‘book cricket’ on Muthoot Group Facebook page and further compete with each other to earn Delhi daredevils merchandise followed by a golden opportunity to meet their players. The other campaign is the one through which slum children of Delhi will get a chance to become ball boys & ball girls for Delhi’s home matches.

Twitter Magic Mirror

There is this Twitter Magic Mirror introduced during the IPL this year. This application will be used worldwide throughout the IPL tournament. This mirror will basically, in select celebratory settings allow the cricketers and celebrities to tweet out candid pictures through the @IPL account.

The page includes a rolling ticker of tweets, curated especially by the Twitter India account, on the upper right of the page.

The Mirror will travel across the country and offer its fans a classic view of the IPL.

The IPL website is also all set to have a strong Twitter connect. When scrolled down to the end of the homepage, one will find a special section dedicated to Twitter based activities. The hashtag being promoted is #PepsiIPL & the website prompts you to choose your favourite team & tweet out a message in support for it.

One can very well say that IPL is indeed the biggest cricket festival. Everyone here is on the go to own the best bite of the IPL pie. IPL definitely is the most beneficial options as far as marketing of the sports sector is concerned. According to you is IPL one of the significant factors to magnetize the consumers to a brand? Do you think a well planned strategy to engage audiences through IPL will prove to be credible enough on a brand’s part?

Tags:Brands Leveraging Social Media during IPL, IPL & Social Media Connect, IPL 2013 Go Social, Social Media and IPL
Posted in Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media | No Comments »

Crediting Social Media in Banking Industry

Monday, April 1st, 2013

There was a fun campaign by a reputed Indian Bank some time back where somebody gave a comment “Why Banks?” Well, this threw light upon two very common misconceptions: one that banks should not engage on Facebook and other that B2B businesses and brands should stay away from social media platforms. These misconceptions arise from a perception that Facebook and other social media platforms might weaken or tamper the brand image. On the other hand, connecting with banks on Facebook is proving really beneficial for fans, especially the younger customers of today. There is increased engagement when the bank proactively listens, fans respond and share their experiences.

Facebook is a platform that helps brands, be it banks; emerge as a friendly, trustworthy and approachable one. Twitter on the other hand is another wonderful social media tool that helps the brands to connect and interact in 140 characters.

Banks have actively taken a step to scratch the surface of the potential in social media. Study indicates that private banks are leading the race followed by a few large public sector banks.

HDFC Bank tops the social media leverage index followed by public sector IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra and Citi Bank. With social media leveraging brands and sectors across the globe, Indian banks are also realizing steadily that social media, when implemented with a strong strategy will not only prove to be important & profitable but build a long term identity and growth with large follower base and engagement. (Image Courtesy: Raddon Financial Group)

Globally, all the banks whether government or private have taken a wonderful step to stay connected with their customers through social media.

Sadly, there are a few banks that see social media as a platform to market their products instead of engaging with their customers and fans.

Although, HDFC is one such bank that has understood the importance and impact of social media and is doing pretty good in the banking sector.

HDFC, one of India’s first private sector banks commenced in the year 1994. To be a World class Indian bank, HDFC commenced with an objective to be the top provider of exclusive banking services. Catering to the business community primarily, HDFC has a very strong presence both offline and online.

If we talk about HDFC, their presence on social media has helped them garner a lot of customers followed by an amazing share of the market. HDFC took this social step with a simple strategy of Engage, Evolve and Excel.

In this social run HDFC is one such bank that stands out in terms of leveraging social media in terms of their presence in social media channels, the strategy they have implemented and their approach in engaging with their customers.

HDFC Bank is present on all the major social media channels namely Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Pinterest, Linkedin, Google+.

HDFC on Facebook:

With more than 1.5 million likes, HDFC Bank’s Facebook page is mainly used as a space to push its marketing messages. Very actively they also started with Facebook advertising. With an amazing presence on Facebook, HDFC generates excellent feedback from its fans and followers. This not only helps the bank build a strong relation & trust with its customers but also serves as a basis for them to understand their needs and requirements. It helps them promote their banking products and features too. They have recently come up with Taxpert, a tab where tax experts give their views and solve queries put across by customers. All sorts of financial news are provided to the fans through these sections on official Facebook page of HDFC Bank. They also engage their fans through contests, puzzles and finance related facts etc.

The way they use their custom tabs is worth appreciating as they not only add value to their Facebook community but also direct the traffic to their Website.

They also give regular updates on latest deals & credit card tips on shopping. With this they also sustain regular conversations with customers and encourage repeat purchases on credit cards, in particular.

HDFC on Twitter:

HDFC Bank’s has two dedicated Twitter handles; one for customer query resolution and other to provide helpful tips to customers. For all sorts of queries & complaints customers tweet @ HDFCBank_Cares and the Twitter handle @HDFC_Bank provides useful finance tips, information related to tax and offers etc.

Their approach on twitter is based on sharing interesting facts and information with their followers, engaging them through contests, puzzles followed by sharing products and deals they have to offer. They are very active on twitter, no wonder they are generating followers at a pace equivalent to their growth on social media which is commendable. The way they handle their customer queries deserves a hug applaud as their communication is not only considerate & explanatory but personalized. They now have a healthy follower count of more than 6.4k.

YouTube:

HDFC has conceptualized and created some of the amazing commercials which have paved their way through the YouTube channels. Also, they provide useful ‘How To’ videos for mobile banking, net banking etc. These commercials acquired a huge amount of viewership on their YouTube channel. Video content is very engaging & benefits the viewers. They are consistently trying to post and promote as many videos as they could to leverage their brand through YouTube.

Linkedin:

HDFC’s company page on Linkedin has around 43k followers. They display their products and services on this page and get recommendations from the users which serve as a live testimonial. Being actively present on Linkedin helps users to browse the company details and employee information.

HDFC bank’s official Pinterest page gives useful information about their exciting offers, products and latest trends in the Banking and finance industry. They innovatively motivate their fans and customers to keep pinning to their boards of interest in this space.

Foursquare

HDFC Bank on foursquare provides exciting offers & privileges tips for consumers to avail discounts with their HDFC Bank credit/debit cards.

Google+

In an initiative to amplify its services, HDFC leveraged this medium to spread their services, offers & discounts to its customers. They provide useful information to their fans through various properties they have on social media. The page has also crossed a milestone of 1.5 Million of fans.

HDFC deals with its customer issues very efficiently in a personalized manner and short time. Banking is a sector where a lot of care and precision has to be taken as it brings along with a great deal of negativity too. But when it comes to HDFC, it goes without saying that this bank has tried its best to keep the level of negativity as low as possible with its interactions, engagements and most of all its effective customer service team. They are doing a really great job with their social media efforts.

HDFC Bank is not only reaching out to their customers and fans through social media but also engaging them consistently with informative and interesting contests and tabs. They hold tax trivia and secure banking twitter contests wherein people are offered secure banking and tax related tips and learning about tax in a fun way. This not only helps them build effective thought leadership across the industry but makes them stand out for their social efforts.

How Banks should leverage Social Media?

Social Media is emerging as the new destination for bankers to reach out to a great range of their customers overwhelmingly. Before taking a step into the social media world, banks should pause to check out the security and regulatory issues related to banking. They want to embrace this newest way of connecting with consumers, but with care.

People are also keen to access banking services on social media therefore banks can effectively maintain a social media presence to garner more engagement with their services.

There’s a lot that a bank can explore on social media platform and further strike a trend in this sector. The trend of being on social media and show off the social credentials has already begun amongst the banks and is very actively moving ahead with rising competition in this space too.

Moving further, it is fairly evident that internet penetration on a global level is in an upswing and so is the use of smartphones. Social media is therefore shaping the future of almost all the future brands.

The need of the hour for banks is to leverage their brand interests, increase visibility of their offerings, increase interactions and place their customers in high regard. Banks are coming up with various mobile friendly apps that connect the consumers with the brand further helping them attract prospective customers. These apps act as a marketing device to promote offers and discounts.

Social Media, once strategically implemented marketing communication plans can help banks in some of the great things like: Community Building, Product Research, Customer Service, Marketing & Promotion and Transparency.

Once the banks implement social media into their marketing strategies, it would not only lead to improved branding, but they could also understand consumer perceptions about them, leveraged product research and a strong relationship building with customers. This also brings a great level of transparency to banking services. Banking and finance sectors, unlike the FMCG sector have one-to-one relationships with their customers. Social Media enables this engagement and motivates the brands to be accountable.

Making social media as one of the most important arms of customer support, educating and informing fans about the security issues & safe banking practices, encouraging the workforce, offer customized solutions gained from social media insights will surely go a long way in crafting social media banks of the future. One thing is evident that to be a successful brand on social media, brand managers and strategists need to evolve with variety of strategies keeping in mind the strong execution and sincere intention. In your opinion what can be further strategies by reputed banks on social media?

Tags:Banking & Finance in Social Media, Banking and Social Media, Banking Industry and Social Media, Banks on Facebook, Banks on Social Media, Social Media
Posted in Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

Content Marketing: Brands Need to Gear Up!

Friday, March 15th, 2013

If marketing is a pie, then content marketing is definitely the bigger slice of it. Most of the brand managers, marketers, companies and/or sectors would agree with this statement. Content marketing is indeed the most appealing trend of this year. If done right, it can create wonders to leading to traffic and driving sales. The key to this is to have a plan, a plan to target effectively & grab your target audience’s attention. There is no doubt about the fact that social media & mobile marketing have also showcased content to be supreme. Brands therefore, are now creating original content to engage customers. If B2B sector is taken into consideration, here the brands foster content usage by positioning company as a thought leader to the customers, producing demand.

Consumers also want a lot of information now and at the same time they want to make their own decisions. In that case brands need to provide valuable content to build trust.

Following all the changes and strategic developments happening all year around, this year marks some of the fantastic content marketing trends, when implemented correctly are sure to drive the business and brands to a great level.

Last minute web plugs, ad hoc promo driven microsites and integrating a social media strategy as an addition won’t work anymore! For a healthy and successful way forward, strategically planned content and distribution supported by well done research & inputs is the key.

Traditional publicity and content marketing differences are many. Just have a glimpse:

Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/guide-to-content-marketing/

Moving on lets talk about the Social media & content marketing trends

Case studies, evolving as the most important part of content marketing are very essential when it comes to products & services. From “how it works” to “this is what I need”, case studies provide all the information related to a particular products.

E-books fill the space of B2C content marketing wherein all the questions on how to get the most out of a service or product will be a part of the content. A content that creates a comfort zone for buyers is another essential part.

Storytelling is become the most liked trend today. With everyday happenings on the social media platforms and content overflowing from all ends, some of the amazing stories are sure to get an edge. Here businesses can add that personal touch & experience with real examples and share it with people, the content they actually want to read.

Blogging by businesses will take the lead in times to came, infact it is already considered as the foundation of all sorts of content marketing actions. Blog encapsulates all types of content, posts, e-books etc. followed by links to the content in the blog.

Creating enough and original content might turn out to be the biggest challenge for content marketing. Marketers would be pressurized to come up with content based on superior quality & originality.

Social media will stand out as the most popular channel with Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc. distributing content that is liked and shared by people. The content can also be stored in the blog and shared with the social media platforms when required.

Content marketing goals would be sales & retention wherein B2B content would spawn leads & sales and B2C brands would move ahead with a goal of retention & generating word of mouth.

Content would be used all over. A single piece of content would be distributed & stretched to almost all the platforms where marketers will try to maximize their value. Revamping the existing content will also lighten the creation of content.

Mobile optimized content is creating buzz. Creating a mobile friendly content with a click to call option is sure to give you an edge over your competitors. From blogs, websites, case studies, e-books, videos and all other content should be made mobile friendly.

Content curation might be used as an alternative as marketers who fall short on time to create their own piece of engaging & original content shift to curation. Curation would include churning out the best content and sharing it across the social media platforms. It will lead to the brand losing its value & visitors to the page, at the same time being known as staying updated. A proper balance of original and curated content would be a good strategy.

Video would be the greatest trend with amazing video content. If you are planning to go viral with your content, then video is the answer. Short videos with easy steps to follow are good enough for engaging people who further share the content. Compelling content is the need of the hour for longer videos to make people sit back and watch. It should be shareable and eye catching. That’s it!

Infographics are a rapidly growing content format which have the visual appeal & information that is easy to understand and share.

Targeted content will get more results. Understanding the interests of potential customers and creating content based on that would foster engagement. Exploring on the buying behaviour of people will help generate targeted content.

E-mail, the most used and effective marketing channel can be leveraged by understanding the marketing goals and designing the communication to influence the buyers or consumers.

Budgets. There won’t be any slash down when it comes to content marketing. There would be increased spending on the same.

Gamified content strategy is on the rise. As the customers are getting influenced by online activities etc., they are expecting gratification to interact & engage with brands online, content that renders entertainment, learning & rewards is appreciated in a big way.

Expanding Social Media and its users generate a challenge for marketers when it comes to designing the content marketing strategies. Social media will continue to stand out as the greatest resource of real-time content distribution which is rising amongst the audiences.

Understanding the content & digital link is important. Content strategies need to be designed keeping in mind the digital strategies. Anybody could get the likes on Facebook, but what makes brands stand out is what they do with those likes. Its about the target audience and engaging them with content that brings them back everytime to the brand page. Facebook likes are not the content. Content is now also linked to SEO.

A breakthrough content backed by a strategically thought idea that the businesses or brands can deliver across platforms is the strongest step towards success.

Have a look at this, the anatomy of Content Marketing.

Image courtesy: contentplus.co.uk

Brand managers and marketers are on a constant run to look out for ways to build consumer engagement, acquire and retain them. In order to win the race of attracting the target audience marketers will have firstly capture their minds with the product, offers etc. and secondly create connecting content.

Lets see what Zomato.com, that offers restaurants listings of restaurants, food reviews etc. did. It also has Android & iOS apps that are easy enough to use. It is also active on Facebook & Twitter garnering amazing likes and fan following.

Zomato engages with its customers regularly on these social media platforms. They constantly urge their customers to praise the food etc. and also stay clear of being praised and promoting itself everytime. Recently, they came up with Food Porn Site to get more visible, where people could look at pictures of scrumptious & luscious food. Zomato also regularly maintains its presence on blogs & sites to escalate their reach and visibility.

COKE

Coca-Cola strongly believes in content marketing and therefore it is their core strategy of Content 2020 advertising strategy mission: "All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity. If you’re going to be successful around the world, you have to have fat and fertile ideas at the core."

Click here to watch.

COLGATE

Colgate provides an online Oral and Dental Health Resource center with videos, interactive guides, and over 400 articles. It’s a great example of a brand seeing itself as a publisher and using its depth of knowledge to provide valuable information to people, which is the key to content marketing success. Even a two person company can pull from their experience and expertise to create blogs, e-newsletters and e-books in an organized and effective way that reaches prospects.

GENERAL ELECTRIC

General Electric used content marketing to tell the story of the 132-year-old brand through different content channels. They used the content tactic Ecomagination, which is a forum for fresh thinking and conversation about clean technology and sustainable infrastructure. According to Katrina Craigwell, Digital Marketing Manager at GE’s belief, “At the end of the day, if the content isn’t good enough for the end user to want to share it with a friend or colleague, we haven’t quite succeeded.”

So, it is evident how brands are constantly updating & innovating their content, offerings and approach to connect with their customers. Also the way social media platforms are used, it beautifies the brands’ marketing. Content is surely the king as it is encouragingly served & shared to a large audience in multiple ways.

Recently, there was a brand owner’s summit where it was showcased how "Brand marketing has given way to content marketing". Check this link to read through!

A proper plan, relationship building, long term thinking and consistency helps a brand go long way with its content marketing.

What clicks through is the relationship that a brand builds with its influencers and consumers etc. They help drive in traffic by posting and sharing the content from website to various other networks.

Content is the heart of social media. It is the life savior of branding campaigns. Don’t you agree? Yes, it is. It is a lot more than an SEO, a tweet, blog or Facebook post etc. Need to create an original content is very essential. A content that moves away from brand messages to the one that’s relevant & approachable for consumers.

For a content that is not only significant but exceptional, one should aim to create, curate, plan & collect the same.

In 2012, there was a great rise in the use of images in content marketing with social media platforms like Pinterest & Instagram followed by Facebook, Linkedin & Twitter which focused on imagery. With the beginning of 2013, content marketing has evolved yet in another great way.

Brands and organizations need to plan a framework for their content marketing. They have already started looking out for media platforms to purchase & bloggers to manage the same. In almost every industry there is a great prospect for a appropriately planned content strategy.

Times ahead are now going mobile.

Mobile web browsing is also expected to outdo the web browsing through desktops and laptops. Content marketers will therefore have to create content suited to the mobile lifestyle.

The website should be designed in a way that is compatible with the smartphone. And with smartphone users and consumers increasing every fraction of a second they always expect the content to be readable on their mobile devices which they carry almost everywhere they go.

These trends are a witness to a movement that was prevalent for years and now trying to reach a larger mass. Brand managers and marketers have also come to a conclusion that social media channels are not that effective without an appealing content to engage. How would you analyse the role of content in the World where the complete consumer behaviour has changed? Don’t you think content is the most eminent marketing strategy? Do you think 2013 will be the year of content marketing with innovations & intelligence? It is expected that the applications would be developed to improve the efficiency of content creation. Would it help publishers to polish the performance of their content on web or social media? How would it improve the ROI?

Tags:B2B sector, Content Marketing, Content Marketing in 2013, Content marketing Trends, Content strategy, Infographics, Mobile, Social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Target Audience, Traditional Media | 1 Comment »

QR Codes: Potential Social Media Trend

Friday, March 1st, 2013

QR Codes, also popularly known as quick response codes have come up as an essential marketing trend in these few years. These square designs have been found popping almost everywhere, be it magazines, in stores, direct mail pieces etc. to name a few. QR Codes are computer generated images that help customers to directly connect with websites or online platforms without typing a URL. These codes can be easily scanned with Smartphones directing the users to the online content. The QR Code trend is catching up fast and almost all the industrial sectors, professions and brands are using it.

Today, majority of searches happen online through Smartphones which is another important factor for businesses to provide their brand’s information etc. in a mobile optimized format.

We all have at some point or the other seen QR Codes on posters, business cards, magazines, newspapers and all such places where advertisement is done. These quick response codes are also termed as one of the effective marketing tools. These QR Codes provide the users or viewers with a link to that particular company or brand’s website, services or contact information.

QR Codes facilitate the sharing of targeted information with the audience or people keen to know about your brand or business, instantly.

Businesses can use QR Codes to:

· Provide discounts and offers
· Share the brand video or content
· Make it hassle free for people to join them online
· Get a quick feedback via a short survey or poll

Brand managers and advertisers are not only in search of creative places to put them but also extremely unique methods to put them. In this case, Social Media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are turning out to be the most popular places to put them with amazing content too.

It goes without saying that marketing trends come & go, but QR Codes are positioned in such a way that their use is growing every year. Firstly, the Smartphone users are increasing everyday and secondly, the QR codes direct the users to a content which is not static but one which is relevant and updated. And finally, the most important factor that makes QR Codes stand out is their compatibility with social media tools.

There are more than 200 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.

QR Codes can be used at:

· Stores: One can post a signage with QR Code that links to a website that gives full details about the product, offers etc.

· Events: The printed materials can have a QR Code through which customers can access detailed content related to the event.

· On Business Cards: Apart from telling about you, your business cards can direct people to a link that speaks about your business too.

· Print Ads: Along with a call to action, QR Codes on print ads speak more about the brand story beyond what can be placed on small ads. Consumers can be offered rewards on scanning these codes too.

What to do for a perfect incorporation of QR Codes into a Social Media strategy?

Well, when doing so, its better to keep it simple.

One effective approach can be to give a vCard or links to your brand or company’s social media networks such as Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. If you have a blog or some other content linked to your business, you can also provide links to that as well.

Unlike printed collateral and platforms, the data at the URL which is linked to the QR Code can be regularly updated which can help you to update the content as and when required. Whenever you plan to add the QR Codes to your marketing strategies, ensure teaming up with a QR Code specialist who can render a smooth execution & administration, offering you an ease on managing your QR Code campaign.

Planning to use QR Codes in your Social Media Campaign?

If the answer is yes, then here’s what you need to know. There have been numerous debates on the use of QR Codes. Are people aware of the use of QR Codes? Do they know the how & why of QR Codes? Are people interested to use them? People feel that they are not appealing and have an unattractive feature.

On a positive note, if brands and businesses are planning to integrate the offline with the online marketing campaigns, QR Codes stand out useful. QR Codes have a great power to direct anyone to any corner of a website. For example, if one has a huge URL that further links to some product of some design etc. they can use QR Codes in their ATL marketing to direct them to the same.

Making QR Codes look great on an advert is one thing that should be taken care of with creative and engaging solutions.

In order to enhance the overall exposure of your brand you can direct them to social media websites. As a core part of their marketing strategy, brands are directing or shifting their users to social media platforms. Here, QR Codes can help users get their quickly. Of course with smarter phones!

For a Successful QR Code Marketing Campaign:

· There are a few steps you should keep in your mind before planning a QR Code campaign strategy.

· Plan your QR Code campaign strategy by understanding your target audience, exploring the objectives & providing suitable incentives.

· Produce Quality QR codes and do test them in order to avoid any brand flaws.

· Test the QR Codes with several readers & devices

– For clean codes, use link shorteners

– Use mobile optimized sites to link your QR Codes

· You can track your scans and gather important data with popular code management systems

· Give your codes a value; they can act as a lead generation tool too.

QR Codes are invading the market space and QR Code scanning is growing at a fast pace for Twitter and Facebook interactions. The idea is to access vast information just by scanning them.

QR Codes for social media can be used by implementing a few techniques like:

· Generate QR Code from QR code generators and link them to social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

· Subscribe to an RSS feed or join a mailing list.

· Share content to praise some consumer experience or special deals & offers along with updated brand information.

· Engagement through polls, surveys and call to action can give useful data on ideas and feedback of users, their behavioural information and link to landing pages & promotions respectively.

· Targeting by finding out from where are people accessing your brand information via QR Codes on certain platforms.

· Offline and online actions by users can be linked to craft communities and raise influence.

QR Code can help a business increase their Facebook ‘Likes’ building large connections with the customers consistently. It can be placed anywhere and it allows people to ‘Share’ any content throughout the platform. One can create a link to a Twitter profile & increase the number of followers. With a QR Code, customers can ‘Tweet’ the content to ‘Followers’. Customers can be linked to the page, boards or maybe directly to the product pictures pinned on the boards. Adding a little dynamism to the print advertisement with a QR Code can direct users directly to a commercial on YouTube. One can also market a coupon which can later be redeemed in person after scanning the QR Code. These coupons can also be shared on social media platforms. Directing users to some app with a QR Code is also a great effort.

One can create Social QR Code for different social media platforms in just a few clicks.

Don’t miss out watch the Blackberry Messenger QR Code Ad.

Instagram also took a step ahead towards QR Codes:

QR codes can direct users to websites, contact information, send SMS texts, and even help businesses and people get Facebook “likes.” To generate a QR code that can be used on a social media profile, it needs to be in a user friendly format (jpeg is a user friendly format) that will be useful when trying to integrate other applications for the QR code.

After uploading the QR code to Facebook, customize your Facebook post.

You need to customize a few components:

· Title: it is the headline which is helpful in grabbing the attention of Facebook Users.

· Description: provide all the important information about your campaign here.

· Image: place the QR Code here.

· Source: to provide the context for the campaign, the brand linked with the social QR Code campaign should host the code.

Followed by this, the campaign can be taken live on the Facebook page.

· Users will be able to view the ad of your business or website with the QR Code.

· They will scan the code and would be provided with a URL to website and an URL to share on Facebook.

· QR Code is then posted to the user’s wall & news feed and they can share it with their friends.

· There are a lot of benefits attached with a social media QR Code campaign. Your content can be shared across the platform amongst tons of users. Therefore, a huge amount of customers get enticed to your brand and business.

QR code traffic is growing in a fast pace. Brand managers can enhance their marketing strategies with these special QR Codes by bringing the online content to the mobile audience.Times ahead with QR Codes & the potential with them is limitless. It would be a really great thing to see how they imbibe the factor of connecting people with technology and rendering them enhanced experience. It is pretty exciting to wonder where these codes will stand in future when the complete content will be embedded in the code. How would you take advantage of the phenomena of QR Codes? How would you like to link it to your social Media strategies?

Tags:Mobile Technology, QR Code Campaigns, QR Codes, QR Codes in Social Media, Social Media
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Research, Twitter | No Comments »

Social Media Mascots Amplify Brand Voice

Friday, February 15th, 2013

Precisely, a mascot visually represents complete attributes of a brand. Consumers have seen, appreciated and related very actively with brand mascots. One reason also being that mascots are very capable in distinguishing between the competitors by striking an emotional connection with consumers. Mascot is therefore also considered as powerful as the logo. Now, with the social media sector booming, mascots are also on the verge of and are already portraying immense success for brands through this platform.

It goes without saying that with rising competition in the world of marketing and branding there’s a great need for the brand managers to instill in the big idea into their branding. Brands, recently are imbibing the trend of marketing with a sophisticated approach wherein mascots are trying to step in to add a personal touch to the corporate brands too.

These brand imageries or mascots which were known to communicate the most essential echelon of advertising and marketing seemed to have faded in the past few years. They were again brought oi light by a few brands. During those days animation was not active as today and ad men used to play with unrealistic characters trying to stand out in terms of the brand.

Introduction of social media to brands using mascots occurred during the phase when Pillsbury doughboy and Ronald Mc Donald were created.

Brand mascots are usually very creative, colourful, dynamic and appealing making them recognizable and easy to identify with. Once this association wherein consumers could easily relate with the brand is established brand awareness increases.

Gone are the days when products had a few seconds television commercial to generate the character of the brand and mascot. Today the advancement in technology lets the creativity to flow across brands allowing them to play with photorealistic stuff or mascots. Virtual brand mascots are now playing another great role to enhance the characteristics of a brand.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, brands have unlimited space, time and flexibility to create, integrate and evolve with mascots or brand characters. The direct approach attribute along with the sharing capacity that these digital platforms provide render a much wider, louder and fairer space to communicate to its audience.

Nowadays, the frequency with which brands are exploiting the social media platforms to communicate with or through mascots or animated characters is adding a new dimension to their branding strategies. Entrepreneurs and brand managers are now developing more integrated branding communication wherein they are taking efforts to couple the viral online campaigns with television and radio slots etc. this in turn encourages the viewers and audience to engage with the brand and learn online about their much liked mascots.

A question thus arises that what are the benefits of owning a brand mascot, and that also digitally or socially?

Well, this approach gives marketers a chance to endow the brands with an embodied face and voice for their brands. This not only humanizes the brands and its products but brings them closer to their consumers too. The consumer of today loves to interact online, like, comment, tweet or share with a cute mascot or character than with a faceless brand communication.

Industries like insurance have also taken a leap ahead to try their hands on the use of mascots. Use of animated characters is seen creating a significant impact within the social media buzz through their brand mascot. These mascots and animated characters have also started spreading the brand message either through YouTube videos, Twitter, games on Facebook etc.

The appearance and voice of the mascot is equivalent to the voice of the brand.

When its about Social media marketing techniques, the efforts by these brand mascots are a really great way to engage more consumers and grow the business.

Consumers on Facebook also want to dynamically bond with the mascot or animated character than just interacting through the traditional techniques of delivering product or industry news and features. Mascots on social media platforms soft sell the products which is greatly in sync with the psychology of online consumers. Consumers nowadays are less likely to interact with a logo or the PR person on social media.

Mascots are a delight to a brand as branding elements that help to connect allowing the digital marketing methods to emerge with a ‘timeline’ story, a completely new thing. Sustaining a character requires manpower that is dedicated to keep the mascot alive, active and going. Some old mascots and characters like the Amul Girl have already become active on Facebook and tweeting out the brand message across successfully. Vodafone Zoozoos have captured millions of hearts by not only communicating the core brand message but doing it with an element of fun and excitement to which consumers could relate to easily.

The animated characters or mascots are adorable, likeable and fun creating a long lasting impression on people’s minds. Be it naughty Amul Girl or Ronald Mc Donald these mascots or characters perk up the characteristics of a brand on social media if you ‘Like’ or ‘Tweet’.

Amul Girl

Seen in the Polka doted dress, the lovely Amul Girl has initiated the concept to showcase picture of (politics, entertainment, sports, culture) Indian or Global. Creatively showcased, this is a popular brand mascot.

You can also check how consumers are following Amul on Twitter fostering brand recall.

Vodafone Zoozoos

Encouraging more followers on Twitter brought Vodafone a great brand loyalty towards its offers etc.

There are a certain parameters that brand managers and social media strategists should think about like:

· Do these characters and mascots relate to the Target audiences?

· Does it display the brand attributes strongly & effectively on social media?

· Do these characters give a fresh and new angle to your marketing and branding?

· Does it foster brand recall?

Whereas, if we look at celebrity endorsements one cannot avoid the fact that they come with higher costs of brand endorsements. One celebrity endorses many brands causing a clutter factor and poor brand recall. Brands apparently are considered to be the same as the celebrity who endorses it. So, any negative happening on their end would affect the brand personality and the complete brand association might go for a toss.

On the other hand, mascots and animated characters are flexible. They are very unique and do not fade with times. No two animated characters and mascots are alike. Brands just need to add in life-like situations and a tinge of imagination to enjoy a completely different world of their brand/product altogether.

ICICIDirect also went the animated way on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They introduced Mobo & Gyano to educate users about financial planning via Social Media. In this campaign, Mobo & Gyano talk about why people need to do financial planning. Click this to know more on how a brand campaign, ICICIDirect in this case through animated characters and mascots can be fruitful.

Garnier Pure Active had also initiated a ‘Bust blackheads’ campaign with Facebook. It was a great campaign starring blackheads as characters with names and personalities and who live on your face.

This is a great example of how a brand can relate with the consumers psyche for better engagement and identity.

An International brand GEICO- an auto/car insurance brand which has this Gecko, a popular spokeslizard sharing views and advices related to the brand attributes of car insurance.

The Facebook page is popularly called as The GEICO Gecko.

Twitter

On Social Media:

During a launch phase of a product, giving your mascot or character a Facebook page and a twitter is a brilliant idea. Besides posting and tweeting about new product developments, the page could be filled with humour and latest news too.

Encouraging and interesting tone of language will foster interactions. The character or mascot has to be a part of your marketing strategy which has to be simple and precise.

Regular interactions, answering queries along with tracking the suggestions by fans are also very important.

Mascots and animated characters keep the interest levels very high. Social media helps for personal interaction. Platform like Facebook give a face to the brands if they are willing to use mascots. People easily connect and communicate with these elements online.

Mascots on social media promote soft sell.

Presence of mascots consistently across all social media platforms for spreading the brand message throughout render uniformity to the brand attributes.

In case of an economic downfall or financial crisis the goodwill that a mascot had created goes a long way in sustaining the brand.

A huge potential lies in unleashing the mascot or a character as the consumers today also respond more frequently to these non-human characters positively. They have now become receptive to the mascot concept on social media.

When voiced through an element of affection like a mascot, campaigns garner more interaction, passion and brand loyalty; successfully tapping into the consumer psychology. Storylines, personalized updates and profiles that are rendered to these mascots pull in more audiences to the brand page augmenting more interaction between the consumer and the brand. Mascots and characters have a personality of their own that has successfully resonated with the consumers in a positive way. And this goes without saying that the growth that these mascots are adding is more likely to stay in times to come gifting the brands with larger loyalty and recognition levels.

A lot of brands have started setting standards with mascots on social media, going viral, amazing content etc. to make their products interesting. This is helping them generate a great amount of traffic to their social media presence. It’s a great opportunity for other brands to exploit this idea for their brands too.

In a nutshell, mascot can reap amazing benefits for a company on social media because:

They will personify your product online. Users tend to enjoy operating within a particular network. Hence, an ad campaign attracts more conversations when everything is available on Facebook page of the brand.
Customer service gets a facelift with an imagery or character interacting with consumers to solve their queries and problems. Mascots with an added element of fun and entertainment make consumers happy in a big way.
Content being the king on social media, a great content engages, entertains and encourages consumers more to understand the brand/product. Therefore, a good content helps companies to deliver their message through mascots.
Concluding on a core thought about mascots, brand managers should use the mascots skillfully to communicate the brand message effectively. On the other hand, if it is allowed to drift even a little, it can surpass the core message fostering inappropriate brand associations.
With emerging competition, brand managers should now start to shift the paradigm of their minds to Mascots for the brands. This in turn should be implied strongly through social media platforms. More social the mascot takes the brand, higher the benefits, and greater the brand recall. Do you think bring mascots on social media is a brilliant idea? Will mascots on social media propel greater brand associations and loyalty? Do you think the current trend of conveying the message and brand attributes through these characters on social media will render a strong branding? Will the consumers online be able to get the complete brand message through mascots voicing the brands?

Tags:Brand Mascots go Social, Mascots, Mascots on Social Media, Social Media, Social Media Mascots
Posted in Blog Content, Blog Visibility, Blogs | No Comments »

Stationery Brands Go Social

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Social Media has reached a phase where a person’s tweet is a great matter of concern for all brands, Facebook posts are clearly analyzed by organizations, followed by Linkedin updates which foster insightful studies. Pinterest, YouTube & Google+ also queue up as some of the most effective social media tools triggering the finest marketing strategy for brands across the globe. In the past few years technology has changed the way Stationery brands approach their target audience.

Now, its not just the next door neighbor who hears about it, but the entire World. The basis of this fact is a clear indication of Social Media influence. Stationery Industry is moving ahead with a great pace to stand out from the competition and acquire attention from its consumers.

Kids being the primary target followed by corporate and other segment it turns out to be great challenge for the stationery sector to structure its loom towards them. Innovations, designs, variety and quality in the stationery products are some of the top attributes that instigate the buying behavior.

With social media, marketing has become more like a conversation. People view, review and communicate your brand out to the World across platforms. Blogs, social media platforms, review sites, videos and a lot more are branches to the root of your communication.

Marketing your stationery products online has a potential to offer you a variety of benefits. Spreading the word about your stationery business can lead to increased sales, fans and identity across. Social Media also allows you to stay in touch with existing customers, which can help you develop long-term relationships with loyal customers. Many stationery brands like ITC Classmate, Faber Castell, Staedtler, Staples, Post It, Scotch, Pentel, Crane & Co. etc. implementing social media strategies into branding & marketing effectively. Marketing is measurable; therefore, one can track and re-use the marketing strategies that produce the maximum return on investment for your stationery products business.

Social media integration into the stationery sector sounds as a challenging factor but when blended together with appropriate strategy and planning, it exhibited flavourful outcomes. As a stationery sector one must talk about the strength of social media and using internet as a marketing tool with an emphasis on synergizing the paper with the online.

Have a look at how some of the Stationery brands are shining on Social Media:

ITC Classmate

Classmate has gradually evolved with its successful presence across social media platforms. Its presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has added a silver lining to its cloud of products, services and offerings. Its loved by students and appreciated for its approach.

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Staples

Staples is the world’s largest office products company and a trusted source for office solutions. It provides products, services and expertise in the categories of office supplies, technology, furniture, Copy & Print, and cleaning and breakroom. It has achieved a great recognition on Social Media.

Facebook – India

Facebook – US

Staedtler

Post-it

Faber Castell

Faber Castell is a leading stationery company which offers range of colouring and writing instruments for schools and offices. It exports to over forty countries and has seven manufacturing units across India producing high quality products, safe for children and environment.

Twitter

Moving on there’s Crane & co., a stationery brand that has implemented immensely beautiful innovation and design into its products. It is very active on Social Media and a very inspiring brand of the industry.

Crane & Co. is a well known brand in stationery and innovations.

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

User experience should be the top priority in order to acquire the best fans to your brand and in turn retain them with the best social approach. The digital connection that is efficiently blending into the world of stationery brands is evident across multiple platforms. This is further creating an amazing digital impact on stationery design and messaging that the manufacturers & retailers do to market and promote the products.

A social shift like this is a major driving force for this era, whether its Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, every platform is playing a great role in connecting the consumers to one another trying to fit their brands into their digitized and communication grid.

Now the question evolves what if consumers talk negative about your brand or business? The hidden fact here is that if your marketing has been strong to reach them, they will at some point talk about your business, be it positive or negative. They might have had a poor experience at your store, disliked your product, or maybe their queries would have been unanswered for long. Here, you just need to address the issue, work on it and resolve it! This approach will, in times to come prevent a retailer or manufacturer from losing a customer on account of an off experience.

It is extremely essential for a Stationery Brand to connect with its consumers on all the social or digital outlets. From having a faint idea about a product to a clear understanding of the same makes a lot of difference not only for the consumers but for brands too. Allow your consumers to discover your product offerings, generate interest and in turn experience it. As a Stationery brand work towards building an emotional connection, appealing your consumer’s minds and implementing innovation in your product.

Moving on, Design is the most important key for stationery companies if they want to tap into and sustain in this tech savvy, art-loving and fast moving consumer block. A great attention is being paid to the ‘Likes’, ‘Shares’, ‘Tweets’, 140 characters, ‘Pins’ etc. by stationery brands. Perhaps, their marketing strategies are gradually blending with social media at a remarkably consistent pace.

Whatever the fusion, but stationery is turning out to be a great sector in this social space and digital culture creating wonders. Traditional techniques of approaching the stationery buyers have changed on a large scale and this fresh revolution is very much appreciated by the masses.

In the Stationery sector; design, innovation and creativity will always be the major attractions. Depicting the brand offerings in 140 characters have been and will always be a challenge for this sector. With new media changing constantly, what are the challenges that have you encountered in your social media marketing as an Entrepreneur or a Brand manager? Will your ‘stationery’ brand no more be ‘stationary’ and successfully be on a constant move to shape future communications? With so many brands on Social Media will it be able to penetrate through the brand clutter? Is your social media strategy strong enough to facilitate a real time return on investment?

Tags:Social Media, Stationery Brands on Social Media, Stationery Sector, Stationery sector on Social Media
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