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Social Reinforcements For Trade Fairs

Thursday, November 15th, 2012

When it comes to trade fairs and/or exhibitions, employing a sturdy social media strategy ensures that the on-ground face-to-face efforts by an organisation goes down smoothly and reflects a desirable quantifiable output. In spite of the proliferation of social media into almost all aspects of business, there are still places like trade shows (a place where the brand comes alive in the physical world for user/customer experience) which leaves an enormous scope for social media to jump right in and augment a favourable impression as a product/service of consumer choice.

Having said that, careful and meticulous planning often goes into effect before the actual booth is setup at the event. Social media strategies are hence, usually prepared well in advance and are devised in three stages; pre-event, at the event and post event. Here we look at some of the ways in which trade fairs/exhibitions are leveraging few of most popular platforms out there on the social network.

Facebook:

The big daddy of social networks is the first platform that comes up in discussions when a social media strategy is being discussed for an upcoming trade fair. Understandably so, Facebook is a platform where it is possible to tap on to a vast reserve of existing as well as potential customers owing singularly to the massive reach and expanse.

Pre-Event:

Setting up an exclusive event page is the first step in creating a presence on the social map. This should ideally happen a few months prior to the actual day of the event. A careful screening of potential attendees, individuals or groups, has to be done prior to event invites being sent out.

Once the page is set up and invites sent out, content pertaining to the event has to be posted from time to time to spark discussions among the attendees. Having compelling content on the page is the one of the key measures to ensure the audience does not lose interest in the event. It could be anything that concerns the trade fair. From fun trivia about the venue, legacy of the event, increasing number of attendees to serious numbers that speak volumes about how such events and exhibitions have benefited brands and companies over time. Besides this, there could be incentive based posts that could be redeemable at the booth on the day of the fair. This would definitely add traction to the event page.

@ The Event:

Continue the pace set during the pre-event by posting pictures, candid moments, interviews etc. on to the event page. At this stage, the focus should be at the happenings at the fair and the booth in particular. A product/service showcase to the customers at the booth and in the venue is the real time experience that is going to drive sales, eventually.

Post-Event:

This is one of the most crucial stages that cannot be overlooked as it is in this stage that one mines out data, information and cues that determines what/how the next trade fair should go down. On the event page, it is important to keep the dialogue and engagement going on. This serves as a goldmine of insights as the page conversations are evaluated for customer likes/dislikes, needs and wants. Not to mention the frequent follow up lets the audience know that they’re valued and their say is taken into consideration by the firm to come up with products/services that are more aligned to their interests.

Twitter:

The rapidly growing real-time social networking and micro-blogging platform is the key to win loyal and potential customers in the long run.

Pre-Event:

Generate ample amount of awareness and anxiety by running tradeshow #hashtag campaigns to feature in trends. While the awareness is in the process of building, follow partners, associates, sponsors, decision makers and key influencers and follow their movements about Twitter. Run contests and sponsored ads or promoted tweets, if the budget permits and engage with the potential audience while answering queries. Share links about the trade shows and practices from the past from time to time along with the brands that are to be present at the fair. This way, participating brands and companies will also gain enough traction besides returning the favour and highlighting their presence at the trade fair.

@ The Event:

Create topics according to the brands present at the fair and host contests while engaging in quick real time plays. Keeping the followers on the move by encouraging them to participate builds up the tempo and lets the tradeshow trend and gain recognition from other similar tradeshows. A plus side to this is that it falls under the non-participating brand scanner and highlights the potential of the tradeshow to provide a ready set of customers at the next installment of the same. Hence, an increased possibility of tie-ups with more brands and companies.

Post-Event:

Tweet links to the happenings at the event. Interviews, customer-engagement with staff, photos of participants of various contests etc. usually let the followers know that they are not forgotten. Engage with them and make new connections based on leads generated at the event. In fact the regularity and frequency of engagement is one of the key ingredients that go into building up the tempo for the next year. Gauge the results of engagement by getting to know exact numbers of followers gained. There are many online analytics available that throw out such data.

Linkedin:

Linkedin is undoubtedly one of the best social networking platforms where the business networkers and professionals of the world get together to chart a dynamic convergence of ideas pertaining to business growth and opportunities. Let’s see how this forum helps in popularising the trade fairs.

Pre-Event:

Trade shows are all about giving a physical facelift to business and professional connections and in the process, expanding the pool of potential customers and brand evangelists. Since it is relatively easier to profile individuals on Linkedin than other forums, the first order connections of the trade fair group should ideally be the first ones to receive invites. Needless to say, invites could be sent out to other similar groups of interest too. Besides this, adequate buzz created well in advance through posts and engagement with brand or other trade show groups would enable a top-of-the-mind recall.

@ The Event:

Update the group profile with grabs from interviews of the brand representatives at the booth; build up on the engagement by tagging brand pages of brands that are hosting a booth at the tradeshow. This increases synergy and the potential customer base that is part of these discussions on groups could even migrate to the tradeshow group for exchange of ideas, contacts and know-how.

Post-Event:

Convert the leads generated during the fair and build up on the newly formed first order connections. Share and welcome ideas and feedback from them. It is also possible to keep the activity on the page abuzz by talking on various topics on brand marketing, product features, customer service etc.

YouTube |Blogs | Pinterest | Foursquare:

Apart from the big three platforms in the social media space, trade fairs could use a combination of few of these prominent channels to maximize their impression in one, two, or across all the three stages. Say for instance, if the fair is showcasing brands that are high on design factor, it makes sense to create boards on Pinterest during the Pre-Event stage. Visual presentation of the booths or products creates a slight spur in the minds of attendees or potential customers and aids in better reception at the event.

Foursquare, the location based geo-targeting social networking platform allows to place the trade fair (venue) on the map. Creating a check-in venue prior to the event and following it up with quick contests keeps the audience on the hook. Give away goodies for check-ins and put out customised badges till the actual day of the event to build buzz, all the while keeping the audience on the hook.

Also, having a dedicated blog and YouTube channel only adds up to the appeal of an event. Blogging early prior to the live fair, sets a voice. This establishes what the trade fair is going to be about, what people could hope to be greeted with, the purpose and all that goes into making it a grand success story. To aid the blog, a micro-site is often set up alongside in order to hold contests, share information, audio-visual links, photo gallery etc. and let people keep a tab on the pulse of the fair. A YouTube channel meanwhile could be used to showcase video clippings of previous years. For the current running of the trade fair, live feed could be telecasted to those who are not physically present at the venue. Interviews with brand managers, representatives at the booth and customer interaction and contests could be uploaded post the event to have a go-to archive at any point in time for reference.

Do you think trade fairs stand to benefit from these strategies? What are some of the ways in which you think trade fairs can use social media better? Although integration and having the right social mix is what must have crossed every social media strategist’s mind, how do you think these platforms stock up in the long run?

Tags:@ The Event, Blogs, brand visibility, customer interation, exhibitions, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, micro-site, Pinterest, Post-Event, Pre-Event, trade fairs, trade shows, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Research | No Comments »

When Luxury Got A Social Facelift

Saturday, September 15th, 2012

Hospitality was not among the sectors which were early adopters of social media but now it’s become an integral part of their marketing and other activities, and more importantly for the online reputation management and customer relationships. Previously, the online activities of hotels, apart from their own website, were limited to all they can do on TripAdvisor; but the scenario is fast changing. The most important thing in hospitality industry is to provide a personal touch while servicing customers and social media has been spearheading the efforts. Here’s a look at how the hospitality players could leverage (and are leveraging) the social medium.

Building the brand with effective Online Reputation Management

In today’s scenario, travelers are voicing and seeking opinions on review sites, social networks and blogs, propelling the relevance of online reputation to a level of importance that rivals price, location and brand in influencing purchase decisions. And thus, it is necessary to create an end to end process to effectively manage the online reputation of and to enhance the overall online health of the brand which in turn influences the traveler’s choice in selecting a hotel.

ITC Hotels built a three-fold strategy for the same and cracked it:

1. A real time reporting mechanism to track and monitor all relevant mentions across platforms.

2. Identify & engage with bloggers, travelers, & other influencers to generate credible online positive impressions.

3. Engaging with guests in real time by tacking foursquare check-ins and tweets, and effective conflict resolution over Twitter.

Building credibility with Foursquare concierge:

Ritz Carlton took and interesting and indirect approach to use Foursquare by creating a concierge on the platform. They simply put exclusive tips at the places around their properties are situated. With having presence in multiple locations and countries it is mammoth task, but sure worth the effort as it gives their visitors (and other Foursquare users too) a perfect ‘local experience’. For this purpose they created a Ritz Carlton page on Foursquare and started posting interesting tips about nearby landmarks, restaurants, and hidden gems for each of their 75 locations. It was to serve a dual purpose of guiding their guests through the real world, and also to extend their brand to the larger foursquare community. Within a week of launching this campaign, their Foursquare page gained 1000+ followers.

Building online properties to increase brand recall:

ITC Hotels again have recently started two weekly activities #WineWednesday and #InspiringTastes on twitter. The objective of both the activities is to create valuable content and information for the audience on twitter around the subjects ‘wine’ and ‘food’ respectively. Both properties have three levels of activities:

1. Tweeting exclusive tips, information on the subject.

2. Organizing interactive Tweet-Chats with experts on topics and answer audience queries.

3. Organizing physical Tweet-Ups on the subjects.

Currently, both the activities are in the inception stage but they are gradually picking up pace with a 200% retweet rate and a reach of 25000+ for an hour long interactive TweetChat with 10+ audience questions.

Social Loyalty Programs:

It is a known fact that acquiring a new customer costs 5-10 times more than selling to an existing customer. An effective social loyalty program establishes this as a proven fact and while a lot of hotel properties are creating shockwaves in the space there remains still a huge segment who are still exploring their options.

The only difference in simple loyalty program and social loyalty program is in the former points are earned on every purchase, and in the later points are earned for every social action i.e. share, like, comment etc. While helping repeat sales the social loyalty program is also an important tool to increase the social mentions of the brand, and thus the reach and voice.

Following are the two key things to be kept in mind while creating a social loyalty program:

1. Simple point system: never-ever confuse the audience with complex systems.

2. Keep a tier-system in place: the rewards should increase exponentially for loyal customers.

What do you think about some of these campaigns? Do you think they are potent enough to grab eyeballs? Share your views on the same in the comments section below. It’s always great to hear from you all.

Tags:food, Foursquare, Hotels, ITC, Loyalty, Online Reputation Management, Ritz-Carlton, strategy, wine
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

Reality Shows Pack a Social Punch

Saturday, September 1st, 2012

Let’s admit it. Social media has radically changed the way content is consumed and enjoyed. Entertainment too, has fallen prey to its charms. Television being the biggest and the most prominent source of entertainment has undergone a sea-change when it comes to doling out programmable content. Leading the pack are the reality shows that have almost single handedly outweighed other scripted programs. And these reality shows provide an excellent opportunity for integrating social media to enhance viewers’ experience.

Viewer engagement gets a boost in the arm:

The ulterior purpose of getting onto the social media band wagon for any reality TV show is to get more viewers and creating better viewing experiences. For the most part this would mean how a show could engage fans and hold their interest in stead. Through various social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube etc. the reality shows could harvest some fame beyond the accepted limited shelf life of such series.

Setting up the command center:

Facebook, the biggest and the most ubiquitously popular social networking site of all could lay the foundation for any reality show and serve as their command centre. A dedicated page on the website could be the base during the pre-launch days to create buzz. The pre-launch buzz could be created by an announcement on the brand’s (channel’s reality show) page, followed by Facebook ads that appear across profiles. The initial profile of contestants and judges during this stage would let the audience choose their favourite and build up anxiety and anticipation.

While it airs on the TV, this same page could be used to get the audience talking in real time and post the airing of an episode, the build up to the next episode could kick off here besides being aided by promotions on other parallel social platforms. Once the show has commenced, episode specific updates in real time could keep the audience connected to the show. In case the show is a competition of sorts, then at this stage the brand page could be used for polls and voting. Activities such as debates around contestant behavior could be initiated. One could even bring in innovative gaming and engaging content in sync with the theme to propel interactivity and increased stay on the page. In fact, by employing other real-time platforms further more engagement can be built upon (We’ll talk about it in a moment).

Post each episode or season, the highlights could be shared here and the fans could be encouraged to comment by sharing their opinions on the episode and their expectations from the next in the row.

Establishing visual reinforcement:

YouTube by its nature is engaging and has its features aligned to that of a reality television show which makes it more so a medium to be engaging the show’s audience. A dedicated channel with a customized background and video clips of various contestants, hosts and judges could keep the audience on the hook when they’re not actually watching the episode.

From previews and highlights to inside peaks and behind the scenes of episodes to post episode/season reviews and guest speaks the show could have a lingering effect in the minds of its target audience. Integrating it with channels and sharing such videos will potentially lure in others and help expanding the viewer base.

Readers would agree that gripping viral videos are stellar performers when it comes to creating awareness and increase viewership, as recent history bears testament to it. Similar viral video content based on the show’s theme, or even candid moments and bloopers, could prove to do wonders for the brand and what better place to start than the brand’s YouTube channel, a warehouse of all video content related to the show?

Lock, load and explode:

Twitter and Foursquare, again, in the geo-location and real time domain are the leading social networking sites. Considering the fact that the shelf life of a reality show is rather limited vis-à-vis a scripted TV program, with the show’s presence on a dedicated page on twitter or through integration with Foursquare, the brand could tap on the real time engagement during the show and get an estimated geo-targeted reach.

While twitter will keep the audience engaged in real time by making them a part and parcel of the show by gauging their response and cues, foursquare would enable the brand to know where there select audience check in from time to time. This could prove to be quite a handy research tool to determine the content the audience prefers by tapping on their psychographics and in the long run, to be treated as primary research for future projects.

An interesting concept, for use of such real time platform could be, audience round, where people on Twitter are asked to suggest next action or performance and then the participants of the reality show having to execute the same. This would probably be the highest form of engagement that the audience can have with their favourite shows.

The day after tomorrow:

The success of reality shows like the American Idol, So you think you can dance and closer home shows like MTV Roadies, Satyamev Jayate, Indian Idol, Big Boss etc. gives us a fair understanding how these shows are doing social media right.

For instance, Aamir Khan who made his debut on Indian Television with Satyamev Jayate, received a phenomenal response from both fans and critics and the social media literally exploded. Right after the first episode, the show’s website received 42, 000 likes on Facebook. To capitalize on the buzz, the debut episode was made available on the website for viewing right after the telecast. The episodes were in due course uploaded on the channel’s YouTube page for those who might have missed out on the live telecast.

In fact, the synergy of reality TV shows and social media is turning out to be such a crowd puller that it has been recently announced that the producers of American Idol, will release their latest reality TV series on Facebook in a move that would truly be historic. A Chance to Dance is slated to be the first TV show to air on the social network and cable channel at the same time. According to Dean Alms, VP of marketing at Milyoni, that is building the social entertainment software on Facebook, “Reality TV can take advantage of the concentrated activity on social networks to build buzz around the show week to week.”

Are these signs of changing times in an age where reality TV shows are trying to grab a bigger portion of the (audience) pie? You decide. Let us know what you think of the integration of social media with reality shows as a measure to create that difference.

Tags:American Idol, Facebook, Foursquare, MTV Roadies, Reality Shows, Satyamev Jayate, TV Channels, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

The Mighty Olympian Social Network

Saturday, August 4th, 2012

In social media, all kinds of community events have found their second wind, and it’s a powerful one at that. The pics-or-it-didn’t-happen phenomenon coerces the most reluctant/ clueless of users to document major developments around them online. There’s no reason for me to wax poetic about the sheer strength of social media, except to remind you that if you’ve ever done something remotely stupid in public in the past few years, chances are you’re an internet celebrity and you don’t even know it.

The kind of publicity that social media affords brands is mind blowing in itself, and for an affair such as the Olympics, the possibilities were endless. Thankfully, the Olympics committee acknowledged this and, much in advance to the events, put the following plans together, apart from updating the usual Twitter and Facebook feeds:

1) Athletes Hub – An aggregator app allowing users to follow athletes and gain badges combined with a live feed of users’ interaction dubbed ‘Live From The Village’.

2) Instagram – With over 400 Olympians already on Instagram, and scores of users feverishly sharing anything remotely Olympics-related, setting up an Instagram profile was an obvious step. The profile has gained extreme momentum, rising from the 25,000 followers before the Games began to the current 95,000 (and counting).

3) Tumblr – One of the most exciting and rewarding steps taken by the committee are its 4 official Tumblr pages – Faces of Olympians, Olympic Fashion, Olympic Moments (highly recommended!) and the feed aggregator.

4) Foursquare: Specials introduced enabling 4sq users to win free tickets to the Games, upon checking in to a venue.

Google+ was duly ignored despite the 1.6+ million users the IOC boasts. Just as well.

That isn’t so hard to believe since the opening ceremony that threw every single British thing against the wall in hopes of something sticking, and it did. Apart from a bazillion farm animals, this Danny Boyle-designed psychosis incorporated a model of Glastonbury Tor, two mosh pits, and the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world. But the fun didn”t stop there, because it”s not an Opening Ceremony unless a 40-foot-tall Voldemort does battle with 30 Mary Poppinses.

Also, when Mr. Bean helps you open the ceremony with the theme from Chariots of Fire? That, dear sir, is a thing to behold.

Did it outdo China”s terrifying show of synchronicity from 2008?

Well, the opening ceremony alone resulted in more than 9.66 million related tweets, which is more than the entire Beijing Olympics in 2008. To be fair, the social networking giant was in its infancy back then, but the massive numbers means it”s safe to say this Twitter phenomenon might have some staying power.

Olympics have been brought back to life via a slew of YouTube videos, too, although most of them focus largely on the more important facets of the Games, such as an over-enthusiastic Games’ worker who you’d heart, the rollercoaster-esque (and HILARIOUS )expressions of a US gymnast’s parents watching her compete, or an Olympic-themed water-gun fight. However, live feeds of various news broadcasters have proven more than sufficient to stay updated constantly, while Indian media takes a fast-and-loose approach towards TV broadcasting.

The fervor with which the interwebz have dived into everything that’s Games’-related, from the severely unfortunate uniforms of Spanish Olympians to the mega-wave of joy that went through all of Facebook and Twitter in India over winning the only medal we have yet, this year, (Gagan Suneja – shooting) is far from astonishing.

Although, if it gets tiresome after a while you can always take pointers off of this gorilla.

Tags:Athletes hub, Beijing, campaigns, Foursquare, Instagram, London, Olympics, Social Media, Tumblr
Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Sky is the limit with Social Media

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

Aviation industry has always looked at doing things in their marketing plan that can match the service quality that they offer in their flights. With increasing cost of advertising and marketing, innovating in these areas would only add to the ever increasing cost of the industry. Social Media, hence, has emerged as a very feasible platform for the industry.

Getting your routes right

Social Media engagement has allowed airlines to create awareness about their flight route. Effective planning has not only made the brand come out with better recall but also enabled an increased awareness of its network.

Cathay Pacific used Facebook to build awareness about its network with an interesting yet simple ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ contest. Participants were invited to create their flight pattern across the world in 80 days using the airlines network and one lucky winner was rewarded with their plan. The contest not only generated a lot of buzz about the airlines but also helped in increasing the airlines recall value in previously unknown sectors.

Cathay Pacific ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ Contest

Friendly Flier

The idea of getting onto social media is to reach out to as many probable customers as possible and what better way to do that by crowd sourcing your customers. Cebu Pacific invited people on its page to fill an entire aircraft with friends and the ones who filled the aircraft in the shortest possible time were given a free flight to a chosen destination.

The campaign saw an exponential increase in the number of participants. And a sharp hike in the brand likeability quotient. What it also did in the process was give the airlines a lot of probable customers which was at the core of any campaign.

Cebu Pacific ‘Fly One, Fly All, Fly Free’ Campaign

Lift off before take off

KLM airlines realized that a flight experience starts way before the passenger boards the aircraft. The journey begins the moment the flier reaches the airport. The Dutch airline’s ‘Surprise campaign’ aimed at delighting passengers in a most unconventional way. Customers checking into the airport through either Foursquare or twitter were handed over surprise gifts ranging from champagne, city guides, travel related gifts etc. The ‘happiness album’ was later uploaded on Facebook for their friends to see.

KLM ‘Surprise’ Campaign

The result of this camapign was phenominal. ‎By reaching out to just 28 passengers in 3 weeks, over a million social media impressions were generated! The campaign was rated amongst one of the best social media campaigns of the year. It also propelled the image of airlines sky high.

In flight entertainment

While a lot of airlines decide to go the extra mile with their in-flight entertainment, few would have thought of the route taken by Finnair. On board their flight from Helsinki to New Delhi on 26^th January 2012, the flight attendants broke into an impromptu dance on a hindi song, dressed in indian costume and matching every step from a bollywood movie. A video was shot soon after take off was duly uploaded in no time on various social media platforms.

Celebrating Indian Republic Day on board Finnair

The result was an astonishing 4.4 million hits in less than a month. Now, that’s some mileage the airlines attained with the least possible investment. It also endeared the brands to many Indians traveling to Europe.

Ground Control

Lots of airports have also jumped onto the social media bandwagon. They realize the opportunity to interact with the fliers and getting crowd sourced information about the maintenance of the terminal was never so easy.

Delhi Airport Facebook Update

It also gave the terminals an opportunity to become a friendlier place than the earlier notion of a cold garish cube structure where people only came in to go out as quickly as possible. With the terminals changing in the way they operate, the platform provides these establishments a way to inform the travelers about all the possible luxuries and opportunities that await them while they are in the terminal.

Touch Down

With the aviation sector looking in every possible direction to cut cost, social media provides them with a tool that can help them reach out to a lot more customers at much lower cost. It also provides them with the opportunity to extend the brand association from just a few hours of flying to a much longer duration, thus, enhancing the brand recall.

Tags:Airlines, Airports, Aviation, Cathay Pacific, Delhi, Facebook, Finnair, Foursquare, KLM
Posted in Brand Promotion, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Trends to look out for in 2012

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

The year 2011 has borne witness too many ups and downs and dynamism in the world of Social Media. Radical changes in the interface for two of the most ubiquitously popular Social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, Klout’s remarkable drop in the ranks, Google+ and Facebook in close encounters, viral videos being recognised as a potent medium to catch eyeballs, augmented reality entering the Social Media Space et al.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which brands could maximize user engagement in the year to come.

Social Media as a 360° Brand Promotion Enabler:

Social Media platforms would be expected to aggravate and play a greater role in enabling a 360° communication. When efficiently integrated with outdoor activation and ATL communication it could lead brands to have a much enhanced user engagement with their potential consumers.

This could have a twofold approach. One, a campaign solely triggered on the social media platform supported by an ATL medium could be a building block to establish a much larger audience base. Two, campaigns initially launched on the mass media vehicles and later on reinforced by the social media. There are enough and more examples of brands that have been practicing these two strategies internationally. In India, the scope is huge considering that not many players are either not aware of the potency of combining SM with ATL or they are plain wary.

A look at Aviva’s ‘the big picture’ campaign where Aviva highlighted stories of their customers, partners and employees and brought alive the brand promise of individual recognition, gives us the idea of integrated campaigns that can be done. Entries were invited through Facebook where interested people could submit their photos and get a chance to feature on building facades of 6 big cities of the world. A classic campaign that that got triggered through the social media and supported by outdoor activation.

Aviva’s ‘Donate a Picture’ Outdoor Campaign

Another interesting campaign took place post the inflammatory tweet made by English cricketer Michael Vaughan about Vaseline. Vaseline spawned a campaign in defense of its brand identity and reinforced the message through facebook, where supporters were asked to tag themselves on the page. Needless to say, the campaign did steer in favour of Vaseline’s brand identity and generated a lot of positive reviews.

Print Facebook Ad

Google+ Hangout:

Although relatively new in the arena of Social Media, Google+ Hangout, in all probabilities is a great platform that Google+ could provide brands to create a niche user engagement. Brands, businesses, movies, musicians etc. are always on a lookout to grow their fan base. Internationally Dell and Macy’s have already used Google + hangout successfully to provide customer service and engage with their target audience base face to face. The Muppets (movie) had collaborated with Google+ hangout to create a pre-release.

Characters from ‘The Muppets’ on Google+ Hangout with the makers

In the Indian context, Google+ hangout is still at a very nascent stage. Barring a few popular incidences like Shah Rukh Khan doing a Google+ hangout for his Ra.one, cricketer Virender Sehwag catching up with fans etc., for many brands Google + hangout is still a gold mine waiting to be explored.

Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor on Google+ Hangout with fans

Google+ hangout provides 2 options for hangout: private and public. Although it has limitations on the number of people in a group who could participate in a hangout (10), if carefully planned out, a brand could really build a relationship with its customer/potential customer/stakeholder.

Viral Videos as an Attraction Enabler:

Viral videos have been a talk of the town for many years now, including the year gone by. 2012 will only see it emerging further up the ranks of a marketer’s favourite way to garner attention.

Again, looking closely into the aspect of how many brands are actually doing it and creating enough buzz in the local scenario is important. Internationally brands have been using viral videos to develop pre-launch, launch time, post launch videos at regular intervals and provide exciting content for their consumers that can further grow with the word of mouth.

For example, T-mobile did a pre-planned flash-mob invade Liverpool St train station in London and made a crowd groove to some funky beats. The sheer number of views on their official channel itself were in the tune of 15 million+. Let alone other social networking sites. Closer home, HUL’s Dove evolution’s stop motion video that talks about having self-esteem and keeping it real went viral and in the first year itself it got around 12 million+ hits.

Click on the image below to check out the video:

The point is, there are many brands in India that have still not recognised the potential of a

video in either directly or subtly present the brand to its audience. The recent success of an

Insanely popular video, ‘why this kolaveri di’ is a proof how the film makers of the south Indian film, ‘3’ utilized social network as a pre buzz marketing tool and are soon to set the cash registers ringing.

Location Based sites as a Market Research tool:

Much has been talked about the efficacy of location based Social networking sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, BOOYA, Google Latitude etc. The year 2011 has seen a steady rise in the number of ‘check ins’ happening across platforms. In fact, despite not being able to take off as expected by all, Facebook places has also had a decent number of people checking in through this feature, introduced not so long ago. The point being, geosocial networking is growing fast and is expected to go full throttle in 2012 in all likelihood.

Considering that there is an ever increasing footfall on these LBSN sites, the possibility of using such platforms as a market research tool is quite huge. Tracking the usage and the check in patterns of users and the titles that they win when they check in is just the start. Recognise people’s check in patterns at various locations and earmark them to do related brand promotions.

For e.g.: Considering the demographic profile of a group of users who checks in at a TGIF at regular intervals could be potential customers for say an energy brand like a Red Bull or Cloud 9. Triggering a promo campaign at the POS could be one of the things that could be done. Organising contests, quizzes with a definite brand agenda in mind is just some of the other things what associated brands could look into.

Foursquare Check In

Augmented Reality integration into Social Media:

Augmented Reality has been quite a buzz word in the advertising circles lately. A lot many premium brands have already jumped on to the band wagon recognizing it as a key driver to brand communication and customer engagement. And coming from the understanding that most of them would mostly be live on mobile space in delivering relevant targeted content in a contextual environment, it makes more sense for us in India to tap into that.

Augmented reality has already been here in India and brands like Nike and Ford Figo have already demonstrated the use of quick response codes in their various print campaigns. AR essentially brings alive the dormant senses that usually are not quite active for traditional mass media dissemination channels.

AR for social media is to soon see a rise in 2012 based on the ever increasing presence of the target audience on various social networking sites. A simple .jpeg could contain coded information which when integrated with mobile applications could provide a much engaging experience for users.

For example, Volkswagen’s all new Beetles’ ‘Juiced up’ campaign where Augmented Reality was used to bring alive the spirit of car that was all over the hoardings. All one had to do was point their mobile devices enabled with a decoding app and see the all new Beetle do what it does best. Thrill.

Click on the image below to check out the video:

Although it cannot be said with surety how successful the aforementioned trends are going to be, riding high on the waves of last year’s success stories, they seemingly hold promise. A meticulous and timely dissemination of the message at the right time could spell wonder for brands.

Tags:360 Communication, ATL, Augmented Reality, BTL, Digital, Foursquare, Google, Hangout, Shah Rukh Khan, Social Media, Viral
Posted in Brand Promotion, Predictions, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Research | 3 Comments »

An offer you cannot resist

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

By the time this post is up, Facebook would have already launched its next tool for world domination. Facebook Deals went live in 5 test market cities in USA on the night of 25th April 2011. With it, Facebook hopes, it will give 600 million users more reason to stay on Facebook even when they are outside or visiting a store.

What’s the deal?

Facebook Deals offers Facebook users’ access to Deals which are a steep discount to the actual price of the product. This is in addition to the earlier check-in based deals offer on Facebook Places. Now Facebook Deals will allow you to purchase a voucher on Facebook Deals itself and then redeeming it at the store. You can also check into a place and claim your discount using your phone application.

Each deal will have a separate landing page. Users can opt in to receive updates on their news feed about deals that are running close to their location. Once you spot the deal that you want, you can go to that deal page, like the deal, share the deal and/or purchase the deal right away using either a credit card or Facebook Credits. Once you have done so, you get a voucher that can then be used at the store.

A screenshot of a landing page for a Deal

Other than this, the old system of checking into a store and finding the available deals will also be retained in all likelihood. This will help Facebook not only target Groupon but also take on Foursquare through its Facebook Places application

Facebook Places Deal Application Screen

How should brands deal with it?

As a brand, this is another opportunity to reach out to your clients. Creating something that users can enjoy with their friends is something which gives maximum benefit of using Facebook as a marketing platform.

People like doing things with friends. Brands can use Deals on Facebook to offer people unique social experiences that they can share and enjoy together. Offering these experiences can bring more people to your business. Deals are a valuable new way to reach customers and build loyalty. Encourage people to share their excitement about the experience you’re providing, not just the discount you’re offering.

Why Deal with it?

For a start, Deals are going to be free as for now. Like any other Facebook offering, a free exposure to 600 million people is incentive enough to try it out. More so, it makes sense when you get the Facebook marketing team to push and promote your offer.

This will help in creating a buzz about your brand and more importantly, for the first time, offer direct sales opportunity via Facebook. All this time, when brands where wondering on how to gauge the ROI of Social Media Marketing, especially on Facebook , now is the time to cash in on the fan base and push deals.

Also, keep in mind the virality of the exposure your brand can get through this. Each person on Facebook has 130 friends on average, which means that if someone purchases a deal from you, that information can spread quickly and naturally on Facebook. Imagine if these 130 people share or buy your deal with their friends. These actions can help spread the word about your business to all of the friends of these 130 people through News Feed stories, Wall posts, and personal messages. And, because these stories are coming from a trusted network, people will be more likely to pay attention to what you’re offering.

Last but not least of all, use Deals to make your business a place where loyal customers bring their friends. Deals focuses on helping your business provide unique social experiences so that people are interested in what you have to offer, not just the discount you’re offering. Build long lasting relationships by offering people unique things to do with those that matter most in their lives.

Tags:Credits, Deals, Facebook, Foursquare, Groupon, Places, ROI
Posted in Brand Promotion, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

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