Case Study: Brand Integration into Corporate Communication

Hindustan Colas, a subsidiary of Hindustan Petroleum approached us to help them create the cover of their annual report along with other corporate collaterals.

In one word line, Hincol makes ‘Better Roads’. Their philosophy is focussed on using New Technology to take India, International.

The simple idea that we came up with is to make the communication do only 1 thing – showcase the benefit that the company brings forth in the road building eco system.

The creative was such that we used 2 qualities of paper for the cover of the annual report. One is a paper with textured quality which is the ‘rough’ side of the road and the other is a smooth glossy paper which depicts the result of the road made by Hincol. The copy simply said ‘We Make the Difference’. The communication was greatly appreciated because at most points, the audience is likely to feel both sides of the cover and it very aptly conveys what the company does.

Here is the visual of the creative with the front and the back cover of the annual report (click for a larger view)

Kudos to the creative and design team. Shrutti Garg, Sanket Avlani and Suveer Bajaj were involved in the ideation and execution process. Inputs were delivered by Pratik Gupta and Harshil Karia.

Do lend us your thoughts on what you think about the concept.

Watch our Champu Ban Gaya Champion Video for Blue Bus Tees

Our in – house hero Digs, the fabulous voice of Parth, and a great client led to an enjoyable video!

Find great tees as http://www.bluebustees.com

Visit FoxyMoron to know more about our services!

Social Media Marketing Insights: After a year’s experience!

Unlike most of my blogs, other blogs on befoxy.in or general blogs; this particular post is more of an insightful & explanatory one. To start of, FoxyMoron does offer Social Media Marketing & Social Media Optimization as a service. This encompasses various portals such as:

1. Social Networks,
2. Video Sites,
3. Microsites,
4. Microblogging & Microtexting,
5. Blogs,
6. Wikis,
7. Q&A Forums.

Over the past year we have gone through numerous clients for whom either FoxyMoron, or its team members have executed campaigns, consulted or pitched to. These include: ICICI Lombard, BJP, Congress, United Nations’ office in India, Indian Tourism Ministry, Virgin Mobile, Cadbury, HSBC, Grazia Magazine, Imperial Group of Hotels, Deskaway, Force India and Delhi Daredevils amongst many.

Amongst the many things that we have learned one thing is of utmost importance: Strategy & Pitching!

Now clients always ask, “Im on Facebook, Twitter & You Tube. Why cant I do all this on my own?” The difference is what you will get is an amaturish campaign if done by yourself & a more professional one if done by us. But what does this mean? The difference comes in when you’re deciding which platforms to use? How to integrate all platforms used? Which one to give more impetus to? How to market via Social Media without luring away the masses?

To be honest initially we had no professional clue of Social Media Marketing. We thought it was as simple as creating groups on Facebook; creating generic & branded groups with the clients’ name & ancillary ones on related topics. Then mass inviting your friends & using already created personal groups to drive numbers to these newly created groups. Once the numbers were enough as promised to the client send out 1 mass message with the message of the client. Period.

Effective? Proffesional? Ethical? Long term sustainable?

NO!

Overtime after trying & testing multiple methods & strategies, we finally have come to ascertain that:
Social Media Marketing isnt marketing actually, its communication. Its like suddently brands & companies can use another platform to communicate with the masses. Online is similar to any other platform, for instance TV gives brands a chance to have a 1 way interaction & show them a video clip [advertising] or get their brand ambassador to give an interview on a leading news channel [Public Relations]; same for Radio, Print & Outdoor.

Clients, agencies, companies & media houses should not look upon ‘Online’ as a quick boost to their already running offline campaign. The power of online shouldn’t be dismissed & harnessed this way. It requires a whole new & different approach, perspective & objectives. What you can achieve via online media cannot be achieved through any other.

By using all the above named portals correctly brands can generate enough traction, buzz & online traffic. They can build something that cannot be achieved via any other media. They can create loyalists, they can have interactive campaigns, they can have interactive communication & discussions, they can test marketing campaigns before launched into any other form of media, they can choose their method of communication & platform, they can be very specific to target audience demographics & they can chose a variety of methods: Videos, Photos, Blogs, MicroBlogs, Groups, Fanpages, Q&As, etc.

Clients & Brands shouldnt sign into Facebook, type a big brand’s name in the search bar, see of 3,000,000 people fans of it & then expect the same to be replicated here. Here is a message to them, listen Mr, “Its not the same! It cannot be done by waving a wand!”

Amidst this mass confusion, we at FoxyMoron have deplored & finalized on what exactly we are going to do, our Standard Operating Procedures, our research methods, our deliverables that we can promise & our method of functioning & with whom.

What services in SMM do we offer now:

1. Talk: Creating online methods of communication for brands.
2. Hear: Generating feedback & discussions between consumers & brands.
3. Think: Thinking & implementing online activation campaigns. [Such as Lipton's Stay-Sharp.in]

At the end of the day we must all realize that Social Networks are not for marketers to exploit & spam with their corporate-ish messages. Social Media was made for people to get away from traditional methods, use new media to share, collaborate, network & communicate. It wasnt made to be marketed upon! Remember that! So the next time you send out a mass message from your facebook group, ask yourself, am I on Facebook to receive tons of marketing messages in my inbox? Thats why I always ascertain that such campaigns built around using of the above mentioned methods of spam would never be successful in the long run.

Also I dont understand why clients treat online media as any other form & dont think of it differently in terms of deliverables & expectations. Its not like you can choose a hoarding which gives you 50,000 eyeballs in a day, a TV spot with the highest TRP rating, a Radio show with the highest listenership & then dictate online marketing companies to give 500,000 members on their Facebook group at the end of the 3 months campaign. IT DOESNT WORK THAT WAY!
An online campaign is to be quality driven & not quantity! The next time an agency signs papers for an online campaign with a client, be it O&M, Lowe, Leo Burnett or any other big or small agency, numbers shouldnt be on that paper! Clients shouldnt aim at a number centric online campaign. Numbers can be achieved through other mediums. The online medium & its spends should be used only to create loyalists, an interactive & buzzed about campaign & discussions with consumers; which must I remind you is unattainable via other forms of media.

Now no doubt numbers are important to a brand, but if they want those numbers, instead of dictating numbers to the agency & having that as the only deliverable, they should rather give full creative freedom to the agency (the way Blue Bus Tees did with us, who received unimaginable results), use other forms of media as well as their corporate communication & packaging & demand a quality based ‘buzz worthy’ campaign. This itself will show the numbers. Case study: O&M India’s Vodafone ZooZoo offline + online campaign.

Our advice-

To Brands & their managers:

1. Online Media isnt the same as other forms of media so dont expect the same numbers,
2. Build your brand, get loyalists, get buzz & have interactions,
3. Synergize your offline & online campaign,
4. Your offline ad agency may not be necessarily be equipped with online & new media marketing. 

To Large Ad Agencies (who handle offline campaign):

1. Believe in new media, its growth & power,
2. Include online media while suggesting strategies & pitches to brands,
3. Sync & integrate your campaign through all medias,
4. Start giving online presence with your current offline campaigns.

To prospective start ups (in this field):

1. Keep yourself updated at all time on changes in Social Media & its constituents,
2. Dont let large agencies ’screw’ you & your resources by outsourcing tons of manual & unnecessary work for cheap rates,
3. Be smart for business development! See no one doesnt want to market & create buzz. You give anyone, big or small, a concrete strategy & breakthrough or ‘killer’ idea for high value for money & high ROI; voila! You’ve got the ball rolling.
4. Be confident of Social Media Marketing & what you are offering/pitching/selling. You will come across numerous brands & their managers who highly doubt web & Internet marketing. Be sure you have your research, numbers & case studies to prove your point.

Lastly, Be Sharp.Be Innovative.Be Foxy.

DLF IPL helps UK based Business Solutions Company. Classic case of Web Traffic Gone Wrong.

Now who would have thought the Indian Premier League would have helped traffic build on a UK based Business Solutions company? Naturally the IPL would have helped traffic grow on its sponsors, advertisers & content providers but spurring growth in a Business Solutions company based half the world away is absurd. Well its all the power of owning the correct domain.

Screenshot of search of 'IPL' on Google

So while ‘ipl’ is a rising search on Google Insights, especially ‘ipl live score’ being a rising search with +3150% growth.

www.ipl.com enjoys the benefit of this international sporting event. Its almost comical to see how there is a sudden rise in the pageviews of this website during the months of the Indian Premier League.

Note how there is sudden growth during the months of the Indian Premier League.

Whats even more absurd is the demographics of the people who visit or ‘accidently visit’ www.ipl.com:
61.9% are from India!

10.1% are from South Africa!

8.3% are from Pakistan!

4.4% are from Bangaldesh!

3.8% are from UK!

PS: Its a UK based company, serivicing clients in UK.

Now whether this has resulted in more clients for the above mentioned company or not is yet to be acertained. But definately integration of Google Ad Words onto the website would have helped them earn some revenue. I mean why not make use of this extra misguided traffic coming to your website?

Or why not auction the domain name to a high priced bidder? Because the Indian Premier League is here to say.

Does it help an Educational Institution to advertise at IPL 2?

Amongst the biggies like Vodafone, Airtel and Hero Honda emerges a TVC of a relatively new advertiser & the 1st in its field: Amity University. Its one thing to advertise on news channels & local television, but prime spots on an internationally telecast sporting event is another. The only commercial they have had so far is:

Now does it make sense for an educational institution to advertise or would they rather spend money on more productive & effective methods to roll students in?

A survey conducted by FoxyMoron, after the TVCs of Amity University had been aired, points out that 94% of the students interviewed in Mumbai & Pune have heard of Amity University.

While Amity has made itself known to the target audiences, its conversion rates are dissapointing.

As Alexa points out, Amity’s pageviews do rise during its sponsoring of the IPL, but these numbers were recorded during the same time as last year.

Whats interesting is the demographics of the people visiting Amity.

So we notice that more 18-24 year olds are viewing the website, thats good.
But why are more people with already a college graduate degree visiting the website?
In a country with a major imbalance of male:female ratio, its not shocking to see more males visiting the website.
I cannot give a logical explanation for why more people at work at viewing the website, isnt that something Amity should not be aiming for? Should they not be aiming at getting more people from home & school to view their website?
Lastly people without children are looking at Amity, so hopefully these should be students who want to study at Amity.

So was it fruitful for a local educational institution to advertise at the IPL 2, an international sporting event?

Grappo Fizz!!

“So grappo, what’s your story?” “Well, you guys evolved from apes. I evolved from grapes!!” Appy Fizz and Grappo Fizz – Two cool dinks to hang out with.

The Brand Extension of Parle Agro’s Appy Fizz to launch Grappo Fizz has created a new segment in the aerated fruit beverages market with the introduction of a fizzy grape drink labeled Grappo Fizz. At the moment, no such product  segment exists in the market, giving Parle a formidable first mover advantage in the segment.

The product launch advertisment campaign is defintiely eye catching as it manages to pick up from exactly where Appy Fizz left off with its ‘A cool drink ti have out with’ campaign. The Grappo Fizz ads take coolness to a new level with a strategic continuation of the Appy Fizz TVCs. Grappo Fizz, positioned as Appy’s cooler cousin from the fridge, takes a dig at his evolution. The lame humour creates a direct association with its TG, the urban youth, that is more than familiar with and accustomed to getting entertained by such PJs.

The ad has managed to target and appeal directly to its TG with charismatic creativity, consistency, humour, and wit. Creativeland Asia has continued the campaign through a second TVC that re-emphasizes Grappo’s coolness and gives you more reasons why you would want to hang out with him.

The creation of Appy Fizz and Grappo Fizz is a classic example of personification of brand personas depicted via ad mediums. Although this is a theoretical concept, the ‘Cool Drink to hang out with’ campaign has set the standards in brand personification in the TVC space. Correctly possitioned, Fizz has created an instantaneous and effective connect with its audience. Grappo, the UK call center returned, rapper cousin of Appy, emerges from a fridge, reming us again, how cool he is.

OMD doesn’t stop at creating awareness at the TVC level. They are shortly scheuduled to indulge in BTL activation through mass sampling activites at colleges and other ‘cool places to hang out at’. Along with the traditional activity, OMD goes a step ahead in investing in a microsite for the brands to further the interaction it has with its  TG. With the summer sweating down our necks, Agro can be bound to see a new dovoted cult of consumers who swear by the Fizz brand for more than just one reason.

With an interesting campaig, it will be fun to see how Grappo accalmaitizes to the Mumbai heat after his return from the UK call centers and whether of not Mumbai is in the mood for his UK rap!!

Samsung Gives Brands a Lesson on How to Be Successful with YouTube

What a joy to watch! Kudos to Samsung for backing the idea and putting big bucks behind it without having its logo splashed everywhere. Brand Use + Relevant Compelling Content is the key. A case study worth sharing with clients who want their logo everywhere no matter what.

Closer home, Pepsi has done something similar too.

In Canada, Visa also used such a tactic where they asked 3 artists to interpret the word GO and streamed it live at http://www.theartofgo.ca/. This reaffirms my faith that content is king!

That Intoxication! – Please do not smoke!

I draw in a glorious breath and it
fills me with satisfaction
A flick of the thumb, some smoke in the air,
Oh, the intoxication!

Out here, it’s just me and my friend.
hanging out after dark.
A quick drive round the block or a bottle of beer
or just a small walk in the park,
She’s always with me, through thick and thin,
and ever ready to help.
A flick of my thumb, some smoke in the air,
She IS the intoxication.

My parents and friends were against us,
They tried their level best.
But we stuck together through all that,
faced everyone side by side.
The days we shared together,
and then some nights too.
She’s been there for every step I took
and for every damn thing life threw,
she was there for my graduation day,
and for my first rock concert too.

She never leaves my side, come what may,
my every burden she’ll share.
My boss fired me, All my friends left me,
But she’s always been there.
Day in, day out, I consult her,
for every thought, for everything,
for every single notion.
A flick of my thumb, some smoke in the air,
what an intoxication!

A day then came when I fell sick and thought I’d had an attack.
The doc said it may be mild, nothing to worry.
But when the X-ray pictures of my lungs came,
they told a different story.
Where my lungs should be, I could see just black
and the whites were almost gone,
I could barely believe my eyes, was that really me?
Was that what happened to my body? How could I not see?
The doc asked me about my friend, about who she was,
and the kind of relationship I often shared with her.
How often we met, what we did,
he got curiouser and curiouser.

He said she had been a fairweather friend,
never seen any worse.
She had been the cause of this,
it was more than a curse.
She had stabbed me behind my back,
Punched me when I wasn’t looking.
I was blind not to recognize her for what she truly was,
A wolf in sheep’s clothing, maybe worse,
She’d stolen half my life from me,
Truly more than a curse.

I swore I’d never meet her again,
but the damage was beyond repair.
Now all I can do is try to undo what cannot be undone,
not a flick of my thumb, no more smoke in the air,
DAMN THAT INTOXICATION!

This is issued in public interest. I am neither a smoker, nor do I tolerate smoking. It’s one of the worst things you can do to your body. It starts eating away at the part that’s responsible for keeping you alive right from the first drag, and the worst part is you are so drawn into it that you fail to see what kind of damage it’s doing to your body, even when you start coughing your lungs out. The craving takes over. I’ve seen quite a few of my friends suffer from this, and barely a handful have had the willpower to quit. Quitting an addiction takes a lot of strength and it has to be done at one go. You can never “phase out” smoking. It will grip you by the throat and choke itself down to your lungs.

Transcript of the Advertising & The Future Presentation

Behavioral targeting uses information collected on an individual’s web-browsing behavior, such as the pages they have visited or the searches they have made, to select which advertisements to display to that individual. Practitioners believe this helps them deliver their online advertisements to the users who are most likely to be influenced by them.

Behavioral marketing can be used on its own or in conjunction with other forms of targeting based on factors like geography, demographics or the surrounding content. Contextual is generally all about page context meeting ad context.

The few other Indian Ads i really like:

There’s more coming up btw – the 2nd presentation at Pilani was on Web 2.0, digital marketing, and social media.