As Marlon Brando from The Godfather would say in his raspy tone, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” But, had he been alive today, he would have to alter it into—“Revenge is a dish best served online”

The single:

United breaks guitars is a tryst with destiny for Dave Carroll (vocalist) of a lesser-known band called Sons of Maxwell. Apparently he witnessed the mishandling of his luggage (You guessed it—-a guitar) at the hands of the ground staff of United Airlines. He ended up with a 3500$ guitar with a broken neck and when his claims for reparation or compensation fell on deaf ears, he vowed to take vengeance by releasing 3 songs for the world to witness the injustice.

One year down the line and with over 11 million views for the first single on YouTube, Dave could not have asked for more. Here’s the video of the song.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

United Breaks Guitar

Video logy:

• The screenplay is a quirky and satirical take of the aforementioned incident.
• In spite of being amateurish, the lyrics and the video invoke laughter with its dark humour which has been the soul of its popularity.
• The indie rock band The Arctic Monkeys owe their rise MySpace and this could pave a similar route for the well-toured country band-Sons of Maxwell.

Bottom-line:

• A dip in the stock-rates of United Airlines coupled with a sudden surge in the popularity of the band illustrates the power of video-sharing websites.
• The video also compelled United to release official statement apologizing for the incident. As for Dave—He got offers for public-speaking on Customer Services.

End Chorus:

The guitar may never be fixed but one thing has been fixedàif you have the will, you can maximize the utilization of your resources and exploit the social networks for your benefit. So, whether you are a band hungry for attention or just a revenge-seeker, the Internet is your friend forever, what say Mr. Brando?

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The Volkswagen theory on how everything can be made interesting just by making it fun to do. They have put the theory to test in three behavioral experiments.

Amazing ideas to make people live life the healthy way and also to help save the environment.

We’ve been talking about this in office for ages now! Waiting for a chance to do something as whacky as this!

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Went to this interesting site thanks to Prashant – its  website by Coke. They have this Smilizer where they will donate $1 for every laugh uploaded.

I think its a perfect fit. Large organisations usually commit large sums of money for CSR. Here they have used that to integrate it in their brand campaign (in all likelihood). Its a win win situation for the charity, the brand and the consumer.

Here basically the consumer laughs and ‘Opens happiness’ and $1 is donated to the National Park Foundation. What i like is the fact that we can then hear people’s ‘laughs’ by rolling over bubbles and then rate them. Good fun. Neat execution.

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Fantastic idea! Not sure if many men actually tried it. It makes for a great video though!

Brands should allocate a production sum for ambient viral ideas and their agencies should take measures to make sure that the videos spread the web like Wildfire!

Hat tip Vikky Jain.

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Came across a fantastic video thanks to Mrugank from our team. Coke has used a fantastic ambient idea and created a Mexican Wave.

The trend is also pretty clear – create something unique and creative offline and also make it viral online. Increasingly, ambient activities are become viral hits. It started with flashmobs and is now moving towards things like ambient engagements being recorded and spread. The funtheory virals that won at Cannes are another example.

I see a huge opportunity for this in India. We’re super emotional people.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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?

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