About a month back, Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of automobile maker Mahindra & Mahindra, received a tweet from his marketing head on his Twitter account, which he promptly re-tweeted. What it said was this, ?Another thing to be proud of?Mahindra Scorpio now has the wind beneath its wings of 100,000 Facebook fans community! ?
Even though India has only 52 million active internet users and ad spend on digital media still hovers under Rs 1000 crore, marketers in India have taken onto social media actively over the last one year. And with Facebook overtaking Orkut as the biggest social networking website in India, the target is clear.
According to data from online measurement firm Comscore for July 2010, more than 33 million internet users aged 15 and older in India visited social networking sites, representing 84% of the total internet audience. The total social networking audience in India recorded a jump of 43 percent this year over last, with Facebook recording an increase of 179% in the number of unique visitors. No wonder, corporates are all gung ho about being social.
?It?s about engaging with the target group. That we have crossed a 100,000 fan base indicates the interest level of consumers. This two-way communication allows brands to be better, stronger than the competition,? says Vivek Nayer, senior vice-president?marketing, at Mahindra & Mahindra.
In fact, the Indian brand which has the maximum number of fans on its Facebook page, is Fastrack, whose target customer group for its watches, sunglasses and other fashion accessories is the youth.
?Offline marketing activities now get greater exposure and generate far more excitement on our fan page,? says Simeran Bhasin, marketing head, Fastrack & New Brands. The company believes that the best way to talk to the youth is a social networking platform.
?Almost all brands which target the youth or are lifestyle products are present on Facebook. There are three broad ways that brands are using Facebook today. Most use the Facebook platform for conveying information about their products. In this category fall brands like BlackBerry India, Nokia India and Samsung India.
Many brands use Facebook as a platform where they engage with their customers and give freebies for continuous interaction,? says Shubhra Misra, director of AZ Research Partners, a marketing research firm.
?Facebook pages and the ?follow us on Facebook? buttons both of which are completely free, have helped businesses engage with the people who choose to connect with the brand. Other features, such as the ?Like? and ?Share? buttons, are also free and use Facebook?s open APIs to encourage people to interact with content across the web by sharing it with their friends,? says Meenal Balar, international growth manager, Facebook.
Companies in the developed markets have devoted a lot of time, resources and attention to the social media platforms. In fact, some have a social media officer whose job is to engage with consumers in the virtual world. Though India Inc. is not yet appointing specialist social media officers, but as the medium develops at a fast pace, aided by the growth in mobile telephony, who knows you just might have companies scouting for one!
BrandWagon checks out the pages of six brands ?Fastrack, Idea, Mahindra & Mahindra, Samsung, Airtel and Jet Airways ? on Facebook and sees how well they are able to engage with their young customer and get her on their side. Read on.
Brand: Fastrack
Company: Titan Industries
Need to operate like a 17-year-old
* On Facebook since: August 2007 when it began with two groups on Facebook ? Bikers on the Fastrack and Life on the Fastrack, a Twitter account, a Flickr page along with a YouTube account. Sometime around January 2009 it shifted its entire focus on the Facebook page.
* Fan base: 6,06,849
* Agency: The initial foray into social media was executed by Rajesh Lalwani headed Blogworks. By April 2009, Fastrack moved it all in-house. And this was carried out by summer trainees and interns, who ?spoke the same language as the audience?.
The Campaign
The Fastrack page showcases new products with detailed information and pictures and also its TV commercials. Users give their comments on the same and even a ?thumbs down? is published. Besides this, the company routinely offers discounts and organises competitions like ?Scan my Bag?, wherein people win merchandise. There is also a tab, ?Store Locator? which gives the store location details and people can also resolve doubts and complaints through the page. In short, everything which a website would do, but instead of being a separate entity in the cyber space, it has opened an attractive online store at a place where people virtually hang out the most!
Every element of the marketing communication? right from all the collateral carrying the URL which redirected viewers to its Facebook fan page, to larger marketing campaigns in the digital space: be it display ads (banner ads during campaigns), search engine marketing or the increasing presence in social media through social ads, Facebook tabs, apps and contest sites?all have added to the page getting into a viral loop? to a point where today even when there are no special campaigns, the brand is adding about 3000 fans everyday!
Effectiveness of the Campaign
The youth quotient of the internet cannot be fully capitalized unless it backed by engagement on a regular basis and continuous action. And that is where Fastrack scores. Product and TV commercial previews, launch parties, competitions which offer merchandise to the winners, store locators, everything that a consumer would need and be interested in is in the page.
Till early this year, the page had only around 30,000 fans. In the last 10 months, it has swelled to close to 600,000! And this has been achieved by aggressively promoting its Facebook presence. ?The biggest learning from the brand?s experience with social media has been that you need to operate like an average 17-year-old would,? says Simeran Bhasin, marketing head, Fastrack & New Brands.
Media tracks done at the 40-odd Fastrack stores reflect an increasing number of customers getting their information through the brand?s pages?in particular the Facebook fan page. Also, offline marketing activities now get greater exposure and generate far more excitement on the fan page?for example: during the campaign for sunglasses?Sweet no More ? with Genelia D?Souza, there was a free makeover given at the Fastrack stores, the best of whom would get featured in a mid-year calendar. While about 350 people took part in this, profiles of the final six winners and the calendar were seen by more than 2.5 lakh consumers on Facebook.
?Rahul Sharma
Brand: Idea
Company: Idea Cellular
A singular idea
* On Facebook since: End 2009
* Fan base: 1,00,144
* Agency: Tribal DDB
The Campaign
The Idea page on Facebook has updates of all the new TVCs, contests, events and discussions.
?The focus has been on building brand awareness amongst the growing digital community,? says Rajat Mukarji, chief corporate affairs officer, Idea Cellular.
Keeping in line with its objective to focus on brand awareness, the company has been constantly coming up with new initiatives linked to movies, film stars, cricket and everything that it is associated with. These include campaigns like ?save the trees?, ?break the language barrier?, ?oongli cricket?. It has also done contests such as ?Win passes to Filmfare Awards?, ?The Raavan in you contest? and ?walk when you zac? among others. ?The initial response to the social media communication has been very encouraging. We have done many consumer engagement activities on Facebook and have received good response from the users,? says Mukarji said.
Idea is present on most leading social networking sites and has created special communication campaigns for its network on Facebook and Youtube, in particular.
Effectiveness of the Campaign
Through the Idea Facebook page, the company is positioning itself in such a way that it maintains its identity which the company has build over time in other media. The ?Save the trees? campaign that the company had come up a few months earlier has attracted a lot of attention. Similarly, the new TVC with the message ?language is never a barrier? too finds many takers. Idea has also uploaded pictures from the auditions that was held in Chennai.
?The social media has been beneficial for Idea in understanding and listening to our consumers and the overall digital community, which largely comprises the youth, and building effective brand activations and consumer connect,? says Mukarji.
However, when one goes through the discussion page, there are many complaints that have not been responded to, forget finding a solution to it. If the complaints could be addressed more actively, it should help the brand connect with its consumers. But it is worth appreciating that Idea has bravely displayed all the customer grievances on the page.
?Rahul Sharma
Brand: Airtel
Company: Bharti Airtel
Casting the net wide
* On Facebook since: 2009
* Fan base: 20,391
* Agency: JWT
The Campaign
Airtel has a main home page with 20,000-plus fans. Simultaneously, the brand also has a few other pages dedicated to various events that the brand is associated with. This includes Airtel Champions League, Airtel Soccer, Airtel Super Singer, Airtel Delhi Marathon and Airtel Bengaluru Habba.
?By being in the online media or social networking sites, we are able to engage with the consumer more effectively,? says Mohit Beotra, director (brand and media), Bharti Airtel.
The brand, through its various pages, runs contests, events such as soccer matches for school children. ?Airtel is going digital to enable the consumer to engage. Consumers are already there and the online medium is a platform that is readily available,? Beotra said. Apart from Facebook, Airtel is active on You Tube, where the brand has done a few contests where participants upload videos and the winner is given a free trip.
Effectiveness of the Campaign
Airtel has been using Facebook actively as a marketing tool. However, compared to others the brand has fewer fans. This may be because the brand has been dedicating a separate page for every event that it is associated with, thus segmenting the fan base. Unlike other brands, the company is not using the TV ads to attract viewers to its page. ?Our focus is on the very large rural market and the young people in the urban areas,? says Beotra.
It is worth appreciating that the brand is trying to promote soccer, marathon along with cricket through its pages. However, the focus is scattered and could be one reason why the brand is not getting enough attention. Airtel has also displayed customer grievances on its page.
?Vivina Vishwanathan
Brand: Samsung Mobile
Company: Samsung India
Beyond the loyalists
* On Facebook since: July 2010
* Fan base: 1,09,005
* Agency: Digitas
The Campaign
The Samsung page on Facebook has information about new products and services, applications, especially around its latest BADA platform, announcements of contests, updates on any glitches or compatibility issues that may occur with the device, among other things. The star power of the company?s brand ambassador Aamir Khan has been leveraged on the social network as well. Take for example, the recently launched ?Aamir Khan Facebook Film Festival? wherein the company publishes interesting video-clips and content from Aamir Khan films on its page, which has been received enthusiastically by the fans. It also features contests on its page.
The objective was clearly to build a Samsung community on Facebook and engage with existing Samsung mobile users as well as consumers who have an interest in the brand. Through this customer engagement, it was also seeking to?build relevance of the brand with the larger community of mobile users.
Effectiveness of the Campaign
Within three months of launching its India page, Samsung Mobile has garnered support of 100,000 people on Facebook! And it is growing by the day. The company clearly has struck the right chord with its current and prospective consumers by offering relevant and interesting content to the users.
Even though it is difficult for to say whether having a Facebook presence has led to customer generation, the company claims it has helped. ?Since we are engaging with our customers in a meaningful manner, we have seen good traction?over the past few months and through the Samsung fans also reaching to the larger community of their friends who are active?in the digital space,? says Asim Warsi, VP-marketing, Samsung Mobile. The company says it will continue to bring interesting content on board and this is just the beginning. ?The engage-ment needs to relevant, interesting and there should be continuity and consistency in the communication. That is the biggest challenge of using social media,? says Warsi.
?Rahul Sharma
Brand: Jet Airways
Company: Jet Airways
No overt marketing
* On Facebook since: January 19, 2010
* Fan base: 69,854
* Agency: Interactive Avenues
The Campaign
Jet Airways? presence on the social network emerged from the belief that it is extremely important to engage and listen to its passengers to provide seamless service and offer a world-class experience. Its social media strategy is driven by the e-commerce and innovations team with a dedicated group representing key internal departments. The main mandate to this group was to first set up processes on how it would manage guest feedback and relevant responses. It then went on to hire the external agency to execute its social media strategy.
While there are no special discounts for Facebook fans, the users who join the community get updates on flights, services and schemes offered, awards and accolades won, travel tips, among other things. The company has also integrated its Twitter feed with the Facebook page, where it promptly replies to customer queries.
Effectiveness of the Campaign
The first look at the Facebook page of Jet Airways, and you know they mean business. While the Jet Airways page on Facebook has fun elements like events, videos and photos, the company has also incorporated features like Jet Privilege, special offers, etc., from the website. This lends it a semi-formal appeal, which works for the wide range of consumers the airline caters to.
?In less than a month of our launch, we already had over 4,000 Facebook fans and close to 1,000 followers on Twitter,? says Belson Coutinho, general manager, e-commerce and innovations, Jet Airways.
A key learning for the brand is to listen and respond effectively. It has been able to respond almost real-time to its customers on Facebook. For example, during situations like the volcanic ash flow in Europe and fog related flight disruptions, guests would send messages or tweet with queries and the brand could respond with the right update, says Coutinho. Customers appreciate such information as this gives them comfort even when the situation is beyond the control of the airline.
?Our social media initiative has had a positive impact on our brand and the way we engage with our customers. This surely is a new era of marketing but, most importantly, we look at it as a customer engagement medium,? says Coutinho, adding that the airline wants to use the power of this medium to promote its brand as well as offer relevant promotions. ?We do want to generate transactions and are already seeing results, without being overt with our marketing offers,? says Coutinho.
?Rahul Sharma
Brand: Scorpio
Company: Mahindra & Mahindra
Passionate about driving
* On Facebook since: Less than a year ago
* Fan base: 1,47,932
* Agency: None. Handled internally. A digital marketing manager oversees the entire operations, working with external agencies as and when required.
The Campaign
Scorpio?the SUV from Mahindra & Mahindra has? has the largest fan following on Facebook in the Indian automobile sector, with close to 150,000 people plugged in to its page.
The company sees Facebook as a two-way communication platform. And M&M does not go into a silent mode or delete grievances of any consumer. It offers a quick reply asking them to mail details of their problem to a generic id. However, they can innovate further by putting in systems which process complaints directly through the Facebook page.
Effectiveness of the Campaign
What makes the Scorpio M&M page zoom ahead of others is the high volume of conversation that occurs on this platform. Automobiles have always been a hot subject of interest and discussion on the web. And we all have our car stories, whether it was the sheer speed thrill or driving up the mountains. M&M has effectively managed to tap into this passion of people owning a Scorpio or interested in getting one, by offering engaging content in form of regular announcements, contests, rallies and giving them space to share their experience. For example, the monthly Scorpio photo contest where users upload pictures of their vehicle and the Scorpio that gets the maximum votes from the users wins a coffee table book, ?Legend of Scorpio?. In fact, the idea of people being central to the brand is aptly conveyed in an interesting animation which plays out when one lands on its Facebook page. What?s more, there is detailed information about the product, dealer locator and you can book a test ride even!
Again, there?s an event called The Great Escape for which it has a separate page for that. It?s an event which takes the chosen few on a road trip. So apart from information on the event, people share their own experiences and interact among themselves.
?The mandate for ourselves is to create a platform where we can engage with the target group on issues they are passionate about and issues we are passionate about,? says Vivek Nayar, senior vice-president (marketing), Mahindra & Mahindra.
The company spends 5-10% of its total media budget on digital. Though the company says it is difficult to track customer generations through its Facebook page, it does contribute towards that direction. ?The exercise is to drive customer engagement, drive loyalty towards brand and make the brand part of their lives. Customer generation is the outcome or corollary. A lot of effort and time is invested in creating interesting content. Had it been so easy, everyone would have achieved success in that,? says Nayar.
?Rahul Sharma