Category: Best use of Social Media Marketing in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: SISTEMA SHYAM TELESERVICES
Product/Service: MTS MBLAZE
Agency: REDIFFUSION Y&R
Creative Director: Nilanjan Dasgupta (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Creative Director: Piyash Ghosh (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Creative Partner: Jyotismita Banerjea (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Creative Associate: Niladri Deb (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Creative Associate: Anindya Bagchi (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Copywriter: Priyadarshi Khastgir (Rediffusion Dentsu Young/Rubicam)
Media placement: Digital Activation - Facebook - 7th September 2011
Describe the objective of the promotion.
MTS, a new player in the telecom market, wanted to get noticed during Durga Puja; Bengal's biggest festival, and also the most ad-cluttered time of the year. They wanted to target the youth of Bengal with their MBlaze range of wireless USB modems. The target audience used wireless internet, but few were aware of the brand MTS or its offerings. Our challenge was to reach out to these people using both traditional and non-traditional media and maximise awareness about MTS MBlaze.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation.
The idea was to unite Bengalis around the world in the spirit of Durga Puja through social networking, by re-enacting the ancient stories on Facebook. In essence it was a puja happening live on Facebook. One that is best experienced with MTS MBlaze.
We created the profiles of Durga Puja's main deities on Facebook - Maa Durga, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Kartik, Shiva and the demon king Mahish Asur. The divine mounts of the gods also found their place on Facebook. People added them as friends and through their posts and videos the story of Durga Puja unfolded live on Facebook.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service.
The product being a wireless internet USB device, we felt that the best way to reach out to the target audience would be through the web, more specifically, through social networking.
In Bengal, the more than 60% of youth spend over 3 hours on social networking sites every day. More so during Durga Puja, when there are lots of photos, videos and stories to share. The communication was targeted at these young, tech-savvy internet users. Though a lot of them used wireless internet, few knew about MTS.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results.
The activation of Facebook became immensely popular among the youth of Bengal. The profiles received over 300,000 views and the Gods made over 6,000 friends. Web films were shared on Facebook, which attracted over 19,000 views. The campaign received widespread media coverage from leading national dailies like the Hinduatan Times and a host of websites.
Users really got into it and posted thousands of images, videos, stories and comments. Some even created profiles of other Gods to join in! For MTS, sales went up by 23%. Awareness and visibility of the brand almost doubled, while bringing down media spending.