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Tag: FoxyMoron

  • Castrol goes all out on digital this FIFA season

    Castrol goes all out on digital this FIFA season

    MUMBAI: Castrol, one of the official sponsors for 2014 FIFA World Cup has rolled out a new digital and social media campaign.

     

    The campaign titled ‘Castrol Activ Cling on to Football’ seeks to leverage Castrol’s global sponsorship and enhances football fan’s experience of the ongoing sports tournament. The digital campaign that kick started on 18 June with a planned football Google hangout in India, is executed by FoxyMoron.

     

    Football fans in India got the opportunity to join the hangout and express their views by participating in a discussion with a panel comprising celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Bhaichung Bhutia, Paul Masefield and Gaurav Kapoor.

     

    Castrol India vice president marketing Soma Ghosh said, “Football is fast gaining ground as one of the most popular sports amongst Indian urban youth and the 2014 FIFA World Cup is a great opportunity for us to leverage our position as one of its official sponsors.  Whilst most advertisers and marketers are vying for attention of the television viewing audience, Castrol is focusing its activation around the ‘second screen.’ Castrol Activ with Actibond technology is one of our pioneering brands and will be at the center of the action in our digital and social media campaigns.”

     

    Another initiative which Castrol brings to this tournament is ‘Castrol Activ Cling on to Kick Off’ – an interactive voice response (IVR) based activity – which will ensure football fans don’t miss any of the games by sending reminder SMS messages and giving ‘wake up’ calls.

  • Brands engage with Twitter influencers to reach out

    Brands engage with Twitter influencers to reach out

    MUMBAI: According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), as of March 2013, Twitter had 33 million users across the country. An Economic Times report said that Twitter is eyeing India’s over 500 million mobile consumers as potential users, given that its service can be used on feature phones.

     

    With statistics like that, no wonder brands are milking the popularity and reach of the micro-blogging site, albeit through people called ‘influencers’.

     

    Earlier this month, a national dairy brand created a Twitter splash with the help of 50 influencers, with the campaign being the most talked about at the time. Similarly, Mahindra has identified an ‘influencer’ for its SuPer Milo in actress Gul Panag, who connects with the brand at many levels and campaigns regularly on Twitter.

     

    So, who are these influencers whom brands are increasingly seeking out in order to grow their consumer base and widen their reach?

     

    Social Wavelength joint CEO Sanjay Mehta says that there are three types of influencers. Firstly, the celebrity kinds, who may generate influence across many different areas and people; secondly, subject matter influencers, who are domain specialists and wield influence in specific categories such as automobiles or gadgets or fashion; and thirdly, peer influencers, who may not fall in the first two categories but have good influence over a sizeable group of tweeple (people on Twitter) who interact with them.

     

    Mehta points out that of late, several brands have been engaging with influencers, in big or small ways; be it getting influencers to talk about their new mobile phone or getting them to initiate a tweetinar (a seminar on Twitter) on a topic of relevance. “At the end of the day of course, it is about getting engagement with the influencers, and through such engagement, managing to get an amplification of the brand via the wider network reach of the said influence,” Mehta explains.

     

    A common perception among social media enthusiasts is that Twitter influencers are those who have a huge follower base. While FoxyMoron co-founder, director – new business Pratik Gupta, is of the view that while this is a crucial criterion and an influencer must have at least 1,500 followers, other factors too need to be taken into consideration. “The brand must select an influencer whose opinion and tone is in sync with the brand philosophy. The content tweeted must be consistently of good quality and at the same time, be memorable and valuable. Also from a brand perspective, it is important to ensure that the chosen influencer has not endorsed a competitor in the past. The final criterion one must look out for is dedication; the influencer must regularly and religiously tweet in order to keep his/her followers intrigued,” says Gupta.

     

    For instance, for Maybelline New York India, Foxymoron identified a core group of influencers and called them the ‘Beauty Brigade’. This was done in order to create better products and a unique identity in a highly competitive market. Members of the brigade were the first to receive product samples and hear about contests. They played a major role in promoting brand awareness and product loyalty.

     

    Gupta says that these days, brands engage with influencers in different ways including product sampling, reviews on blogs and DIY YouTube tutorials. Influencers give their opinions in the form of reviews and connect with their followers on a personal level. So, they tend to gain the trust of their followers apart from adding advocacy to brand campaigns. “They support the brand by enabling it to tap into their own fan base. Every consumer then becomes a potential word-of-mouth marketer, which is one of the biggest benefits to the brand. This becomes a win-win situation for the brand and the consumers”, explains Gupta.

     

    That said, most brands are not very open about engaging with influencers on social media. And still, part of the success of the brand on Twitter campaigns definitely goes to its influencers!

  • Garnier Fructis ropes in bloggers for product testing

    Garnier Fructis ropes in bloggers for product testing

    MUMBAI: In order to reposition the brand perception Garnier Fructis has gone ahead to add an improved formula to its product. The brand recently conducted a blind use test activity to get feedback on the product.

     

    The campaign was executed through an on-ground and online activation in eight cities including Pune, Patna, Guwahati, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore and Vijayawada.

     

    Garnier Fructis’ campaign targeted three different groups of consumers. An activity was conducted in colleges across the selected cities for students to participate in the blind use test. Students also had the opportunity to learn fun hair styles and hair care tips in addition to winning goodies.

     

    The next group that was selected for the blind use test comprised women from housing societies. These consumers who tried the shampoo and conditioner later were asked to visit an activity area in order to find out more about the brand.

     

    Taking the consumer test online, the brand reached out to over 50 top beauty and lifestyle bloggers across India. Bloggers received a package containing the ‘Love Long Hair’ shampoo and conditioner and were asked to try it for a period of two weeks. The brand name was revealed after two weeks and bloggers were surprised to understand that the brand was Garnier Fructis. With top names like Miss Malini, Ayushi Bangur and Ritu Rajput participating in this unique blind test, Garnier Fructis succeeded in converting top online influencers in the digital space.

     

    The social media campaign was executed by Foxymoron. When asked about the key learning from the campaign, FoxyMoron, co-founder & online strategist, Harshil Karia mentioned that bringing together a large set of bloggers was a challenge and needed a lot of logistics. He also said, “By conducting such an activity using digital influencers it added great advocacy to the whole campaign.”

  • FoxyMorons executed Garnier Mens initiative enters its second phase

    FoxyMorons executed Garnier Mens initiative enters its second phase

    MUMBAI: Garnier Men that initiated the PowerLight A Village campaign earlier this year in collaboration with Project Chirag with an aim to light up hundreds of rural households in India that are without any electricity entered its second phase.

     

    The campaign was aimed at creating awareness among consumers to contribute through their pledges on social media and be a part of a movement that will help Garnier Men in the identification and electrification of lightless villages across India using solar power. The initiative, which is digitally executed by FoxyMoron, provides electricity to remote villages in India.

     

    In its second phase, close to 800 households across India have benefited via the process of rural electrification with over 1,487,426 watts generated online. The initiative has received 7589 tweets and the total user engagement has increased by almost 900 per cent till now on the social media platforms.

     

    Through the simple medium of social media, Garnier Men reached out to more than a million consumers and encouraged them to participate in the campaign.

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder and online strategist Harshil Karia said, “Brands taking on projects for social good is the future. We believe that a brand speaks through its actions more than advertisements and are humbled to be associated with Garnier Men that has taken this bold step through the ‘PowerLight A Village’ campaign. We have received tremendous support from all the fans who truly care and believe in this cause. It will be our aim to continue to drive strong engagement to light up not only homes but lives of people living in darkness.”

     

    Garnier, L’Oréal India general manager Rupika Raman said, “At Garnier, we believe that our tagline ‘Take Care’ does not mean only taking care of yourself, but also taking care of the society. In keeping with this, we are proud to present ‘PowerLight a Village’, which is a unique campaign that helps empower change in our society through a simple action on social media.”

     

    Garnier Men has collaborated with Chirag Rural Development Foundation (Project Chirag) as its implementation partner. The Foundation has been championing the cause of rural electrification and is instrumental in providing electrification to over 125 villages across the country.

  • Viral on your mind?

    Viral on your mind?

    A‘Kolaveri Di’ kind of video with the capacity to go viral doesn’t happen every day, and that’s something marketers and the junta might do well to remember.

    There have been enough and more cases of online campaigns that fell flat on their face just as there have been instances of campaigns that fared considerably well in recent times (Dove’s real beauty, Flipkart’s Nation wants to know, Dhanush’s Sachin anthem).

    Content is king

    So what are the ingredients that make for success? First up, it’s the content. GroupM ESP national director (sports and live events) Vinit Karnik opines that videos like ‘Kolaveri Di’ and ‘It’s your fault’ are an engaging and entertaining way to disseminate a social message and build awareness.

    Watch the video: Boost pays tribute to Sachin’s 23 years of stamina!

    Gasoline founder and chief creative officer Anil Kakar says the first rule of creating online content is that it needs to be worth sharing. “The potential reach shareable content can offer is enormous and brands are currently only scratching the surface,” he says.

    Referring to two recent viral videos ‘It’s your fault’ and ‘I quit’, Draftfcb Ulka Interactive (digital arm of Draftfcb Ulka) creative head Sudarshan Sudevan says: “These two videos share different lights in the context of one’s feeling, one is targeted at the mass and the second, targeted at a single person….her boss. But the common platform that they share is – being vocal about it. That’s the lesson you can learn from it. Exercise your freedom of expression to the maximum… without fear. You can be a total stranger but your voice is surely heard if it has a message. That’s the power of this digital medium.”

    Not to do list

    Successful online content is often disruptive, based on a powerful insight and more importantly, follows a set of rules in social media that are way different from other forms of media.
    Experts believe the most common mistake that someone/some brand can make while launching a digital campaign is to create it to go viral. According to Infosys global head (digital marketing) Ashok Lalla, that is the biggest fallacy. “Virals happen. Of course, one can help them happen through content which is very high quality and well produced, and also through extensively promoting the content. For example, Idea’s Honey Bunny was promoted across media and that drove the viral-ness of the video online,” he points out.

    Similarly, Everest Brand Solutions president Dhunji Wadia says if one tries to create a campaign to go viral, there are a million ways to go wrong as there is no fixed formula or template for these videos. “You just have to click with the consumers, literally! Firstly, if it doesn’t impress me, how will it impress the world? One can get carried away with an idea, which does not make as much sense after production as much as it made on paper. Don’t hesitate to start fresh in such a case. Secondly, is the product/service forced into the communication? Sometimes there is a ‘disconnect’ between the product/service and the ad concept. If the two are not inter-twined, the product will be left hanging after a great concept.  It will hardly be noticed. Try to find a common ground between the two.”

    Highlighting mistakes marketers/advertisers tend to make, Sudevan adds: “Low budget for a promotion to be launched ‘asap’ plus maximum output demanded (for example say 1 million likes) and hence resorting to social media leads to bad ideas and bad execution, considering the time the agency gets to churn this out in that shoe-string budget. Also, no research of the ecosphere of social media or what or how much a campaign should cost or the time it should get competed within leads to selection of bad ideas presented by some smart agency.”

    With or without social media

    All said, the social media universe is swelling and no advertiser or marketer can afford to ignore it. Besides, with the dipping rupee and dwindling economy, conventional Indian media is facing the heat, rendering social media the smartest option in the current scenario. 

       
    Says Kakar: “What makes social media unique is the fact that brands can, for the first time, have a conversation directly with consumers. This is a huge paradigm shift of sorts, which is already testing our collective skills as an industry. Also, for the first time, we can gauge accurate responses through analytics and tools, engage with a select audience, should the need arise, and alter content according to responses. Social media is also a great platform to engage opinion leaders or ‘feeders’, who help promote content onto blogs, twitter, facebook and other platforms for a multiplier effect, generating free PR, which would have otherwise cost an arm and a leg for an advertiser.”

    Watch the video: AIB seeks an answer to whose fault is it anyway?

    FoxyMoron co-founder and director – new business and innovations Pratik Gupta seconds Kakar saying: “A lot of brands want to reach out to their audience and it might be as simple as uploading a TVC on YouTube. One must remember that a TVC is watched by the entire family, out of which, not all could be the target audience wherein the people who will click on social media are the correct viewers.”

    Gupta gives the example of the campaign Baby Lips Kiss Song featuring Alia Bhatt that FoxyMoron recently did for Maybelline. He says there are many brands that are utilizing the platform to the fullest to reach their TG.  He also talks about the YouTube channel Q-tiyapa by TheViralFeverVideos saying they are doing everything right to strike a chord with the youth.

    And what do advertisers have to say about digital platforms? “Advertising is a 360-degree experience. That’s when a user feels the brand in totality and since every medium has its own plus points, it’s best to design any campaign keeping in mind the purpose of the campaign,” say advertisers.

    Then again, there are the naysayers who feel digital media and by extension, social media is still not a mass channel of outreach in India. Statistics for internet usage vary between 70-140 million and those for social media are a subset of this. So, it’s unlikely to be the medium of choice for all brands for all seasons. At best, digital/social media may be the medium of choice for a younger, urban-centric demographic concentrated in major metros and towns across the country.

    Whatever be the case, one thing is clear that with the medium encouraging conversations on various social platforms, the movement of content from ‘airing’ to ‘sharing’ can catalyze the internet audience to great effect.

  • FoxyMoron to execute digital campaign for Maybelline

    FoxyMoron to execute digital campaign for Maybelline

    MUMBAI: Maybelline New York along with brand ambassador Alia Bhatt launched ‘Color Show’.

    FoxyMoron will launch the ‘Color Show’ across Maybelline’s digital platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram that will showcase a range of shades for every mood.

    FoxyMoron co-founder & online strategist Harshil Karia said, “The Color Show is an innovative and interactive way to introduce the entire new color range of nails paints on offer by Maybelline New York. This is an opportunity for fans to experiment with their nails like never before! Maybelline is a fore runner in the make-up category so it only seemed fitting to create a campaign that allows fans to score high on the fashion meter with their favorite brand.”

    Fans will get an opportunity to experiment with Nail Art combinations and Maybelline will educate them about how they can get the ‘complete look’ – right from shoes, accessories to match with their preferred shade. The campaign will also include ‘Do It Yourself’ nail art videos for the latest nail art trends. Commenting on the new campaign, L’Oréal consumer products division director Satyaki Ghosh said, “Maybelline is an innovative brand that loves its consumers and assures to give them something new and exciting all the time. With the launch of the Color Show range, we hope to once again do something different for our consumers and engage them as much as possible with the brand.”

    Maybelline New York marketing manager Leena Shoor said, “Maybelline as a brand understands the needs of the young Indian girl and continuously introduces products that are innovative and exciting. With Color Show, Maybelline brings to India the hottest shades from the catwalks of New York, shades that are extremely fashion forward and yet very accessible. Using the Color Show range and nail art inspirations that will be shared by Maybelline, girls can now get runway ready nails whenever they please. Maybelline is all set to bring a new nail revolution to India by making nail paints a must have accessory.”

  • FoxyMoron bags digital marketing duties of Celkon Mobiles

    FoxyMoron bags digital marketing duties of Celkon Mobiles

    MUMBAI: Celkon has assigned its digital marketing duties to an independent digital ideas and media solutions agency, FoxyMoron.

    The mandate will be handled by the recently opened NCR branch of FoxyMoron and it includes the independent management of the mobile brand’s presence on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

    On the decision of appointing FoxyMoron as its digital agency, Celkon head digital management Pradeep Yerraguntla said, “We are happy to associate ourselves with FoxyMoron to drive all our digital communications objectives. The young, dynamic team brings extensive digital expertise that will help us meet our business needs. At the core of our marketing strategies is the need for a detailed strategic and creative alliance to take Celkon Mobiles, the brand forward to the highest level.”

    Currently, Celkon caters to the growing s needs of mobile users across the world by creating a new generation of mobile phones that is quality personified, loaded with user-oriented features and powered by the latest mobile technology.

    With the shift on to the digital platform, FoxyMoron has conceptualised and recently executed the ‘Campus-O-Logy’ campaign, aimed at encouraging young college students to enjoy their time on campus with the newly launched Campus Series smartphones A20, A60, A63.

    FoxyMoron business head – North Akshay Gurnani said, “This is a great opportunity for us to work with a brand that has a strong foot hold in the Mobile phones industry. The mobile range on offer by Celkon is a perfect combination of fashion and purpose. Our aim will be to leverage their innovative products to build conversations with young consumers as they enjoy experimenting with exciting innovative technology products. The Campus-O-Logy campaign will look to convert regular mobile users to evangelists of the Campus series by Celkon Mobile.”

    The latest win adds to the growing list of clients handled by FoxyMoron which includes the L’Oreal India Group (Maybelline New York, Garnier, L’Oreal Paris, Kerastase), AXN India, McVitie’s India, Castrol India, Rajasthan Royals, SAB Miller (Foster’s, Miller High Life, Knock Out), WWM Group (Part of the Times of India Group and includes Femina, BBC Good Homes) and FCUK among many others.

  • FoxyMoron is now in Delhi

    MUMBAI: Digital marketing firm FoxyMoron is growing by leaps and bounds as it announced the geographical expansion of its business in the national capital.

    Starting with a team of eight to ten people, the Delhi division will be headed by business head Akshay Gurnani, an export from the Mumbai office.

    The five year old agency already services clients like McVities in Delhi and is looking at partnering a couple more over the next month or so.

    “A major chunk of the out of Mumbai enquiries we get are from Delhi and so it just made sense to start an office there. Also, in a dynamic medium like digital, it is necessary to be present in the city as well. Since Delhi and Mumbai are our core business centres, we decided to we needed to fly to the capital,” explains FoxyMoron director – business development and innovations Pratik Gupta.

    Another reason for expanding geographically is to be able to handle competitor brands since the two teams (Mumbai and Delhi) will be working on separate projects.

    It‘s actually a kind of double whammy for the fast growing digital agency as it has moved into a new bigger office in Mumbai as well.

    So will we be seeing a lot of FoxyMoron offices sprouting across the country? “While we do service clients from all over India (Fosters in Bengaluru and ITC in Kolkata for instance), we intend to manage and service these clients from our hubs in Delhi and Mumbai. We would however like to grow our business offerings over the next 18 months and provides a wider plethora of services to our clients,” informs Gupta.

    Some of the verticals that the agency aims to explore over the next year and a half include production (since audio visual is becoming popular in the Indian digital space), activations in the digital medium and online PR.

    Considering the rapid spate of digital agency acquisitions that are taking place, one cannot help wonder if FoxyMoron is on the anvil“ for any such merger. While the agency has been approached by quite a few agency networks, it is yet to find the perfect match. “Let‘s just say we are at a stage where we have nothing to lose and are enjoying our stint. If someone comes along and makes an offer that lucrative and acceptable to our sensibilities, we might take it up. Till then, we‘re flying solo and loving it!” says a confident Gupta.

  • FoxyMoron bags Smaaash’s digital biz

    MUMBAI: Smaaash, sports-based entertainment centre in Mumbai, has awarded its digital duties to FoxyMoron.

    The agency has already started working on the account. It has used its digital, social media, and creative capabilities to offer a highly interactive and engaging Facebook page.

    FoxyMoron Online Strategist Harshil Karia said, “Our focus is not just online but one that bridges online and offline. We‘re working with Burrp to drive focussed footfalls, we‘re working with Snapdeal to get trials going, we‘re working with colleges to get fests to partner with SMAAASH to have their events at the venue and cross promote them online. Its going beyond the traditional digital agency role which is exciting.”

    “For us, digital is the center of integrating our marketing communications. Its the driver of purpose and the connect between our above the line and below the line activity. We‘re happy associating with FoxyMoron because they bring the expertise of digital and the flexibility to go beyond digital to help us meet our business needs,” Smaaash director Abhishek Jhaveri added.

    Smaaash is currently in the process of integrating digital and social into everything they do. According to the agency, digital isn‘t just a marketing medium, it’s keyed into Smaaash‘s processes. Every time one plays he will find his photos and achievement videos online.

    “The single minded strategy for Smaaash is about converting every physical interaction into a digital amplification. The investment thus is more in terms of time than actual spends. 15 per cent of marketing spends are currently allocated to the digital medium,” the agency said.

  • FoxyMoron to handle Quikr.com

    MUMBAI: Digital Solutions agency FoxyMoron has won the digital creative mandate for classified portal Quikr.com, following a multi-agency pitch.

    FoxyMoron online strategist and co-founder Harshil Karia said, “A brand like Quikr encapsulates everything that our current generation stands for – we want everything to be done Quikrrrr. It‘s a brand that‘s at a very exciting stage at this point in time. We‘re very excited to make the ‘Quik India Movement that we‘ve coined for Quikr.com the next big thing in the social space in India”

    Quikr was launched to build a destination where people from the local community sell, buy, rent, or find anything in a simple and easy way.