Social media has become one of The most loved mediums for The indian youth Today. But are indian Business houses geared up to capitalise on The Same? 4Ps B&M Takes a closer look at the fineprint... If you care about Social Media/Social Networking, you must ready this!

1. p r o d u c t p r i c e p l a c e p r o m o t i o n
cover STory
Does
social
Business & Marketing
meDia really
matter to
inDian businesses?
Social media haS become one of The moST loved mediumS for The indian
youTh Today. buT are indian buSineSS houSeS geared up To capiTaliSe on
The Same? 4Ps B&M TakeS a cloSer look aT The fineprinT...
pawan chabra
T
raditionally, companies would have had to send gestions in just a matter of eight weeks. And how many
out an inquiring army to the market to get ques- individuals was she was able to engage? Hold your breath
tionnaires filled, or arrange focus group discus- – 300,000 users in the same duration who spoke about the
sions, and have a sample of perhaps a few thou- brand. What worked was the right method of engagement
sands to get some credible feedback on how their brands and a well-chosen messenger. Technology did the rest.
were performing. And despite such sweat-demanding Now take another, rather stark extreme. A guest who
exercises, doubts about the authenticity of their product was impressed by the service of Devesh Mishra, a taxi
or service quality would prevail. But thankfully, the gods driver in Varanasi, got his video uploaded on YouTube,
of evolution became merciful, and along came a brain- where he gives his brief introduction with his contact
wave, which multiplied the credibility of the research and details to prospective clients. The results have been en-
reduced manifolds the troubles and costs. Dig this – ear- couraging with respect to the rise in the number of en-
ly this year, the $42.87 billion-a-year earning (revenues quiries, and an excited Mishra is confident that hereon,
for FY2009) Kraft Foods was planning to take a feedback there will be no looking back. 2010 has proven yet an-
from customers on its Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Ear- other great run for Mishra.
lier, customer engagements in traditional interactions had These were just trailers of the immense power and
provided Kraft with around a 100 recipe suggestions a reach of social networking, a medium that marketers
year. Rather than resorting to tradition, all Kraft Foods globally are only in the process of understanding. As
did this time was to affiliate with Paula Deen, the famous Facebook crossed the 500 million user base in July this
American chef, restaurateur and actress, who is quite a year, the social networking website had certainly achieved
With exclusive intervieWs from : celebrity on The Food Network. Paula runs a cooking
contest by the name of Real Women of Philadelphia.
far more than what one initially expected out of a start-up
venture born in Mark Zuckerberg’s dorm room at Har-
general moTorS, SapienTniTro, mahindra & mahindra, pizza huT Through this initiative, Kraft got back 5,000 recipe sug- vard. With close to 7.3% of the world population already
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2. c ov e r S T o r y Social media
present on the social network, the six year-old company is IPL Chairman Lalit Modi, which gave ownership details of
surely one of the most successful start-ups of this decade. Be the IPL Kochi team!
it because of the individual social network of the users, pho-
to-sharing, event updates or even the applications, networking
While many of the big names that have their presence on
various social media portals are solely running after more Connect to grow
is widely touted as the next big thing people have begun to do numbers, industry experts are of the view that content will
online after search. As Mark Zuckerberg admits (on the 500 be the crowd-puller in the long-run. “Where many of these
million achievement), “I could have never imagined all the companies have been going wrong is they have been focusing
ways in which people would use Facebook when we were get- too much on getting sheer numbers on their pages on the
ting started six years ago.” social media portals, but equal importance needs to be given
It is not only Facebook that has become the apple of the eye to the content bit,” explains Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital-
of the new-age marketers. Platforms like Twitter, YouTube vidya. Adds a spokesperson of MTV, “It is important to es-
and LinkedIn are also making a huge difference in the opin- tablish your core and ensure you are able to drive value to your
ion of the ultimate consumer. Aware of the fact that a large fans. Active engagement is also a challenge. Social media
chunk of the Target Group (TG) spends a lot of time online cannot become a platform to only offer deals to consumers.”
and mainly on social media platforms rather than the tradi- Social media as an industry in India, is at a nascent stage as
tional advertising mediums, many global names have right- compared to the exposure it has received so far in the western
fully enhanced their presence on the social media platforms. part of the globe. But the winds will gather greater momen-
For instance, BMW has a fan base of close to 2.9 million peo- tum. There is hope.
ple on its fan page on Facebook, while Nike and Coca Cola’s Brands like MTV, General Motors, Pepsi, BlackBerry, Ch-
official fan pages have close to 2.6 and 1.7 million respec- ing’s Secrets, Mahindra & Mahindra and many more are
tively. If that is not enough for the first round of dope, sample also effectively making use of social media platforms to con-
this: Ford Motor Company skipped all the auto shows and nect with their TG. “We have allocated 50% of our ad-spend
decided to reveal the much-popular next-gen Explorer on for television advertising, and the rest is used for non-tradi-
Facebook, as the company was sure that it will be able to cre- tional media to connect with consumers,” says Deepika War- Deepika Warrier, Head-Marketing, Frito-Lay ( Pepsico )
ate a better connect with its TG on the social network. A rier, Head – Marketing, Frito-Lays (PepsiCo’s foods arm). In
survey done by the global PR firm Burson-Marsteller proves fact, Pepsi has over four lakh fans on its Facebook page alone In what ways do you believe that the social
that 79% of the Fortune 100 companies are using at least one and runs various contests on the same to connect with its media platform has been able to give strategic
of the social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube consumers. “All the companies whose target consumers are advantage to the brands in your portfolio?
and a corporate blog. The survey further mentioned that while present on social media platforms cannot afford to miss this As far as the social media platforms are concerned,
20% of the companies are using all four mediums, the figure space. In fact, sectors like FMCG, automobiles and entertain- our focus is on consumer engagement modules and
is higher in Europe (88%) and lowest in Asia-Pacific (50%). ment are the most aggressive on social media in India,” says crowd sourcing strategy to promote our brands. In
In fact, when Barack Obama won the Presidential elections Freddie Laker, Executive Director – Digital Strategy, Sapi- fact, given the current market scenario, one surely
in 2008, many industry experts gave a lot of credit to the social entNitro Asia. has the independence to do that very uniquely by
media campaigns that the Democrat candidate had floated. When M&M was planning to launch its Xylo’s ‘Happy using non-traditional mediums of marketing like
Apart from making his presence felt on the major social net- Legs’ campaign with Atul Kasbekar (the ace fashion photog- the social networking websites. We have allocated
working websites with the ‘Change We Need’ campaign, rapher), many industry experts weren’t convinced with the 50% of our ad spend for television advertising and
Obama also made optimal use of his own website and other idea. But the events that followed proved them wrong. “Just the rest is being used for non-traditional media to
tools. For the record, Obama has close to 5.8 million followers before we launched the campaign for Xylo with Atul, Sachin connect with consumers at a new level altogether.
on Twitter currently and is unsurprisingly one of the most Tendulkar (a close friend of Atul) tweeted about the same to
popular personalities on the site. But these are renowned his fans. Moreover, the online contest that we ran on the same You have been using platforms like Facebook
cases from the western world where the social media industry also got a similar response as Anand (Mahindra) retweeted and YouTube very aggressively for promoting
is being used at a far more enhanced level. my tweet on the same to his fans as well. Social media as of the new launches, which was further sup-
As the reports from the field would suggest, the trend is ported by a 360-degree presence in the social
also picking up in India. According to a latest one by ViziSense largest social networks in india networking websites. How has the impact
(till July 2010), social media in India reaches around 60% of facebook and orkut are taking a clear lead been so far for you?
the online audience, wherein Facebook is at the pole position 25%
I think it’s difficult to judge the absolute impact
with a user base of 22.1 million users in the country. It is fol- but yes, we are a young snacking company which is
lowed by names like Orkut (18.5 million), ibibo (3.56 million), 20% growing with the consumer and such growth can
T witter (3.14 million), Bharatstudent (2.95 million) and be enhanced when you can connect more with the
LinkedIn (2.95 million). Facebook has also topped the charts 15% consumer from the day one of your launch of the
on engagement, with 975 seconds spent on the site per visit product. Such opportunities can be provided only
followed by ibibo at 894 seconds and LinkedIn at 676 seconds. 10% when you connect with your target audience on a
Twitter has already become a popular medium in India, thanks personal level. In fact, this can be done only through
From Top to bottom Meter Jam campaign run against auto rik-
shaw drivers, Chevrolet’s Twitter page keeps its fans updated to the way celebrities like Anand Mahindra, Sharukh Khan 5% a social networking website. For the entire last year,
and Pizza Hut showcases the value scheme on Facebook and Sachin Tendulkar are making use of it. Of course, former all our brands were well known from their initial
External Affairs Minister Shashi Tharoor’s contribution to 0 launch and that can be called as the impact.
Facebook Orkut ibibo Twitter Bharat LinkedIn
its popularity cannot be ignored, due to his controversy grab- student
bing tweets. Ironically, what did him in was a tweet by former Source: ViziSense (Till July 2010)
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3. c ov e r S T o r y Social media
leaders of social media globally unique visitors of age 15 years
Content is equally crucial Top ten social networking sites globally for october
& above; october 2009 (million)
2009. green lines connect major networking 0 10 20 30
countries with their top three sites.
Pradeep Chopra LinkedIn
CEO & Founder, Hatena Bookmark
Digitalvidya
MySpace United 35 4
110 States
Wer-Kennt-Wen Mixi
7 Japan 13
Studivz Sites
Baidu
What is your take on the current scenario of 17 Germany Space
the social media industry in the country? How 63
does it stand compared to traditional media? Twitter page of Anand Mahindra, VC & MD, M&M. Twitter had a major role to Canada
play in the success of Mahindra Xylo’s Happy Legs campaign China
In terms of sheer numbers, social media may look
small as on today as compared to the traditional Bharatstudent Facebook
34 430
mediums of advertising but the numbers are not today has become an integral part of our marketing activities,” 4
small enough to ignore. Moreover, comparing social says Vivek Nayer, Senior VP – Marketing (Automotive sector), 24
Deviantart QQ
media to any other channel or other online media M&M. He also informs that when some critics attempted to Alumni
as well, there are various different things that one spread a bad word about the company, fans at the commu- India 43 Kaixin001
can do on this space, which makes this very special. nity blasted-off the post, saying that the company has been
Not to forget, there has been a massive difference delivering what it promises. Taking its Scorpio, Xylo, Great
as to how the consumers used to perceive Linke- Escape and Bolero pages into account, the company has close Orkut 17
dIn (as a professional network) as compared to to five lakh fans on Facebook. 54
Facebook, which was more of timepass and social- Needless to add, the sites can be used as a tool to strength- Twitter
Vkontakte Russia
ising. As times have passed, the perception has en competitive advantage as well. A case in point is the time 58 Hi5
47
totally changed on both of them. when Apple was busy dealing with its antenna problems of Brazil
late. Nokia took no time in boasting-off on various social
What kind of businesses can take the benefits media platforms, that its antennas are the best in the indus- Bebo
offered by social media in the country? try. It also showed consumers how people hold their phones France
United
8 14
In my view, any business whose customers are pres- in different ways and yet the signals remain unaffected. Un- Windows Live
Kingdom
ent on social media – travel, entertainment, educa- deniably, social media is very different as compared to tradi- Profile VK
tion and FMCG can leverage from social media. tional media and may not yet have the power to replace the 164 16 10
However, as of now, challenge is, brands are run- idiot box, but it can surely be a very strong complimentary
Skyrock Odnoklassniki
ning after numbers instead of understanding the factor. Moreover, users can switch channels easily on the
importance of content while content will be an telly. On the social network, they have a richer engagement. Source: National Geographic (http://blogs.ngm.com/.a/6a00e009822691883301310fd02a92970c-800wi)
equal important for the long-term success for any “Some of the evolved brands that have embraced the platform
company on the social media. have realised this and have approached social media market- 2.6 lakh fans on the same. Jam as of date, has close to 42,000 fans on Twitter and Face-
ing as not just a platform for brand advertising, but also for And the social fever isn’t restricted to just large companies. book collectively. Similarly, a Pune-based restaurant chain,
How soon can we expect social media usage building up of their basic concept. It has provided organisa- Consider this case in Mumbai. After having had enough of Faaso’s has initiated the innovative tweet-to-order phenom-
by marketers in India to match the levels at tions an opportunity where brands can easily communicate the overcharging and unruly behaviour of auto rickshaws and enon under which, the consumer can just choose to tweet his
which it stands globally? while providing a platform for its audience to talk and express taxiwalas in the country, three advertising professionals Ab- order, rather than place it via a call.
While we have seen only very little action as com- themselves, exchange opinions and increase unaided brand hilash Krishnan, Jaidev Rupani and Rachana Brar decided to “India has till now seen only the starting chapters in the
pared to what has already happened in the western awareness. It is imperative for brands to realise that, because launch the ‘Meter Jam – Say No to Taxis & Autos on 12th social media journey. The coming years will have a lot to of-
countries but the industry has a lot of potential for of the sheer number of people that access various social plat- August 2010’ campaign. While the initial overwhelming re- fer,” says Digitalvidya’s Chopra. Companies like Facebook,
growth in the coming times. Activity on mobile forms. The key to success lies in the engagement level, trans- sponse came as a surprise, the fact that the problem was not who will be banking on the broadband and telecom boom in
phones and location based services will be some parency and credibility,” says P Balendran, VP General Motors
. , taken as a Mumbai-centric problem from day one, was a big- emerging markets like India will give ample opportunities to
of the few applications that will see a lot of action India. Moreover, it allows the company to establish a relation- ger shock. In fact, it got more fans from Bangalore as com- the new-age marketers to tap the young Indian consumers.
in the future in the Indian market. Moreover, as the ship with tomorrow’s customers as well. “Social media acts pared to the other metros. For the record, close to 12,500 As far as Indian companies are concerned, they have to move
3G boom will take the usage of internet on mobile as a direct, cost-effective and an interactive medium that citizens pledged and boycotted the use of autos and cabs on beyond numbers and improve the engagement levels on their
phones to new heights, it will be interesting to see provides complete information on the brand and acts as an August 12, by signing up on Facebook and Twitter pages of pages. Numbers may not sound as attractive initially, but this
how the social media companies will be tapping the authentic contact point too,” added Anup Jain, Director- the campaign. The ad-trio also launched the second chapter is a sure way to reach some of your best customers and read
new consumers. Marketing, Yum! Restaurants India – Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut of the campaign recently on October 12, which was able to their minds. If properly nurtured, these could be your most
runs several contests on its Facebook page and has close to generate a similar response. The community pages of Meter cherished brand champions in the coming future. 4Ps
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4. c ov e r S T o r y Social media
“iT provideS “Social media
uS a Two way iS a conSTanT
communicaTion” value creaTor”
vivek nayer, Senior vp – markeTing a long-Term converSaTion on a Social
(auTomoTive), m&m explainS why media plaTform can unlock greaT
The auTomaker iS acTive in Social valueS, SayS freddie laker, ed (digiTal
media deSpiTe being one of The beST STraTegy), SapienTniTro aSia
Mahindra is known as one of the best UV makers getaways. This on the outset may seem as a very small What is your take on the social media business and writing a blog about his daily activities in Queen-
in India. But still, it has ensured an extensive pres- piece of information, but when we put it in our com- and how effectively are you working with Indian sland. The basic idea behind this campaign was that if
ence in the social media. What’s the rationale be- munity, we received around 100 comments on the post companies in this space? you cannot tell an idea in a line and if it does not sound
hind the same? on the first day itself. Secondly, we keep on organising Social media is surely a huge part of our core offerings. interesting, the idea is not worth doing. So when we
Before focusing on the need, let me give you a couple contests on a regular basis on social sites like Facebook Today, in the global market, you will hardly see any asked that whether they would like to be in the best job
of numbers. As of today, we have got more than half a and Twitter. For example, in case of Scorpio, we have a digital media campaign without having an aspect of in the world or not, the audience did pay attention to
million fans on Facebook across our automobile brands picture competition which is very popular with the au- social media marketing involved in it. And the same us. The response that we got for the job through this
like Scorpio, Bolero, Xylo and Mahindra Great Escape. dience. Here we invite our fans to post unique pictures holds true for India as well. Here we work very closely campaign was actually overwhelming. People kept on
The biggest fan base is definitely for the Scorpio, which with their Scorpio. If you take a look at the kind of pic- with Coca Cola, wherein we try and generate content voting for their friends and the campaign went on to
has recently crossed the 2 lakh mark. These might just tures that the fans are posting, you will certainly agree for them. This helps the company to connect better with create a lot of buzz in the social media sector before the
sound as numbers. But when you compare it with the to the fact that the fans have certainly uploaded some the users. winner was finally chosen.
Eden Gardens of Calcutta, which accommodates around amazing pictures. In fact, some of them are in unique
100,000 fans, it becomes easier to imagine the number tourist destinations. One of them is the high mountain According to you, what is the best campaign that How do you think social media can help today’s
of Eden Gardens we are talking about here. I don’t think tourist destination of Ladakh. you have come up with so far in the social market- companies in a much better way than traditional
there is any other automobile brand in India, which has ing space? Has it really delivered the desired con- mediums of advertising?
a similar fan following. Now the need is for the fact that Apart from engaging the users with your brands, nect with the users? The best of the campaigns in the traditional mediums,
social media provides us a two-way communication al- what are the other goals that you bear in mind One of the most successful campaigns that we have wherein you spend a good amount of money, always
lowing us to understand whether our consumer is get- when you decide to opt for social media? done in terms of grabbing eyeballs across the world and manage to push your awareness level up for the time
ting the right message or not. Moreover, in the case of We use these platforms primarily for getting consumer in India was the one titled ‘Best job in the world’. It was being and then fizz out. But the most attractive part of
social media, we know that we are talking to consumers feedback. For example, suppose we want to check the a campaign we did last year for the Queensland Tourism social media is that the best initiatives are not cam-
who want to be engaged with us, unlike in convention- feedback on the customised Scorpio, we will post some Board. The problem that they were facing was that paigns, they are ongoing conversations that a company
al media where we talk to the world at large and then pictures of the vehicle and will wait for the responses though the region already had a good awareness level, manages with its audience. Like in the best job cam-
wait for the interested people to respond. of the fans on the same. This way we generate a large somehow it was failing in terms of top of the mind recall paign, we surely got it started by a surge in awareness
pool of feed backs, which help us in making our prod- when people used to plan their holidays. To create that but we continued it with the experiences that the person
So, what are the kind of activities that you under- ucts better. There is also a customer service angle to it awareness, we decided to begin a competition, which had with his blog, Twitter and other social networking
take in order to ensure the consistency in con- where in the consumers can touch base with the com- was showcased through that campaign. In the same, we sites. This is where social media really proves its worth.
sumer engagement with your brands? pany on these platforms (mostly Facebook and Twitter). didn’t offer any prize, rather offered a job. The job in- Here, after spending a lot of money on generation of the
On a very basic level, we keep on sharing exciting in- In fact, a lot of people air their issues on these networks cluded a three-bedroom villa in Queensland with a pool awareness, a company can take it to the next level by
formation about our brands with the fans. For instance, and try connecting to the company directly. In return, and the winner got paid around $8,800/month for taking creating a constant value out of it by constantly interact-
last month, Punjab Police bought some 30-40 Scorpio we try and solve their issues. 4Ps the responsibility of cleaning the pool, feeding the fish ing with its TG through these social sites. 4Ps
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5. c ov e r S T o r y Social media
“Social media “india iS aT
muST be Taken an evolving
SeriouSly” STage...”
anup Jain, direcTor – markeTing, p. balendran, vp, gm india, TalkS
yum! reSTauranTS india (Pizza hut ) abouT how gm iS Trying To make
SpeakS on The neceSSiTy of Social The moST of The opporTuniTieS
media for conSumer buSineSSeS preSenTed by Social media.
Social media is one of the growing industries in space, we have appointed Hungama Digital Media En- GM India undertook an exercise on the social media depth engagements have helped us improve the quality of
India. How do you expect it to help the Indian tertainment as our social media agency. platform to improve upon GM India’s brand percep- discussions and arouse interest for our products. The
marketers in the times to come? tion. How far is this true? social media platform has helped us extend & leverage our
Social media is a fast-growing platform for brands It’s true that you have been very active in the so- Before we decided to use social media, we conducted an communications, express GM’s vision and connect with
across sectors. It acts as an effective tool as it is the best cial media sphere. But how do you measure the internal brainstorming exercise on why, how and what do our customers from a very conversational point of view.
way to reach out to the target consumer without effectiveness of all the activities you carry out? we intend to achieve. After an elaborate analysis of online
incurring huge expenses. Since the present generation As I said, we actively use our Facebook fan page and opinions in India, it became evident that using social on- Social media as a tool for marketing has really
is very active on social networking sites, it makes a lot ensure participation not just from the consumers resid- line platform would not just improve the perception of our picked up over the past couple of years. What do you
of sense for brands to be present in that sphere and ing in bigger cities, but also from small town consum- present and prospective customers (about the quality of feel are the reasons for the same?
regularly interact with them. Social media acts as a di- ers. Our fan page has been receiving comments and our products), but would also prove critical to our post- India is at an evolving stage, but the adoption has been
rect, cost-effective and interactive medium that provides responses from active consumers. This helps us in sales service and support. We felt a necessity to commu- rapid. Some of the evolved brands that have embraced the
complete information on brands and acts as an authen- shaping our brand focus and goals. Moreover, expertise nicate our efforts on the online platform as well. So, while platform, have realised this and have approached social
tic contact point. of Hungama in this sphere has come really handy for us the main objective was to improve the perception of Chev- media marketing as not just a platform for brand advertis-
to improve our efforts in this segment. rolet in India, one of the focus was also to attend to all ing, but for improving their basic concept(s). It has pro-
Pizza Hut, in the recent times, has been very ag- service-related queries. A couple of our most successful vided organisations with an opportunity, where brands can
gressive in making consumers aware of the recent According to you, what kind of businesses across initiatives include the Chevrolet Freedom campaign that communicate while providing a platform for its audience
happenings. Can you explain the ways in which sectors can take the benefits offered by the social we ran on Independence Day and the Q&A session with to talk and express themselves and to increase the un-
Pizza Hut has been harnessing the potential of media in the country? Karl Slym, President & MD, GM India (which was the first aided brand awareness. Considering the sheer number of
social media? All kinds of consumer businesses especially those, of its kind to reach out to consumers on a one-to-one lev- people that access various social platforms, the key to
As a brand, Pizza Hut completely realises the growing which interact with younger consumers should take this el). success today, lies in the engagement level, transparency
importance of the social media as an effective tool to medium up seriously. and credibility. People are living in a converged world to-
reach out to the target consumers. We are constantly Of late, GM India has been aggressive on Facebook day, where all the digital screens are seamlessly connect-
working towards ensuring a strong base for ourselves Going forward, how do you see the future of social and Twitter. What are the results so far? ed to each other and the online/offline lives of the consum-
in this space. With over 2. 4 lakh fans, the official fan media marketing in India? Do you believe that it The most important aspect of our initiative is to reach out ers are interconnected.
page for Pizza Hut on Facebook – Pizza Hut Celebra- can match the levels at which players have been to the right audience and interact with them using in-
tions – has the largest fan base for any restaurant brand using it globally? novative elements. So, our effort is to create a positive What is the biggest challenge as far as growth of
in India. The page runs contests and offers and provides Yes. Social media is a very important medium and India perception about the GM brand throughout the commu- social media in India is concerned?
information on all latest happenings at Pizza Hut har- with its growing Facebook community and other spaces nity and hence reach-out to existing & potential custom- Infrastructure is the biggest challenge in India. Low pen-
bouring interactive conversations with the customers. like Twitter et al will set the standards for global brands ers. These efforts have enabled us to discuss auto-related etration of the broadband as compared to the West is very
In fact, owing to our growing focus on the social media very soon. 4Ps topics with a group that is discerning and keen. The in- disheartening and discouraging! 4Ps
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6. cov er STory an icmr and 4ps b&m Survey
Social media & The youTh
The preferred social networking sites not a grievance redressal
With the entry of Orkut providing online connect with friends and colleagues, other platform
websites followed. Facebook with various applications and high popularity has
seen people joining the site at an alarming pace. The latest entry is Twitter which is It seems that people connected on social media
4Ps B&M preSenTS an in-depTh analySiS of The Social neTworking Trend catching up fast with growing popularity amongst celebs as well. networks believe in just networking. Rarely does
prevalenT amongST The indian youTh in The age brackeT of 18-25 yearS one use it for a complaint redressal forum. 62%
of the respondents have not even once used the
social networking sites as complaint registers!
facebook tops the chart 59% 62%
Social networking is the in-thing now with more & 10
more sites following similar patterns. Facebook is
the most popular amongst the youth today!
participation in activities other than socialising
Be it through hi5 or twitter, it is rare to find one who is not connected
online. Given the hits that these social networking sites generate,
59%
companies have started to seriously consider them as alternate media 21%
vehicle and are upping their marketing and promotional activities on 20% 20%
these sites. However, those who are connected for socialising, don’t pay 11%
much heed to the other activities happening on the website they visit. 7%
Nonetheless there are a few who do try their luck in various contests while
surfing the net. Facebook Orkut Twitter Not even once Twice Once Often
20%
16%
5%
Contests
The purpose of using social media platform The methodology
Promotional
Activities 7% Games Social media has helped people connect with long lost friends. This is evident The 4Ps B&M team along with the Indian
Facebook Orkut Twitter Ibibo
3% 8% with 63% respondents in the survey using such platforms to connect with Council for Market Research (ICMR )
friends. While, 23% (respondents) believe in exchanging their views and conducted a survey on the social media
experiences on various products/services and others apart from just playing usage amongst the youth.
games & participating in contest (12% )! ICMR conducted a survey amongst the
dedicated time for socialising youth in the age group of 18-25 years to
63% identify the most loved social networking
Social networking is now an important aspect YES websites and the other platforms they
of the day. With most people spending more 18%
are currently using to socialise and stay
than an hour socialising online! connected apart from just a mode of
entertainment ( games, contests etc ).
The survey was conducted in Delhi,
One hour to
44% Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore using
two hours
a structured questionnaire amongst a
randomly selected sample size of 550
23%
respondents. Equal ratios of male and
Less than
one hour 43% NO female respondents were interviewed
82%
12%
personally to understand their level of
involvement on the internet through
Two to 7% various social networking websites and
three hours
2% the time each one spent on the social
networking sites on a daily basis.
More than
three hours 6% Connecting with friends Exchanging views about
products/services
Playing contests/games Others
70 4ps buSineSS and markeTing 5 november - 18 november 2010 5 november - 18 november 2010 4ps buSineSS and markeTing 71