1. cover story l esson # 6: social marketinG
Go social! But
don’t go overboard!
marketinG products usinG a social messaGe is a Great way to Build a
trustaBle Brand; just don’t really Become a social firm by akhilesh shukla
d
oes social marketing – or marketing your prod- over-flooded telecom space in India. Then did the social mes-
ucts peddling a social cause – work? The ques- sage fail to deliver in India? Well, yes and no. One, social mar-
tion is critical as a part of corporate India has keting works only on bettering the trust front of the brand and
decided to sell ideas and create mass awareness should be used purely for increasing brand recall. T it should
wo,
through social marketing. never be used as a mutually exclusive marketing campaign at
One notable case in point is Idea Cellular, the cost of the original commercial campaign – one reason why
which took the social cause marketing to the all the Idea ads one sees now directly talk about Idea’s primary
next level in India. Using Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, marketing premises, like connectivity (Bachchan Jr. inside a
Idea had started bombarding consumers with a new “Idea” lift with a man whose cell phone doesn’t have connectivity),
every few months. One of the first social TVCs by Idea high- consumer service (inside a bus with a lady trying to call up her
lighting how we can save trees by reducing paper usage service provider), pricing (with his friend who’s complaining
through Value Added Services was outstanding. Then, the about high bills) etc.
‘Education for All’ TVC showing how technology could be Tata Tea’s hard hitting Jaago Re campaign against corruption
an enabler for education in the most remote areas of India in the year 2007 is also another great example, as that later be-
also hit the mark. Then came the print ad on “Mera number came notable in mobilizing youth to come for voting by putting
Mumbai ka, toh main Mumbai ka” hitting back at Maharash- up a website to ease the voting process for first timers and non
tra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for its hate registered users. It actually worked with as
campaign against the people of UP and many as 2.8 million votes registered on the
Bihar living in Mumbai. Then the one website, out of which, 0.6 million were first
which talked about breaking the language time voters. “Through these campaigns we
barrier with the help of mobile phones is addressed big issues of the society. It helped
a direct attempt to strengthen national us to get the attention of viewers and cre-
integrity. Anupama Ahluwalia, Vice Pres- ated awareness. In the process, the brand
ident, Marketing, Idea Cellular, says “The got a better recognition and grew phenom-
new Idea campaign around language of- enally” says R. Balki, Chairman and Chief
fers a solution to address the multiple Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas.
language concern in India through mo- But critically, companies should start
bile telephony. We are confident that the becoming social organisations – in the
campaign will connect strongly with our sense, social marketing should be purely
audience and help us grow to over 70 mil- used as a great brand recall tactic; and dis-
lion subscriber base.” carded thereon. Aircel’s ‘Save
These campaigns created a separate our tigers’ campaign intended
identity for Idea Cellular brand. Before the just that. Were the subscribers
start of the campaign, Idea’s market share expected to leave all their jobs
was little above 8% (December 2006) with idea’s
and jump on a bus to Sariska
a subscriber base of 12.44 million. The campaign to save the first tiger they say?
operator was operational in only 13 telecom for saving Not at all. Aircel’s shrewdest
circles out the 22. Today, the company runs trees has move ensured consumers saw
been a
in all 22 circles and has a market share of standout the brand positively and ac-
10% with a Q-o-Q growth of almost 8%. on the so- cepted the basic marketing
Yes, it did build the brand trust. But was cial mar- premises more conveniently.
the sales growth transformative? Today, keting India lesson: Go social! Don’t
front
Idea is still the fifth largest player in an go overboard! 4Ps
70 4ps Business and marketinG 3 decemBer - 16 decemBer 2010

2. PradeeP ChoPra, Ceo, digital Vidhya
in conversation with akhilesh shukla of 4P s b & M
social marketinG develops tHe
trust factor for tHe Brand
S
ocietal marketing vis a vis normal marketing is a communication to the target audience. Commercial
no-contest as the fact of the matter is that one has marketing, almost always is purely sales and business
to get one’s house in proper readiness before at- oriented while social marketing is a way to create aware-
tempting to heal the world. That is, one needs to ness about the awaken masses. Social marketing mes-
market a product on its basic premises first, and only then sages spread easily vis-a-vis commercial messages
on the basis of societal marketing. As one who has indulged among the masses. However, the clear drawbacks are
considerably in this area, Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital- that selection of the message and the way it is com-
vidya discusses the potential of the social focus with us: municated is not an easy task. The issues should have
the potential to touch the target audience in effective
How has social marketing become an effective ways and the message should not be complex.
marketing tool for brand building in India?
Social marketing has one of the most important ele- But most social marketing campaigns fail in terms
ments – society. Anything having a social element has of actual adoption in day to day life. They end up
the potential to get noticed by the target audience. The just being ideas.
effect would be bigger in case the message is bigger as Yes, some of the ideas might
it gets noticed by a large number of people. As a result,
it has a greater appeal among the masses. At the same
look good on the screen. But
implementing the same in “the clear
time, it creates a differentiator between any normal
commercial message that a brand tries to give through
day to day life could be chal-
lenging. Besides, the actual drawbacks
purely commercial campaigns. implementation of the cam-
paign depends on the corpo-
of social
But seriously, how do campaigns like Jaago Re, ration that is taking it up. marketing
‘Walk when you talk’ and ‘Save the tiger’ help
corporations increase their sales?
Some of the companies just
use the campaign to are that
Such campaigns help building a credibility around the
brand. The brand recall gets stronger in the minds of
strengthen the brand and do
not take the issue seriously. message
people due to the social factor. The target audience
also develops a trust factor around the company’s prod-
However, there are some
successful examples. The
and media
ucts and services. These factors later reflect in the biggest one is Jaago Re cam- selection are
topline and bottomline. And as I mentioned earlier, the
social campaign do help brands in entering a differen-
paign of Tata tea, which
helped to mobilise and reg- not easy “
tiated league compared to competitors. ister many first time voters
in India.
Do you think Indian audiences are better takers
of social marketing, as they are emotional? In USA, social marketing is effectively used in
People in India are strongly connected to their roots drug abuse, heart disease and organ donation. Is
and have a great concern about the issues in the society. the same happening in India on a large scale?
Such society also leads to the spread of message in a Social messaging is effectively used in India for health
more effective and faster manner. Japan and South and education purpose but it is only the government
Korea are other examples of countries having effective which takes initiatives on these fronts. The success of
responses to such social campaigns. the Pulse Polio campaign is a good example. The gov-
ernment took up the cause very seriously and launched
How is commercial marketing different from so- massive campaigns involving TVC and print ads, which
cial marketing? Which one is more effective? reflected in a good turnout for the polio drops. Blood
Both are very important tools of marketing and have donation campaign and TB eradication programmes
their own pros and cons. Both are required for effective are the other examples. 4Ps
3 decemBer - 16 decemBer 2010 4ps Business and marketinG 71