SOCIAL MEDIA GIVES YOU WINGS

Red Bull is a very god example on how to succeed in social media marketing and how to engage the target audience effectively with content which is interactive and interesting and rather than using social media to sell your product.

Red Bull’s facebook page have more than 8 million fans and the way they do it is by constantly offering them a variety of activities on their page which will engage their fans from extreme sports to suggestions on how to procrastinate.  They post these links to their red bull page and ask questions to its fans in order to engage them in conversations. There are some posts, which have generated up to 6000 likes, and also some posts nearly 500 comments.

They also have a social games tab on its facebook page which is dubbed as the procrastination station which have a variety of branded interactive games that have the extreme energy of the drink.

Red Bulls game tabs also connects gamers to each other through the Drunkish Dials section where the company posts random texts sent to RedBull drinkers and the member shave to vote for their favorite one.

Red Bull has also capitalsed on their online video platform such as Youtube. This has not only helped but also enhanced the users experience of red bulls fan page; their channel on YouTube has received 1.2 million channel views at press time.

This video is shot in a way that it could actually be a movie and it clearly wasn’t cheap to produce it is already got close to a quarter of a million views after only a couple of days.

So are you guys a fan of Redbull on Facebook on YouTube and have u interacted with them on their page??

LETS DISCUSS SOCIAL MEDIA OVER COFFEE??

STARBUCKS- 

In the summer of 2011, when I first put my foot on aussie land at around 6 P.M , the first place I went to was STARBUCKS, not because I was obsessed with it , but because I wanted why are all coffee lovers so addicted to it.  This was the first time ever I was stepping into a STARBUCKS and tried their coffee, and after that there was no stopping me, I was soon added to the list of STARBUCKS addicts.

Now lets continue to the Social Media part: -

Considering Coffee is a very important part of Social Media and vice versa, STARBUCKS has not disappointed anyone with its social media strategies and continue to excel in it over the years.

 STARBUCKS has been quite a dominating brand over the years on various social media networks.

TWITTER

  They have 1,744,051 followers as per today and adding me 1,744,052, and they are quite active on it, where they keep on tweeting about their additions, subtractions and post blogs and new offers.

FACEBOOK

STARBUCKS has 25,511,617 people who like their page on Facebook and quite a few other pages for different countries and coffees, but on their official page, they share videos, posts and also a lot of different offers. Currently they are promoting the Pumpkin Spice Latte in which you  Show the world you're a PSL fan by carving a Pumpkin Pic for your profile. It's the perfect way to prove your pumpkin passion.

They also ran the Free Pastry Day and Tax Day via Facebook and other networks which drove almost one million to their stores all around the world, they have been one of the companies who dominates facebook.

FACEBOOK STARBUCKS PAGE

YOUTUBE

STARBUCKS has  11457 subscribers on their YouTube channel and they upload all their videos, advertisements, charity work and campaigns on its YouTube channel.

They are currently running the PSL campaign on its YouTube Channel also: -

http://www.youtube.com/user/starbucks?blend=1&ob=4

MY STARBUCKS IDEA

 How can such a big company rest on their social media agenda without having a social media of their own??

STARBUCKS have their own social media network and website call MY STARBUCKS IDEA which is a platform for all the Starbucks coffee lovers to interact with the brand a little more and, customers are asked to share their ideas on anything related to Starbucks which gives the users the ability to see what other are suggesting, voting and commenting on ideas. This is a very good strategy as it makes consumers feels involved and they feel that they are a part of the decision making and their views and comments actually make a difference to the company.

Finally, STARBUCKS is also the first company to ever offer a deal on FourSquare and also you can share your photos of the Pumpkin Spice Latte on instagram, which shows how active STARBUCKS is, in this department, and are always trying to communicate with their customers.

However Australia has been a big worry for the STARBUCKS bloaks. It has majorly failed in Australia and has shut 61 out of their 85 outlets in Australia. What is the reason??

Post your comments below guys!! Cheers

NIKE +

Since i was a child i was always obssesed with Nike Products., be it their shoes, clothes, footballs etc. Whenever it came to sport, my first choice was always Nike whenever i need any equipment. My parents never really understood why it was so expensive unless they tried on one of the pairs instead, and now my dad is quite obssesed with his Nike shoes and cant think of going for a walk without it.

Neway lets continue and talk about Nike and Social Media.

Nike+: Making Running More Social

Sportswear and equipment giant Nike is one of the most social brands in the world, and has evolved its social strategy over the  years, focusing on expanding globally to reach its huge pool of customers which is constantly growing by the day.

While many corporations have tried and failed to create strong social networks for their customers, Nike was not afraid to give it a go two years ago, when it launched Nike+, a social network for runners who use their Nike + products. The site has achieved great success since its launch as it is really functional and provides great value, allowing runners to track their running records and stats, as well as challenging themselves and friends.

The Nike + Commuity has grown heaps in the past years with the addition of new products such as Nike +GPS App and Nike+ GPS Sportwatch. They have around 5 Million members in the community and they have a "Cheer me on ' feature inside its GPS app which taps into runner friends on facebook for additional support and motivation. 

Nike's online strategy differs from those of other companies, rather than creating a virtual community they simply combined music and running for a new kind of marketing which proved to be highly successful.

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

Nike developed a sport kit sensor ($29) which when synchronized with your ipod or iphone tracked runners speed, mileage and calories burned. When you dock you idevice Nikeplus.com launches and the run data gets uploaded automatically. Altogether runners ave logged 93 million miles on nikeplus.com


So far Nike has sold 1.3 million Nike+ iPod Sport Kits  and 500,000 Nike+ SportBands (at $59 apiece), wristwatch-like devices for runners who don't want to listen to music.

Nikehas also developed something for the basketballers. They have an appication on facebook called ballers network which lets players organize real world games and manage their teams online.


To end Nike has been quite successfull in whatever they have done in social media and have not faced failure in that field. Considering the big company they are they have lived upto its social media reputation quite commendably and rather using social media to sell its products , they have used it in providing more value to their customers increasing brand loyalty.


Below is a video which will give you more dope on Nike+

Do any of you guys use this service?
If yes how do you like it?
If no, are you willing to give it a try afer reading this??

let me know wat u guys think!!!


KEEP RUNNING!!

An amazing Kingfisher Experience!!!

Kingfisher Airlines, based out of India is one of the world’s seven airlines to be ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax. They fly to 63 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations with an Airbus & ATR fleet. Headed by one of India’s most flamboyant tycoons Dr Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher has built a strong brand for itself in service and quality over the years. It wouldn’t be unfair to call Kingfisher the Virgin America of Indian skies.

Kingifsher just gained presence on twitter to add to their social media other than facebook. 

I was talking to my friends over coffee and just sharing our experiences, so one of then told me how he had an amazing experience on Kingfisher when he was flying from Dubai – Cochin and Chennai – Dubai.

It was the first time he was flying with Kingfisher Airlines and being an avid tweeter, he decided to tweet on the kingfisher page before departure and instantly received a reply to enjoy their service.

When he arrived at Dubai Airport , and when his turn came to check in, the check in agent took a few moments to check her screen, consulted with the supervisor and gave him a free complimentary lounge access card. How cool is that??

Anyway I dint really get into details of what he did at the lounge,  he continued when he was in the flight and when they started to serve the meals, the crew rolled up the cart first straight to where he was sitting in the middle of the plane and served him first. Getting VIP treatment in the economy class is quite commendable considering economy class is also know as cattle class in India.

My friends was stunned, as the cabin crew knew his name before hand and served him well and all the time came and made sure he was comfortable, which was a genuine way of serving customers well.

But these little personal touches always make a difference to a company’s reputation. 

On his way back, he also mentioned how he almost missed his flight to Bengaluru and missed the bus to the plane and the kingfisher staff ferried him again to the plane in their car just in time. This is quite commendable considering airlines don’t really care if you miss your flight especially if your travelling economy class.

On his way back when he was eating his noodles, 2 of the kingfisher staff came upto him and said “Mr Gandhi we were looking for you”, and they once again made his day. After a few minutes, he was escorted to a lounge at Chennai Airport, and the staff told him that they will fetch him when it is time to board the flight. After 30 minutes, the sir hostess was back and escorted him to the door of the plane, where he did not have to wait in the line for the security check in and the crew accompanied him in the bus to the plane. I am sure he must have managed to grab quite a few envious looks by then and his mind was flying before the plane ;)

When the flight landed, at the door of the plane , he met with another  gorgeous Kingfisher staffer who walked him through immigration and security , once again without standing in the queues and introduced him everywhere at a guest and  placed him in the premium lounge at the international terminal, where all his food and drinks were on the house. How cool is that!! Who doesn’t like free food and drinks??l

And finally he left for his house and it was the end of hos Awesome Kingfisher Tale, which frankly speaking made me quite jealous.

Below i have posted kingfishers twitter link if anyone wants to follow:

http://twitter.com/#!/flykingfisher

My question is do Kingfisher offer the same red carpet treatment to everyone who tweets?? Perhaps not but then again they have won a loyal customer who through word of mouth might win them more customers.

How important is it to offer value, engagement and surprises to customers even through something like a single tweet or facebook post?? Can this caring to listen and daring to surprise through social media make a huge difference? Lemme know wat u guys think??

To sign off, brands engaging in social media take off to a new level when they are able to consistently and creatively offer value, engagement and delightful surprises to their audience.  It all starts from caring to listen and daring to surprise.

Indian Premier League and Social Media

India is a Cricket  Crazy country with millions of followers. Considering the recent cricketing seasons of the World Cup where India won the trophy and Indian Premiere League 4th edition, it has become quiet a case in itself. IPL being the biggest tournament in India and almost one of the biggest around the world, it was no surprise that they would use Social Media in order to increase the viewership.

These social media campaigns and activities of the different teams and the whole tournament managed to gain quite a lot of attention not only in india but also around the world. 

 

Online Streaming

The matches were broadcasted live on youtube,with youtube being their official sponsor during the 3rd edition of the ill,however for the 4th edition they switched to indiatimes.com which enjoyed more hits due to their additional features such as customizng features,match videos,highlights,score cards, etc and also due to the increase in internet users in 1 year.

 

Twitter

IPL made extensive use of twitter ,  where tweets were broadcasted LIVE on TV during the matches. It was a good strategy of reaching out to a credible mass where announcements were made regarding following & tweeting to the official twitter handle of IPL.

 

 

Facebook 

Facebook being the No. 1 Social Network in India, there is no doubt the IPL fanfare on Facebook was going to be any less. 25 Million users and and all of them interested in cricket, it was an interesting affair to see how the awareness increased. Infact the Live streaming & official website with facebook connect lead to a lot of impression on the network. The Universal “Like” button reached places which increased the reach and awareness for IPL.

 

 

 

Statistics

• The official IPL fan page on Facebook has 774,980 active fans.

• The Mumbai Indians (one of the IPL franchise teams), have more than 1.5 million fans.

• Cumulatively IPL and Teams (Official Fan Pages) have around 3 million fans on Facebook

• The number of views for IPL’sYoutube channel so far is 972,25,776. With 99,446 subscribers, the channel is the most subscribed channel in India.

• Indiatimes being the official channel managed to source 2,41,52,839 views only for its videos. No live streaming numbers have been recorded for the same

• The IPL account on Twitter has 68,052 followers. While all franchise teams cumulatively have 1,30,549 followers

• Celebrities like Shahrukh Khan and ShilpaShetty and cricketing figures like Shane Warne and HarshaBhogle also tweet to their thousands of followers about the IPL on a daily basis.

• #IPL is the top trending hashtag in India since day one of the IPL (almost all days)

 

With Youtube live streaming, Twitter broadcasting and Facebook integration, Social Media has had quiet an influence on  IPL. Clearly the hoopla is growing year on year and one can only expect a much greater version of the IPL  on Social Media So What do you guys think??

Ever Heard of Social Gaming??

The Call of Duty series of games is by far one of the most successful games ever to hit the gaming industry and by far, till date my favorite. I remember when i started playing this game, i had almost forgotten that eating,sleeping and talking to people are also a part of life. Most of my failures in life can be blamed to this  game, be it relationships, education or work.  However, i am not here to talk about how the games have caused failures, but how Activision with its Call of Duty games have created an obsession for gamers, a fortune for themselves and a social media revolution for the Gamind industry as a whole.

Gaming giant Activision has added a new social platform for gamers with Call of Duty :Elite. Elite is an online community of Call of Duty Gamers which also provides hints and tips for players to increase their skills and levels.

Companies have started realizing that gamers now-a-days are not limited to consoles and web gamers like to compete with console gamer s and vice-versa. Gamers can use their Facebook accounts and find other gamers who are using this service.

Gamers can create groups on the website which are very similar to the pages on Facebook and members of the community can track  and compare themselves to other gamers. For e.g if you like playing rifles, there is a whole group for gamers who like to play with rifles. Gamers can join a total of 64 groups and source out for new competition every moment.

Elite is currently available on consoles, mobile apps and web browsers and works with all Call of Duty games and has four main sections which include

• Career
• Connect
• Compete 
• Improve

Elite is mostly free, however premium membership is needed to get the full functionality and access to some special features and is slated for release in November.

Heres a Video explaining of how this works :

Also you can have a look at the website below. Its quite impressive i must say:

http://www.callofduty.com/elite

I am definitely Jumping on this one once i get my hands on the new game which is slated for release.

Looking forward to your comments!!

CAR TOWN!!

I've owned my 2008 Honda Civic for 3 years. It's the first Honda I've owned and I am hooked. I love the tight handling, power, solid design and the overall quality feel. Its one of the best machines i have owned and cannot stop loving to drive it. Its a different feel. At the time it was launched in India, it was every teenagers dream car during that time.

Honda has been quite good with its advertising overall all over the world. To launch its 
latest sport hybrid coupe, the Honda CR-Z, Honda launched a facebook game called Car Town. Its a interactive game somewhat on the lines of Farmville and Cityville which allows players to use virtual currency and to purchase,customise and store hundreds of vehicles and build and maintain their own virtual garages. Players can take these ehicles to race,complete roadtrips to earn points and buy additional vehicles and car related products.

I was quite fascinated with this concept and decided to give this game a try. Let me tell you ,it was quite impressive and addictive, i found myself washing cars,racing and fixing my friends vehicles on facebook for a good 3 hours. If your a facebook gamer, and if you were ever addicted to Farmville,you will get addicted to this too.

In order to promote the CR-Z, Honda car town developers added clickable ads featuring the Honda CR-Z, such as in-game billboards next to the players garages. Players can click on it and view the CR-Z video and buy one for their garage.

Furthermore, the game version of the car is uniquely enabled to travel to both the beach and snow-covered environments simultaneously, highlighting the CR-Z’s sporty and fuel-efficient capabilities.


Below i have given the link to the game, everyone reading this should definitely give it a try:
http://apps.facebook.com/cartown/?ref=ts

Some Statistics

There are:-
6071049 Active Monthly Users
37,201- Total Likes

I think its an awesome campaign and the execution was great and Honda has created quite a Buzz with this campaign and might have convinced quite a few people to buy Honda Cars.

So have you heard of this campaign before?What do you think of it? do you think it might influence your decision to buy a Honda Car?