Interactive: Gome Electronics–Love Delivery Box
By Malay Desai From: Beijing, by JWT For the Chinese New Year, electronics retailer Gome has launched an activity at its outlets which helps its customers record personal messages to send along with the gadgets they buy. Targeted toward parents, the activation encourages customers to say ‘I love you’ to their parents from a ‘delivery box’ i.e., a special cabin that ensures privacy. Their audio message is recorded on a chip, inserted in the gift box and delivered. When the recipient, in this film, aging parents, opens it, the message plays out loud. Why we like From JWT Mumbai’s web film last week, we incidentally pan to the agency’s interactive work in Beijing, which has kicked off Lunar New Year festivities from last Friday. The New Year brings with it traditions that we Diwali revellers are aware of, such as gifting one’s near ones. And this activation has tapped an emotional side we Indians know of too, of not being able to tell our parents that we love them. Yes, it’s a trait among many of us 20, 30 and 40 something Asians, isn’t it? Brands promoting emotional gifting come by every season; watches, phones and cars are the usual suspects while one Cadbury here repackages our festivals roughly every two months. But the idea here is local in nature, perhaps touching far less people than a TV ad, but creating substantial loyalty and word-of-mouth publicity. Adding a personal touch to inanimate electronic items could be done through cards or letters, but a recorded message has its own impact. Surely a video message (delivery man opens clip on tablet, steps out) would’ve been more effective but we assume this one still works on a budget. The act of buying gadgets and flaunting them socially may be easy but we know the feeling of not wanting the world to know how much we love our parents. The ‘delivery box’ in the electronics store is thus simply a dark chamber, the only way a customer would feel secure to record an emotional, personal message. And if the people (and sub-titles!) in the film are to be believed, many of them did pour their heart out. Another aspect, and one marketers often overlook in macro perspectives is that in-store activation has a significant place in the mix. Here, it added unprecedented value to a customer’s experience and as the deed is free, we cheap Asians would happily participate too. For a retailer chain, in-store activations have to constantly be out-of-the-box to increase and sustain footfalls. Your task for this week: go confess your love to your parents, don’t wait for a nudge from an electronics brand to do it! (To watch the film, feed this link into your browser: ‘bit.ly/ViewTubeFeb3’or to watch it on your phone or tablet, scan this QR code -) SOCIAL NEWSFEED What Arnab and Rahul did on social It was touted to be the year’s first big political interview and although this writer thought it ended up being a damp squib of Arnab’s headline-grabbing tactics and Rahul Gandhi’s unconvincing class, last Monday night sent Twitter in a tizz. According to a report on exchange4media, it created over 3 million tweets. We don’t know of the TRPs yet, but the 80 minutes or so surely netted Times Now their maximum number of social media mentions in a day. Numbers apart, the worrying trend was that anti-Congress trolls were super-quick to fill the interwebs with denigrating, mocking comments against Rahul Gandhi, painting him to be moronic . With the social world filled with millions of would-be voters (21 to 40 years of age), this is bad news for the incumbents. Meanwhile, with the mid-April election date nearing, we expect bigger fires on social media. Times NOW likes this Facebook wants you to read more ‘Paper’ It’s not what it reads like. After promising more ‘standalone apps’, FB’s karta-harta Mark the Zucker has announced Paper, an independent news reader mobile app that has apparently been in the pipeline for long . Now this may just be another news app on your store, but its impact is slated to be large because well, its heavy duty promoters and the fact that it won’t have any Facebook related branding such as the blue band on top. That said, anything shared on the app will also find a place on your Facebook News Feed. Boasting of 19 sections from sports and business to LOL, we assume this app will carry the power of shaping many young opinions especially on politics in America. It does not feature ads for now but given that 53 per cent of FB’s revenue coming from mobile ads last quarter, expect them soon! Your Paperwala likes this How to make a viral: Get Scarlett Johansson, get banned Yup, that’s the two point agenda you must present to your client who asks ‘How do we make it viral?’ in your Monday meeting. Sodastream, a DIY soda-maker machine brand has published an ad featuring Hollywood hottie Scarlett Johannson literally wondering ‘how do we make this viral’ in the ad. She then proceeds to don a black dress and sips soda in a seductive way. “Sorry Coke and Pepsi” she says in the end. The ad was reportedly banned from the Super Bowl (and not because it had any obscenity) and the brand’s execs were ready to give out statements to the tune o f being disappointed at America’s freedom. The result –the well-planned move worked, the ad has 62 lakh views in four days. Even though it actually didn’t get banned at al l according to some detractors, here’s a stunt worth emulating with our Katrinas. Katrina Kaif likes this
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