Emvies 2010: Mindshare monopolises digital shortlists

In the digital category, media agency Mindshare presented case studies for brands Axe, Lipton Yellow Label, STAR Plus-Sach Ka Saamna and Idea Cellular

The digital category was ruthlessly monopolised; all four shortlists in this category belonged to media agency Mindshare. Mindshare presented case studies for brands Axe (Call Me!), Lipton Yellow Label (Stay Sharp Jigsaw Challenge), STAR Plus-Sach Ka Saamna (The world's first online lie detector-television's moment of truth on social media) and Idea Cellular (Use Mobile - Save Paper).

The phenomenon of Numberitis

The Axe case study revealed that the agency had aimed at creating a scalable digital solution for the brand by tapping into the fantasy of the average Indian male, who has a girl on his mind and a cell phone in his hand. The insight was to bridge the gap between fantasy (making intimate progress with the girl) and reality (struggling to bag her phone number). The Call Me! campaign held 'the mobile number' as the central idea, utilised the fact that India is a 'voice country' and played on the 'phenomenon of Numberitis'- a situation wherein a girl willingly gives a man her phone number.

This phenomenon was seeded in 22 Lee stores; outdoor space was used in 22 cities and four metros saw guerrilla activity. A cell phone number that men were encouraged to dial was given out and a girl at the other end of the line flirted with callers and gave them morning wake up calls/reminder calls.

Within three months, there were 44 lakh calls, of which 40 per cent were repeat callers. The Axe summer variant sold out within a month.

India's biggest online jigsaw puzzle

The Lipton Yellow Label case study threw light on the website that carried the brand's 'Stay Sharp Jigsaw Challenge'- the world's largest jigsaw puzzle bearing 25,000 pieces. Other digital media used included SMS activity on mobiles, site takeovers and social media; there were downloadable wallpapers and bloggers/fan page users were targeted as well.

As a result of this campaign, the website received 1,86,756 registrations for the puzzle and one million visitors. The sales target was exceeded by 25 per cent in just two months. The innovation even made it to the Limca Book of Records for being the biggest online jigsaw puzzle.

Online lie-detector

Mindshare's digital innovation for STAR Plus' Sach Ka Saamna included the creation of television's moment of truth on social media via the world's first online lie detector. This peer to peer phenomenon was executed by formulating a quiz laden with intimate questions on someone (the 'victim'); the quiz was first taken by a friend of the targeted person. The link was then sent to the 'victim', who was required to put his/her palm on the monitor (for added drama) while taking the quiz and was taken aback each time the computer detected a lie. The fact that the answers were pre-loaded by a friend is revealed eventually.

Result: The innovation had a viral snowball effect. Prior to the launch of the show, there were more than 1.2 million viral views; 27 viral views per minute and a total of 16,000 hours of user engagement were recorded. The online petition against the official ban on the show was signed by more than 45,000 people. Post-launch, the show recorded TRPs of 3.4, which was double that of competing shows in the same time slot.

Use Mobile, Save Paper- What an Idea, Sirjee!

In early 2010, Idea Cellular launched the Use Mobile-Save Paper campaign. Besides the SOV war and the need to break through clutter, challenges included facing the creative communication war, too. The mobile phone was made the enabler and the entire innovation rode primarily on this. Paperless menus and bills were used in Café Coffee Day (CCD) outlets and customers were able to avail the same via Bluetooth on their cell phones.

Similarly, paper movie tickets and paper receipts were replaced in cinema halls and on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link/Noida Toll Bridge, respectively. Patrons could show a pre-received SMS instead.

Result: Three lakh CCD customers were reached, 750 movie tickets were replaced in one night and six sq. cm of paper per person was saved at the toll booths. In all, 6000 people used the paperless tickets within just three hours on the Sea Link and 10 million sq. cm of paper was saved.