Recently, Bollywood actor and perfectionist Aamir Khan has been seen dressed as a woman in Godrej commercials during the IPL. While many of us find it entertaining and eagerly anticipate the story as it develops, there is also a wave of activity happening on social media. The Godrej commercials, aimed at city residents, feature engaging storytelling that is both fun and informative about the new product line that promotes a brighter lifestyle or ‘Zindagi Muskuraye’. The campaign has also incorporated social media alongside television to foster interaction with its audience.
Aamir in the character of Sonia, deliberates a women’s identity for a new role and while on a visit to his friend Sam, gets mistaken by his wife Meera to be the woman staying downstairs. Without divulging the truth, Aamir plays on with Meera depicted through short ad films, while Meera shares about Godrej products for a better living in between their other talks. While the videos get uploaded and shared simultaneously on both mediums, fans have been encouraged to guess what would happen next!
Zindagi Muskuraye on social media
The ‘Zindagi Muskuraye’ campaign has been promoted on social media from the start itself. Aamir was revealed as Sonia a few days prior to the TVC going on air and a trailer was also shared with the social media community following this. The specially created Facebook and Twitter pages for ‘Zindagi Muskuraye’ are occupied in engaging the online community with the ongoing story of Sonia, Sam and Meera.
On Facebook, fans have been invited to watch the various episodes and make a guess as to how Sonia would react next, with prizes to be won. A Facebook app ‘Bloopers friends make‘ enabled fans to tag their friends on the page and share their embarrassing bloopers. Fans have shown a fantastic response as can be seen in the comments at the bottom of the app.
The content on its Twitter page is also in synch with the engagement activities happening on Facebook. The ‘Bloopers Friends make’ on Facebook is being run as #BloopersFriendsMake contest where followers have to tag their friends and share their bloopers.
Engaging the consumer through social media
Both the networks, Facebook as well as Twitter are also ensuring that the new products being advertised are not hidden in all this story telling business. The clever product embed in each of the videos coupled with the updates on the brand ambassador Aamir and content talking about bright ideas, are surely helping in tying up the brand message. However, the challenge would lie in taking it forward and building a relevant and engaged community.
The concept of simultaneous synching of the content with the social media fans, a little prior to it being on air, is a smart way to interact with the online community. The contests are aligned with the objective and create a well-rounded end experience for the fan.
It would be interesting to see how the ‘Brighter living’ or ‘Zindagi Muskuraye’ community is kept continuously engaged with creative promotions through social media. What do you say?