MicroMax seems to be the new darling of the Indian middle class. Its budget range smart phone cum Phablet Canvas II has a stupendous demand in the market. The Indian brand is sure ringing some bells in the mobile competitive market. Micromax is already leading the tablet market in India with an 18% share and with its new range Android based phones competing directly with Samsung, the brand is looking to dethrone the brand that brought the Smartphone revolution in India.
The brand does have its presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which for electronic brands is becoming a compulsion day by day. The 12th largest handset manufacturer in the global market has a decent following on Facebook to start with, although not the million fans to showcase on Facebook as compared to its competitors Nokia and Samsung. MicroMax is building up its fan base steadily.
MicroMax Ultimate Gaming Force
e-Sports can be the next big thing in India. You ask why? Every other guy I see on local trains or in their leisure time is either hooked on to Angry Birds or Temple Run or any other competitive game. Micromax is trying to harness the gaming enthusiasm by the Indian consumers (in metros especially) with the Ultimate Gaming Force Challenge(UGF).
The UGF Campaign by Micromax is designed to boost and attract mobile gamers. So if you think you are a ‘Pro’ in your own version of a Temple Run or Angry Birds, you can register for the combat when it is in your city here. The brand is trying to build its own niche with its canvas range and what better way than to invite mobile gaming enthusiasts across the metros to participate in their Ultimate Gaming Force Challenge.
The application is just used as a banner on Facebook and is more of an offline event to gain traction and make people aware of Micromax tablet and products. The ‘Terms and Conditions’ are not displayed on the application which can be a bit confusing to the fan coming to the application for registering purpose. Hence, the statement of ‘Prizes worth Rs. 15 Lac up for Grabs’ is a bit unclear.
The other application for UGF designed for racing is very heavy integrated with Adobe Flash. The application after many ‘Shockwave Failures’ started to initialize. And it was understandable with the game being a detailed F1 Race which you have to win over 6 laps of thrilling racing to make it to the next race course. The game is easy to go with minimal controls to take care of and has all the twists and turns which you can expect of a F1 Race. Winning the challenge might land you up to the finals of the UGF.
The gaming championship had been categorised into 3 phases, with different gadgets for each passing phase. First phase was hosted by mobile phones, and the future rounds would be on Micromax powered tablets. This not only gives the consumers a thrilling contest to win but also gives them a first hand experience of Micromax gadgets.
The campaign was promoted with the hashtag ‘#MicromaxUGFchallenge’ but failed to pick up any traction on Twitter. The Brand used to redirect the users to the Facebook application posting about the campaign with the hashtag. However, there was no participation(read Mention) for the campaign on the micro blogging site.
Such online-offline campaigns can be a great mix for mobile brands keeping the content interesting enough on Social Media and compelling users to visit the challenge offline. The challenges did receive positive response in terms of participation in Bangalore and Pune.
Micromax is going all guns blazing with their new Canvas II offering. How such campaigns on social media help them to pip their competitors only the coming days will reveal.