Anupreet Singh - 09020441006 - Kingshuk Bhadury

COMPANY PROJECT STUDY
REPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY FOR JOHN PLAYERS
FOR
ITC – LIFESTYLE RETAILING BUSINESS DIVISION
A PROJECT SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITTED BY
ANUPREET SINGH
09020441006
MARKETING
DIV: A
2009-11
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

MS. DIPTI CHADHA
BRAND MANAGER – JOHN PLAYERS
SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (SIMS)

(CONSTITUENT OF SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY)
Social Media Marketing Strategy for John Players
COMPANY PROJECT STUDY
A REPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY FOR JOHN PLAYERS
FOR
ITC - LIFESTYLE RETAILING BUSINESS DIVISION
A THESIS SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITED BY
ANUPREET SINGH
09020441006
MARKETING DIV A
2009-11
PROJECT GUIDE: PROJECT MENTOR:
PROF. KINGSHUK BHADURY MS. DIPTI CHADHA

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT BRAND MANAGER
& ITC LTD.
CORPORATE TRAINER MARKETING
DIPTI.CHADHA@ITC.IN
SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (SIMS)

(CONSTIUENT OF SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY)
2
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TOPIC PAGE NO.
Acknowledgement 4
Certificate from Guide 5
Certificate of Completion 6
Executive Summary 7
Objectives of Study 8
Research Methodology 9
1 Introduction 10
 Company and Industry 11-12
 Social Media Marketing & Importance 13-18
 Competitors 19-20
2 Youth Brands on Social Media 21
 Fastrack 22-24
 Tata DoCoMo 25-26
 Ching‘s Secret 26-28
 Adidas 28-31
 Levi‘s 31-33
 MTV 34-35
3 Internet & Social Media Habits of Indian Youth 36
 Social Media habits and Internet in India 37-44
 Interests of the youth in Social Media 45-48
4 Different Mediums in Social Media 49

 Facebook 50-51
 Twitter 52-53
 Blog 54-55
 YouTube 56-57
5 Recommendations 58
 Platforms on Social Media 59-62
 To increase fan base/followers 63-67
 Brand Ambassador 68-71
 Engagement Activities 72-85
 User Generated Content 86-89
6 Integration of Social Media Marketing Strategy with 90-94
John Players
Annexure 95-97
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my project guide, Ms Dipti Chadha (Brand
Manager – John Players), without whose continued guidance and support the completion of
this project would not have been possible.
I would also like to thank Mr. Nitin Chandil (Marketing Services Manager) for helping me
and clarifying my doubts.
I would also like to thank my mentor, Mr. Kingshuk Bhadury (Management Consultant &
Corporate Trainer), who has helped me throughout the project by way of his suggestions.
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5
6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The project is based on social media marketing of John Players. The entire project was
carried out in 2 phases. The first phase includes studying various brands on the social media
front. For the purpose of my research, brands like Fastrack, Tata DoCoMo, Ching‘s Secret,
Adidas, MTV and Levi‘s were studied.
The first phase also includes studying the internet and social media habits of the youth in
India. Information concerning this was taken from White paper available on the internet from
Internet and Mobile Association of India which is the authentic source.
The second phase on the other hand consists of recommendations. Giving suggestions as to
how the position of John Players can be improved on the social media front, what can John
Players as a brand do to create user generated content, to drive them into engagement
activities and to use the cele-brity brand ambassador to improve the position of John Players.
The research was based on secondary data only. No primary data was used in the first phase.
The second phase consists of giving recommendations based on extensive research and study.
The project is being carried out so that John Players can use the recommendations in their end
of season sale campaign and other activities from the month of September to February.
The primary purpose of research is to identify ways in which John Players would be able to
gain a critical mass of followers.
A part of the recommendation is based on the concept of referral marketing, which is

explained in the report.
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OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
PRIMARY RESEARCH OBJECTIVE (PRO)
 To determine how John Players can gain a critical mass of followers in the social
media space by giving recommendations.
SECONDARY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES (SRO)
 To study youth brands including youth apparel brands and understand their social
media strategy.
 To study the internet and analyse the social media habits of the Indian youth.
 To understand what activities and interests do the youth have in social media space.
 To understand the different mediums of social media and their relevance for brands.
 To give recommendations how the celebrity brand ambassador be leveraged in the
social media space.
 To identify different platforms in social media that can be exploited most effectively
for John Players.
 To determine what kind of engagement and activities can John Players do in the social
media.
 To understand how user generated content be created on certain platforms.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research in common parlance refers to search for pertinent information. For my project, the
data has been collected from different websites, online case studies, white papers and e-
books.
A lot of research has also been done primarily on social networking sites like Facebook and
Twitter. The first phase of research included studying various brands and understanding what
they do on the social media space.
The next phase of research involved giving recommendations for improving the position of
John Players on the Social Media Space and for this suggestions have been given based on
ideas.
Also, the project is based on the pillars of User Generated Content and Customer
Engagement.
Secondary Research
1. Websites
2. Online White Papers
3. E-books
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
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ITC Lifestyle Retailing Business Division

ITC‘s Lifestyle Retailing Business Division has established a nationwide retailing presence
through its Wills Lifestyle chain of exclusive specialty stores. Wills Lifestyle, the fashion
destination, offers a lot of brands including Wills Classic work wear, Wills Sport relaxed
wear, Wills Clublife evening wear, fashion accessories and Essenza Di Wills – an exclusive
range of fine fragrances and bath & body care products and Fiama Di Wills - a range of
premium shampoos and shower gels.
With a distinctive presence across segments at the premium end, ITC has also established
John Players as a brand that offers a complete fashion wardrobe to the male youth of today.
With its brands, ITC is committed to build a dominant presence in the apparel market through
a robust portfolio of offerings.
John Players was launched in the year 2002. John Players is committed to be the no.1 fashion
brand for the youth. This foray leverages ITC‘s proven competencies in understanding
consumer insights, brand building and design capabilities.
John Players offers a complete and vibrant wardrobe of the way we communicate casual
wear, party wear, work wear, denims wear, outer wear and suits and jackets, incorporating
the most contemporary trends, an exciting mix of colours, playful styling, trendy textures and
comfortable fits.
The brand is available across the country through a nation-wide network of over 220
exclusive stores and over 1500 multi-brand outlets.
The target group for John Players is 18-24 years of age and of late it has been extended to 30
years.
In January 2010, ITC replaced Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador with Ranbir Kapoor.
The move adds a punch of freshness, dynamism and energy to the trendy apparel brand for
men, while highlighting its commitment in making strong statements in the fashion and
lifestyle space. Ranbir Kapoor is the perfect fit for John Players as he personifies the
youthfulness, vibrancy and panache that the brand stands for.
There are strong synergies between John Players and Ranbir Kapoor‘s inherent sense of style
and effortlessly cool persona. John Players‘ association with Ranbir will hit the right chord
with the youth and strengthen the brand‘s core attributes.
At the Images Fashion Awards 2005, John Players was declared 'The Most Admired Shirt
Brand of the Year'.
At the Images Fashion Awards 2007, John Players was awarded the 'The Most Admired
Fashion Campaign of the Year' award.
The tagline of John Players is Play it Cool, which essentially means that the brand itself is
effortless. The brand personality is such that the person using the brand does not have to try
too hard to look cool.
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The Indian Ready to Wear Market is divided into 4 segments.
The mass segment is usually in the price band of Rs300-700 and includes brands like
Kuotons, T&G, Cantabil, or brands that would be located in shopping streets like Janpath,
Sarojini Nagar, Fashion Street, etc.
The Mid Price segment is in the price range of Rs 700-1500 and has brands like John Players,
Peter England, Turtle, Basics, Allen Solly, etc.
The Premium Segment is in the price range of Rs 1,200- Rs 3,000/Rs4,000 and consists of
brands like Colorplus, Wills Lifestyle, Van Heusen, Louis Phillipe, Arrow, etc.
The super premium segment consists of brands like Hugo, Boss, Canali and designer wear
apparels.
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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & ITS IMPORTANCE
Social media marketing is a recent component of organizations' integrated marketing

communications plans. Integrated marketing communications is a principle organizations
follow to connect with their targeted markets. Integrated marketing communications
coordinates the elements of the promotional mix—advertising, personal selling, public
relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion—to produce a customer focused
message. In the traditional marketing communications model, the content, frequency, timing,
and medium of communications by the organization is in collaboration with an external
agent, i.e. advertising agencies, marketing research firms, and public relations firms.
However, the growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate with
their customers. In the emergence of Web 2.0, the internet provides a set of tools that allow
people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects
online.
Social media marketing programs usually centre on efforts to create content that attracts
attention, generates online conversations, and encourages readers to share it with their social
networks. The message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is
coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the brand or company itself.
Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access,
opening doors for organizations to increase their brand awareness and facilitate conversations
with the customer. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for
organizations to implement marketing campaigns. Organizations can receive direct feedback
from their customers and targeted markets.
In order for organizations to most effectively use social media for marketing, they must
recognize and embrace that the emerging platforms are additional resources to complement
and expand their entire marketing arsenals rather than replacements for existing marketing
initiatives. Among the goals for which social media can be used are:
 Customer service, e.g. direct response to customer complaints

 Broadcasting updates, announcements, news, e.g. additional PR resource
 Promotions/Advertising
 Behind the scenes look at the organization
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Organizations need to define their goals for social media in order to be successful. Goals may
vary among platforms. For example, Facebook may be used for customer service and
broadcasting updates while Twitter may be used for promotions. YouTube could give the
behind the scenes look at the organization. The success factor may depend upon the goals: a
certain number of new customers as a result of a promotion may be one goal; another may be
responding to all customer complaints within a specified window of time in a customer
service situation.
Because social media is emerging at a rapid pace (and is still quite recent overall),
organizations often establish a presence organically rather than strategically. In most cases,
this evolution is appropriate to a point at which the organization needs to develop a strategy
for its social media use and integration into the overall marketing strategy.
Social media has been adopted by a critical mass of the population which means it is
important for organizations to have a social media presence. Generally, some official
presence is better than none, even if a specific strategy has not been defined.
Social media have been modernized to reach consumers through the internet. Social media
have become appealing to big and small businesses. Credible brands are utilizing social
media to reach customers and to build or maintain reputation. As social media continue to
grow, the ability to reach more consumers globally has also increased. Twitter, for example
has expanded its global reach to Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico, among others. This means
that brands are now able to advertise in multiple languages and therefore reach a broader
range of consumers. Social media have become the new "tool" for effective business
marketing and sales. Popular networking sites including Myspace, Facebook and Twitter are
social media most commonly used for socialization and connecting friends, relatives, and
employees.
1. Concept (art, information, or meme)

2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal)
3. Social interface (intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic
broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print)
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Common forms of social media;
 Concepts, slogans, and statements with a high memory retention quotient, those excite
others to repeat.
 Grass-Roots direct action information dissemination such as public speaking,
installations, performance, and demonstrations.
 Electronic media with 'sharing', syndication, or search algorithm
One characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach
small or large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero
people or millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social
media and industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:
Reach - both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to
reach a global audience.
Accessibility - the means of production for industrial media are typically owned
privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little
or no cost.
Usability - industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training.
Most social media does not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the
means of production.
Recency - the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can be
long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which can be capable of
virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response).
As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not
be distinctive anymore in some time.
Permanence - industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article
is printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social
media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.
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IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social
media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive
amounts of traffic.
There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large
numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again.
If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media
marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.
Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:
1. Organic Growth: Not only does one get natural links without any discernible pattern,
the website is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs
from paid advertising which has commercial overtones.
2. Increasing Traffic: Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great

source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search
engines. While you can‘t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media
traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
3. Its low-cost/high returns. If done by you, costs are limited to only time and perhaps
the expenses involved in hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will
often exceed the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links; social
media has the ability to give you that for free.
4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually

community-specific. It doesn‘t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to
your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other
websites or search engines.
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5. Social networks are where the people are: Traditional advertising or above the line
advertising focuses on places where it gets maximum visibility. That is why any
venue where people gather is also a magnet for advertisers - sports stadia, busy
highways and television screens. The most basic principles of marketing mean that if
people are gathering online, they are a potential target for advertisers. However, they
are not gathering for the purpose of being marketed to, they are coming together for
social interaction. This means that businesses need to think through how they going to
get their message across in ways that do not damage their brand.
6. Competitors will be doing it. A business that ignores social media is effectively
giving its competition permission to advertise to its customers.
Because social media is still very new some organizations, particularly those that are
more conservative, may be holding back from engaging with it. This is allowing
competitors more space to promote their products and, very importantly, more time to
learn how to make social media marketing work for them.
7. Conversations between individuals can be monitored: Online social media gives

businesses a huge advantage over traditional social exchanges between individuals
because conversations are recorded and can be searched.
If someone meets their friend in the pub and says "We're having a barbeque this
weekend", this exchange is private and presents no opportunity to a business to
promote relevant products. However, if the same exchange happens in an online
social media setting, such as Twitter, it is visible to the entire world and can be found
using search tools. Businesses can track conversations that are of interest to them and
could use this information to develop targeting marketing campaigns that address the
needs of specific individuals. In this example, a supplier of home and garden products
could prepare a special offer aimed at people having barbeques in the next few days,
offering discounts or other incentives.
8. Customers can be engaged remotely. Another great advantage of online social

media is that geography becomes much less important. A business based in the south
of the country can listen to what people are saying in the north, or even in other
countries.
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This makes it a valuable tool when planning campaigns to extend or strengthen the
territory covered by a business.
9. Social media lets businesses resolve customer problems proactively. When

someone tweets or blogs that they are unhappy with a particular product,
organizations now have the tools to track their comments. This gives them an
opportunity to respond to individuals, sometimes within minutes.
By spotting and fixing problems quickly a business can turn a negative message into a
positive one. They can also track who is already a fan of their products, such as a
blogger who frequently mentions particular products that they use. These fans can be
rewarded by giving them a deeper level of engagement with the business.
Businesses that hold back from engaging in social media would appear to be giving
their competitors the opportunity to steal an advantage. Not every existing or potential
customer uses social media but those that do have the capacity to influence the
opinion of their peers. By proactively promoting a positive online presence with social
media users, businesses stand a good chance of raising their profile in a positive
manner, and increased visibility can only help the increase business.
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COMPETITORS
Peter England: Peter England, the hallmark of

honesty, started off with shirts and now
comprises of the entire men‘s wardrobe
containing full range of garments. Peter
England is the largest selling shirt brand in
India. It is licensed to be sold in India by
Madhura Garments.
Brand Analysis
 Brand Association: Good Quality

 Benefits: :
o Functional – Comfort
o Emotional – Simplicity
 Culture: Fashionable
 Personality: Honest
Promotion
Communication: TV, Newspapers, Internet, hoardings, Vernacular Media
They do online promotion however; it constitutes a very small part of their total sales.
Official website is www.peterengland.com.
Brand is primarily intended for sale at shopping.rediff.com, saleraja.com,

mall.coimbatore.com, shopping.indiatimes.com.
Pricing Strategy
Discriminatory pricing followed – Peter England at shop priced at Rs565, online its available
at Rs 446.
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Allen Solly
Allen Solly - is a leading brand managed by Madura Garments. Madura

Garments expects to make a serious attempt in the area of Internet
based retailing of garments - explore and understand the dynamics of
the new channel in the Indian context. The initiative has helped Madura
Garments defend itself against upcoming Internet based garment
retailers and stay ahead of competition. This initiative on the Net can
also be expected to add to the overall image of the brand and the organization behind it.
Strategy
Allen Solly‘s I hate Ugly contest was launched in 2009.

The contest was on their website wherein users had to enter
details about things they hate, the category of hate, upload
their photos, write their names and their email Ids.
Prize: Allen Solly gift vouchers worth rs.1000 each. Grand

prize. Holiday. An all expenses paid. To a destination of
your choice.
Exchange4Media Tie Up: Allen Solly had tied up with Exchange 4 Media.com for a contest
wherein users had to answer 4 questions about Allen Solly and the contest resulted in a
sweepstake. Everyday prize worth Rs 2,000 in the form of Allen Solly Gift voucher was
being won.
Following were the questions:-
1. Allen Solly was launched in the year

a. 1844 b. 1744 c. 1944
2. Allen Solly was launched in the following city:

a. Birmingham b. Manchester c. Nottingam
3. Allen Soly stands for? (complete the sentence)
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CHAPTER 2
YOUTH BRANDS ON SOCIAL
MEDIA
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CASE#1: Fastrack
Background
Fastrack is essentially a youth brand, Social networking is a big

part of today‘s youth.
Fastrack has worked on tapping the pulse of the youth by

answering queries, getting feedback about the brand and
collections and campaigns, engagement, resolving complaints
& doubts and interacting with ‗Fastrack Fans‘ daily, 24/7.
Approach/ Strategy
Fastrack was one of the first brands to use social media to

engage with potential and existing consumers. Faastrack
started with two communities on Facebook and a Twitter account in September 2007. They
worked closely with Blogworks to create relevant content and monitor conversations. From
April 2009, they decided to get all the work done in-house and worked with college interns to
create relevant, engaging and more importantly, unique content – such as origins of the
Fastrack logo, behind the scenes working of the brand coupled with innovative contests
(myexbox) and campaign/collection updates. The presence of the brand on the digital sphere
– both in terms of reach and budgets – has only been getting larger and given the relevance of
this medium to the target audience (15-25 year olds).
About the initiative
At the beginning, they jumpstarted the initiative by linking all the existing properties to the
new social media platforms we joined. Facebook, Flickr and Youtube were the first networks
added to consumer outreach. The great response pushed Fastrack to integrate even more and
the URL re-direct http://www.fastrack.in/Facebook to take fans directly to the fan page. Since
its inception, this link has been used across billboards, take-ones, contest forms, e-mailers
and all offline forms.
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A major component of success for this fan page was the use of Facebook social ads to create
awareness of the brands presence on Facebook.
They then jumped right into Twitter allowing us to connect with fans on a more individual
basis, answering queries directly, solving customer issues, giving out store addresses and the
like. On the flip side, they have also taken offline activities and brought them into the word of
social media with a fine example being their Twitter Contest where we asked fans tweet
pictures of the billboard signs announcing the launch of the latest Accessories segment.
Impact – Outcome
The main objective was to reach out to all the existing Fastrack customers/fans and allow
them a closer interaction with the brand.
o In less than a year we have grown from approximately 2,100 fans on Facebook
in April ‘09 to over 47,500 fans as of Feb ‘10 – that‘s a 2262% growth in 10
months!
o Not only has the fan count increased but so have the interactions, going up
from about 10-20 a week to almost 700-800. Comments on the posts have
touched the 150 mark at times.
Learning
One of the major learning Fastrack got after moving into social media is the requirement for
an in-house team member to handle the field. It‘s essential that the person in charge of social
media for a company is in touch with both the brand and the people it is trying to
communicate to. They need to be someone who understands the essence of the brand, yet
speaks the language of the fans/followers. Having a portal for answering customer queries,
reporting the launch of new stores/collections and even giving previews for the brand is a
great way to connect with your fans and this is what we strive to do daily.
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Reasoning
What they‘ve done best is turn the social media marketing on its head, so that instead of out-
sourcing the work, adding another level of direct communication with the brand, they have
shed that layer so that they can deal with the fans on a much more personal and real-time
basis. To do this they have taken on college interns who walk in the shoes of the brand‘s TG
and talk their lingo. This allows for two things. One, the essence of the brand is better
communicated from an in-house person and second, they are able to talk with the customers
from the same level as them rather than as a big company.
Another sizeable chunk of their time goes into gearing the campaigns around the social media
communities, whether it be by releasing ads a few days in advance on YouTube/Facebook or
putting up an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the Bikers photo shoot, putting up sketches
of the watches before they launch or linking back contests to the communities as done with
myEXbox.
CASE#2: TATA DO CO MO
Why Social Media
When Tata DOCOMO was planning to enter the Indian market as the 9th GSM operator, it
faced entrenched incumbents and strong brand communication barriers from other telecom
operators. However, Tata DOCOMO was determined to change the game and cut through the
clutter through innovation.
Social Media became the first opportunity which had not been picked up by most Indian
brands in June 2009 leave alone the telecom operators. It further had the wow element and
was clearly doing the New. The perfect reason for Tata DOCOMO to draw up an extensive
strategy was to harness the power of Social Media and build the brand with its consumers.
Laying the Social Media Strategy
At the very core of the Social Media strategy was the idea of humanizing a telecom brand and
making it warm, friendly and conversational. The strategy was simple yet brilliant.
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They wanted to reach out to every corner of the web and to every possible TG not as a
corporate brand but as a friend willing to engage the consumer in a one-on-one dialogue on
anything and everything pertaining to the brand, its offers, its deficiencies as well as anything
to do with telecom. The desired outcome was clear in everyone's mind – to build the most
loyal set of beta customers who will champion the brand in their micro-communities at every
moment.
The execution
A dedicated Social Media team at Interface was built to execute the plan. Twitter, Facebook,
Orkut, YouTube accounts were opened up and optimized even before the brand launch took
place. The website itself actively solicited visitors to sign up to the Tata DOCOMO
communities‘ months before it became a fad for others. The Social Media team set about
targeting each of the Social Media platforms differently.
STRATEGY USED:
The Tata DOCOMO social media strategy has been carefully built on five pillars.
Build consumer engagement
Beyond the day to day and one-on-one interactions with the fans and followers, Tata
DOCOMO has constantly launched consumer engagement programs with a heavy social
media angle. This has helped us build repeat engagement points with a large number of the
fans.
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Address and resolve complaints
Even before the launch of social media engagements, a dedicated customer response
mechanism was laid out for priority resolution of all social media grievances / enquiries. Top
management at Tata DOCOMO has taken great pains to make sure that literally the buck
stops when an issue is raised through social media channels. From activation problems,
network issues, handset settings or billing related matters, every single issue has been
promptly addressed and resolved. Comes as no wonder therefore that initially the Tata
DOCOMO Twitter account was nicknamed the ―unofficial helpline‖.
Crowd sourcing
Very early in the social lifecycle of the brand Tata DOCOMO realized it had hundreds of
well wishers who were all brimming with ideas on new product-service offerings that could
be a real differentiator for the company. The social team has repeatedly engaged with its beta
consumers, collecting feedback about usage, preferences, bounced off product ideas and
pretested concepts to help the product team develop compelling product service offerings.
Build brand advocacy
Continuous engagement and proactive problem resolution has helped Tata DOCOMO build
extremely loyal fans on social media. Innovative ways of recognizing such efforts through
fan of the week on Facebook and Twitter has further enhanced the cause.
Micro communication
With close to 100,000 direct followers and over 6 million secondary reach, all
communication from Tata DOCOMO enjoys a sizeable instant audience. However, the social
team remembers the names, occupations and past communications with thousands and
thousands of the fans. This helps us micro communicate with each individual building a
personal touch and therefore a high impact to messaging.
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CASE#3: Ching’s Secret
Ching‘s Secret Facebook page has attracted over one lakh fans
within 11 months of its launch in May 2009. Ching‘s Secret
provides a range of Chinese food ingredients and is manufactured
by Capital Foods India. Besides Facebook, the Ching‘s Secret brand
also leverages YouTube and Twitter as social media marketing
platforms.
According to Capital Foods, the company considers social media a very strategic part of its
overall business strategy to achieve word of mouth marketing. The company’s goal is to
create a one-to-one relationship with customers. They have used a mix of content about
Chinese food, contests, giveaways, cookery recipes, market research quizzes to build the
connectivity and empathy with their fans. To drive traffic they have used offline pushes,
online advertising and the organic growth for viral spread of content.
The entire online project has helped give voice to the brand
advocates. There are now one lakh people openly advocating
using products and endorsing Ching‘s.
1. A simple Facebook fan page with no extra ordinary

FBML tabs and applications.
2. Fan page Wall view restricted to messages from Ching‘s Secret alone and the
messages from fans get filtered in the ‗Just fans‘ sub tab.
3. Photos of the creative, advertisements and products.
4. There is no interaction among consumers but the questions or messages posted on

the Ching‘s wall are regularly answered by a Ching‘s representative on a very short
notice.
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5. Growth of the page is moderate. Per day on average 200 – 300 people join and
rejoice the Ching‘s experience online.
6. On an average at least 60 followers likes the activity performed by Ching‘s Secret

and at least 40 comment approximately.
Strategy
• Promote products
• Videos about recipes
• Inform fans about tie ups/partnerships
• Wish fans on all festivals
• Ask questions frequently to get feedback of customer‘s tastes and habits
• Competitions
• Quizzes in multiple choice format to engage users
CASE#4 ADIDAS:
Your Area Tab: As Facebook expands its reach globally, international brands should appeal to local
audiences with their public profile pages
The Your Area Tab allows the 2.7 million fans of the Adidas Facebook page to view content
from their local countries where they buy sneakers and other products
TG: 75 countries + across the world wherever ADIDAS has its stores
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The page also helps local stores target their specific fans. Local Adidas managers, for
example, can feature products and post content to the page. They can also tag new products,
and provide links to the Adidas e-store
Other Features
A News Feed with local content, featuring links, events and promotions
A photo and video viewer, featuring Adidas products (and the people who use them)
―Adidas buzz,‖ a twitter feed about Adidas products in your local area, including some
promotions
A link to the Adidas store finder
The Adidas Originals application uses Facebook Connect and Google maps to bring an
awesome Star Wars inspired experience online to promote their upcoming collection. The
app allows you to take over the Death Star Control deck letting you blow up your Facebook
friends streets with the use of Google Maps.
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How this campaign resulted in viral marketing?
A person would be able to invite her friends to join her in various activities; therefore this
application would inspire women to a more active lifestyle in their daily routine
the interactive online calendar helps women plan ‗me-time‘ for themselves by suggesting a
variety of activities which they can engage in, according to their chosen intensity and
individual schedules
OVERALL STRATEGY
 Active Fans
 Branded Applications
 Content Variety
 Good Video
 Pictures and Notes
Contests: Collaborating with MTV
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Adidas teamed up with MTV to run an exclusive Facebook contest where a fan could win an
all-expenses-paid house party. Their campaign was successful for a few reasons.
First, Adidas chose a prize and partner that would resonate with the Facebook user
demographic.
Second, they wisely chose to promote the contest on their fan page not only before the
contest, but after it had ended as well.
Once they had chosen the lucky winner, they used their page to share the fan‘s blog posts,
photos and videos from the party. The integration of status updates, photos, notes and videos,
with a smart contest, resulted in a whole lot of fan engagement, and keeping the winning fan
involved even after the contest had ended showed their commitment to fans and helped them
get extra mileage out of the campaign. The contest also gave the page content variety by
breaking up the usual status updates with something new, fun, and with an included call to
action for fans to get involved.
Case#5: Levi‘s
• The project was launched using branded entertainment segment on TV show Project
Runway
– 3000 design submissions
– Over 2000 submissions complied with the rules
– 1,34,000 unique visitors
– 19,000 registered users
– 2/3rds of those were women (18-25 yrs)
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– 1,22,000 design ratings
Levi‘s used its page and other features to popular live music venue, Fader Fort at the South.
The move builds on its long-standing partnership with The Fader music publication — a way
for Levi‘s to get influential young music lovers buying more of its apparel.
Officially known as ―Levi‘s/Fader Fort‖ — although most concertgoers call it ―Fader Fort‖
— is literally a big compound located a short walk from the main festival in downtown
Austin. It‘s complete with a main stage, a couple DJ side-booths, free drinks and a Levi‘s
jeans product store and tailoring facility (where performers can get a free pair of fitted jeans,
which from what we saw they wore on stage).
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Other Strategic Efforts
Regular updates throughout the week on Facebook page through:-
– Messages
– Photos
– Videos of bands and attendees
– Live stream of each show in a tab
Outsourced work to social media platform co, INVOLVER, which has been powering the
music application in another tab
The Style Tab
• Latest fashion by Levi‘s
• Photo slideshows
• Links to the Levi‘s home website
• Discounts on rocker style jeans
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To help promote the Page and Fort Fader, Levi‘s also began running home page ads on
Facebook at the beginning of the month, including :-
 RSVP ads for the Fort Fader Facebook event Page,
 ads asking users to become fans of the Levi‘s Page, and video ads.
Levi‘s targeted the ads to users ages 18 to 34, who designated music as an interest in
their profiles.
CASE#6: MTV
MTV India has made its presence felt in the online world
through the various social networking sites. They have active
accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and YouTube. They have
a huge fan following and with this active online presence MTV
has stood true to its new motto ‗Beyond Music Beyond
Television‘. This has been the best way to enhance engagement
with the consumers and further extend community of followers.
Approach/Strategy
 To capture the audience where they are most engaged

 To create online platforms to engage with different demographic groups
 To develop compelling online content
 To showcase MTV as an approachable medium ensuring that there is certain element
of belongingness amongst the youth
 Use social networking platform to deliver information, to enrich the consumer
experience and ensure that they become a valued and loyal consumer.
Marketing Approach
Generate wider online footprint through online marketing and Social networking media
promotions (FB, Orkut ads) and strike relevant eyeballs through TV.
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Stakeholders
Dedicated online users between the age group of 13-30
Youth cantered activities that appealed the fans are stated below:
 Connect consumers to brand MTV

 Link to the sense of aspiration and bring them closer to the BRAND, SHOWS and
VJs
 Running regular contests and giving away prizes. [FB Freak (Fan of the week), MTV-
HITS, beat that tweet etc.]
 Sharing exclusive content/uncensored footages
 User generated content through these social networking sites are also used for on air
shows.
About the initiative
1. Campaign used a mix of TV, online and in-channel promotions to popularize the
initiative and urged interested fans to sign up, become members of the MTV
community on Orkut, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Astons and in show
promotions.
2. Online Media and Social Media were the primary platforms and were used to drive
engagement with the Digital Show. Ads on Facebook and Orkut. FB presence on
MTV India website widget.
3. Word of mouth and status updates.
Learning
It harnesses the potential to reach out to a widening audience and understand speed,
flexibility, scalability & ease of integration and key to deliver successful online project.
Develop long-lasting relationships by providing a customer-centric experience that combines
community and social networking, consumer-generated content, viral and word-of-mouth
marketing. Challenge is to monetize because as marketers move in, users move out! Also
when the users submit inaccurate information on their profile, marketing efforts might not be
aimed at the right audiences.
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CHAPTER 3
INTERNET & SOCIAL
MEDIA HABITS OF INDIAN
YOUTH
36
THE INTERNET & SOCIAL MEDIA HABITS OF THE

INDIAN YOUTH
There has been a steady growth of internet in India. The penetration levels, however,
continue to be relatively low at 24% of the total urban individuals.
Among Indian Youth, the most popular activities are general information search and
entertainment.
Internet is increasingly being used for socializing through social networking sites (Facebook,
Okut), micro blogging(Twitter) and for downloading music and videos.
Given the limited options for speed and bandwidth, the industry is eagerly awaiting 3G
auction through which there would be a huge increase in the growth rate of the internet.
For the year 2009, the total population of people above the age of 12 years is 818 million.
Out of this, the urban population is 266 million. The total claimed internet users as of
September 2009 were 71 million. Please note, here the word claimed means all those who‘ve
used internet in the past 1 month.
There has been a growth of 29.81% since the year 2000 with respect to claimed internet
users.
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DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION OF ACTIVE INTERNET USERS
Source:www.iamai.in
For this survey, young men are defined as people between the age group of 21-35 years who
may be employed or unemployed. However, they are not college going students.
College going Students are youth studying in college (graduate, post graduate and doctoral)
between 18 and 25 years of age.
School going kids are between 8 and 17 years of age who are studying in school.
Older Men are all men in the age group of 36-58 years employed or unemployed.
Working Women are women in the age group of 21-58 years and are working outside home.
Non Working Women are all women in the age group of 25-58 year old who are not working.
This category includes housewives and non working young women who are not going to
school or college.
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The above graph shows that youth including young men and college going students account
for 58% (majority) of the total number of internet users. This trend has only increased in the
past few years.
GRAPH SHOWING ACCESS POINTS OF VARIOUS INTERNET USERS
Source: www.iamai.in
This graph shows the access points of various internet users. For the year 2009, 30% of the
population accessed internet through office, while 23% used home for accessing the internet.
37% of the total population used cyber cafes as their access point and 4% used school/college
for accessing the internet.
An interesting trend observed is that 4% of the population used the internet through
alternative sources like mobiles and kiosks.
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PURPOSE OF USING INTERNET IN INDIA
The above graph shows the main purpose of internet access for the Indian users. The graph
shows that apart from e-mail, the two main important purposes of using the internet are
general information search and educational information search.
They also use the internet for downloading videos and music. Other activities include text
chat, online jobsites, online gaming, financial information search, booking railway tickets on
the internet and online banking.
FREQUENCY OF USING THE INTERNET
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The above graph indicates that 47% of the users are online at least 4-6 times a week. 24%
users access the internet 2-3 times a week, while 15% of the total users use it once a week.
AVERAGE HOURS PER WEEK USAGE OF THE INTERNET
This graph shows that the average hours per week for using internet are at 15.7% for the year
2009, which is a 68.81% increase over the year 2008.
GRAPH SHOWING UNIQUE USERS OF DIFFERENT SOCIAL NETWORKING

SITES
Source: vizisense.com
The above graph shows the unique users across Facebook, Orkut, YouTube and Twitter for
the month of April 2010. Facebook emerges a clear winner followed by YouTube, Orkut and
Twitter.
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
Source: vizisense.com Report 2009
This table shows a comparison between Facebook, Orkut, and YouTube and Twitter basis
their reach, monthly visits, average page views per visit and the reach in terms of percentage.
GENDER BIFURCATION FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
Source: vizisense.com
This chart shows the gender divide for the 4 sites. It can be clearly observed that the sites are
dominated by males as far as their usage is concerned.
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CHART SHOWING AGE BIFURCATION FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
This chart shows the age bifurcation between the 4 sites. It is clearly observed that the age
group 15-24 has almost a 50% share across the 4 sites.
DEMOGRAPHIC SPLIT OF USERS IN TERMS OF EDUCATIONAL

BACKGROUND
This chart shows the educational background of the population accessing the 4 sites. More
than 50% of the population represents either persons who are graduates/bachelors or those
who are pursuing graduation.
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TOP 10 WEBSITES IN INDIA IN TERMS OF TRAFFIC
The above data shows the top 10 websites in India in terms of unique users, the monthly
visits and the monthly page views and their reach in India. Google.co.in tops the table with
35.5 million users followed by Yahoo, Orkut, Facebook, YouTube, Rediff, BlogSpot and
Microsoft.
As per ComScore, the most widely used purpose for using the internet in India is for
search/navigation purposes. A total of 12,365,000 users used the internet for this for the year
ending Mar‘ 2010. The next most commonly used purpose is accessing portals on the
internet. Portals registered a reach of 81.1% for the year ending March 2010. E-mails are also
extremely popular purpose for which there are a total of 11,138 unique users.
Social Networking has witnessed a 30% growth in terms of the unique users. The present
reach of this area is about 74.8%, which is a 16.1% increase from last year.
Downloads have increased by 35% making the number of unique users equal to 78,97,000.
Technology is another area which has witnessed an increase of 19%. The total reach of this
area stands at 48.9%.
The category Entertainment News has seen a 110% change making the number of unique
users at 28,41,000. The total reach under this category has also registered a substantial
change from 10.2% to 19.2%. Online Gaming and Job Search have registered a declining
growth over the previous year. For online gaming, the total number of online users has
increased by 3%, while the reach has reduced by 10.2%.
Job search has reduced by a whopping 78% and the reach has reduced by a total of 79.9%
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ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS OF THE YOUTH IN THE

SOCIAL MEDIA SPACE
TO MEET NEW PEOPLE
The primary reason why a majority of users sign up for social networking sites is to meet new
people and make new contacts. Social networking sites enable you to meet people with
similar interests and activities through groups or search options.
FIND OLD CONTACTS
You can search for old and existing contacts to add to your friend circle and build on your
connections to talk about your personal brand or your organization.
JOIN INTEREST GROUPS
A great way to expand your contact base is to join groups on your social networking site.
There are groups devoted to interests and activities of all kinds. Find a group that relates to
you or your product and start conversations that continue.
SHARE YOUR MESSAGE THROUGH MEDIA
Social networking sites allow you to share music, videos and photos along with messages.
You can create media files and upload them to your profile. Suppose you run a flower shop
and you want to reap the benefits of social networking. You can share photos of custom made
bouquets and other flower arrangements. You can also make videos showing how much work
goes into creating a fabulous flower arrangement
INTERACTION
Interacting with numerous people gives your brand recognition and visibility. You are
making a statement by mentioning your brand in a manner that is engaging and engrossing.
Inspire users to ask questions of your brand, get to know it, and show an interest in it.
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FORUMS
Most social networks have forums. This is where you can post your thoughts, questions and
opinions. It's also where you can communicate with a group of friends that all have the same
interest or problem. There's usually a variety of forums to choose from. Which forum you
post in all depends on what you're looking for.
If you're looking to discuss a certain topic, then you would post in the forum that's set up for
that particular topic. If you're looking for help with something then you'd post in the support
forum. Maybe you're just looking for a discussion to get into, browse around and find
something you like, then join in.
BLOG FOR YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Almost every social network offers you a blog. Here you can write about any number of
things. Keep friends updated on your life or write about your concerns and accomplishments.
A blog can be as personal, or impersonal, as you want it to be.
When you add photos to your blog you take it to a whole other level. People love to see what
they're reading about, that's why newspapers hire photographers. The way your blog
looks can be changed too.
CREATE PHOTO ALBUMS AND SHARE PHOTOS
Add all your photos (MySpace/Facebook) and break them into albums. Not all social
networks offer photo albums, but many do. Sometimes the social network will only let you
add a certain number of photos to your profile. Some will only let you create one photo
album. If photo albums are important to you then you'll need to shop around a little to find a
social network that lets you add whole photo albums.
Photo albums are a great asset to your social network profile. People love to look at photos.
They may stay on your profile, or come back later, just to look through your photos. It's also
a good idea if you have family that are far away and you want them to be able to see your
family photos. Some social networks even offer the ability for you to turn your photo album
into a slideshow.
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ADD VIDEOS AND MUSIC
Most Social Networking sites enable the users to add videos and music. If you have a band or
just like creating your own music you can sometimes create a band site and upload your own
music. If you like creating your own videos, some social networks will let you add your own
videos to the network. Any social network with their own video library will let you upload
your own videos. Some other social networks will just let you upload your video to your
profile.
PERSONALIZED SETTING
Colours, layouts, backgrounds and more can be changed on many social networks. Facebook
does not offer this, but MySpace does. MySpace has even added a profile editor that lets you
design your MySpace profile any want you want it. There are themes and backgrounds that
you can choose from and add too. On top of changing your layout you can also make a few
other changes to make your profile better.
GET ADVICE
Whether it's on the forum, in a group or in a niche network, you can often find the advice you
need on a social network. There are groups, forums and even whole social networks on just
about every subject, so you're bound to find what you need. Let's say you're looking for
advice on a condition you just learned you had.
HELPING OTHERS
Maybe you have some advice to offer to someone else. Join a social network on that topic
and answer questions. Talk to other people who are going through the same thing you're
going through, or already went through.
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SENSE OF BELONGINGNESS
Almost everyone wants to feel wanted or needed, or they just want to belong. Join a social
network and create your own circle of friends. Before you know it, you'll belong. Then you'll
wonder how you ever lived without them.
TESTIMONIALS
When Orkut was launched, a lot of users started testifying for their friends by writing a
testimonial which would give out the characteristic qualities of different individuals in a
paragraph or 2. Thus other acquaintances would be able to judge the person‘s character basis
the testimonial.
FUN/HUMOR/ENTERTAINMENT
One of the biggest advantages of social networking is that it is a great source of fun and
entertainment for its users. Whether it is the applications on Facebook or the poke features or
the different themes used on MySpace, Orkut, all of them are fun, easy to use and user
friendly.
48
CHAPTER 4
DIFFERENT MEDIUMS IN
SOCIAL MEDIA
49
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT MEDIUMS IN SOCIAL

MEDIA AND THEIR RELEVANCE FOR BRANDS
Facebook is a social networking website that is

operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Since
September 2006, anyone who confirms themselves to
be over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address can
become a Facebook user. Facebook's target audience is more for youths than adults. Users
can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends
about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or
college. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the
start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of
helping students to get to know each other better.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer
science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website's
membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to
other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University.
Top Brands on Facebook
Source: facebakers.com
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In India, the first brand to cross the 1 Lakh mark for fans was Ching‘s Secret in the year
2009. Some of the top leading brands in India on Facebook are Ching‘s Secret, Fastrack, Tata
DoCoMo, Pantaloons and Idea.
All consumer brands including retailing, lifestyle apparels, telecommunications, etc are using
Facebook for getting closer to closer to the consumer. This form of marketing on social
media drives a lot of engagement and is a good way for a brand to become a humanized
element of sorts.
This form of BTL advertising is of great advantage to the firm since it is not only cost
effective but also enables the users to reach out to a very specific audience depending on the
brand‘s TG. Moreover, the entire marketing activity could become viral by engagement
through contests, social ads and campaigns.
Facebook is the most widely used social networking site in the world today. It has over 400
million followers across the world.
Therefore, the advertising reach of the brand transcend national boundaries.
Any brand, be it a B2B or a B2C can be advertised and marketed easily on Facebook. To
create a page on Facebook, it costs nothing. The ROI on social media is substantially higher
than traditional media.
In a campaign lead, the idea is to use social media platforms to create a buzz and receive
feedback from the community represented by the target audience
Facebook can definitely contribute to making or breaking the brand image. Brands should be
very cautious in venturing into Facebook. A single negative comment can tarnish the
reputation of the brand that has been created and nurtured over a long period of time.
Today, 5% of Indian population has an online presence and it is growing at a rate of 35%
CAGR. In other words, 50 million users have a presence on social media.
When 3G is operational, the number of internet users will grow by about 25-35%. It is
estimated that by 2013, India will have the third largest Internet user base.
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Twitter
Twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and
read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed
on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as
followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow
open access. Since late 2009, users can follow lists of authors instead of following individual
authors. All users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service
(SMS), or external applications (notably including those developed for smartphones). While
the service itself costs nothing to use, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service
provider fees. The website currently has more than 100 million users worldwide.
Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has gained notability and popularity
worldwide. It is sometimes described as "SMS of the Internet.‖ The use of Twitter's
application programming interface for sending and receiving text messages by other
applications often eclipses direct use of Twitter.
Enterprise blogging has been lauded for its ability to "humanize" a company and make distant
executives feel available to ground-floor customers. Twitter can serve the same purpose
much more quickly.
Twitter spearheads the "micro blogging" trend, where people air thoughts and share
information in real-time while observing a 140-character limit.
Twitter is being used by brands all over the world as a leading Customer Service platform for
resolving customer queries and interacting with customers directly. Thus, the moment of truth
is reached earlier than any other medium.
Some of the leading brands on Twitter globally are Dell, American Express, IBM, Lenovo
are using Twitter for customer service.
The CEO of Zappos, an online shoe and clothing shop, uses Twitter to communicate and
interact with his 16,85,542 followers. They use Twitter because they feel it is a way to bridge
the gap between the employees and the customers. It creates a personal relationship.
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CoTweet sorts all the tweets that reply to you and put it in one place so you can easily go
through them. There is even a feature that allows more than one person to access a Twitter
account so replies are answered in a timelier manner.
Twitter is largely being used as a platform for companies to extend customer service and to
solve the customer‘s problems thereby depicting a positive brand image of the firm.
Customer service via Twitter often takes less time and a lot less money than a dedicated call
center. With Twitter, it‘s necessary to be short and to the point, which reduces the time
needed to solve each problem.
Twitter as a platform is not only being used by brands but also by a huge number of actors,
artists, public figures and celebrities to connect with their fans and also to keep in touch with
them.
Name Followers Following Tweets

MTVIndia 83,361 102 5307
Tata DocoMo 7996 33 4981
NSE_NIFTY 7054 0 1668
Forbes India 5947 77 646
DNA 4657 2351 11,131
Channel V 4566 343 5580
Accenture 4321 0 476
flykingfisher 3587 27 345
MSN INDIA 2988 3234 41062
Source: twittercounter.com
Thus, Twitter is primarily being used as a customer service platform. However, certain
companies are also using it as a news streaming source. Companies like Kotak Cards are
posting updates of the company and industry news to discuss with their twitter followers.
Companies like American Express, Dell, Lenovo, etc. are using Twitter to solve their
customer service queries.
Other companies are using it as a way to promote their sales and as a medium to offer
discounts. There are specific contests wherein users get a chance to win prizes for using the
company‘s name in tweet hashtags.
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Blogs
Blogs – originally known as weblogs is similar to a website which consists of discussion on a

topic, comments and material like graphics or video. Most blogs contain text, video and
images. Blogs are very popular as the followers provide a review or feedback of the content
given by the author.
Blogs are great tools every online marketer can use to drive traffic to a website. While many
think that blogs are the "lesser" form of websites, the truth is, blogs are actually more
effective than websites in some cases. This is because blogs provide a more personalized feel
to the visitors by enabling them to connect with the blog owner, add comments, subscribe to
RSS, and trackbacks. Blogs are not really that different from websites although they provide
visitors with greater access to connect with the owner and other visitors to the blog.
So it is apparent that optimizing your blog should form a large part of your online promotion.
If you optimize a particular document and it gets indexed and then ranked by the search
engines, then this is search engine marketing. Online marketers need to be aware that blogs
should be used as an important part of the overall marketing mix for an online business.
Blog software should be used to easily manage the different kinds of content available on the
website including the archive newsletters, the online media room, the frequently asked
questions, and product updates. These factors can contribute a lot to the search engine
rankings. Take note that these tips apply both to regular search engines as well as the
specialized blog engines. These applications in your blog can increase your credibility and
improve communications with your site visitors as well.
However, as an online marketer, you must not think that blogs are the easy way to promote
because sure, it has its advantages, but it requires constant work as well. Working smart is
particularly essential when you are optimizing your blog because you have to deal with other
competitors as well. Of course though, it is a given for you to find the right keyword in which
to optimize your blog for. As you see, this is actually very similar to website optimization.
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Relevance of Blog
1. It can be used for announcement of new products/designs and latest content/features

added for your product/service. In this way it also acts as a substitute for a press
release for the company. Having a blog reduces the need to have a press conference as
lead generation can happen through blogs and can automatically become a viral
activity. Moreover, blogs help in reducing the company‘s costs by a great extent as it
saves them the cost of advertising expenses during press releases.
An example of a company that follow s this practice is Google‘s blogs. They have
different blogs resulting in vernacular content across different regions. Google
notifies the public about its activities and latest happenings on the blogs.
2. Blogs are being used extensively by celebrities. In India, celebrities like Aamir Khan,
Shahrukh Khan have their own blogs and find it an easy way of keeping up-to-date
with their fans.
3. Blogs are also being used by a large number of news agencies, media, etc.
Essentially blogs are being used by people from all walks of life. Writers, authors, critics,
politics, science, technology, bollywood, etc. are some of the examples.
Speaking of Corporate Blogs, some of the most popular blogs are Mohan Babu, CEO-
Infosys, Ajit Balakrishnan, CEO- Rediff.com, Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO- Rdiff.com,
Annagh Desai, CEO – Damas India.
Importance of Blog
1. Having a highly structured content - because blog software has the category feature which
allows the categorization of content according to its themes. This feature makes blogs easier
to algorithmically classify everything that is written. You are also making it easier for the
search engine to understand what your site is all about so you will have a better chance of
ranking well on those topics.
2. Search engines can crawl URLs - because most blog software has an uncomplicated blog
structure, it is easy for search engines to crawl its content.
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YouTube
The brands that achieve long-term success on YouTube are the ones that consistently and
frequently publish refreshing content that has intrinsic value for audiences online. YouTube
was initially a medium for sharing videos and it catered to a huge audience. The most
interesting aspect of YouTube is that it is user friendly, easy to view videos through its video
streaming source and enables worldwide communication for businesses and individuals.
YouTube is not merely about videos. It is important to note that YouTube has certain sharing
tools. These are called commenting, sharing, rating and viewing videos. This is an interesting
way to not only create brand building but also for brand visibility.
If a business needs to advertise on YouTube, they must do so with a short video.

Understanding, how a customer responds to a particular video gives them a useful insight that
a business needs by taking feedback.
Businesses can advertise further by inserting links on their YouTube channel. By doing this, a
company can divert traffic to its own website, or to any website that it chooses. This further
assists in promoting the business message. YouTube videos are linked to universal internet
searches, but there are far fewer videos than text. This enhances the possibility that a
customer will find your business if you have taken the time to make a short YouTube video.
Conventional marketing methods are costly and time-consuming as compared to online

methods. In addition, these more established processes reach only a small fraction of
potential customers as compared with those reached by the World Wide Web.
YouTube marketing is rapidly growing in importance. It is one of the most effective social
media marketing tools that can be utilized by businesses. Its scope in reaching users all over
the world makes it an extremely powerful and efficient marketing tool.
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Some of the popular Indian brands on YouTube are as follows:-
1. Tata DoCoMo: DoCoMo displays active advertisements, promos and contests so as to

engage the users. The page has 105 videos, 174 subscribers, 2,77,362 uploaded
views. DoCoMo joined YouTube in July 2009.
2. Channel V: Channel V has active promos of Channel V shows, Simpu Singh ads and
various video uploads. Channel V joined YouTube in December 2007. They have a
total of 892 subscribers, 1586 uploads, 33,49,908 upload views.
3. Kingfisher: Kingfisher joined YouTube in October 2006. They have a total of 201
uploads, 413 subscribers, 1,007,035 upload views. They update the subscribers
about various events, promos and advertisements.
4. NDTV News: NDTV has a total of 12,290 subscribers. The total upload views are
45,388,107. They joined YouTube in the month of May, 2006. They basically
update the subscribers about news and events around the world.
Idea Cellular: Idea joined YouTube in May 2008. They have a total of 335
subscribers, total uploads views are 5,39,984 and total uploads are 85. The page
basically contains the advertisement campaign videos.
Other popular brands are UTV motion pictures, Yash Raj films entertainment, Maruti Suzuki,
Tata Motors, Clear trip, etc.
Thus, YouTube is primarily used by brands that look forward to entertainment and leisure,
however, certain brands like DoCoMo makes use of it by playing contests.
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CHAPTER 5
RECOMMENDATIONS
58
Platforms to be used for JP in Social Media
Facebook
Strategic Tools
– Status Updates (core feature)

– Fan Pages
– Groups
– Events
– Fan Box
– Applications
Change the profile picture and increase its size: All brands regularly
change their profile at least once in 2-3 weeks. This is important coz
what is new and contemporary or any ongoing campaign has to be
communicated to the fans.
(The image above is a recommendation for a Profile Picture)
During certain special occasions, like Diwali, Holi, Independence day, Friendships day, the
profile picture could be changed depending on the festival
Inform everyone about the fact that we are now on Facebook
Whenever an ad comes out in the print media or whenever there is an ad on the radio, it is
necessary to communicate to the fans that we are on Facebook.
Also, while giving out the bills to the customer, a line stating ―Catch us on Facebook‖, with
the url link can be given to the customers.
Whilst sending out email from the John Players id, we could give a link to the Facebook page
at the bottom.
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In showrooms, wherever, they are, a display signboard could inform about the Facebook fan
page URL. Even a placard showing the logo of Facebook and a message that ―Catch us on
Facebook‖ can be really helpful.
Using the company‘s intranet, we could send out mails to all employees to share the JP link
on Facebook and Twitter and also to update their info section with the links.
Twitter
Strategic Tools
Strategic Tools
– Tweet
– Retweet
– # HashTag
– Follow
– @replies
– Twitpic
– Twitsnaps
Some Observations about Twitter
• Low cost medium

• Customized pages are available
• More personalized approach
• Increased 2 way conversation
• Engaging in dialogues with customers
• Extremely good for query handling/customer service
• Contests can also be played
• A way to humanize the brand
• Learn to take negative feedback
• Focus shifted from product to consumer centricity
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• Let‘s first concentrate on Facebook.
The moment our page on Facebook starts receiving a lot of attention, or if it crosses say
20,000 fans, we should then start popularizing Twitter.
Both Twitter and Facebook should have the same background. Preferably, the background
used on Facebook can also be used on Twitter. It‘ll show consistency
The first thing to do would be to post a comment on the Facebook page wall saying
―Tweet. Follow. Retweet. @ITCJohnPlayers‖
Objective: To use twitter for marketing and activities such as customer service; all customer
grievances should be handled as far as possible by Twitter.
We can do the following on Twitter:-
We can send updates thru Twitter which will also be notified to the fans on Facebook.
Updates include:-
 Current Campaigns
 Seasons Collections
 New Designs
 Info. About current
marketing/promotional activities
YOUTUBE
• Create an account and Upload all commercials/press

conferences and media releases of JP.
• Also, if possible, Ranbir Kapoor‘s videos from his films may also be uploaded
• All videos will have details of the current contest/campaign with the URL as a caption.
• Captions about other news items may also be given and JP‘s logo could be stored on
every video (top right).
• Also, length of the video should not be more than 3 minutes
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• We can also create a video with RK sporting various JP outfits with a musical
background and create a YouTube Widget on
– Facebook‘s page
– All RK unofficial pages on Facebook
– The John Players Website
BLOG
A blog for JP can be created.
The purpose of the blog will be to:-
– Publish the history of JP in the blog.

– Inform the followers about any news related to JP.
– Inform the public about the upcoming films of Ranbir Kapoor.
– Post interviews of RK on the website.
– Announcement of competitions, events, and advertising of any other events
related to JP
– Link the blog with Twitter and Facebook.
– Also, videos on YouTube could be linked to the blog.
– A Facebook fan widget will have to be created and embedded on to the blog.
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HOW CAN JOHN PLAYERS GAIN A CRITICAL MASS OF

FOLLOWERS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA SPACE?
At present, we have about 10,000 fans on Facebook. Other Indian players in the apparel
industry are more or less at the same level as they do not have a huge fan base. However, an
exception to this is Pantaloons. They started off with a viral campaign in the month of April
by using the Social Ad feature of Facebook. Their ad was integrated with a social cause and
that it became viral. Within a period of 14 days, their fan base increased from a mere 12,000
to over 1,00,000 fans.
1. If we are to grow our fan base exponentially, we would have to do it by the

means of a social ad on Facebook. This would be necessary to give it the initial
push. Facebook ads can amp up the amount of visitors you have to your page
increasing the likelihood they will connect with your page. Promoting Facebook
exclusive offers is another way to attract users to your page.
Following are some of the ad campaigns that may be used by John Players:-
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An ad campaign will run on Facebook for the first 15 days
This ad will appear on the right hand side of the profile page on Facebook
TG: 18-30
Estimated Reach in India: 68,03,760
Plan based on CPC (Cost per clicks)
$800.00 – daily budget
Bid per click: $0.33
Estimate: 2200 clicks per day
Total Cost: $800x15=$10,500 (Rs 5,53,000 approx.)
2. Cross-promote with other associated fan pages to give credibility to your page:
Ranbir Kapoor‘s unofficial page on Facebook has a total of over 1,60,000 fans. We
can leverage the use of this page to increase our own fan base by requesting the
administrator of that page to promote our page. We could also embed a fan box on the
blog.
<,
3. Keyword/Search Engine Optimization: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the

process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site or a web page
(such as a blog) from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or
"algorithmic") search results as opposed to other forms of search engine marketing
The result from optimizing the web pages is that the higher the rank of a site in the
search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may
target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and
industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence.
Presently, if you type John Players and Ranbir Kapoor on Google, it does not give
you the website of John Players in the top 10 links on page 1. Therefore, keywords
like John Players, Ranbir Kapoor and Play it Cool should be optimized for best
results as it would help in driving traffic towards the website.
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4. The Profile Picture: The profile picture on the Facebook fan page that is being
currently used on the Facebook page is not utilizing the total space that is allocated
for profile pictures. One can upload a picture which is in the dimensions of 200*700
pixels. A lot of brands like Fastrack, Pantaloons, DoCoMo use this feature to their -
advantage. Suggested Profile Picture:-
This is very
important because
first of all it makes
the page more
attractive.
Secondly, the tagline
of the brand is
mentioned and
lastly, the logo of the
brand is clearly
visible.
(Image made using Photoshop)
5. Change the Landing Page on Facebook: The present landing page is the ‗Play it
Cool‘ tab. This should be changed to the Cool shutterbug contest tab as it displays the
details about the present contest being played on the site. This is important as users
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who are not fans of John Players on Facebook may want to know about the
latest/current campaign on Facebook.
6. Post Frequency needs to be increased: On an average, we post once in a week. This

needs to be increased by a great extent because users will not access the John Players
page unless there is an engagement activity or a contest being played. By increasing
post frequency, we can engage the fans in discussions, quizzes, contests, etc. and
make the brand more interactive. We can also ask the users to post on our wall by
means of discussions, contests, etc. through which a larger audience would be
reached.
7. Tagging Users in Photos/Videos: One way would be to introduce a contest to our fan
page and then tag the winners of those awards in a trophy photo. Tagging users is a
naturally viral process because as soon as you tag one person, their friends see it and
then users are driven to that album which in this case, resides within your fan page.
<<<<
8. Integrate applications to increase engagement: There are presently over 60,000

applications on the Facebook platform and a relatively large portion of them can be
directly integrated into the fan page. We must develop a more robust experience for
the user. Games, quizzes, and other types of dynamic content in general can help keep
users on the Facebook Page for longer durations of time.
<
9. Fill out your page information as completely as possible within the Info tab and
the blurb box underneath the profile image. This helps the page surface when users
conduct a Facebook search for the brand.
10. Respond to positive and Negative Comments: We must not forget that this is a new
form of marketing. Gone are the days wherein there used to be only a one way
interaction between the brands and the users. Nowadays, the brands have become
more humanized, thanks to Social Media. Thus, we must appreciate and thank the
customers whenever he/she praises our brand and we must also learn to take negative
feedback and respond to it. This is extremely important because nowadays, word of
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mouth spreads at an extremely fast pace and the users our likely to share information
about brands with their friends.
11. On Twitter, we could explain the users the concept of retweeting and encourage them
to retweet our tweets.
12. We could Tweet about our current happenings/events/contests by making use of the
hash tag.
13. Inform everyone about the fact that we are now on Facebook. Whenever an ad
comes out in the print media or whenever there is an ad on the radio, it is necessary to
communicate to the fans that we are on Facebook. Also, while giving out the bills to
the customer, a line stating ―Catch us on Facebook‖, with the url link can be given to
the customers. In addition to this, a link to the Facebook page at the bottom must be
given in all our creative designs.
14. We can advertise online and by way of print media that fans can be a part of our page
by texting “like user‟s name” to 9232232665. In showrooms, wherever, they are, a
display signboard could inform about the Facebook fan page urn. Using the
company‘s intranet, we could send out mails to all employees to share the JP link on
Facebook and Twitter and also to update their info section with the links.
15. Reminders for new contests: We will have to remind the public about the next
contest by posting it on Facebook 5 days prior to the launch of the contest. The update
should not reveal the entire details of the contest but should only inform the fans
about when the contest starts and a small hint/clue regarding the contest so as to
create buzz and excitement.
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To leverage the Celebrity Brand Ambassador on the Social Media Space
Recommendations
1. We could use the tagline of JP – ‗play it cool‟ on the profile picture of Ranbir
Kapoor.
2. We should also make it more attractive by putting a more appealing picture.
3. Details/ one liners of the current contest/campaign should be explicitly written
on the profile picture.
4. The profile picture may be changed after regular intervals of time, depending
on different seasons/festivals.
For e.g.: During Independence Day, we could have JP written in the tricolor,
similarly during Diwali, we could have JP surrounded by lights/crackers, etc.
2. Chat Zone: We could create an exclusive chat zone area for the fans and link it to the
Facebook page.
1. This chat zone will be an exclusive tab on the JP Facebook page and the tab
itself could be decorated with images of Ranbir Kapoor.
2. To promote this tab, we could have announcements on different portals like
1. Chat with Ranbir Kapoor!!!
2. The new face of cool is coming online on Facebook!!!
3. The fans could be allowed to post their messages and wishes which would be
conveyed to Ranbir Kapoor.
3. Are you Cool Contest
A picture of Ranbir Kapoor in JP apparel will be uploaded on

the Facebook page and contestants will be asked to dress in the same manner as Ranbir
Kapoor and get their snaps clicked in the same pose.
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The contestants will be then asked to upload their pictures on Facebook.
Contest Duration: Three Weeks
Contest open to both males and females.
Prize: JP freebies
4. The Cool Pic Contest
Fans on Facebook will be asked to upload their pictures with

Ranbir Kapoor.
If they‘ve never met Ranbir Kapoor, they can use photo editing software(s) and place
themselves in the picture along with RK.
The most genuine picture or the one that looks authentic will win.
Contest Duration: Three Weeks.
Contest open to everyone.
Prize: JP Freebies
5. The Coolest Moment Contest
We will ask the fans about what they think is Ranbir

Kapoor‘s coolest moment in his films.
There will be a total of 5 options out of which the fans will

have to choose 1, which will be the correct answer.
Out of all the fans on Facebook who select the correct answer, three randomly selected
people will win prizes.
Contest open to everyone.
The winner will get a mug with JP written on it and a mug with that person‘s profile pic on it.
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Also, we would ask the contestants to click a pic of the mug and upload it on the Facebook
page.
Duration :5 days
Cost: Rs 2500 (mugs)
6. The Coolest Sketch Contest
Fans on Facebook, followers on the blog and twitter will be asked to sketch Ranbir Kapoor
and upload their sketches in the fan photos section of Facebook.
Top 5 coolest sketches will win prizes.
Contest Duration: 3 weeks
7. The Coolest Quiz Contest
A 10 question online quiz with a timer will be given to the fans.
Quiz open to all. However, fans can only participate once by entering their E-mail Ids.
There will be a time limit of 5 minutes for each quiz.
8. The Cool Design Contest
We will ask the fans to design a T-shirt for JP. The top few designs will win freebies from JP.
Duration of the Contest: 20 days.
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9. For driving user engagement, we could use poll/surveys like the following:-
Q. Who would the fans like to see the new face of cool with?
a. Aishwarya Rai
b. Katrina Kaif
c. Kareena Kapoor
d. Other________
Q. What does the new face of cool look best in?
a. T-shirt and Jeans b. Shirt and Trousers
Q. What is the coolest thing you‘ve ever done for the new face of cool?
Q. What is Ranbir Kapoor‘s favourite dream destination?
Q. What is Ranbir Kapoor‘s favorite holiday spot?
Q. What is Ranbir Kapoor‘s favourite colour?
Q. What is Ranbir Kapoor‘s favourite cuisine?
All such questions can be incentivized by telling the fans answer these questions and correct
answers can get freebies from JP/gift vouchers.
ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT COULD BE DONE BY JOHN PLAYERS
TREASURE HUNT
An application will be designed which has a lot of things that have to be unveiled by the fans.
There will be several clues that will be given to the fans and the fans will have to search for
the answers either on the blog, on YouTube or on Facebook/twitter. In this way, traffic will
be driven across all sites.
There will be a list of 10 questions in the application and 4 options to each question. The user
will be required to choose the correct option and submit the answers within a limited time
period.
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Out of the correct answers, we will randomly select 3 winners and reward them.
Fans are allowed to participate only once.
Duration: 1 month (Every week questions change)
THE JP ‘FOR YOUR PALS’ APP
This application is primarily a game in which users will have to click and share Virtual JP
apparel on Facebook to their friends. The idea has been used using the concept of Referral
Marketing.
The apparel will be from our end of season collection
The user will be asked to choose from a wide range of apparels and send it to their friends
(virtually)
Each time the user sends it to his/her friend, he earns 10 points. Also, the user will be allowed
to share with one friend only once.
They could redeem the points for the following gifts:
1000 points – bookmarks/ play it cool stickers
2000 points – RK posters/keychains
3000 points – Gift voucher of Rs 200
4000 points – Discount Coupon of Rs 300
5000 points - RK autographed mugs/JP branded watches
7000 points – JP Shirts
10000 points – JP gift hamper
ADVANTAGES
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Also, each time a user scores 500 points, he would be able to download a wallpaper of RK,
which is autographed RK wallpaper.
1. There is a strong underlying incentive for the fans, thus this could lead to a viral activity
as it does not really involve a lot of thinking but just sending it to their friends
2. It would give us an opportunity to showcase our end of season collection to our TG and
beyond
3. Brand Building & Awareness (cause each virtual T-shirt/shirt is branded with a JP logo)
Alternate Scoring Metric
Top 10 highest scorers of the day would get a watch each (200*10=2000 per day)
Or
Top 10 winners per day get a JP mug (300*10=3000)
Next 10 get RK posters and stickers (20*10=200)
Or
Top 10 winners get a JP shirt each
(800*10=Rs8,000)
COOL TIP APPLICATION
We would ask Interactive to come out with 100 cool one liner is in the form of words of
advice or things one must do
The fans will be allowed to choose from those tips and post it to their walls or share it with
friends
Also, we will have 10 different wall papers called the Coolsters, which basically means Cool
Posters. Each poster will have about one cool tip
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In order to increase engagement and also to create content, we will encourage the fans to tag
their friends in the posters and to share the posters with their friends
Also, randomly we would post those tips on a daily basis on our Facebook wall.
THE JP SPOT MR. COOL CONTEST
We will upload random images on Facebook and ask them to identify one such thing in the
image that is related to Ranbir Kapoor.
We would also ask them to give us the reason for selecting the particular object.
The first person to spot Mr. Cool correctly gets a cash voucher of Rs 500
10 such images can be rolled out
Duration : 10 days (Mon-Fri)
Eg: Zodiac sign of RK with other animals (ox)
Total Cost: Rs 5000 in form of gift vouchers
THE JP UBER COOL GAME
A game will be developed on an of the john players website managed by Interactive
The Game will have 3 different levels:-
a) Spot John Players

b) Dress Up RK
c) Shoot the Devil
A flash game wherein random JP logos will appear on the screen and the user will have to
click those. If the user misses the logo, he/she would lose out on points.
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A mannequin of RK would be on the site. Users will have to dress RK using various
things from the wardrobe. Each color combination would have different points.
The third and final level of the game in which bats and vampires will appear on the
screen. The user will be given a gun and would have to shoot all vampires. IF he misses,
points would be deducted.
Deciding the Winner and Prizes:
A system of cumulative scoring would be followed.
Top 4 winners basis maximum points per day will get a prize each.
Prize: A JP gift hamper (consisting of wrist watch, posters and stickers)
Cost of each hamper not more than Rs 300
Duration of Contest: 3 weeks
TOP 5 COOL THINGS (DISCUSSION ON FB AND THE BLOG)
• We could have the fans to tell about their top 5 cool things in life
• The discussion could be in the form of an open ended session.
• Discussion could last for a month.
ADVANTAGES
We will get to know what the fans think is cool
Fans love telling about their favorite things – this could automatically lead to a viral
activity
Poll/Surveys
We could have polls or surveys for our fans, where in we could ask them to vote the best
from among a group of 4 or 5 things
Ideas for Poll/Surveys
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#1 : Coolest thing about John Players
o the brand itself

o the range of apparels
o the brand ambassador
o any other thing ____
#2: coolest thing about Ranbir Kapoor
o his smile
o his physique
o his eyes
o his nose
o any other thing ____
PLAY IT COOL VIDEO CONTEST
• A 2 minute video can be uploaded on the website and 3 questions can be asked to the
viewers from the video
• The fans will have to sendd their answers to a mail ID.
• The top 3 correct answers will win freebies from JP.
• Time Limit of Video: 1 min
• Prize: Gift voucher Rs 2,500, Rs1,500 and Rs 1,000
• Duration: 2 weeks
• Total Cost : Rs 5,000
JP MERCHANDISE FOR SALE ON FACEBOOK
Updates could be given on Twitter and the blog
We could have a dedicated fan tab wherein all JP merchandise

could be put up for sale
Also, the clothes worn by RK in his movies could be auctioned for sale.
GIFT STORE
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• A virtual gift store could be opened up on the fan page, wherein the
link could be directed towards the JP website and fans could place
orders for the JP gifts.
– It could be promoted with cool tagline like “The coolest
gifts” or a Slogan like “Gift your pals, your family or
anybody with cool stuff”.
As an extension of the JP Virtual Gift Store application, we could ask the fans to send those
gifts to their friends on Facebook and based on that they could earn points. Each time a user
sends a gift, he/she earns 5 points and the user can redeem 1000 points for a John Players
Shirt.
Duration: 15 Days
OFFERS/DISCOUNTS/END OF SEASON SALES
Offers, discounts and sale should be publicized not only on Facebook

but also on the blog and Twitter as well.
This is very important as many fans buy goodies only during such schemes
GRIEVANCES/SUGGESTIONS
We can use Twitter specifically for all grievances of the fans. Twitter can be
used as a customer service platform.
We can also have a separate tab for suggestions wherein the fans could give
their open ended suggestions.
COOLEST PERSON OF THE WEEK
Contest could run for about 4 weeks, a person who uploads the
coolest picture wins every week
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Also not only does he become the coolest person, his name also appears on the
Profile Picture
Rules
The contestant himself must be present in the picture he uploads.
COOLEST IDEA CONTEST
We could take suggestions from the users for cool ideas. The person who sends the coolest
idea for a game wins
Duration: 2 Weeks
Anticipated outcome: Would really engage the fans/users
THE JP COOL COMPLETE IT CONTEST
We would put fill in the blanks for a series of statements from the JP site or about RK‘s film
history.
5 such questions will be framed over a period of 5 days
We would randomly select 2 people for each question as the winner
Prize: Gift voucher of Rs 500 each
Cost: Rs 1,000/- worth of gift vouchers
COOL STATUS UPDATE COMPETITION
Users will have to update their status saying I can play it Cool because _ _ _ _ _ _ _‖
Competition can run for 10 days
Prize: Cool JP Watch per day based on the wittiest comment
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Cost: Rs 250 per watch (Rs 2500)
The JP „What‟s your DA?‟ Contest
A contest based on the lines of a talent hunt
We will ask users about their differential advantage by way of a Google doc
We will then shortlist the top 5 entries and tell them to showcase their talent.
Winner will get a chance to meet RK and Gift hampers.
Meet the face of Cool Competition
If a fan wants to meet Ranbir Kapoor, he/she will have to tell us why they think he‘s cool in
100 words.
The Wittiest answer will get a chance to meet RK.
Diwali Contest (November 5)
Tell us how you are going to play it cool this Diwali in 200 words. The top 3 entries will get a
cash voucher of Rs 1000 each.
Contest could start 5 days before Diwali.
Also, we could ask them to write a cool Diwali greeting message for their friends.
The best greeting message will be awarded with a gift voucher of Rs 500.
Cost: Rs 3,500.
The Cool X-mas Contest
Announcement will be done 10-15 days before X-mas.
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Fans will be required to get their pictures clicked with Santa Claus. Top 3 most popular
pictures (based on max. no of likes) will get a JP Shirt each (worth Rs 1000).
Alternatively, we could ask fans to dress up in a combo of Red and White.
Also, the best image could share the profile pic space with JP.
Total Cost: Rs 3,000.
New Years Engagement Activity
Tell us what you would do for new years and how u intend celebrating it?
We can Design a New Year e-Greeting card and upload it on the Fan Photos section and ask
the users to tag their friends in the greeting card.
The Greeting card would have a New Year message with RK‘s image and JP logo.
The JP Cool Gift Gallery
We would ask the fans to wish their friends with virtual gifts. An app will have to be
developed which will have a list of cool gifts that the fans can choose from:-
As an example, the gifts could be
 cool cake
 cool bouquet
 cool JP Apparels
Cost of application: Rs 50,000
Contest: Cool Facts Contest
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We would start with a Cool Facts contest wherein fans would be asked to search Google and
quote facts which are astonishing /surprising and tell them to post their entries to the
Facebook wall in response to the question asked by JP.
Duration: 5 days.
1 winner to be chosen daily and awarded gift voucher of Rs 1000.
Total Cost: Rs 5000/-
‘Cool or Uncool’
• Contest wherein contestants will be asked to upload

– pictures of themselves in different poses
– Cool videos
– Cool quotes
– Cool music
– Anything that signifies coolness
• We will let the fans themselves decide about the winner as more the no. of likes per
per image/video, greater his/her chance of winning.
• Contest Duration: 10 days.
• Everyday there will be 1 winner and the prize would be a cool JP T-shirt for
every winner.
• Total Cost: 700*10=Rs 7,000.
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Name: JP Fan of the Week Contest
We will upload a pic of RK on Facebook.
We would ask the fans to pose and click themselves in the same manner as RK.
We would then select top 3 best fan photos per week and give them a gift voucher of Rs
1000/- each.
Contest could run for 2 weeks.
Cost: Rs 6,000 (gift vouchers) or prizes.
JP Beat the Heat Contest
The JP Beat the Heat Contest – Duration – 14 days
The user will have to tell us of an innovative way of remaining cool this summer.
The most creative suggestion will get a prize
A tab will have to be created for this idea
Users can upload images, videos or simply post on the Facebook wall
Recommended Prize: Gift voucher of Rs500 to 10 winners – per day there shall be a winner
Total Cost: Rs 5000
Minesweeper Application
Participants will have to unveil all JP logos in the game. The winner
who gets all right wins goodies.
Incredible but cool
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We can create a custom tab or a section for videos and ask users to upload all pictures or
discuss about anything or upload videos that are cool and have an element of surprise/shock.
JP Cool Question of the day Contest
Every day, for 10 days we would ask the audience 1 question from the website and give gift
vouchers worth Rs 300 to all winners.
2 Winners will be chosen.
One, who is the first one to answer the question correctly, wins.
2 random winners will be chosen
Questions will be extremely simple and will help in driving traffic towards the websites.
E.g.: How many wallpapers are there on the JP website?
The word denim has its origins in which country? (Hint: website)
JP used 3D effect for which collection?
THE JP I can play it Cool Contest
I can „Play it Cool‟ Contest: A contest will be played on this theme.
Fans will be required to mention in 1 or 2 sentences as to how can they play it Cool
3 winners will be selected based on their entries.
Prize: JP Gift Hamper worth Rs 1000 each
Total Cost Rs 3000
Milestone Achievements
Whenever we reach a milestone, for instance, if we cross 10,000 fans, we should first of all
thank the fans for showing their love to JP.
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We should then upload an image which says ‗JP – Play it Cool‘ with an image of a lot of
people in the background.
We would then tell our fans to spread the word by tagging their friends in the image.
We can further incentivize it by giving 3 lucky winners prizes such as gift vouchers.
The Cool Friends Contest
They say a picture speaks 1000 words. Upload your picture with your best buddies in the fan
photos section. The most expressive picture will get a gift hamper from JP.
Prize: Gift worth Rs 1200 to top 4 pictures.
Total Cost: Rs 4800
Fan’s Choice: Contest on Coolest pick up line
In this, various fans will be asked to come up with a pick up line. The best Pick up line will
be selected by the fans themselves.
A poll/opinion will have to be done, the poll could be created in the form of a Google doc and
the link could be posted everywhere (Facebook, Twitter and Blog)
Top 5 pickup lines will get gif vouchers worth Rs 500 each
Total Cost: Rs 2500
Poster Making Competition
Using paint/Photoshop wherein the users could make a collage out of various pictures and
advertisements of JP appearing in the print media (rule: all images used must not make use of
any other celeb but RK).
Winner to get JP mugs.
JP will give a certificate to top 3 posters
Cost Rs1500
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Budget in Rs.
Ad campaign 5,53,000
Coolest Fan Contest 13,500
Fan of the Week Contest 6,000
Complete It Contest 1,000
Diwali Contest 3,500
Coolest Sketch Contest 6,000
Cool Tip of the Day Application 50,000
Spot Mr. Cool Contest 5,000
Cool X-mas Contest 3,000
JP Cool Gift Gallery Application 50,000
Cool Hunt Contest 3,000
Cool Facts Contest 5,000
Cool T-shirt Designing Contest 1,500
Coolest Moment Contest 2,500
Cool Video Contest 5,000
Cool or Uncool Contest 7,000
Cool Friends Application 25,000
Coolest Idea Contest 4,500
Cool For your pals app 1,00,000
Uber Cool Game 50,000
Total Cost 8,94,500
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TO CREATE USER GENERATED CONTENT FOR JP
Cool Movie Making Competition
The fans will be asked to make a video on anything they feel is cool. The coolest video will
get a prize. The prize will be either JP freebies or free gift vouchers.
Duration : 1 month
Regular Discussions
We could ask the users various questions like
a) What does it take to be cool?

b) What is your idea of a cool date?
c) How can you remain cool this summer season?
d) Define Cool in your own words.
All of the above questions could be incentivised by keeping a reward in the form of
freebies/vouchers and giving it to the participants.
Also, each discussion of this sort could at least remain for a week.
Blogging
We could ask the users to blog about their experiences of a cool incident.
The incident should be mentioned in not more than 200 words.
YouTube
In the YouTube account that we have, we could ask the users to create a cool 1 minute video
about JP using the words Play it Cool, they should create a jingle, which will be used in the
upcoming campaign.
Winner will get prize worth Rs 5,000
86
Alternatively, we could also have a competition, wherein, the users will be asked to upload a
cool video on YouTube and the winner will be judged on the number of views he/she has.
Winner will get prize worth Rs 10,000
We will announce the launch of a contest on Twitter, Blog and Facebook.
Cool Joke Contest
The fans will be given an opportunity to tell us a joke that has never been heard before. The
joke should be less than 240 characters. The fans will be allowed to use sms chat lingo.
However, no foul language is allowed and the jokes would be judged on the content. Note:
The joke has to be original. Strict checks for plagiarism would be performed.
Duration: 4 Week
Every 1 week, top 3 jokes get a prize.
Coolest Expression Contest
The fans would be allowed to make cool expressions basis which they will be judged. The
coolest expression will be rewarded. The photos will have to be uploaded on the fan photos
page. Fans should abstain from uploading any offensive content. Fans should themselves be
present in the picture they upload. Every fan can upload only 1 picture for this contest.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Top 3 Expressions to get a prize each.
Cool Friends Application
The application would give the user the option of choosing 5 friends who they think are really
cool.
The 5 friends would be notified of this on their walls and be given an option to reciprocate.
When other users see their friends using this application, they might as well think of using it.
87
Chipmunk Application
A fun application that enables the user to classify his/her friends into 2 categories:-
– Chipmunks
– Non Chipmunks
A Chipmunk friend maybe a person who is extremely irritating, foolish and does not listen to
anyone but himself.
A Non chipmunk is a person who is cool, exhibits sanity in whatever he/she does and works
hard.
Twitter
We would start an activity called the Cool Tip of the day. Every day in the morning, we
would publish a cool tip on Twitter and link it with Facebook as well. We would also ask the
users to send in their entries for cool tips and if we like it they will get to see it on the
Facebook page.
88
We could preferably ask them to send their entries either on a mailing ID or simply post it
under a discussion forum on the Facebook page.
COOLEST COMMENT
What is the COOLEST COMMENT that you‘ve ever been told?
We can ask the fans to tell us about the coolest comment they‘ve ever got from anybody.
Fans will automatically start posting their comments on the Facebook page in reply to the
question.
Prize: JP FREEBIES
HOW COOL ARE YOU?
The competition will be open to all fans on Facebook.
Fans will be required to tell us how cool they are. They could do so with the help of either a
video, or they could sing a cool song or upload an image or narrate an incident.
We will decide the winner.
Prize: JP FREEBIES
89
INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND JOHN

PLAYERS USING THE EXPECTATION DELIVERY MODEL
Setting Customer Expectation in Service Delivery
1. Set customer expectation using maximal delivery time
2. Provide value to customers by ensuring that perceived service is equal or

greater than customer service
Many firms now choose to set customer expectation by announcing their maximal delivery
time. Customers will be satisfied if their perceived delivery times are shorter than their
expectations.
OBJECTIVE: To reduce the gap between expected service and perceived service
This model considers the expectations that a customer would have from a social media
website and the value that would be delivered to the customers based on the current practices
as well as recommendations given to leverage John Players on the social media space.
The expectations have been categorized into 7 broad categories which are illustrated as
under:-
90
EXPECTATIONS VALUE DELIVERED
1. Customer Service See Facebook screenshot
1. Broadcasting Updates, General discussions, opinions, general

announcements, news, additional questions, publishing info on campaigns
PR
2. Promotions Offers + display of collections
3. Contests Cool Shutterbug Contests +

recommendations
4. Applications Cool gift gallery + cool friends + coolsters
5. Behind the scenes look at the Video on YouTube showing Ranbir

organization during the campaign shoot
6. Advertising Social Ad campaign for shutterbug

contest + recommendations for end of
seasons sale
91
Expectations of customers from Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing
1. Customer Service (Twitter)

2. Broadcasting Updates, announcements, news, additional PR
3. Promotions
4. Contests
5. Applications
6. Behind the scenes look at the organization
7. Advertising
Value delivered to customers
John Players
1. John Players opened an account on Twitter (prompt reply on facebook), attending to

customer service queries on a daily basis. Also, the facebook fan page has been
attending to customers‘ queries.
2. They publicize from time to time on the Social Media Space as to what is happening
in the World, with relation to the brand ambassador‘s latest film s and also what is
happening in the rest of the world. For instance, they asked the audience by way of
opinions as to what is their best team in the FIFA world cup and questions like who
are they cheering for?
92
3. John Players has been actively participating in a lot of promotions, wherein they have
publicized from time to time their collections for different campaigns.
93
4. A series of Contests have been suggested along with recommendations for the Cool
Shutterbug contest, wherein fans had to click Ranbir Kapoor in a moving video
.
5. Certain applications were suggested including Coolsters, Cool tip of the day
application and cool friends application by using which John Players would be able to
create user engagement on Facebook.
6. Behind the scenes look was done through creating videos on YouTube, wherein the
preparation of different campaigns for John Players along with Ranbir Kapoor was
done.
7. John Players started with a social ad campaign for the Cool Shutterbug Contest. An ad
campaign has also been recommended for the end of season campaign which is to
start in the month of September 2010.
RESULT: 10,000 Likes were created through the John Players cool shutterbug ad
campaign in 2 weeks. Expecting the fan base to increase by a min. of 50,000 in the
next 6 months provided an ad campaign is executed with applications and contests
94
ANNEXURE
95
REFERRAL MARKETING
Referral marketing is a structured and systematic process that maximizes word of mouth
potential. Referral marketing does this by encouraging, informing, promoting and rewarding
customers and contacts to think and talk as much as possible about their supplier, their
company, product and service and the value and benefit the supplier brings to them and
people they know.
Referral marketing takes word of mouth from the spontaneous situation to a proactive and
highly productive solution, where maximum referrals are generated due to professional
customer-focused strategies.
Online referral marketing, using digital marketing as a platform, is the internet based
successor to traditional referral marketing. Given the advances in tracking customer
behaviour online through the use of web browser cookies, online referral marketing provides
a higher degree of accountability.
96
REFERENCES
1. IAMAI Report – www.iamai.in – I Cube Report – Edition April 2010

2. IAB Social Advertising Effectiveness – May 2009 Report
3. Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression – April 2010 Report – Tim
Davies and Pete
4. Youth Work and Social Networking – Final Research, Report 2009, McGraw Hill
5. www.vizisense.com
6. www.twitter.com
7. www.socialmediatoday.com
8. www.mashable.com
9. www.Facebook.com
10. www.indiasocial.in
11. www.2020social.com
12. www.socialmediaindia.com
13. www.gauravonomics.com
14. www.allFacebook.com
15. www.facebakers.com
16. www.emarketer.com
17. www.socialmediaexaminer.com
18. www.insideFacebook.com
19. www.ezine.com
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COMPANY PROJECT STUDY

REPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY FOR JOHN PLAYERS

ITC – LIFESTYLE RETAILING BUSINESS DIVISION

A PROJECT SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (SIMS)

COMPANY PROJECT STUDY

A REPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY FOR JOHN PLAYERS

ITC - LIFESTYLE RETAILING BUSINESS DIVISION

A THESIS SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS

PROJECT GUIDE: PROJECT MENTOR:

PROF. KINGSHUK BHADURY MS. DIPTI CHADHA

SYMBIOSIS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (SIMS)

CHAPTER TOPIC PAGE NO.

4 Different Mediums in Social Media 49

A part of the recommendation is based on the concept of referral marketing, which is

PRIMARY RESEARCH OBJECTIVE (PRO)

SECONDARY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES (SRO)

ITC Lifestyle Retailing Business Division

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & ITS IMPORTANCE

Social media marketing is a recent component of organizations' integrated marketing

 Customer service, e.g. direct response to customer complaints

1. Concept (art, information, or meme)

Common forms of social media;

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

2. Increasing Traffic: Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great

4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually

7. Conversations between individuals can be monitored: Online social media gives

8. Customers can be engaged remotely. Another great advantage of online social

9. Social media lets businesses resolve customer problems proactively. When

Peter England: Peter England, the hallmark of

 Brand Association: Good Quality

Communication: TV, Newspapers, Internet, hoardings, Vernacular Media

Brand is primarily intended for sale at shopping.rediff.com, saleraja.com,

Allen Solly - is a leading brand managed by Madura Garments. Madura

Allen Solly‘s I hate Ugly contest was launched in 2009.

Prize: Allen Solly gift vouchers worth rs.1000 each. Grand

Following were the questions:-

1. Allen Solly was launched in the year

2. Allen Solly was launched in the following city:

3. Allen Soly stands for? (complete the sentence)

Fastrack is essentially a youth brand, Social networking is a big

Fastrack has worked on tapping the pulse of the youth by

Fastrack was one of the first brands to use social media to

About the initiative

Why Social Media

Laying the Social Media Strategy

Build consumer engagement

Address and resolve complaints

Build brand advocacy

CASE#3: Ching’s Secret

1. A simple Facebook fan page with no extra ordinary

3. Photos of the creative, advertisements and products.

4. There is no interaction among consumers but the questions or messages posted on

6. On an average at least 60 followers likes the activity performed by Ching‘s Secret

A link to the Adidas store finder

How this campaign resulted in viral marketing?

 Pictures and Notes

Contests: Collaborating with MTV

– 3000 design submissions

– Over 2000 submissions complied with the rules

– 1,34,000 unique visitors