XUV 500 drives on consumer connect

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group took to Twitter on August 11 asking Twitterati to help him choose among the three soundtracks for the launch campaign of New Age XUV500. ‘Help me choose which soundtrack works the best. Participate in this Poll & Contest!,’ he tweeted. goo.gl/XLOuQQ is the link given.

The contest was extended to XUV500 page on Twitter as well as Facebook.  Anand Mahindra alone has 2.3 million followers on Twitter – leave aside the brand presence on both social media websites.
Three goals achieved:
a. An excellent consumer connect exercise
b. An announcement that vehicle is launched
c. A dip stick study

Reason Mahindra has given for this exercise is that the background score of the advertisement did not resonate with Him. The marketing team, hence, came up with three different options for the score. Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd elaborates, “We realised that instead of us taking the decision on the soundtrack, we can leverage social media to take consumer feedback.  Hence, we put this question out to our fans, followers and customers to ask them to choose the best soundtrack that will work. Based on their feedback, we will put our final film on television with a soundtrack decided by the audience.”

Nayer is happy with the response so far. He says, “It’s been little over a day and we have been getting good responses. I think we have got more than 1500 responses already.” (At the time of filing this story the numbers had increased considerably).

The brand believes that consumer engagement generated through co creation will help increase brand Loyalty for Mahindra. By having an impressive digital media presence, Mahindra has not only grown its fan base but has shown that they listen to people on every platform, including Social Media where a person generally wants their voice to be heard. As Nayer states “It adds a lot of credibility, people who are on digital and social media world always engage more with brands that have credibility and want brands to listen to their voice. Therefore, it is very important to listen to them and engage with them. It contributes to building a brand in their mind.” The brand not only engages with the consumers, but also implements changes based on their feedback – sunroof in the new XUV500 is an outcome of that.

Mahindra has been using digital platform extensively for the last six years.  Though TV and Print do provide mass exposure and appeal, 360 degree marketing is the way forward for them to amplify consumer connect. Nayer expresses, “We have opted for a 360 degree marketing approach including TV, Print, digital, Social Media. We also do below the line activations like mall events and road shows. The fact is we are present on all the platforms where the consumers and fans have a presence.”

They are also doing a number of contests such as selfie with XUV500 asking people to send images of the destination that they have gone to. It has also created an app for mobile called Live Young and Free. It is an interactive road travel guide including destinations, how to reach, tips and more. This app is available on both iOS and Android.

zeba@adgully.com