As someone who continues to keep in touch with the mother tongue (in my case, Tamil), I buy 3 weekly Tamil magazines. These are general interest magazines and contain everything a true-blue Tamilian needs to know about the state and its happenings. I also believe that the magazine scene is quite healthy in Tamil Nadu, with good sales, competitive content and a largely healthy editorial, at least in the 2 leading weekly publications, Anandha Vikatan and Kumudam, while the 3rd one, Kungumam, from the Sun Group is, as usual mired in charges of favoritism and editorial biases favoring the ruling DMK party.
But, the Closeup related point – Vikatan and Kungumam have carried 2 page (spread) advertisements by Closeup. The ads feature a couple and are for the new variant called ‘Fire Freeze’. Here are some interesting observations about this campaign.
1. Each magazine’s ad features a different write-up and a different couple’s photo, while the main focus – opposites attract – remains similar.
2. The call-to-action in both the ads is a story…as sought in the ads, a personal story on how you are dealing with a partner/spouse who is an opposite, compared to yourself and what you are doing to make the relationship work. Entries are sought via mail. Yes! Snail mail…there’s a snail mail address mentioned at the ad’s footer and each address (in the 2 magazines) is different – the address is basically the respective publication’s address. I wonder if the publications charge extra for this service – for collecting personal stories from people (if they write, that is) and sorting them as per Closeup’s context guidelines.
3. There are no prizes. The only thing on offer is to be featured in the same page (similar ad, I suppose) in the forthcoming issues! Is that enough gratification to write a snail mail and post it, these days, I wonder.
4. The only thing ‘digital’ in all this ad (both have the same footer) is a URL in the footer that is added after, ‘Judges decision final. For detailed terms and conditions, visit www.closeupindia.com‘. Considering it is the only digital connection in this ad, what would you expect in that URL? Whatever it is, it has just one blue colored page – just one. It has a set of 14 bullets as ‘terms and conditions’. The first one reads, “This offer is applicable to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh from 10/2/2010 to 16/4/2010”. The state list is fine, but someone should have cross-checked the year mentioned!
5. Closeup India has a Facebook page too, with over 268,000 ‘fans’. The ‘Opposites Attract’ contest is running on the Facebook page too as the Facebook DP proudly screams, with 2 very non-Indian models. But the gratification for sending your stories on Facebook? ‘Cool Android phones’, according to Closeup India. For people in the 3 states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the only gratification is mention in the weekly magazines and for fans on Facebook…Android Phones? Why this discrimination? Because the former is sent via snail mail and the latter, via Facebook? Aren’t people from the 3 states internet/Facebook savvy? I fail to understand this fragmentation logic, but would love to know, if any.
6. I wonder why there is no Facebook link in the print ads. Is there any research that says Facebook is not popular in these 3 states? Or, is it simply a matter of timing the contest differently for different states in India? In that case, it is indeed a pity that there are much better prizes for the Facebook version, while the magazine version seems comparatively sad. Is it even possible these days to run contests state-wise particularly when it has been running online, where there are no states? Did anyone in Closeup consider the possibility of someone from one of these 3 states to search for Closeup on Facebook and stumbling on the Closeup India Facebook page?
7. The Facebook contest has been running for quite some time, in collaboration with Indiblogger, where it seems to have completed its run – the prize on offer? A total of Rs. 75,000 across 3 prizes!
8. The CloseupIndia Facebook page, as I love saying, has ‘functional’ content and seems to be in existence since April 30, 2010. A significant Facebook advertising campaign seems to have been undertaken in the 2nd week of September 2010, after which there is a visible bump in ‘likes’ and ‘comments’. So, the question again – what does this 268,000+ fans on Facebook mean to Closeup, a product that is largely an impulse purchase…that people pick up depending more on factors at the purchase point – POP display, pack color/visibility, the pack design, availability, recall value of TVCs etc.? Proof? My next toothpaste will definitely be Closeup Fire-Freeze…it’s new, the pack looks good and I’m bored with my current toothpaste of 45 odd days.
9. Most importantly, the Facebook page content goes literally all over the place – updates include random, cheesy love poems, music videos, celeb gossip and linking it back to couple compatibility etc. The question is about using celebrity names, pictures and related videos. A simple list of celebrities mentioned in the Facebook wall include Siddharth Mallya, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, R Madhavan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Bruno Mars, Samir Soni, Neelam Kothari, Bradd Pitt, Anjelina Jolie, among a lot more. Now, what are the guidelines to use these celebrity names on a Facebook page? Can Closeup use these names, photos or videos in a TVC? Of course they can, but I suppose these celebrities would want a fee to act or perhaps agree for their names, photos or videos to be included in a TVC. Why should it be any different in a Facebook page, that, at least notionally, has more viewership (over a longer period of time) than television? Would some of these stars or their managers be upset if they notice their/client’s name in this Facebook page, used for the benefit of Closeup, at least indirectly?