I was just browsing on internet that I came across Idea Rocks India digital campaign. Just out of curiosity, I clicked the banner. I really liked the thought of FIRST ONLINE SINGING CONTEST, per se. But the execution of campaign has killed the essence of the concept. An idea is as good as its execution. IDEA forgot this. According to me, there are several implementational flaws in the campaign which flout both Digital & Branding Rules.
IRI is a big property that can be leveraged for a long time in taking this brand forward. Not having its own website, is the first basic fundamental mistake. Second, putting your brand as a microsite on MSN(or any other site) is the second mistake. Idea must have saved money and effort in doing this, but they have done a wrong thing to the brand. Redirecting users to this temporary site would mean losing out on an opportunity to engage the pre-qualified users in better way on the brand site(IRI), which is missing in this case. In an era where brands are trying hard to create communities/be part of communities, IDEA so far has kept users apart from making one such community. All thanks to the digital strategy.
What would happen to the site once the campaign is over? The digital agency is more at fault than the brand. Digital Specialists are not supposed to do these stupid mistakes. MSN does not provide any number on Impressions burnt etc. So measuring the performance in its entirety might be a big problem.
Wat saddened me the most was to see Microsoft promoting their “SILVERLIGHT” product at the expense of brand’s money.
Digital can give brand the leverage which no other medium can offer. Digital strategy should be conceived considering the overall brand strategy. Any communication effort should add to the brand, not take it away from the brand.
How much this campaign would help the brand, I have my own reservations.
But the good news for the brand is that all is not lost yet. They can still retrieve themselves. But would take a lot of strategic thinking which has so far been missing. It would surely take an idea to change IDEA’s life now.
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