Sensible Netnonsense

Bayan DSL's Lola Techie campaign--brilliant use of social media

Jun 24, 2009 19:02

You know your Web site's hit the mainstream Filipino audience when your lola's (grandma) complaining that you don't poke her back in Facebook.

That said, Bayan DSL's latest campaign dubbed Lola Techie is a brilliant, through-the-lines campaign that effectively incorporates popular social media of today with above-the-lines mainstream media. Where else can you add lola in Facebook and Multiply, and see her regular updates on Twitter and Plurk?

And, of course, she has to have her own YouTube channel. Lola Techie is full of win.

Why social media?
I'm a big advocate of the use of social media for advertising campaigns mainly because, first of all, Filipinos-—particularly your youths and working professionals—-are EVERYWHERE in the social media scene. Our country is the number one YouTube video consumer (based on the Universal McCann Wave 3 Study on Social Media consumption, 98 percent of our active 3.2+ million Internet users watch YouTube on a regular basis), and the biggest social-networking site subscriber, blog reader, and photo-sharing country in the whole world>! I always add that as an anecdote in my online advertising sessions—-if there ever was an Internet usage Olympics, the Philippines would win gold across several categories.

Secondly, it's virtually free. Cost-effectiveness at its best. All you really need to invest in is at least one guy to do the social media rounds for you (you know, regularly update the blogs, microblogs, manage comments, add contacts, etc.) and you pretty much have a huge network of contacts at your disposal. Just be sure you don't SPAM your audience or else they'll unsubscribe.

Last but not least, Pinoys in general are hungry for brilliant and humorous content online—-the more ingenious and intellectually stimulating your content, the bigger the chances of it being forwarded to your audience's friends and family. I mean, just look at the orange jumpsuits dancing to Thriller on YouTube, and you get the idea.

How else can one utilize the social media?
Just a few tips to further improve your social media campaign:

As I mentioned above, keep your audience interested but not spammed. A regular, interesting Plurk a day keeps your boredom at bay, I always say. And since Plurk allows you to update Facebook, Twitter, Multiply AND Friendster, why not subscribe your Plurk to that service? Makes updating a HELL of a lot easier.

Also, there has to be more than just one video in your YouTube channel. If only the advertising team had the foresight to add one video a day (or at least one after the other over a period of time), you'd have more viewers over time as well. Just look at Happy Slip or the six-year-old cancer survivor who broke hollow blocks with his bare hands.

Also, it would be great if lola could be more active in FB apps, upload more photos in Multiply, or comment on other people’s Plurks. That would be full of wins—-I can just imagine lola beating the crap out of you in Typing Maniac, uploading photos of her "rig" in Multiply, or commenting on someone's Plurk about the Hayden-gate scandal.

Last but not least, utilize the social media scene further by creating your own viral content. Create a Lola Techie message alert tone and MP3 and WAV ringtone. Have her share her Ako Mismo or Ako ang Simula pledge. Create a Poke Lola widget (even if it sounds very disturbing, I bet my own lola it would be forwarded like crazy).

There's virtually such a lot you can do with so little (and so little a budget, mind you) that if you put together a full-on social media campaign using only one TVC as an anchor, you'd have the whole Filipino Internet audience eating out of your hands.

Techie Pinoys
In the end, it's all about figuring out where your audience is, and by God, if you haven't figured out right about now that Filipinos are online, you'd best get your heads out of your butts and start investing in digital campaigns for your brands. The Internet is here to stay, and it's only going to get sooooo much bigger with cheaper Internet access, wider ISP coverage, cheaper Netbooks and larger Wi-Fi hotspots in the metro. If you're not online today, you're already playing catch-up.

I don't know about you, but I'm not going to pass up this opportunity to "poke Lola Techie".

P.S. I wish they would have made the campaign URL a bit bigger at the end of the TVC... or have the VO say it clearly, "call 4492000 or logon to Lolatechie.com". Sayang!

P.P.S. Pardon the shameless plug, but if you need consultation on running digital advertising campaigns and utilizing social media, I'M YOUR MAN! K. Tnx. Bye.

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