Social Media Campaign Review: Pepsi IPL The Great Indian Catch Contest

Introduction:

Pepsi India bagged the title sponsorship rights for IPL and it has lined up uber cool game changing campaigns in the digital space. Here’s yet another campaign by Pepsi IPL - The Great Indian Catch Contest, that has set the standards higher for the Indian digital industry.

Objective:

The objective of the campaign is to build excitement among fans for the Pepsi IPL matches and to engage them with an interesting game.

Execution:

To play the game, one has to visit the Pepsi website and login with their Facebook accounts. The game is played on the entire map of India. Batsmen hit the ball to different parts of the country while fielders have to field the ball.

The application utilizes Google maps and Facebook Check-In functions. When participating in the contest, the user has to login via Facebook and give access to the application to action Facebook check-ins at different cities on the map of India as defined in the application. Then, one has to select 3 friends and start fielding.

One is a catcher, another is thrower, third one is the runner who stops the boundaries and saves runs and the last one is a driver who takes distant catches.

You must first check the batsman’s statistics, on field weather conditions, incoming balls before starting to field. This will help you to judge the favoured bowling type by understanding it. The app also shows the ball type and batsman's favourite shots.Then choose from the given fielding formations or reposition on any other city to customize it.

If the batsman’s shot lands on your highlighted fielding circle, you take a catch or get a run out! If the shot lands on any other fielding circle, you save runs! You can also upgrade your fielders by sending gifts to your friends.

There are 300+ cities to field at. Balls are spaced out at different time intervals and but you can play any 20 balls of the day. Highest scored will be displayed on the leaderboard and the winners get a chance to get VIP box tickets for IPL matches.

In the same fashion, there will be six pools of two matches each during the Contest Period with a total of 12 matches.

Positives:

India is a cricket crazy country, and anything related to cricket works here! Contestants are encouraged to play as many matches during the contest period to increase their chances of winning the grand prize. This makes them keep coming back!

The game involves a player's Facebook friends. One can invite them to play the game and send them virtual gifts and merchandise. This triggers the viral nature of the campaign.

Combination of gaming and social networking is a great way to engage one's audience. It has leveraged Facebook to tap on the Social aspect of the gameplay. Moreover, gratification given to the players reinforces brand loyalty and builds up excitement.

Making the players play balls at different time intervals makes it more intriguing and users visit the app more frequently.

I find the design and the interface of the application very good and user friendly. The teams handwork behind the minute details in the app has truly paid off! Blending of Google Maps, check-ins and Facebook has made it more interesting.

Scope of Improvement:

To be honest, the game is quite complicated and requires some effort to understand it. But it is understandable since the game itself is quite extensive and engaging.

Conclusion:

A fantastic idea coupled with brilliant execution that has successfully managed to bring the game of cricket in the digital world. Not only is it highly engaging, it has taken gamification to a whole new level altogether.