[Video Interview] Harshil Karia on Social Media And Brand Loyalists

A brand loyalist is referred to that individual who has given maximum exposure to a brand built on his loyalty. He has a positive outlook towards the brand and will try to convey the same to his associates. A loyalist is an asset for a brand as he spreads a positive message about the products and plays a major role in helping a brand to reach the desired results.

The merging together of social media and brand loyalists is essential because it helps to spread consciousness about the brand to the audience offline.

In this video interview, Harshil Karia talks about social media and brand loyalists; and whether social media can be used by a brand to create and grow a community of strong brand loyalists.

He says social media is the most scalable way to create an army of brand loyalists. Castrol Power 1, which is an engine oil for bikes and is a product of Castrol India, took the help of social media to build brand loyalists. Castrol India made a biker talk about their product by generating a value for the bikers. He demonstrates, that in most cases a biker is unaware about the engine oil. So in order to make them aware about the product, Castrol formed a community of influencers.

They allowed these influencers to go on rides, attend MotoGp, experience various aspects of super biking. They held tweet-ups, and organised an Indian bikers' night out with Álvaro Bautista. They got John Abraham on Twitter and conducted a live stream with him. All of these activities by Castrol Power helped the brand bring people together and notice their brand.

He reveals to us that it is important for a brand to harness a good relationship with bloggers, opinion leaders on Twitter as their opinion coming together can make or break a product.

Harshil says that a very healthy community attracts people, and makes them want to be a part of it. He gives the example of the Force India F1 team. In the past, to develop the fancy of this team among people, they started with a simple Facebook group. The group had a set of passive as well as active members, who started educating the others in the community.

They taught them about hydraulics, types of tires used and F1 qualifying rules. This bunch of 30 odd people built the community and were the loyalists. In return, they were made the officers of the group and were provided with specialized titles. This act made loyalists feel close to the brand and made them come back. This activity created a vibrant community with least effort. It later became 200 thousand strong community without any advertising spent.

Image Courtesy:  Stuart Miles