Social Media Campaign Review: Idea Celebrates 5 Million Fans by Giving Each User a Unique Musical ID

Introduction:

On reaching 5 million likes on their Facebook Page, Idea Cellular decided to commemorate it with the launch of a new Facebook application, which they're calling M-ID. M-ID, an abbreviation for 'Musical-ID', works to create a unique music ID based on your mobile number.

Objective:

Idea Cellular's objective was to give fans a gift that was unique and most importantly exclusive and celebrate their 5 million fan base

Execution

As you enter the app, it asks you for your 10 digit mobile number, and generates a polyphonic ringtone which is essentially a combination of sounds, with every digit of the number having its own distinct sound.

The generated M-ID is unique to your mobile number and hence will not sound like anyone else’s. Once your music ID has been created, you can download and even set it as your ringtone, and invite your friends to use the app.

Positives:

The announcement of M-ID was orchestrated on Idea’s Facebook page, by teasing a countdown to 5 million with an interactive cover picture slideshow that paid tribute to 50 ideas that changed the world. With every 50 likes the cover picture changed, thus counting up to 5 million.

This was then followed by a 5 million cover picture, further teasing of a big surprise. It is evident that it is a well planned campaign. Idea has not spent a huge amount of money on the campaign and uses a one time technological set up as an engagement and entertainment medium.

Scope for Improvement:

While the idea of engagement is appreciable, there is not much promotion happening. With the tagline being "Your mobile number is your musical identity," the campaign creates a unique tone for every number. The campaign is simply a fun activity with a personal touch. There is no hard selling of the product and works simply on the basis of engagement.

Even on the basis of online promotion, there were only around two to three featured posts made to promote the app.

According to Idea, over 1,000 downloads have taken place, and taking into account their 5 million fan following, it does not seem to be a huge number. However, the number of downloads cannot be considered a measure of the impressions of the application.

Despite that fact, the number of daily active users also does not seem to be extremely impressive with less than 0.05% of the total fans of the page using the application.

Conclusion:

In terms of ideation and looking for an engagement tool, the campaign does a decent job. The fact that they planned it well in advance and teased it on the cover is good as well. However, in terms of promotion and actual results, it could have achieved a lot more.

Active users amounting to 0.05% of the fans is surely not good enough for a campaign to be successful. However, looking at the no cost associated with the campaign both at the producer and consumer end is appreciable as well.