Research, Planning & Execution behind #GoodDeedMarathon, a Campaign with Multiple Touchpoints

Standard chartered executed the #GoodDeedMarathon, a 15 day campaign that integrated all online and offline platforms to create a mega campaign on Social Media. The campaign ended with inspiring stories of users contributing to the pool of good deeds the entire city raced into. We talked about the campaign and collated stories around the web previously. In this article, we will tell you how the brand managed to pull off this mega campaign so effectively.

The campaign was divided into pre-launch, launch, motivation and sustenance. Any campaign starts with planning, organizing and collaborating during the pre launch stage. Standard Chartered had a whole lot of planning to do, considering the number of vendors that participated. But before planning out the campaign, the brand invested their time in some research activity.

Research Begins

Flying Cursor, the digital partner, does a lot of social listening for their clients.

“Our research always centers around what people think, feel, talk about on digital. What is the sentiment and the conversation that is being played back over and over again,” says Shormistha Mukherjee, Director, Flying Cursor.

While keeping a track of conversations, the agency also tried to find out trending conversations that could be suitable for the brand image. Since their research encompassed influencer conversations and social impact conversations, #GoodDeedMarathon was the perfect campaign to execute.

Also, since the whole concept was about good deeds, their research included identifying and tying up with a courier company that would send out good deed bands. Mirakle Couriers, a company that employs low income deaf adults, became an important element of this campaign.

Planning it’ All

During the planning stage, platforms such as Radio, PVR cinema, filming for Youtube videos, Twitter etc. were settled on.

“We divided the campaign into planning, which was largely internal. Here we froze on touch points, identified partners, sought out influencers, curated content, shot all our films and detailed every bit of the campaign” says Debal Dutt,  Head - Brand, India & South Asia, Standard Chartered.

The first step was to activate an Instagram account since the foundation of the campaign was to be laid on this platform. A small activity was conducted to populate the new account. A ‘coming soon’ application was installed on their Facebook page. This was the pre launch phase.

One reason that this campaign had a flawless performance goes to the fact that the planning stage came much before the execution stage.

Debal Dutt stated, “We had started working on the campaign way in advance. And that in fact is the only way we’re being able to pull off a campaign that has so many touch points, so many mediums, so many partners!”

The brand’s agency had dedicated teams working on the campaign. Every department was involved starting from technology, development, writing, designers, social media managers, videography and photography. Though there were different teams working on this project, the agency decided to work as one single entity.

Parag Gandhi, Director, Flying Cursor, confirms, “I would say more than resources, you need a team and a client for whom this becomes a labour of love, and you stop counting man hours, and phone calls, and time sheets."

Execution

Followed by an Instagram activity, the brand plunged into Twitter and curated conversations. Since the campaign was only going to be active for 15 days, the talks of good deeds were to be quickly spread on the micro blogging site. Therefore the brand shortlisted Twitter influencers who were passionate about the city and interested in being a part of this activity. The buzz sparked off as planned.

A Twitter comedian was also invited on board owing to her profession. A comedian makes people laugh and what better a good deed than this.

Shormistha Mukherjee said, “Aditi Mittal’s name was amongst one of the first names that was proposed by the team. We tracked her down, she was in the US, spoke to her manager, spoke to her. And once we met her, to shoot a film with her, we knew we had made the right choice. She was funny, honest and very passionate. We just loved her, and are honored to have her as part of the Good Deed Marathon.”

After Twitter, videos were created on Youtube to add a personal touch to the whole activity. Mikha Singh, Charu Sharma and Dick Beardsely were shot narrating their good deeds they do/would they like to do. This film was also put up on Facebook as part of the coming soon phase. The film that was screened at PVR cinemas had people from different walks of life. Food bloggers, restaurateurs, journalists, bikers, stylists, comedians and social workers were sourced as a part of the film creation.

Parag Gandhi adds, “They just came on board as soon as we explained the concept to them. We approached people on the streets, in cafes and as soon as they heard about the Good Deed Marathon, they were all intrigued and happy to be part of it. It was so personal, so sweet, so funny, we just knew we had something that had connected with them.”

Since the agency produces the film themselves, the films were made in house. Another reason for filming it in house is because they believe that they understood the brand, the script and the perfect tone for the film.

Commenting on why so many platforms were made a part of this campaign

Debal Dutt says, “A campaign like this had to talk to people in different ways, in different mediums. Platforms like Twitter would serve as commentary while some would serve as though starters, like the films in cinemas. Some would actually do good and encourage you to do the same, like the Good Deed Marathon Taxis that ferried commuters for free, from Andheri Station to Seepz. Others would motivate you, like what our digital partners are doing, by showcasing good deeds that have already happened in Mumbai.

We looked at each medium differently, and together, they’ll motivate, engage, showcase, involve and in some cases, like Mirakle Couriers lead by example.”

Brand Positioning

Standard Chartered India is the lead sponsor for Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. #GoodDeedMarathon was a build up to the event that takes place in the third Sunday of January every year. Radio Mirchi has always been a partner at the Mumbai Marathon and since they understand the DNA of the brand and its activities, they were roped in for the digital campaign as well.

United Way Mumbai, the charity partner for the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marthon, under which all the NGO’s are hosted, adopted the campaign too and announced itself part of the activity. This was especially important since post this activity, Mumbaikars would have a place to volunteer and extend charity offline.

This campaign also fell in line with the global branding of Standard Chartered Bank. The bank across the world has a global campaign called Here For Good. A campaign that talks about how it’s there for the people and for the countries it is based in, for the long term. And the Good Deed Marathon resonates with that thought.

Key Thoughts:

• There were several offline layers to the online campaign, most effective being Mirakle Couriers.
• There was integration at different levels, weaving each platform carefully to knit a brilliant campaign.
• The campaign was aligned to the global brand positioning while it was also simultaneously a build up activity to the Mumbai Marathon 2014.
• No gaps were left unfilled within the campaign, ticking off every single task efficiently in the plan book.
• This was one campaign that did everything right.

Conclusion :

Standard Chartered created a holistic campaign on Social Media. It got people engaged and motivated by making the good deed marathon come alive in various ways. It impacted, entertained, provided thought starters and made someone think that the bank is amplifying Here For Good in every possible way.