Social Media Campaign Review: Nokia India's Second Season of 'Your Wish is My App' Takes Social Media by Storm

Introduction

Nokia India launched the second season of India’s first ever app reality show .Your Wish is My App. Following up and riding on the bandwagon of the unprecedented success of the first season, Nokia has stepped ahead and come out bigger and better by including consumers and developers from across the globe in this contest.

Last year, the show received 38,000 app ideas, and this year Nokia is looking to a pool of 50,000 submissions. From the huge pile of apps, Nokia will trim it down to 30 that will compete for the grand prize of 1 million Indian Rupees over 9 episodes of the television reality show which will be aired on NDTV Prime.

The top 4000 app ideas will be made available to developers to turn into real life apps. In addition, the top ideas will receive help from Nokia in the form of technical and design support.

The contest is intended to kindle the imagination of app enthusiasts and provide them with an opportunity to submit ideas that have the potential to be developed into successful apps for the Windows Phone Store.

The jury for the contest includes Rajiv Makhni (NDTV Managing Editor), Vishal Gondal (Entrepreneur and angel investor), Sanjeev Bickhchandani (Founder and Executive VP, naukri.com), Vikas Khanna (New York based Michelin Starred Celebrity Chef) and Kalki Koechlin (Bollywood actress). The winners will be judged on the basis of parameters such as the originality of the idea, relevance,and the practicality of implementing it.

Objectives

The objectives of Your Wish is My App campaign by Nokia India are aimed at accelerating the consumption of apps by developing apps which deliver true value to their consumers. With the unique idea of connecting with app enthusiasts and app developers across the globe the brand intends to :-

•  Engage with app users and enthusiasts, understand the consumer psyche, i.e, needs and wants from specific apps.
•  Crowd source app ideas, gauge the expectations of consumers by motivating them to share ideas and stand a chance to WIN INR 1 million.
•  Fill in the gap between existing apps and customers expectations, simulating potential app ideas into real time apps.
•  Devise and develop a first of its kind intellectual property which has multifaceted functionalities for the brand, right from creating buzz to serving as an engagement platform. Your Wish is My App also signifies the paradigm shift towards CO CREATION, a concept which Android OS has pioneered in the last few years.

Execution

Nokia India announced the launch of Your Wish is my App Season 2 in a press conference held in Delhi. This was followed up with the Brand’s announcement on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and a surge of articles from technology bloggers on the launch of season 2.

#YWMA Season 2 returns & goes global! Show us what you’ve got! App ideas across genres are welcome. Let's do it: http://t.co/SGjeIeDvaX

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) January 24, 2014

On the Facebook page the cover picture was changed to Your Wish is My App- An application Tab was also added to the page. The app is also hosted on Nokia India’s website, while the app interface provides information about the contest. Another contest section entails the steps to become a millionaire with ‘Your Wish is my App’ contest. The app also contains a timer which depicts the time left along with the invite and share option, enticing people with the chance of winning a Nokia Lumia 1020 for maximum referrals. To submit the app idea there is a separate section which prompts the user to enter details, the idea and answer a few questions. The other ways to submit the idea are :

1. Post the idea either on Twitter/Facebook with #YourWishIsMyApp.
2. SMS: send your ideas to 55555 (YWMA followed by app idea)
3. Submit them live at on ground activation points i.e educational institutes hosting the Your Wish is My App event in their premises.

The post strategy on Facebook focused more on the prize money and take away for the best idea. Some posts highlighted the success of season 1 with a mention of 2000 potential apps out of which 1200 are available for download in the app store.

On Twitter, #YourWishIsMyApp was used for all sorts of communication. Initially the key message was to share app ideas and stand a chance to win 1 million. At a later stage, mini contests were conducted on Twitter, like calling out for food apps , fitness apps, music apps and the winner was revealed at the onset of the announcement of the new contest.

Foodies everywhere! Do you have a cool idea for a food app? Tweet & you can win and watch your app go live! #YWMA

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) January 24, 2014

A safety app is a handy app. Have an idea for a new one? We will make it live & you could win a prize too. Tweet now. #YourWishIsMyApp

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) January 28, 2014

Do you have an idea for a better music experience? Tweet to us. Win prizes & watch your app actually come to life. #YourWishIsMyApp

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) January 31, 2014

Get whacky. Think groovy. Share a funky app idea and win prizes. Watch it go live! #YourWishIsMyApp

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) February 4, 2014

A different contest was hosted on Facebook as well as on Twitter, on Valentines Day, calling out for ideas with the theme of love apps and the users got to decide which team they would like to join Rajiv Makhni or Vikas Khanna.

Celeb chef @TheVikasKhanna & Tech Guru @RajivMakhni are at war for the best love app quest! Whose team are you on? #YourWishIsMyApp

— Nokia India (@NokiaIndia) February 14, 2014

Overall, the post strategy on Twitter includes shout outs for theme based mini contests, retweeting viable ideas, live tweeting from the on ground activation zones, connecting with the jury’s handles and so on.

Beside the digital platform, Nokia India has taken the initiative to connect with the youth across the country through festivals in leading colleges and universities in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Discussions centred around theme of ‘Appification of India’, calling out for innovative app ideas have been planned in the Nokia sponsored Social Media Week 2014 Bangalore.

Outcome

Positives

The 360 degree campaign, ‘Your Wish is My App’, from Nokia India has been phenomenal in terms of its approach and planning. The integration between online channels (website, Facebook page, Facebook app and Twitter handle) and the offline ones, on ground activation is near perfect and exceptional. The flow of campaign from online-offline activations to an app reality show is planned very judiciously.

The idea of engaging with app users and enthusiasts to know what they want is brilliant as it not only gives the brand an insight from consumers but also helps in expanding their app offerings, leading to more number of users for the platform. Although the campaign followed a 360 degree approach with seamless connectivity, efforts were made to ensure that the strategy for each platform is distinctly different but contributed to the overall flow of the campaign.

The mini contests and activation drives have constantly fueled the drive for crowd sourcing. More and more app ideas which have kept the brand in the limelight for more than a month for reasons which generate more anxiety and excitement amongst the mobile phone users , enthusiasts and the app developers' community as well.

Scope for Improvement

The campaign had gained unanticipated success last year with 38000 ideas from enthusiasts across the country. This year the brand has taken the contest to a whole new level by going global. Although the idea of going global will work wonders for them but since it is a Nokia India initiative the brand could have gone 'Glocal' by reaching out to more people and places in India.

The 'Glocal' approach can help the brand in developing vernacular apps, apps which cater to a specific set of individuals and groups. Moreover, no other platform has vernacular apps catering to the different needs of an individual so Nokia could have come out as a pioneer in Windows based vernacular apps.

Nokia has a very strong image in the Indian rural market. They have lost a bit of their lustre in the recent times but a call for app ideas from the rural folks could have brought Nokia back into the rural picture. With the numbergrowth of internet penetration in rural areas this can unfold newer avenues and fortunes for the brand.

The decision for the best app idea should not be taken unanimously by the jury; it should have a component of social sharing as well. This component should not be a deciding factor but a significant contributing factor which would help in amplifying the amount of buzz for the campaign and for #YourWishisMyApp.

Conclusion

‘Your Wish is My App’ campaign from Nokia has been planned meticulously, keeping in view the mind set and behaviour of the mobile enthusiasts community. The first season of the campaign received unprecedented response which paved the way for the second season which is even bigger and better.

The campaign has immense potential and so far it has managed to meet the objectives of building buzz, engaging with users, crowd sourcing app ideas and developing new apps as per the needs/wants of mobile users. Hats off to the marketing team at Nokia for conceptualizing such a comprehensive campaign and executing it flawlessly. Let's wait and see if the influx of crowd sourced apps brings fortune to Nokia and Windows Phone Ecosystem.