Salman Khan, the most successful Bollywood star at the box office, is also very active on social media. He has over 8.1 million followers on his Facebook page and another 3.8 million on his Twitter page. The star rarely needs other ways to communicate, whether for his ‘Being Human’ initiative or the various brand endorsements he has. However, his latest endorsement for Dixcy Scott, a trendy innerwear brand, does not feature him using his personal social media accounts. Still, the brand has benefited from his social media following.
Creating buzz on Twitter
Starting yesterday, Dixcy Scott launched a contest on its Twitter page to promote its new ad featuring Salman Khan as a star ‘Panja’ player. In the ad, Salman intentionally loses to a weaker opponent so that the opponent can win prize money for his disabled son’s surgery. The commercial emphasizes its latest message ‘Jeeto. . .lekin dil’, which fits well with its tagline ‘The Ultimate Winner’. The winner of the contest will receive an iPhone 5!
The Twitter contest hashtagged #DixcyPanja has been trending the whole of yesterday and even today as I write this. Fans of the star were invited to participate in the #DixcyPanja contest in four stages held across two days, to be able to win an iPhone5. Stage 1 needed them to follow the Dixcy Scott Twitter handle and retweet the contest tweet. Stage 2 asked them to tag a person they would lose a game of Panja to, and also give a reason for it. Stage 3 involved participants to upload a picture of them in a Panja match.
Stage 4 that is set for today, involves watching the new TVC featuring Salman Khan, very carefully. The final stage has ensured that participants stay glued to the ad film video. As I write this, the first of three questions on the TVC have been put up.
Earlier on the day of the ad release, the Twitter handle ran a contest around #ForSalmansDil, which required fans to share what they would do to win over Salman’s heart. There were goodies bags to be won here.
Promotions on Facebook
The Facebook page of Dixcy Scott had begun the promotions a little ahead of launching the new ad video. Beginning with sharing the ‘making of the ad’ video, the page admin then made fans to wait for the ad for a few days, eventually releasing the ad on the 26th of April. This was soon followed up by a Facebook contest ‘Khelo Dil Se’ hosted on a Facebook app that required one to watch the new TVC and play a mind game to win an iPhone 5.
One had to memorise the TVC and arrange the scenes in the correct sequence and in the quickest time possible. The app has a provision to invite friends too.
The updates following these are focused on spreading the word about the Twitter contest and the new TVC.
TVC launches aided through social media
This year, television commercials are being increasingly launched through a series of promotions on social media, specifically Twitter as it is easier to get people talking there. While some of them create a huge amount of spam, some others are endearing and can’t help flooding your timeline. The #DixcyPanja Twitter contest is one such contest that cannot have you complaining about spam. From an adorable ad to a positive message and simple, creative contests, the brand has ensured to create maximum buzz for it on the social media front, while also growing its Facebook and Twitter community.
The good part is synching the Facebook community of 230K fans with the 400+ Twitter followers for the ad promotion. Dixcy Scott seems to have achieved a fair amount of success riding on the popularity of Salman Khan and the iPhone5 incentive.
Recently, Frooti, the mango flavoured drink had launched its TVC featuring the King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, through a teaser campaign on Twitter. The ‘making of the ad’ video was shared before launching the ad, while fans were kept engaged with contests around why Shah Rukh loves Frooti. Prizes included Shah Rukh autographed jerseys, iPads and Frooti boxes.
What do you think about the Dixcy Scott TVC launch and other exclusive TVC launches through social media first?