7UP Lemon Leveraged Social Media Marketing To Increase Fan Base By 52%

Cricket is considered as a religion in our nation. It unites people belonging to all creed. Cricket fans across the nation are bound together irrespective of their financial differences. The die-hard fans of cricket follow each and every match, cheer for their teams and participate in various discussions and debates surrounding it. People would like to be a part of the game in some or the other form if given an opportunity.

There are people who join various groups over social networking sites to stay connected and updated with various cricket news. These groups keep the interaction lively and attract more and more fans. Social networking sites have become a powerful medium which help people to get connected to other like-minded people and contribute to a varied mix of conversation.

7UP Lemon has used the wonderful amalgamation of cricket fans and a powerful social networking site to achieve their business goal.

About 7UP Lemon

7UP Lemon is a soft-drink brand managed by PepsiCo. This lemon flavoured drink has evolved over a period of time from its place of origin in St. Louis in 1920. It is one of the most liked beverages and a well-established brand in the soft-drink industry.

7UP lemon along with Hungama which was their online media partner, carried out an online campaign called 7UP Lemon Pattalam Online Championship.

This was a cricket game which could be played online. The inspiration for this online game was taken from the actual on-ground cricket match. The crazy fan followers of on-ground match were very thrilled to be a part of this online game because this game gave them an opportunity to play and experience the whole event.

Business Objective of 7UP Lemon

The following were the business objectives of 7UP Lemon:

1. To maximise the customer engagement and interaction on their online page.
2. To increase the fan base.

Strategy Used By 7UP Lemon

In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, 7UP Lemon used Facebook as their medium. The launch of the online game, 7UP Lemon Pattalam online championship, was planned at a time when the actual on-ground match was being played. This gave a wide coverage to the campaign.

Hungama, which is a well-known and leading digital media agency of South Asia, carried the entire program on their able shoulders. Hungama is known for its various successful campaigns which has helped them to bag many awards. Hungama took 7UP Lemon campaign to the next level leading them to success. Hungama has also created ‘7UP Dance with Allu’ campaign which is one of the first successful internet and mobile reality promotion.

The following were the highlights of this online game:

1. 7UP Lemon Pattalam Online Championship was launched as an online cricket game which was an interactive application based game.
2. The championship began on 24^th March 2011 and ended on 10^th May 2011.
3. Facebook being the most popular social networking site, was chosen as the medium for this championship. This allowed the users to participate easily in the game. The platform was made very interactive with various promotional events, initiation of discussions, sharing opinions and by supporting the users at various stages while playing.
4. Fans could join any already existing team and start playing.
5. Users were also given an option of forming their own new team with maximum of 7 players. The number of overs were 7 and the teams had to achieve their maximum possible score in these 7 overs.
6. The eventual winner got an opportunity to meet Chennai Super Kings which was like a dream come true for the winning cricket fan.

The perfect mix of good gaming strategy allowing more than one player to participate, a popular online medium like Facebook which could be accessed easily anywhere & an on-ground real cricket championship, helped to take the entire campaign attain a new level. An exact replica of actual on-ground cricket was the highlight of this online game. People could connect better and visualize the entire event because the on-ground cricket match was also going on simultaneously and people wanted to experience the same thrill online.

The following were the steps followed to make the participation uncomplicated:

1. Visitors could just log-on and send out invitations to their friends to join the team. Maximum of 7 people could join a team and team members were selected on first-come-first-serve basis.
2. User could participate in the online game via multiple teams which allowed them to aim for higher scores by participating through various teams. There was no restriction on the number of teams in which one could join. This was very well appreciated by the players.
3. To replicate an on-ground atmosphere, cheerleaders were specially designed in this online version and dressed in traditional South-Indian attire since the actual on-ground championship was being held in South India. This closeness to reality was appreciated by the fans. This online gaming environment allowed the fans to experience the associated pressure and pleasure of the game, thereby giving people an opportunity to enjoy some real fun over this virtual platform.
4. 7UP floats were displayed at regular intervals during the game and if a batsman managed to hit these floats then an additional score of 7 runs were awarded which acted as a mega bonus.
5. 7UP trolley with drinks appeared in intervals like it appears in the on-ground cricket match.
6. Few other fringe benefits were also added to the game to attract more and more participation. The batsmen were  given additional bonuses like ‘Double UP with 7UP’in which the scores were doubled in the last delivery and the other one was ‘Bonus Ball’ in which batsman was given a special lemon bonus ball.

 These were some of the cool features that were included in the 7UP Lemon Pattalam Online Championship.

Results

The results of 7UP Lemon Pattalam Online Championship was overwhelming. It indicated the respect people had towards cricket. The following were the outcomes of this online campaign.

1. Total number of teams formed to play the game were 10,015.
2. Over 61,760 fans joined the Facebook page.
3. In merely 45 days the growth escalated to 52%.

Learnings

Any event associated with a cricket match gets a huge fan following in our country. The reach of this game is up to every nook and corner of this nation. People watch matches with lot of dedication and cheer for their teams extensively. 7UP Lemon targeted the right set of people and used an amazing social media campaign to increase its fan base. The very motive of this campaign and the various aspects supporting it could be achieved by using social media marketing as their primary tool. This gave an enormous reach, thereby making this virtual game a hit!