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1.       Each time the train is late, people would tweet and complain to @IRCTC. Which means IRCTC and #TrainLate would be trending 365x24x7.

2.       If each train was available on Foursquare, people needn’t carry their ticket. All they need do is check-in! Considering this, the TTR would be the mayor “always”.

3.       Just like Dell Hell, IRCTC would have “Rail Fail”. And for this the Govt. would form a Committee to look into the matter and submit a final report to the CBI.

4.       Each time a train arrives on time, it would be celebrated as a milestone event in its Facebook Page.

5.      Pinterest would be loaded with boards named Rajdhani Ki Jawaani, Shatabdi Ki Aabaadi, Intercity Ki Badboo, Duronto Ki Duranth…. Etc.

6.       Instagram would be decorated with vintage photos of IRCTC’s vintage food.

7.       If IRCTC ran a Social Media Campaign with something of the sorts of ‘free-ticket-to-anyone-who-tweets-when-train-late’, it would be the largest and most successful SM campaign in the world. EVER! But it would also mean that IRCTC would be shut down in a week.

8.       Having its presence on Social Media would also mean people would be able to directly interact with the engine diver.

The tweets would read something like:

·       @CryingKid: Mr @EngineDriver, could you please stop the train. My candy fell out the window. I’ll share half of it with you 🙂

·       @TrafficPC: @EngineDriver You drive like this on the road and your fine would be enough to pay my kid’s school fees.

·     @InAHurryDude: @EngineDriver Buddy, if you reach the destination an hour earlier, I promise to send you a friend’s request in FB. #PrettyPlease

·      @CrazyPhotographer: Could you take the train 1km in reverse? I took a photo of the scenery but had forgotten to remove the camera cover!! #DumbMe

·    @TTR: @EngineDriver FOR GOODNESS SAKE listen to the people!! My TL already looks like the lyrics from an Eminem Album :/ #Help

 9.       Fail Whale would become the better known homepage of Twitter if IRCTC ever made a Twitter Account.

10.    FLASH NEWS:

Today:

In order to widespread the use of Google+ in India, Google has tied up with IRCTC. Now all queries towards IRCTC can be asked on its G+ Page.

Next Day:

Google+ gets 20 million new members in a day. All from India.

Next to Next Day:

Google records 1000% increase in traffic on Google+.

Next to Next to Next Day:

Google+ down due to server overload. #GoogleMinus trending.

11.    Ticketless travel would no longer be fined. The individual would be asked to write positive comments on IRCTC’s Facebook Page, Tweet positive about it and write a 500 word blog post on the topic “IRCTC – Heaven on Wheels”.

12.    As a replacement for Tatkal System, tickets on Tatkal Quota would be given to those who invite maximum number of friends to like IRCTC’s Facebook Page.

13.    On Google Searching the word “late”, IRCTC’s website would top the results.

IRCTC

14.    Based on Angry Bird’s Facebook Game Model, IRCTC would enable passengers to ‘Brag’ if they ever reached their destination on time…… EVER.

Anyone who is able to “brag” more than twice a year would be eligible for ‘India’s Luckiest person Award’.

15.    And, if people tweet to @IRCTC_Food their choice of food, with their date of journey, Train and seat Number, it’ll be delivered to them.

(Statutory Warning: IRCTC Food may or may not be injurious to health. Eat at your own risk.

Issued in Public Interest by @IRCTC_PassengerWelfare)

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Prologue:
If I had a Android Smartphone since 2008, am pretty sure I would have been the Foursquare Mayor for Kannur-Ernakulam Intercity Express. It’s the usual train by which I used to travel back home from college on weekends. And now, after passing out, still come back in it after the odd visits to college.

And just like clockwork, I “always” take a bus to Vytilla Junction and walk the exact 1Km home, accompanied by a pack of Kurkure. With my usual speed of eating and my regular speed of walk, I almost always finish off the packet by the time I reach the turn home. A distance of about 900m.

Present:
This dates back to…… last week. As usual I bought a packet of Kurkure and started on my way home. Walking on the wrong side of NH-47 with music blazing into my ear drums and lips smacking the spiciness of the snack has been a 4 year old tradition for me.

Snacks, I always eat with the same pace – gobble ‘em up! This day was no different. Just as Switchfoot started to sing “Learning to Breathe”, I started munching on my packet of shapeless delights. As time went by, Switchfoot was replaced by Coldplay and A R Rahman, and my hands got busier searching the depths of the packet. And…….. WHAT??!! Its over??!!

Horror of horrors, the packet was empty! Finished! Blank! Zero! Nothing!!

I looked around. No, it wasn’t the turn home. In fact it was way back. Somewhere right after The Nyle Plaza Hotel. WTF!!
Did I eat too fast? Definitely Not!
Did the packet have a hole? Uh Huh. No. (I checked)
Did I share it with anyone on the way? HELL NO!

So…. All the troubleshooting of the hypothesis led me to the single possible inference – Kurkure’s packet had lesser quantity than before!

I was heartbroken! Whenever I used to watch anyone with a packet of Lays, with enough air in it to fill up an Oxygen Cylinder, I used to feel proud of my pack of snack. But at that particular moment, all those things seemed as a distant past. History.

My companion, that helped me cover about 900m of my 1 Km back home, this time hardly stayed with me for about 700m. My maths ain’t great but am sure these numbers sure demoted it from Distinction to Second Class. <sniff>

Alone, with nothing but the spicy taste lingering in my lips, I continued the rest of my journey back home. All the while, music blaring in my ears – “Its already Over…..”.

Kurkure!!! Why this Kolaveri Di?

P.S. After a couple of days, again the same thing happened. This time it lasted for the same 700m itself. 🙁

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Consider this. You’re watching TV and you see an Ad about a new mobile phone with an URL at the end of the advert. What is the probability that you’ll either go to the direct URL or search for that mobile phone on your handheld device then and there itself?
Pretty good chances right? Especially if you already are browsing the net on your phone like most people.

With an exponential increase in the number of smartphone users and people browsing the net not just on their PC’s but also on laptops, tablets and mobile phones, people are more online in the virtual world than they are alive in the real world!
Now, how can that be a ‘Eureka’ moment for marketers?

Answer: Keep your eyes open!

The audience nowadays can be divided into three tiers-

  • Two Screen : TV and Computer
  • Three Screen : TV, Computer and Smartphone
  • Four Screen : TV, Computer, Smartphone and Tablet

And at the same time, tablets change the game, because they bring the app ecosystem together with the best usability aspects of the smartphone and computer. You can do plenty with your phone, but it’s not always easy. Most sites don’t work well with smartphones let alone mobile phones. In such a case, tablet users aided by their app world find it easier to access the web and its services. But then the question arises – Do marketers ‘make’ the audience do that?

It is important that the marketers understand the audience psychology. People are ready to move on to their 2nd or 3rd or 4th screen while watching TV! For marketers, there is an opportunity to create content and experiences which are complementary to that shown on TV. Why not put the URL to your website or Facebook Page if you’re running a contest? You’d do that on Paper Ads, why not do it on TV Ads too when you have the opportunity and platform to do so!

Online offers an immediate response mechanism for viewers of TV ads. It allows brands an opportunity to capitalize instantly off the effect of the ad. We know the attention and memory span of the Ad audience is very low unless and until you’re able to either catch up on their emotion factor or just purely have an awesome Ad no one can resist watching again and again. In such a case, if a call to action is given to the audience so that they can immediately continue the interaction with the brand even after the Ad is over, it’ll surely gain the brand a good number of new followers if they’re able to utilize this follow up path well.

If a URL is shown at the end of an Ad, it should be made sure that the URL is easy to remember and also that when the audience goes to that web page there is a clear path to what should be done next and if a sale or a step closest to making a sale in present, it should be achieved in as less clicks by the person, as possible. At the same time, if the person is searching Google for news related to the brand right after seeing the brand’s Ad, the brand should have done their homework well in advance and made sure that  brand and non-brand search terms are in high enough positions to capture the extra search traffic that TV Ads will generate. In short, after extensive keyword research, do the SEO well before getting into this aspect!

A couple of points I would like to emphasize upon when you design such a campaign would be-

  • Make sure that if you give your Facebook page as the connecting URL, the person doesn’t have to search the page extensively to find the related post. It would be good to have related info in the Timeline pic, at the same time adhering to Facebook Guidelines of the same.
  • If you are targeting a particular keyword or phrase, one guaranteed way to top the search engines around the time of TV ad campaigns is to buy the term.
  • Make sure the landing web page is mobile friendly. A lot many people might still not have smartphones and would be accessing your page via mobile. DON’T fend them off!
  • Have a clear call to action and path process to the end page. Also make sure that if the person is required to fill in some data, you don’t ask for too much data. It just might test their patience and might cost you a valid customer.
  • Add direct social sharing options from the page.
  • Provide a good range of contact options like phone, mail and contact forms and also make sure that you do respond to them as soon as possible when a query does come.

These are just some of the points that I have found to be right and effective. If you have any more points to add, would love to hear them out!