Fastrack's bold 'Change the Name' campaign

The campaign has been devised by Bangalore-based digital agency 22 Feet. The brand has promised to change its name if its fans can push its Facebook community to 10 million 'Likes' in 40 days

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | April 2, 2013

Today's youth likes a brand that challenges them at every step. This is the insight on which Fastrack has rolled out its latest campaign, 'Change the Name'. It has always been in the brand's DNA to continuously challenge its fans and this time Fastrack wants to push the boundaries on its social engagement to a whole new level. The campaign has been devised by Bangalore-based digital agency 22 Feet.

Fastrack has challenged its fans to push its Facebook community to 10 million 'Likes' in 40 days, and if the fans pull off this mega-challenge, Fastrack has promised to change its name to whatever name the community suggests! With this campaign, Fastrack seems to have hinged completely on its Facebook fans to get traction on its fan page. This is purely a social move and its impact completely depends on the messaging that's going out. Asking users to prove the brand wrong and getting them to suggest a new name might work with the youth, which is their core target group.

Social media experts feel that a move this bold can make or break the brand's image among its fans. Some call it a drastic step, but others believe that only such moves break clutter in the fast evolving, highly cluttered social space. Marketing experts opine that this might be just another marketing gimmick that the brand is trying to pull, as the numbers are impossible and the brand has nothing to lose. A thought leader in the FMCG spaces said, “Probably they are all sure of not reaching the number and are doing this just to get more fans. The only way to know for real is to reach the 10 million mark and watch them change their name.”

If this happens Fastrack will have to rework the brand not just on digital but across 130 Fastrack stores in the country! Whether this is a bold move or a strategic blunder only time will tell.

Simeran Bhasin, Marketing & Retail Head, Fastrack, commented, “We look at social media as a space where we can constantly experiment and do things we haven't done before. Our audience is bold and loves a challenge. We know our customers won't shy away from taking this up.”

Vineet Gupta, Managing Partner, 22 Feet, the digital agency that constructed the campaign, said, “As an agency, all we have done is stayed true to the brand and the brief. The credit goes to the client for having bought into a campaign such as this. 'Change The Name' is by far the boldest campaign that I have seen and  it stems from a simple insight that 'proving you wrong makes me right.'”

The success of this campaign will give an insight into the world of social media marketing and a case study for brands with youth as a core target group. For a hands-on experience of Fastrack's Change the Name challenge, visit the brand's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/fastrack

Credits:

Agency: 22 Feet

Concept & Copy: Venkatesh Nayak, Kunal Gandhi, Bhavna Suresh

Design & Development: Tom Jose, Harsha Parakot, NIbin Joseph, Raghunath J

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com