Ride, girls, ride! Maybelline drives engagement with 'Colossal Cabs'

Colossal Cabs is an initiative by Maybelline which lets girls avail themselves of Maybelline branded cabs from their colleges to the nearest railway station and back

Sarmistha Neogy | Mumbai | August 28, 2014

Mumbai city looks beautiful during the monsoon season, but that is also the time when most girls dread stepping out of their house because of the fear of rains ruining their make-up. Maybelline hopes to ease their worries with their initiative – Maybelline Colossal Cabs.

Under the initiative, 'Colossal Cabs' can be availed of by girls from their colleges to the nearest railway station and back. There is a hashtag on Twitter that invites college girls to tweet and vote for their college. The college that receives the maximum votes and generates the maximum number of tweets gets the Colossal Cab service for a day. The cabs will be stationed outside the colleges to help girls commute – worry-free.

Inside the car, the brand encourages girls to try three of the Maybelline Colossal range of products, click a 'selfie' using the products and then upload it on Facebook or Twitter, using the hashtag #colossalselfie. Three winners will be awarded Maybelline goodie bags every day. Those not using the cab can just 'Spot the Cab' and share the picture with the hashtag #SpotTheCab and win gift hampers.

Elaborating on the campaign, Leena Shoor, Marketing Manager, Maybelline New York, India, said, “It serves as an excellent sampling and innovative opportunity to touch base with our audience who matter the most to us. It kick-started around 10 days ago in Mumbai and will move to other cities like Pune and Delhi. Inside the cab, there is a promoter who samples the Colossal products and gives discount coupons, for which we have partnered with Shoppers Stop.”

Does in-car branding drive home the point?

Manish Bhatt

Manish Bhatt, Founder-Director, Scarecrow Communications, said, “There is no success formula for any platform as such. However, if a brand provides consumers with one-to-one engagement and empowers them, there is a much higher chance of them remembering the brand in a positive note. In this age where we are all spoilt for choice, brands are trying to find newer ways to engage with the audience. Therefore, a brand which adapts to a more disruptive, unusual and innovative way of engagement will stay in the minds of the audience for a longer time. Like in this case, Maybelline is providing the audience with a facility through their 'Colossal Cabs', where the brand is just trying to buy a share of mind from the audience.”

Pranesh Misra, Chairman & Managing Director, Brandscapes Worldwide, said, “In-car branding is a powerful medium to grab the attention of the captive audience who has nothing else to do while travelling. In case of 'Colossal Cabs', Maybelline has kept the target audience very focussed. Activities like these are good brand experience opportunities to engage with the audience. I don't know how much volume Maybelline will be able to get, but the in-car branding plus the digital/social media activations, will convert to higher consumer engagement.”

Saurabh Parmar

Saurabh Parmar, Founder & CEO, Brandlogist Communications, commented, “It's definitely an interesting concept, primarily because Maybelline has integrated Colossal Cab service, which is useful to students, to selfies on social media, which they all enjoy, to brand products, which they can experience inside the cab. So, the brand has made the initiative both interesting and useful to young girls.”

So, ride girls, ride! It's Colossal.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com