What’s Your MQ (Maturity Quotient)..!!

Few days back I came across the story on the creative idea behind the recent Mahindra Verito campaign. If you have still not caught the TV campaign, check it out on You Tube. The TV campaign was launched on 6^th June 2011.

Verito has been positioned as a "Mature Man's Sedan" and introduces consumers to the “Verito Man”, who is cool, sensible, straightforward, mature and has “grown up to Verito”. The creative agency has addressed the issues of lack of maturity on Indian roads, road rage, irresponsible driving and lack of road etiquette in the current TV commercial. Jimmy Shergill is the brand ambassador for Mahindra Verito.

No doubt the brand has tried to own the attribute of Maturity, and the TV commercial captures this sentiment by showing out of the box thinking on part of the Verito man in an un-nerving situation.

Taking a cue from the current trend where brands should be present on the social media, I checked out the fan page of Mahindra Verito on facebook , http://www.facebook.com/mahindraverito, to see if they have just followed the fad or have done something creative.

Well, I’ll rate them at 7 out of 10 on their handling of the Verito facebook fan page. The fan page went live on 26^th April 2011 and as I write this they have got 15,969 people to like the Verito fanpage. The fanpage has been updated on frequent intervals keeping the consumer interest alive, since its launch in the last week of April 2011. The TV commercial debuted on social media before it went on Television. Sneak peek of the commercial was uploaded on social media to gain consumer feedback on how the TV commercial should end. Pictures of Verito, features and available colors were also highlighted to the followers of social media.

If the objective of the brand was to:

1.       Announce the launch of a new product

2.       Engage consumers

3.       Create a positive image of the brand

I feel they have done a good job in achieving the above objectives on the social media.

Without delving further into the other highlights of the activities carried out on the social media, I feel the following can also be incorporated into the social media campaign:

1.      Since the brand tries to own the attribute of “Maturity”, a quiz or a cool web app/facebook app/mobile app, allowing the consumer to check their MQ (Maturity Quotient), will drive buzz around the brand.

2.      Web app/Facebook app, allowing the user to position their photographs inside a Mahindra Verito will be a good idea. Ideally one would like to picture how they look driving a Verito. There can be pre-defined templates including the brand ambassador’s picture in the template. For example, if someone wants a picture with Jimmy Shergill seated beside, driving a Verito. This will not only make the brand stick to the consumer’s mind but will also increase the engagement with the brand, which other mass media cannot do for Verito.

3.      I believe, there should be an incentive for endearing to the brand. Lucky followers on the social media can be gratified with, say, a desk calendar or something akin to a desk calendar with their pictures driving a Verito.

4.      Last but not the least, I feel that mobile enabling the Verito Brochure with links to dealer locations and booking a test drive will further help in spreading the viral.

I’ll invite the users of this post, to leave their comments and enrich it with their own ideas. As always, I’ll request you, if you have time, please drop a line.