The Campaign

The objective was to get a track from the Tamil movie '3' heard, shared and downloaded by even the non-Tamil speaking audience, pan India. The challenge was to generate a buzz across a country where umpteen different languages are spoken-while Tamil is spoken in just one state. We used the insight that people, irrespective of language, love to crib on social media. So the plan was to take an unconventional PR route and reach out to the masses directly using social media platforms. Twitter was used to get people talking and Facebook for sharing the song that was uploaded on Youtube. We started a #WhyThisKolaveriDi which is a line from the song that literally means 'Why this murderous rage'. This #tag could be used to express irritation. We tweeted with the #tag about topical issues that irked people and attached the link to the song. Those who could relate to the topic of the tweet watched the video. They got hooked to the phrase #WhyThisKolaveriDi and vented using the #tag. Thus a Tamil song broke all language barriers. #Kolaveri was trending in India on Twitter within 5 days. More than a million tweets and 3.6 million+ Facebook shares, within a month. The video has more than 41 million views across 220 countries and claimed to be the top song of the year by CNN. All this on-line buzz earned media worth 67 million INR(1.4m USD). The caller ring back tones downloaded has exceeded 2 million and still counting.

The Brief

The objective was to make the song 'Why This Kolaveri Di' from movie 3 heard, shared and downloaded. Thus creating an enormous buzz. The target audience was set through a much wider scope than ever before. We looked at reaching out to even a non Tamil speaking person across a country where umpteen languages are spoken. Hence the immediate goal was to create a hook that would break all language barriers and make the target audience at least hear the song once and then relate to it. Research (comscore) was used in identifying the right digital platforms & its influencers.

Results

The video has more than 41 million Youtube views across 220 countries. The song was heard and shared not just by our target audience within the country but across the globe. More than a million tweets and 3.6 million+ Facebook shares, within a month. Engagement levels were really high with fans putting up their own versions of the song and also fan organized flash mobs. All this on-line buzz earned media worth 67 million INR(1.4m USD). It was claimed to be the top song of the year by CNN. It was also featured in BBC, TIME, Pitchfork, Contagious magazine and Huffington Post, to name a few. Adding the caller ring back tone codes of various telecom subscribers to the video made sure that the downloads exceeded 2 million and still counting. These downloads meant huge revenue for our client's even before the album of the movie 3 was launched.

Execution

We recreated the recording session, shot the video, and uploaded the song on Youtube (client's channel) in the early hours of 17 November 2011. Following which, the first Facebook post was up and the #WhyThisKoloaveriDi was used on Twitter. We tweeted about topical issues that irked people and added the Youtube link along. Whoever could relate to that topic got curious if the video link had anything to do with it. They watched the video, understood the usage of the #tag. By the end of the 3rd day the video had 300,000+ views. Many of those who watched the song either tweeted or shared it, including some celebrities. The #Kolaveri was trending on 20th, 21st and 22nd. To heighten the engagement, a home video of sorts with our own people singing and enjoying was uploaded on YouTube to inspire fans to make their own version of the song.

The Situation

Usually the producers of Tamil films keep their music undercover to create curiosity and hype until the day of music launch and then use the music as a tool for marketing their film . The song why this kolaveri di from the movie 3 is in Tanglish, a mixture of Tamil and English, and about a man being tortured by his lover. Hence we recognized an audience beyond just the Tamil speaking people, especially men even remotely associated with love. The problem was how to get them interested in a song from a film industry that they don't care about.

The Strategy

The first step was to fix on how the song was to be presented to the audience. Just audio or have visuals to go with it. If we had visuals what should it be; first cut of the movie trailer or was it too early to reveal visuals from the movie. Following this the monetization plan was set for the clients to generate revenue if the video did go viral. After analysing comscore, we picked YouTube (consisting 76% of India's unique visitors in the entertainment multimedia category) for hosting the video and used Facebook which has 80% of the country's internet users for sharing the song. Twitter was used to initiate conversations and engage the target audience with the brand. Tweeple who were influencers on various topics were also identified. Next step was creating a bank of posts & tweets that engaged the audiences while conveying the communication effectively.