Why is this work relevant for PR?

More than 65% of India’s population is under the age of 35. Working Indian millennials, all face the same problem – lack of cash at the end of the month. The Month-End Collection by EarlySalary was an effort to build community relations as well as customer relations. The tone of voice that was adopted was one that would speak to this audience in a relatable manner and get them to speak up about their woes as well. Striking a chord with them light-heartedly about said the topic, made our brand easily acceptable, resulting in relations being developed and nurtured.

Background

Situation: More than 65% of India’s population is under the age of 35. Working Indian millennials, all face the same problem – lack of cash at the end of the month. Brief: EarlySalary is India’s leading instant cash-advances application. However, it isn’t the only brand providing such services. Smaller brands were taking up larger chunks of online conversations, day by day. So, the need for EarlySalary to be more visible, more relatable, more downloaded and hold the position as a leader Objectives: Increase EarlySalary’s App downloads by making it more relevant. Budget: 8 Lakhs INR = 15857.20 SGD Project Scale & Volume: 3 cities, 3 locations every day, for a month = 198 locations covered

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Idea: The Month-End Collection - a range of unique products was dedicated to our audience’s month-end behaviour of compromising. Real products along with product films were crafted and packaged to poke fun at them. The audience was provoked into feeling that the products were a new way to compromise. But once they were lured, they were provided with the perfect solution to month-end cash woes - the EarlySalary app. The sarcastic, humorous tone of the products and films was deliberate to grab our audience. The videos were strategically released during the month-end, striking relevance with their desires. The products were displayed on a website and in corporate parks too, where people thought they could buy the collection, but instead, were directed to download the app and quit the crisis.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

Target Audience: Indian working millennials between 25-35 yrs. of age. Target Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other digital platforms. On-ground events at various business parks helped in increasing the reach and create a brand association. Creation and distribution of assets: The products and videos were released on social media at the end of the month, targeted at our audience on social and digital platforms as well as on-ground. The topic caught relevance and was shared organically. PR Planning: Social media influencers, stand-up comedians, bloggers and meme pages contributed heavily to the virality of the campaign by talking about the campaign as well as the driving thought.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Implementation: The video assets were released on social media platforms first. This was supported by the website release which displayed the collection, drawing people closer to EarlySalary as a brand and relaying the message that EarlySalary is the fix to the month-end cash crunch. The audience was targeted and retargeted basis of their online behaviour. Timeline: The campaign ran for a total of 5 weeks. Scale: 10 films, 17 on-ground corporate installations spread over 5 weeks turned into a nationwide conversation on social media, amplified by content creators and influencers.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

Tier 1: Media Outputs: The campaign was covered by leading national online publications. It highlighted the relevance of the campaign to the working millennials and threw light on the humour that made it easily consumable. Social media influencers publicly appreciated the thought. They also drove viewers to download the app. Stand up comedians, bloggers and meme pages created social media content around the same, which garnered a total engagement of over 2.1 million. Tier 2: Target Audience Outcomes: The relatability and relevance of our campaign struck a chord with the intended audience and testament to that were the social conversations and reactions that were observed to our creative execution. Total Reach: 17.4 million, Total Views: 5.4 million and a 33K click through to the website. Tier 3: Business Outcome: App downloads increased by 50%, positive brand sentiment towards EarlySalary measured an increase in following on social media platforms.