Radio Mirchi's Sud chats with fans via Facebook
* 20000 fans hooked up with the popular jokester
MUMBAI: Sud, the popular Radio Mirchi character, came live on Facebook and entertained people in a digital marketing initiative launched by Radio Mirchi on 13th Dec. This six-hour live session on Facebook was unique because rather than giving just a regular �written status updates', Sud was responding to his fans and their questions through �audio updates' in his characteristic style of talking.
The initiative received a good response, with each update by Sud being consumed by over 20,000 people. Sud was asked many funny questions including some about his married life, and others like �what came first – the chicken or the egg?' At one point, Ajay Devgn was in the studio while Sud was live, but then Sud's pen wasn't working and he could not take back an autograph for his wife Monali.
Says Rahul Balyan, head of Digital Initiatives at Radio Mirchi, While we always knew Sud has a strong appeal across all cross-sections of our listeners, we realized the intensity of that affection for the first time through this activity....
Sud selected a fan's joke to read out as an audio update and also composed and sang a farewell song for his fans. That everyone was having fun is indicated by the posts that are still available on Radio Mirchi Fan Page on Facebook.
Radio Mirchi adapted Sud to Facebook by creating the audio updates, which is the key to Sud's personality. Even the writing style was crafted to reflect Sud's personality.
We were actually overwhelmed by the positive responses to Sud,... says Balyan. There were even requests for copies of �Hansi ke Phuwaare', the book of jokes that Sud reads from, which does not exist except on-air on Radio Mirchi and on our website www.radiomirchi.com.'
On using social media for marketing, Balyan said, �On Facebook, consumers can be lavish with their praise, but can also be very vocal with their discontent. To get such a positive response to our Facebook initiative is great testimony to the strength of our brand. Actually, one of the challenges that we have is to give a platform to our passionate fans to express themselves, and such activities help us with this crucial interaction....
