Fastrack assigns 8 per cent of ad budget to digital marketing

Fastrack, the eye and wrist gear brand from Titan, is unfolding its digital marketing strategy spanning the Internet and mobile. The company has chalked out a multipronged strategy, including the launch of an interactive website, the use of communities on social media sites like Orkut and Facebook, search marketing, viral videos and mobile campaigns to generate buzz about the brand.

Ronnie Talati, associate vice-president and business head, Fastrack, says that the company has set aside 8 per cent of its ad budget of Rs 8 crore for advertising on digital media. “The attention span of our target audience (16-25 years) is spread across the Internet, television and radio. We were not using Internet significantly till now, but are seeing that youngsters spend most of their time on it these days,” explains Talati.

Virtual campus

The site represents a virtual college campus. Apart from product information, the site enables visitors to participate in various contests and polls. It will feature user generated content (UGC) in the form of blogs, to write which visitors have to register themselves.

The agency which developed the site is Maxus Interaction in Bangalore, which has plans to further boost the UGC on it. Biraja Swain, business director, Maxus Interaction, says, “The objective (of the site) is to establish a dialogue with the young audience and there are plans to roll out UGC based contests in the near future. For example, we can come up with ‘spoof the ad contest’, under which we will allow members to create a spoof of a Fastrack ad and submit their entries.”

The company plans to promote the site through online promotions in January, when it will be launched officially. Maxus Interaction is also working on creating a viral campaign.

Conversational marketing

The company is supporting Fastrack related communities such as Fastrack Rocks on Orkut by sharing pictures and content with the members.

Mobile targeting

Although Fastrack is not heavily into mobile marketing currently, the medium is being used to inform customers about contests via SMS marketing. Maxus Interaction, which also handles mobile marketing for the brand, plans to use the mobile beyond sales promotions. The agency will launch a mobile Internet portal for Fastrack, which will offer users downloads of branded ringtones, wallpapers and photos of brand ambassador John Abraham.

Clearly, Fastrack is one of the few offline brands that are chalking out a digital marketing strategy, especially in an industry where most brands are struggling with defining the term itself.