Note: I have seen so many recently, that I think I might be soon forced to make a completely different category for these #epicfail campaigns.

Note 2: I just realised after finishing the post, I have been pretty sarcastic in my recent posts. On second thoughts, they were well fitting words.

Aaaaaaaaaaan. Not really. But I am really glad that IBNlive.com has taken the first baby (though faltering) steps towards a more social approach to marketing campaigns. There’s even a slightest hint of game mechanics. So let’s see. The micro-site allows users to ‘virtually’ be a part of the baton relay that will travel around India before coming back to Delhi.

When I heard the news, I was actually excited. Virtually being there meant some snazzy on the road camera angles and real time updates for me. But of course I over-estimated the digital media prowess of India media powerhouses. The website has a Google Map which lays down the route. It has an announcements section which is 2 days behind. And that’s it! This is how I am supposed to be virtually present at the relay.

Well, after I do login (thankfully using a simple FB connect) I can chose my city to run and the date. And voila! Nothing happens. #fail again for sure. But we must take some plus points (if you can afford to be very VERY optimistic about this site) from here, and those are the social features (unknowingly?) that have been inserted into the design:

  • A profile where I can see which cities have I applied for and what are the others doing there. Are any of them my friends? (automatically picked by FB cookies)
  • An activity stream turned into a game feature by a surprisingly clever process. Whoever has the last conversation has the baton and so to grab the baton you have to reply to the person below you! Ubercool I say. Ubercool. Simple and full of potential.

But it again falls short. There are no sharing options after I update my conversation reply. And why shouldn’t there be one? I would love to tell my friends on Twitter and Facebook about my virtual new cool identity. Hmmm… Well atleast they did something.

Once again, a good step towards more ‘social’ features in digital media campaigns. I am glad of the Indian industry all of a sudden. We are reaching there guys, we surely are!