Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Fastrack 2.0: The Social Media Logic

After Axe and Sunsilk, Fastrack has decided to test itself in the web2.0 space. It was the obvious next step for this youth fashion brand from the house of Titan. Fastrack has gotten the chemistry going, they created quite a buzz with their ‘how many you have man?’ campaign. Operating in an attractive price band, Fastrack had vibrant designs at the other end of the buzz, waiting to flatter the eager customer. And none were disappointed.

Today Web 2.0 is a gregarious place to be in. The blogs, forums and communities are bursting with youth and eclectic conversations and a brand that targets them ought to be in it. The density of players in this field is light and most are still grappling with the social networking phenomena. So it only makes sense to make hay while the sun shines. Although some brands have made a brave foray into this dynamic space where the consumer controls the communication, most Indian brands are still reluctant and skeptical since they have no means of analyzing the ROI that web 2.0 is bringing in.

Fastrack has however, struck the right chord with the internet savvy youth. Axe, which clearly set up the first virtual campus, now has Fastrack on its heels. Both the brands specialize in different subjects one borders on the art of seduction and the other on fashion. The spunky new space on the web has made Fastrack a new cool place to hangout while online. The collection displayed in a diary on a chaotic desk caught my fancy. The brand has lunged headlong into social networking, they even have fan clubs on orkut and facebook.

The brand’s foray into eyewear was another strategic move. Fastrack eyewear signed John Abraham as their brand ambassador, a perfect fit for the brand. A biker who endorses bike brands is now endorsing a bikers’ accessories brand. It couldn’t get any better than this.

The new collection of neon disc watches has been a tad bit disappointing. After watching the catchy 15 seconder on air, I went to the store to check out the new line, somehow it doesn’t come across as innovative or new. However, a brand like Fastrack, that has gotten everything right in the past, is allowed a few tasteless slips.

16 comments:

Arvi said...

Nice post, Dhivya. Just a thought, having been reading your blog for a bit now - i feel your writing on advertising has matured and it may be worth considering breaking it out into a new blog! Or perhaps changing the name of this blog...?

Anonymous said...

another social network marketing website~~dont you guys think the networking space is a bit cluttered. where is innovation when you need one

Unknown said...

from facebook's indian blogger, i landed here..:

whatz interesting while social media logic still in roll. here(/london) taxi drivers are used for word-of-month ads..!! that's taking too far..;)

Anonymous said...

you should write more often, you write well.
-Suzanna
http://bangalorebuzzz.blogspot.com/

Amit Charles said...

Whoa!!! An intellect's blog finally.

Made my day.

Keep it rollin;)

Steppen Wolf said...

Nice to run into this blog. Hope to come back soon.
Sunil

Anonymous said...

Hi. There’s a Bangalore bloggers meet scheduled for tomorrow, Feb 16. I would like to confirm your participation and I am looking forward to meeting you in person and other bloggers as well. As of now 50+ bloggers have confirmed their participation. Email me at anwin.at.anw.in or call me on 9880518019 for anything regarding the bloggers meet.

More info at http://indiblogger.in/

Cheers,

Anwin

travel30 said...

found your blog on best Indian blog's list.... and I have read some of your blogs, I want to congratulate you first that you are having an amazing writing ability which makes your blogs very much readable and interesting.keep the good work coming :-)

latest Post :Urgent vacancy for the post of Girl Friend…

Kunal said...

is good, reading you...

Unknown said...

Hi Dhivya,

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah - Neon Disc was an exciting collection to work on....but I agree - so much more we could have done! We're working on it...so look out for Neon Disc 2.0!!

Mind Curry said...

i am not a titan watch fan..but thought the fastrack shades will be good..although the style is good, the quality of the glasses was not good..

i liked the new bajaj ad..with the 4 bikers..

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Anonymous said...

Nice Post !
You should use an Indian social bookmarking widget like PrachaarThis to let your users easily bookmark your blog posts.

Anonymous said...

nice blog you got here...yup web 2.0 is surely interesting...sad that it took time to pick up in India...but it still has a long way to go...with Yahoo and Google goin in for some major R & D work right here in India...the possibilities are endless!

Anonymous said...

Hello there! I am a big fan of web 2.0 and I think it is such a boon for the current generation. But I sincerely feel that it is getting abused, at least the Blogging on. I am not a big fan of Self Blogs where people talk about their day to day activities and whatz running in their mind and all that. I think it is colossal waste of time to know what is in someone's mind in a blog. Your blog came in as a pleasant surprise and this topic kind of urged my interest to read. Oh! yeah well, I just have one pair of Fast Track and 1 pair of Axe :-)
Good Blogging!

Unknown said...

Hi Dhivya, Came across your blog by chance. A deep insight about the Marketing and social networking strategy. Good work, Keep it up
Rick
sapience