NET GAIN: Amoda Spa Bar (Top) and the film Angshumaner Chhobi ) have both used social networking sites; (Below) screenshots of a blog site of Kaya Limited and a Facebook page dedicated to Mahindra Auto’s SUV Xylo

A ngshumaner Chhobi, starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Indrani Haldar, has had a successful run at Calcutta’s theatres. But now, a couple of months after the film has come and gone, what is remarkable is that the blog dedicated to it is still drawing viewers’ response in large numbers.

“Our social media strategy has worked wonders,” says Atanu Ghosh, the film’s director who relied mostly on online forums to create a buzz around the film during the run-up to its release. “My actors — Indrani and Indraneil Sengupta — are quite active on social networking sites. So they initiated discussions on various issues revolving around the film with their friends and peers,” says Ghosh.

For example, Soumitra Chatterjee plays a veteran actor in the film who feels that there is nothing left for him to contribute to contemporary Bengali cinema. “We started a blog thread asking, ‘Does Soumitra really have nothing more to contribute to Bengali films?’ And scores of netizens responded to the thread,” says Ghosh.

Ghosh is not alone in using social networking sites and blogs in order to promote his product. Indian industry as a whole is adopting a ‘social media strategy’ when it comes to making a pitch for their products.

Take Mahindra Auto. It has a “fan base” of around 4,000 users on social media channels like Facebook and Orkut for its SUV (sports utility vehicle) brands such as Scorpio and Xylo. “Just before our Xylo launch this year, we created an unprecedented buzz around the product by using online or social media,” says Vivek Nayer, senior vice president, marketing, automotive sector, Mahindra & Mahindra.

Kaya Limited has also gone the new media way. “Blogs, online discussion forums and networking sites are a part and parcel of our marketing strategy,” admits Suvodeep Das, head of marketing, Kaya Limited, Mumbai. “Our latest campaigns are now launched almost simultaneously on mass as well as social media.”

Indeed, most branding experts agree that blogs and social networking are a good way to create interest and awareness about a product. “More and more brand managers in India are waking up to this alternative platform to conduct advertising and marketing campaigns,” says Vivek Pahwa, CEO, Accentium Web, a Delhi-based Internet company.

Agrees Parminder Singh, business head, Google India, “And why not? Just look at the sheer number of online users — the Orkut web property alone has 15 million users in India.”

India has an estimated 40 million Internet users. However, there are no statistics available on the exact reach and impact of social media in India. A study (covering Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore) by Windchimes Communications, a Mumbai-based social media agency, shows that 63 per cent of the respondents in the major cities use the Internet (websites, blogs and online forums) to get information on products and services. About 75 per cent of them say that comments on blogs and other online forums influence their purchase decisions.

“Initially, we found it quite difficult to make companies understand what social media is all about. But now they are much more amenable to using the Internet to connect with consumers,” says Sandhya Sadanand, co-founder, Windchimes Communication, which devises online marketing strategies for companies. “The key is to engage users, hold conversation and sustain discussions,” she adds.

Says Vinay Bhatia, customer care associate and vice-president, marketing and loyalty, Shoppers Stop, “We specifically target the youth through the social media. We have a fan page on Facebook and a microblog on Twitter.”

Apart from its considerable reach, going the social media way can also be quite cheap. “It is definitely the most cost effective medium,” says Ajay Adiseshan, managing director and founder, PayMate, a Mumbai-based mobile payment service provider. That’s because, Adiseshan explains, “Instant feedback allows you to fine tune the marketing strategy right away, allowing for minimum wastage of resources.”

Adds Deep Banerjee, an independent blogger who also helped to devise the social media strategy for Angshumaner Chhobi, “Ad rates in traditional media are exorbitant. Blogs and other social media networks helped us promote the film at a low cost.”

So how do companies go about building brand awareness in blogs and other forms of social media? “We monitor bloggers who can mould opinion on the Web. For instance, the Internet is rife with fashion and beauty bloggers. So we approach popular bloggers and ask them to review our products,” says Das of Kaya Limited. “We also have an online team that writes about our products.”

Mahindra Auto too has a dedicated online team that liaises with auto enthusiasts and auto experts and keeps them updated on launches. “These auto buffs are opinion builders and active participants in blogs and other online forums,” says Nayar.

According to independent blogger Arkid Mitra, who comments on electronic products on sites like microreviews.org and mumbaikar .com, the concept is quite popular in the West. “Microsoft, Dell and Apple actively engage with bloggers to bounce off ideas or review products,” he says. “Obviously, the trend is catching on in India as well.”

But some popular bloggers like Kiruba Shankar feel that this system is fine as long as companies don’t dictate content and encroach on the editorial freedom of bloggers. “Sometimes companies enter into a financial arrangement with bloggers. In that case, bloggers lose their credibility.”

“There’s no harm in companies approaching bloggers about products and services. Someone has to start the conversation,” counters Banerjee. He cites his own example. “I blogged about the advantages of setting up a direct marketing system for bike companies in a remote region of West Bengal. A senior official at a leading Indian bike manufacturing company picked the thread and contacted me. He asked me if I could comment on whether they could think of such a project in the region.”

Das maintains that the company doesn’t always get bloggers to discuss only their products. “We also initiate general skin care discussions.”

But Rahul Roy, chief operations officer, Amoda Spa Bar, Calcutta, is clear that reaching out to consumers through social networking sites has one and one purpose alone — that of selling the product. “We are an upmarket spa bar. Blogs or other online forums help us reach our target audience. So all our content on our official Facebook page pertains to marketing our product,” he says. “We are thinking of getting bloggers, in house or otherwise, to create more awareness about our brand.”

As the social media mantra goes, “markets are conversations”. And sustaining this conversation through blogs or otherwise seems to hold the key to the success of brands aimed at urban, affluent Indians.