Creating online community zones or virtual destinations is a challenging task as users must not only have a reason to come to the site, but also stay there and come back for more. What’s critical is to build a deeper level of engagement.

Max Fresh, the gel from Colgate used interactive media to connect with the target audience of young adults. Encompassing online and wireless, the entire campaign was conceptualized and implemented by Media2Win.

Max Fresh Club, the virtual brand zone, has interesting games, downloads, mobile content, a dimension test and viral ideas to drive home the brand message. It centres on the core brand property of unique cooling crystals and the brand ambassadors, Saif Ali Khan and Asin (for Tamil audiences).

The launch of the site, timed with Valentine’s Day, promoted the viral and topical ‘Max Muuaah’ by which a user could send an e-kiss (of varying intensities!). Over 2000 ‘muuaahs’ were sent on Feb 14th alone. ‘Crystal Quest’ and Crystal Challenge’ has users hunting for/ collecting the cooling crystals to drive home the brand message. That’s not all; they can download wallpapers, emoticons, screensavers and more. Users could win Walkman mobiles, I-Pods or digital cameras.

The online campaign was launched with rich media creative across leading sites – Rediff, Yahoo India, MSN India, Sify, Indiatimes, Galatta.com and a customized search marketing campaign on Google. Registered users consistently received updates to encourage them to come back to the site.

Over 1 lakh unique users came to the site over a 3 month period and spent an average of 9 minutes. A well orchestrated online campaign ensured relevant traffic to the site. 60 per cent of the site visitors are in the age group of 21-30 – the core brand TG.

Innovative units such as the Ooqa Ooqa browser branding on Yahoo India ensured that the campaign had high impact. This innovation re-skinned the browser bar with Maxfresh brand colors and message. It delivered cut through visibility - reaching an estimated 35,000 unique users for about 9.5 minutes per user.

While Colgate Maxfresh focused on community building, the AXN Action Awards campaign is all about building a destination with a difference. The show is the first ever in India focused on Bollywood action. Fans can vote for their favourite action stars by choosing from the list of nominees and cast their vote by SMS, Ballot paper or by logging on to www.axnactionawards.com, from the May 1-31, 2006.

The site, developed by Media2win, has video content for all nominees so that fans can view the movie clips and then cast their vote. The super hero/comic book look and feel of the site is further enhanced by the 15 videos.

The online strategy to promote the site has key portals such as Rediff, Yahoo, Sify/ SifyMax and Search Engine Marketing on Google to reach interested consumers. Interesting rollover banners to showcase the list of nominees form the mainstay of the campaign.

Since video content plays such an important role in the campaign, Media2win developed a banner with one video each from 3 categories: Action Actor, Action Movie and Action Actor in a Negative Role. Each of the videos plays on rollover and once the user is intrigued by this, he/ she can go to the site to view more and cast their vote. A first of its kind, the banner appears on Yahoo! India Movies and other contextually relevant sections. It adds a new element to interactivity as it's a richer experience and engages the user before the click through.

agencyfaqs! Content Bureau