As part of a job interview I was given a small assignment to come out with marketing/promotion ideas for Idea Cellular. Just after a couple of days of writing this note, the actual campaign broke out and guess what... It was just as I had ideated :). The campaign was well executed and has been one of most successful (memorable) ones recently in India.

1. Main insights from consumer behavior
1. Mobile numbers can be fun. Alternatively, serious too!
2. Mobile numbers should be rememberable.
Inferences:
Very often, when consumers decide to get a new number, they search for the
right number. The clause in the bold italics has two important words:
a. Search – It implies that consumers are actively seeking something.
In this context, consumers are shopping for mobile numbers.
b. Right – It implies that they are looking for something in a number.
They have some criteria to determine which number to go for.
Observations which lead to the above inferences:
If you give consumers a list of numbers or a bunch of packed sim-cards, they
take some time going through the list/bunch,
• sometimes adding the digits up (hint: numerology, lucky number,
astrology),
• sometimes speaking out aloud (hint: easy to quote, easy to remember),
• sometimes just looking at the sequence of digits (hint: easy to quote,
easy to remember),
• sometimes just trying to get some repeatability in 10 digits (hint: easy to
quote, easy to remember),
• sometimes just trying to find popular endings like 111, 101, 786 and so on
(hint: culturally recognized auspicious numbers).
How Idea Cellular can exploit these insights in some cool ways?
1. Enable number search
Currently, the consumer goes to a shop (physical place) to buy a mobile
number. The choice for numbers is usually limited as such.

2. We can break this barrier. We let consumers search for and choose
numbers online. If the first three or four or five digits are fixed, last few
digits could be consumer’s choice. Let them book the numbers by paying
a booking amount online. They can choose a specific location to collect
their sim-cards from.
This borrows typically from the various ecommerce models on the internet.
It accords convenience, variety and most importantly a rather novel way of
choosing numbers.
Medium to engage consumers with the brand: Internet
Media to promote: Outdoors, Radio, Dailies
2. Enable number auctions
At an informal level, auction-like practices are taking place, though the
occurrences aren’t too conspicuous. If we really look at the possibilities,
each and every number could be important to somebody in some way and
this fact opens a territory for charging premium charges by selling
numerous mobile numbers through auctions. Again this can be done
online. Criteria for auction could be many (can be worked upon).
Combined with the first idea, this could very well turn out to be the bugle
idea. It might tempt subscribers of other services to check Idea numbers
and buy another one even if they already have one.
Medium to engage consumers with the brand: Internet
Media to promote: Outdoors, Radio, Dailies
3. Enable people to use numbers as identity bearers

3. Yes, numbers could be identity bearers too. We see that a typical visiting
card carries email address, numbers and office address. This opens an
opportunity to use visiting cards as an off-beat medium to engage
consumers with the brand. For every number booked, Idea could give out,
let’s say, thousand free visiting cards (carrying the consumer’s name,
number and Idea brand logo) for that number. These visiting cards could
be great propaganda material since each new connection can potentially
lead to thousand close encounters with the brand, the messenger being
the Idea subscriber.
This idea could be a great hit with youngsters and low-income groups
since they usually do not carry cards or, even if they do, they aren’t
designed with great taste. Design options for visiting card can be offered
online.
Media to engage consumers with the brand: Visiting Cards, Internet
Media to promote: Outdoors, Radio, Dailies