After rigorously promoting its new ‘Uphaar’ range of sweets as part of their ‘Mithai Ke Budget Mein Gadgets’ campaign, Tata-owned Croma has now revealed that it was all just a ‘joke’.
On Sunday, Croma provoked its audience’s curiosity by teasing them with an upcoming special surprise:
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Fans didn’t have to wait long for more news. A day later, Croma announced a campaign promoting its so-called new venture – ‘Uphaar’, a supposed brand extension into sweets like kaju katli, soan papdi, etc., to light up the festive season. Not only did the brand release print ads and start a new social media page titled ‘Uphaar by Croma’, but they also urged their followers to register on the website to receive free samples in the comfort of their homes.
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Sure enough, news of Croma’s so-called new initiative spread like wildfire across social media and other new publications. However, comments from their followers who tried to take part of this initiative expressed increasing confusion regarding its procedure.
“Site not working only,” one comment read on Instagram, while another said, “Registration closed…how can I apply?”
Just a day later, in response to this confusion, Croma finally revealed that it was all just a joke. Their colorful posts were actually part of their ‘Mithai Ke Budget Mein Gadgets’ campaign which is meant to encourage customers to buy Croma’s gadgets as alternative options to sweets for Diwali gifting.
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What was the purpose of Croma’s latest marketing gimmick? The main goal was to fool people into talking about the initiative and, thus, eventually draw attention to Croma’s actual offering. It was, thus, a purposeful misdirection tactic that successfully garnered PR and media attention due to its sheer absurdness. These fake initiatives are becoming increasingly common in the marketing industry, although Croma’s has probably been the most extensive and the most successful till date.
What do you think? Did Croma accomplish its goal?
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