It’s a commonly observed practice for iPhone users to wait for the latest iPhone to arrive, so that they can buy the previous year’s version at a more affordable price. This year, Flipkart Big Billion Days sale perfectly synced with the new iPhone launch and the sale was offering unbelievably low prices on the iPhone. Prices so low that you wouldn’t want to tell everyone about it – the iPhone 15 under ₹50k (AU$875).
But Flipkart wanted everyone to talk about it. So, ironically this year, 22feet Tribal Worldwide kept it a secret, telling just a few randomly selected people about it. It was India’s Biggest Secret.
On Times of India, Flipkart & 22feet Tribal Worldwide put out a full-page ad saying that “the biggest ever iPhone deal” had arrived and that it could be hiding in any of the pages or their city supplement. But there was a disclaimer. The deal would be visible to only 100 randomly selected readers. The ad urged others who didn’t get the deal to get ready to ask around, because anyone could have received it. Their friends, their exes, their ex-bosses, could know the secret.
On the other hand, the 100 lucky readers who got the offer found that they had an additional jacket on their city supplement. The front page proclaimed their luck, showed them the deal, and most importantly, asked them to keep mum about it (which the brand was sure they wouldn’t do).
Because those 100 readers knew India’s Biggest Secret, they would probably be the most sought after people that day. So, page 2 of the city supplement was used to give them a little heads-up with a list of people who may potentially call them – the matchmaker aunt, the life insurance agent neighbour, a not so nice boss, and others.
The idea was simple – to limit information in a conscious effort to set social media abuzz, getting people to ask literally anyone and everyone whether they got the deal, or speculate about what this secret deal really is – posting about it on social media all the while.
While Flipkart tried keeping the iPhone deal a ‘secret’ with this activity, on the last 2 pages of the jacket it displayed the most exciting deals and price-drops on other in-demand Apple products, sweetening the deal.
The unique print ad activity gamified a traditional advertising medium to drive FOMO by telling the world about an unbelievable offer that all of them may not receive, fuelling even more interest in the offer and driving app redirects to find the deal.
