MUMBAI: A few days ago, Bollywood friends Neha Dhupia and Soha Ali Khan unfollowed each other on Twitter and Instagram causing a media frenzy and catching the attention of several fans and followers on social media. While the Bollywood paparazzi’s were still wondering the reasons for souring relations, the two actresses eventually revealed the reason on how they unfollowed each other so that they can catch up and befriend each other in real life. This was part of #FriendsUnPlugged campaign by Vodafone on Friendship Day. The initiative conveyed the message about the need to connect and communicate with our friends and loved ones in real world and not merely like, comment or share on their life’s updates on social media.
Come Friendship day and we get hordes of messages on different social media platforms. This Friendship Day, Vodafone through a social initiative urged people to disconnect from social media and connect with the friends in real life. The initiative encouraged people to make it a point to meet friends more often, rather than catching up online. The dependence on social media is so high that there is very little room left for actual, real world conversations. Social media updates conveniently tell us all we want to know about our friends’ life, but we are missing on the importance of face-to-face conversations.
Vodafone’s recently released #FriendsUnPlugged Friendship day video which was shared across social media platforms including WhatsApp.
Commenting on the campaign, Kavita Nair, Chief Digital Transformation and Brand Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, said, “Technology plays a significant part in our lives, but it has also managed to find different ways to get into and consume our friends/family time. We forget that offline social interactions had and will continue to have, more depth than any online conversations. Vodafone’s #FriendsUnPlugged campaign addresses this need to have real conversations. We hope that our campaign will encourage people to connect with our loved ones and create real memories. We are receiving lots of consumer love on social media as the campaign continues to win hearts across the country.”
Vodafone’s latest campaign is based on the insight that people have begun virtual life which is pushing them away from actual conversations and connect. Knowing or unknowingly most people today choose to look into their phones even as they sit across the table from someone.
Speaking about the concept behind the campaign, Kiran Antony, CCO, Ogilvy South and Team Vodafone, said, “Our Friendship Day initiative puts the spotlight on how online conversations have taken over face to face meetings. We innocuously rely on social media updates to know what’s happening in the lives of our friends and forget the importance of catching up for real. Through our film, we want to provoke more and more people and start a movement to prioritise real connections with friends over online chats.”
Earlier in 2017, Vodafone rolled-out #LookUp campaign that struck a chord with millions of Indians and encouraged them to have real offline conversations and create memories that matters. Vodafone since then has been building momentum around inspiring people to form stronger and more real bonds with their friends.
