New Delhi: The year 1982 holds solemn poignancy. With uncontained excitement, nine-year-old, Raj Gopalakrishnan waited to get his first colour TV, just introduced to India then. It was also when he was exposed to western programming that, for the first time, brought him closer to comedy, drama, thrillers, ocean exploration, robots, science fiction and computers. His love affair with technology and entertainment had germinated. “The arrow that was shot in 1982 came screaming through 35 years only to ‘yellout’ in 2017,” he says with a smile.
He recently launched Yellout, India’s first video recording and engagement platform for government and private enterprises. Through video campaigns, users can engage with government and private organisations. The idea is to bring citizens into the fold of active participation. “The government has enough ways to disseminate video information (one-to-many model). But if millions of citizens want to engage with the government via video (many-to-one), there is no such provision. Not anymore as Yellout gives you that chance,” says Gopalakrishnan.
Yellout functions as a service, so when a somebody wants to use Yellout, they create an account. After subscribing to the service, the data package, which gives pre-packaged minutes of recording, platform services and analytics, has to be chosen. Once the account is active, you sign into the Yellout dashboard. A blank dashboard has a ‘create campaign’ button. On clicking the button, a DIY form opens up, after which the brand can preview what the page looks like and generate it.
“Regardless of literacy, language and geographical barriers, even the poorest can engage via video by pressing ‘record’. The government or private enterprise can approve and filter the content through the dashboard. The platform can be used for grievances, feedback, review, suggestions or participation in government programs,” explains Raj.
Kolkata Knight Riders used Yellout to engage with their fans this IPL season. In the first campaign, they asked their fans to cheer for their team through a 15-second video and the best cheer got to meet the team. This was embedded in their website and enabled more fans to be part of their loyalty programme. “With over 10,000 views a day, the campaign added a considerable number of fans to their loyalty programme. The fans, on the other hand, reached out to their favourite sporting starts like never before,” he says. So, record, rehearse and release.