KOCHI: When it comes to using social media to send a message across, institutions in Kerala play at an entirely different level. The tweets and other posts of the Kerala tourism and Kerala police are a case in point. Joining them is the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) whose promotional campaign, which uses trending reels and memes to attract commuters, is a huge success.
Recently, KMRL made waves through its reel set to the tune of the trending Tamil song ‘Tum Tum’. In KMRL’s reel, two of its cleaning staff can be seen grooving to the viral song at metro stations. It was an instant hit. “Our campaign is displayed at the end of the video. It has gained people’s attention,” says KMRL MD Loknath Behera, the brain behind the social media campaign.
“Employees who have an interest in social media and possess knowledge of editing were identified and then trained by the Kerala Police’s social media team. The training enlightened the team on ways to transform a hilarious clip from a movie or use a trending meme to promote Metro’s campaign.”
The posts aim to make commuters aware of the metro’s schemes and attract non-commuters in a bid to increase ridership. Between November 1, 2020 and April 12, 2023, KMRL’s social media reach was 69,92,330 (Facebook) and 15,30,887 (Instagram).
KMRL’s social media team takes contemporary issues and presents them in various formats, as a reel, a post, or a video story. “The videos have helped promote the metro’s services. For example, our video introducing the QR ticket service was widely appreciated by the younger generation. The number of downloads saw a rise in just a short period,” notes Behera.
After selling fewer than 1,000 mobile QR tickets in December 2022, KMRL announced a special officer through social media. It worked. The ridership data showed that the number of QR tickets sold was 10 times higher in January and 20 times higher in February.
“We have 5 lakh followers on Facebook. We are looking to double it to 10 lakh within a stipulated time. This was the same method we adopted in Kerala Police,” says Behera, who was former state police chief.
“Compared with other metros, KMRL is also on the top when it comes to interacting with the public on Facebook,” he said.