LSE Event Fires Up With Pring!

(Editor’s note: This post has been written by the CMO of this project, Farwa S. Bhatti, a fourth year student at LSE. Ms. Bhatti is also a Management Trainee at Pring.)

The Entrepreneurial Business Activity is the most anticipated event of the semester at the Lahore School of Economics, giving graduating students a snapshot of the cut-throat competition in the corporate world.  Five sections competed against each other and were to be judged over idea, strategy, execution, crisis management, profit and organizational skills.

Our project, called the J-eography Enterprises gained an edge over our competitors by harnessing the power of social media, although not in the way others were. With the SMS-based social platform Pring, we connected instantly with our target customers and notified them of event updates, right in their pockets! In just three days, approximately 800 students opted to join us on Pring, and absolutely zero people have unfollowed the account.

J-eography’s ideas included a flashmob, a human domino effect, and the character of General Aladeen from ‘The Dictator’. We didn’t have to worry about the student turnout, because the pocket network took care of that. A revenue of more than Rs. 30,000 was generated, even before the final event took place! On the last day, sales of halwa puri and other goodies seemed to stand still. That is, until an SMS was sent out through Pring to the students. Like bees to honey, students flocked to our stalls and the food trays were wiped clean within an hour.

Our competitors had been using social platforms Facebook and Twitter, which were only accessible through the internet or smartphones that had GPRS activated. Students proved to be much more accessible via SMS, while the option of opting out at any time helped retain followers.

As the Chief Marketing Officer of J-eography enterprises, I could clearly see how Pring was giving us an advantage none of the other sections had. The medium was just perfect for instant one-on-one communication on a large scale, helping us emerge as top scorers out of the whole batch.

Posted by Farwa S. Bhatti