Sometimes hitting the right ball at the right time makes you win the losing cricket match.
You guess it right, I’m talking about the leading controversy of the PSL anthem Tayyar Ho Vs Mela Loot Lia.
It all started with the official release of the PSL song which was a collaboration of the versatile singers; Arif Lohar, Ali Azmat, Asim Azhar, and Haroon Rashid.
The song gathered mixed reviews but the majority of the audience wasn’t happy with the release and expected it to be better.
They started to compare it with the iconic Ab Khel Jamay Ga – 2017 which was sung by Ali Zafar. The comparison fueled the controversy and Ali Azmat set it on fire by making Ali Zafar responsible for the hate.
He said, Zafar, hired bloggers and paid the influencers to write hate reviews against his song. Wow! Blame games.
It made Ali Zafar go ballistic but he chose to stay calm and replied with a short yet funny video. In the video, he interacted with the audience saying that whatever happens bad in your life, you can blame me for that because “Bhai Hazir Hai.”
In the whole controversy, how can we forgot the person who gave wings to the story by inviting Ali Azmat to the show and letting him say what the curious host Waseem Badami wanted to hear.
He’s the one who took the poll on his Twitter account and asked people if Ali should sing his song or not.
This poll got the ball into Ali Zafar’s court when the audience showed a massive ‘Yes’ on the poll.
Then, he announced to release his song but wait…
He wanted to sing the song because more than him, the audience wanted it. So, making the audience King of the show, he announced that he will sing the song. How sweet of him!
Finally, Bhae Maan Gae..! Shukriya..
Now, Some Marketing Lessons from Him
On 23rd February 2020, he released the first teaser of his song with the caption “Bhae arha ha, Tyar ho!!” which excited his audience and kept them waiting for the next move.
https://www.facebook.com/aly.zafar/posts/10158474672619119
24th February, he released the second teaser which showed the song in progress. It was also enthralling and enough to keep the audience waiting.
Now, let’s talk about his best move.
Who makes any show hit or flop?
It’s You.
And what he does was that he involved his audience in his song by giving them the chance to be featured in the video.
He asked the viewers to send their videos with his dance moves and become a part of the video.
Now, that’s a winning strategy which rushed the results under the hashtags Bhai Hazir hai and Mela Loot Liya.
Ali Zafar became the top Pakistani trend on Twitter.
People from all over the world record their dance moves and sent it to him. He received videos in thousands in a day only, from students, adults, kids and even some high-profile influencers also took the part in it.
He got a flooding response under the hashtags which results in the success of the song.
First, he released the audio but kept the audience waited for the video.
Meanwhile, the audience was busy sending their dance videos to him.
He went to his college to record the song video and later compiled it with the short videos of his audience.
The whole thing happened in six days only and after the release of the song, it crossed 3M+ views in a day.
The song was good but the video was a blast. Those who were featured send more hearts and support to him.
And that’s how he wins the controversy.
Now, let’s see the lessons he left for us.
- If people are planning a conspiracy against you, keep quiet and work in the silence. Work even harder and let your work make the noise just as Ali Zafar did it.
- Extract the opportunity out of the sheer controversy and turn it into your favor. The positive thing about controversy is that it puts you in the headlines. Now, when you are everywhere in the headlines, your moves will get the attention. That’s how he made the most of the controversy. Umm clever move!
- Audience is the King: By giving people the chance to take part in the video he doesn’t only rush his hashtags but it also becomes the reason for the success of the song. He received more than a thousand videos and that’s how he skyrocketed his campaign. When the viewers are themselves taking the part, how can the video resist its success?
Six days is quite a short time to release the official video of the song, but he did prove it to the fans that he loves them.
This move also brings his venture “Lightingale Records” in the limelight. He dropped all the sponsorship proposal from the big brands and created the video himself in a shoestring budget dedicating it to the fans. It was a great move to introduce his venture to the world.
In two days only, the song had gathered 4M+ views which outnumbered the official PSL anthem and people are sending a bundle of praises to him for giving a hit in a short time.
Thank You, Ali Zafar, for schooling us such powerful lessons.
Before you leave, do share the lessons you extracted from his campaign?
I prefer books and diaries more than phones and Facebook. Soulfully connected to Pakistan. And I passionately believe that I can change the world through blogging.
