How Playtag used Exotel’s missed calls and reduced cost by INR 15 million

Case Study

How Playtag used Exotel’s missed calls and reduced cost by ₹15 million

Playtag is an agency that offers personalized activation solutions like branding, product sampling, WOM messaging and product influencing. They handle sampling and branding for their clients at over 16,000 beauty parlours, spas and gyms spread across 40 cities.

Use Case used by Playtag

Missed Call Solutions

The Initial Sampling Process

Playtag has a large pool of brands that approach them for sampling. Each of these brands gives Playtag multiple samples to take to the market. The sample size runs into millions at times. To keep a track of the samples that were given out, the parlours, spas and gyms manually used to collect the phone number of the customers who received them.

The Problem With this Process

Since sampling ran into millions, there were a number of problems associated with the manual process:

1. Inability to track & collect data:
Playtag couldn’t track the actual number of people the samples went to. Therefore, collecting actual data became difficult.

2. Wastage & misuse of samples:
Since there was no way to track the actual number of people the samples went to, Playtag’s team realized that there was a lot of wastage and misuse of samples.

3. Inability to re-market:
Playtag was unable to re-market products since the parlours, spas and gyms would give them a lot of bogus numbers.

4. Higher costs:
Manual data entry required more manpower resulting in higher costs for Playtag.

The Solution – A Simple Missed Call

Playtag updated the operating procedures to make the entire process simpler. When a potential customer wants to receive a sample, all he has to do is give a missed call to a Playtag virtual number (Exophone) powered by Exotel. The customer then receives an SMS which they can use to avail the free sample. If the potential customer has already received a sample in the past, they do not receive a confirmation SMS.

Results

Cost Reduction

Each missed call that the potential customer gives gets logged into Exotel’s system. Playtag is able to track each call, pull out data when required and provide this data to their clients. All of this is done automatically, without any need for manual intervention or data entry.

Exotel’s missed call solution has helped us track and collect data more efficiently. This in turn has helped us cut costs by 15 million INR so far.

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag

Increased Credibility

Playtag’s clients now know exactly where their samples are going. This transparency in operations has helped Playtag in strengthening their relationship with the brands they work with.

Ever since we’ve started using Exotel, our credibility has gone up 80%. We’re able to track 100% of the samples going out there, which was just not possible otherwise

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag

Increased Reach and ROI for Brands

Since each number has a unique code assigned to it, the possibility of the same potential customer getting a sample is nil. Therefore, the brands that work with Playtag can now be assured that their sampling activities have a greater reach.

We’ve been able to access a larger pool of people using Exotel and it has helped us deliver more results in terms of the way the product is consumed and tried. Brands that work with us get a high ROI just by the way we track consumer data.

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag

Re-marketing

Since Exotel’s system captures all numbers that give a missed call, re-marketing now became easy. Getting bogus numbers is out of the question. After a campaign is completed, Playtag is now easily able to do an SMS campaign via Exotel and re-market to those consumers.

Using Exotel, we’re now able to put potential customers back into the system. We can now try different ways of engagement and ensure the consumer stays in the cycle for longer.

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag

Increased Product Value

The potential customers now value the product more because they have to do something to get it – give a missed call.

This simple solution puts our product in very good light. People are now are less likely to misuse samples. Exotel was a brilliant way to prevent this.

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag

Final Words

Overall, Exotel’s simple missed call solution proved to be a huge asset to us. We’ve been able to increase our productivity and efficiency levels by 3x, just by using this solution. We love working with Exotel’s proactive and energetic team.

Sharon Misra
MD, Playtag