MRF's 'Rain Day' campaign now gets a fillip from digital media

Since the early 90s, MRF Tyres has been predicting ‘Rain Day’ in Mumbai, MRF’s prediction on when the monsoons will hit the shores of the city. The ads always sign off with how consumers should only trust MRF Tyres for their vehicles in the rain. This year, MRF has predicted June 12 as the day the monsoons will officially arrive in Mumbai.

[caption id=“attachment_86899” align=“alignleft” width=“300”] A typical MRF Rain Day ad[/caption]

A multitude of blogs and columns have been written about the brand’s annual initiative, some harping about the predictions are almost never accurate, while newspaper columns speak of how the campaign has ‘become emblematic of the first day of rain in Mumbai’ for many years now. Whenever the prediction has been erroneous, the brand has released a follow-up ad stating ‘MRF Rainday extended’. And over the years, people have begun looking forward to the ‘MRF Rainday’ campaign just to see how accurate or otherwise the forecast will be.

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This year, the brand has upped the stakes by tracking a unique expedition - that of the southwest monsoon winds from Kerala, right up to Mumbai. The entire journey is hosted on a website created by Experience Commerce, MRFtyres.com/rainday, and begins on June 3. A timeline at the bottom of the screen marks each day’s progress and will end on June 12.

[caption id=“attachment_86906” align=“alignleft” width=“519”] Day 1 of the journey[/caption]

The site employs parallax scrolling, which means that each scroll describes a new milestone in the journey. It begins in the wee hours of June 3 in Kochi and moves on to Kozhikode by 10.00 AM, where ‘dark clouds adorn the sky’.By 2.00 PM, the journey is at Naduvattam, where the MRF team is greeted with the smell of petrichor and light showers. The trip continues like this till 6.30 PM on June 4, where the breeze and thunder in Gundrupet make the team most hopeful about the showers.

[caption id=“attachment_86904” align=“alignleft” width=“400”] Team MRF’s route map[/caption]

Users can also take a look at the map to trace the coastal route the team will follow. What’s more, they can login via Facebook and even make their own rain day predictions. Users have to make predictions, follow the rain story and put up a picture of the first rainfall to win daily prizes and a shot at the grand prize. Another tab on the site gives users 10 rain check tips to make driving around in the rains safer.

The initiative is very well thought-through, and will definitely make users want to come back and see the progress the rain and team MRF have made. What appeals the most is how the brand doesn’t hard-sell its tyres to users. The microsite simply celebrates the thrill of the Great Monsoon Chase.

[caption id=“attachment_86903” align=“alignleft” width=“500”] The ‘Predict 2 Win’ could have done with more thought[/caption]

What slightly hurts the eye, though, are some design elements. While the interface is very user-friendly, some design elements could have done with more thought. Brilliant photographs have been used throughout the site, but the font interferes with the design. Speaking of the font, maybe a less bulky one would have worked wonders on the eye. The graphics, too, are slightly reminiscent of an old version of Microsoft Powerpoint effects, especially on the ‘Predict 2 Win’ tab.

Overall, a great effort by MRF and Experience Commerce with their taking advantage of many of the elements that the digital media affords. Perhaps the inclusion of videos will be a welcome addition.