Breaking News: Ali Zafar the official singer for PSL for three seasons was dropped this year (Meesha only knows why) and replaced by Ali Azmat, Haroon, Arif Lohar, and Asim Azhar.
The 2018 PSL anthem was hated on by many allegedly paid bloggers, but definitely disappointed fans.
But what could Zafar do? A lot of brands had dropped him after the #metoo fiasco like a hot aloo and an artist is depended on brands to hire them.
In a poll conducted by Wasim Badami through his show the public had spoken. They wanted a PSL song by Ali Zafar within days.
علی ظفر کہتے ہیں عوام چاہیں تو میں اپنے طور PSL کا گانا بنانے کو تیار ہوں۔۔
— Waseem Badami (@WaseemBadami) February 22, 2020
آپ کے خیال میں علی ظفر کو گانا چاہیے؟؟
For the people, by the people
A lot of he said, she said later Zafar pulled the biggest PR stunt of his career out of a hat. He played democracy, democracy and involved the public in the creation of his video giving them directions for step they should follow and submit.
Lo G! The song is ready. Now time for the video. But this time, you can be the star and feature in it. Watch this video to understand what you need to do! You can see the longer version on my YouTube and subscribe https://t.co/gBub1wo5R7 #bhaeehazirhai pic.twitter.com/0Oo0RMbx42
— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) February 24, 2020
Videos poured in by dozens he said.
UPDATE ! Video aa rahee hai. #bhaeehazirhai #cricket #anthem #pakistan pic.twitter.com/dHjK2xfsw6
— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) February 28, 2020
His timely countdown updates and keeping the fans on the know of what’s going on BTS were a stroke of genius. It made people feel involved, important, and special because after all he was doing this because of them, for them and he didn’t let them forget it. In case the song went south the evidence of him giving it his hundo p was already weaving the net for his fall. And in case it didn’t that net was a giant trampoline, get it? Genius.
All in a week’s work
23rd Feb Ali Zafar announces that he will release his PSL Anthem version by public demand and wins hearts by the dozen – a celebrity heard them. In the days to follow his first talk with the people made it clear that he was doing this ONLY because of them and to make it a success he wanted their help. He wanted them to be part of his video. A celebetiry was giving them a chance to star in his video! In a time when everyone is an Insta/TikTok/Twitter star for a small number of their own followers they now had a chance to be seen by 3.9M of Ali Zafar’s Instagram followers, 5.3M of his Facebook followers, 2.9M of his Twitter followers, and 227K of his YouTube followers. That’s a huuuuge deal for many.
#MelaLootLiya was released on Sunday 1st March.
From Ali’s point of view: Millions in earned media.
He got the public to dance to his beat. He got people to post their moves. He plugged in snippets of the videos send making those of them who made it to the video post and share the video.
The PR stunt gained so much traction that in the end the guy who accused him of sabotaging his video changed his tune to be part of his video:
Ye baat ! Bhaee video ka wait ker raha hai sir. Sunday release ki koshish hai. Aapka shot reh gaya hai @RealAliAzmat 🙌 #bhaeehazirhai pic.twitter.com/JGEXlLVaXm
— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) February 28, 2020
Results:
Mela Loot Liya’s spent was dwarfed by the earned media. It crashed the YouTube site gaining 1M views within minutes of dropping the video. He increased his engagement and trended on Twitter on the 1st March under 3 different hashtags: #AliZafar #MeelaLootLiya, and #BhaeeHazirhai
Stats from 23 Feb – 1 March:
Twitter: 30,000
Facebook: 16,000
YouTube likes: 297k
