At the onset of every April Fool’s Day, it has become an annual affair for Ola Cabs now, to pull up a marketing stunt to grab eyeballs and ‘fool’ their customers. This year, two days prior to April 1, the online-cab aggregator announced that, they are now venturing into journalism, with the start of Ola News Network (ONN).
The cab-service provider aimed to provide instant hyper local news, brought in by their million-strong partners, present in over 110 cities across India. It further invited suggestion from the audience, by asking people to reply with their areas, topics and issues, they would want ONN to cover.
We’ve got news. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/tpcy6vRCLC
— Ola (@Olacabs) March 29, 2018
Instant hyperlocal news brought to you by our million-strong driver partners, present in over 110 cities across India. Find out more here: https://t.co/cJmql2gqoK #NewsYouCanUse pic.twitter.com/q2GkUVdJuv
— Ola (@Olacabs) March 30, 2018
What all areas, topics and issues you’d want ONN to cover? Share your replies and our driver partners will be ‘ONN’ it. #NewsYouCanUse
— Ola (@Olacabs) April 1, 2018
What is causing traffic snarls this Monday morning? Head here for more such hyperlocal news: https://t.co/cJmql1YP0a#NewsYouCanUse pic.twitter.com/kQAnCYpVv7
— Ola (@Olacabs) March 31, 2018
It further came into the limelight, as people as well as brands started talking about it.
Nice move, @OlaCabs! We are all set to serve hot new bites :) #NewsYouCanUse https://t.co/4rrParTRTD
— foodpanda India (@foodpandaIndia) March 31, 2018
Towards the end of the day, Ola revealed that the launch of ONN was a April Fool’s Day prank, which they were playing and they had fun doing it.
Good news - We had quite a fun ride.
Bad news - #HappyAprilFoolsDay pic.twitter.com/DFbhQSZs5D
— Ola (@Olacabs) April 1, 2018
Some of the other pranks played by Ola Cabs in the last few years are, in 2015, Ola Cabs introduced Ola Air, a chopper service aimed to fly people to their destinations in real-time at just Rs 499 per hour. In 2016, the cab-service provider, started #OlaRooms, their latest innovation that allows customers to spend the night in their cabs.
Do you think these stunts by the brand are getting redundant and they need to devise new marketing strategies to connect with their consumers? Let us know in the comments section below, did Ola Cabs manage to fool you this year with Ola News Service for April Fool's Day?
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2018 09:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).