Delhi was voted as the city with the worst air quality globally last year, triggering immediate action from the powers that be. In a desperate bid to curb pollution levels in the capital, the Arvind Kejriwal led government has implemented the Odd-Even rule for a 15-day pilot. Under this rule, cars can only ply on the roads on alternative days based on whether their license plate is an odd or even number, thus purportedly helping limit the number of vehicles on the road.
While the unique initiative has met with mixed reactions on the ground, and has become the butt of a gamut of social media memes, jokes and commentary, Indian startups have benefitted in more ways than one.
Operationally, the rule has helped many urban commute startups and carpooling initiatives. Ola with its Share and Uber with its UberPool and UberCommute introductions as well as on-demand shuttle services like Zipgo and Shuttl are geared up to cater to a new-found audience during the Odd-Even pilot.
However, in the midst of the Odd-Even Hoopla, even other Indian startups have found a way to leverage this buzz for some interesting marketing initiatives. Coupled with some sense of humour, and quick action, Zomato and Freecharge have both put an OddEven spin on their social media.
Zomato in its quintessential style has posted this helpful pointer, aiming to solve the OddEven problem for once and for all.
Delhi folks, we've got it all figured out. #OddEvenFormula pic.twitter.com/SBdgidrGsB
— Zomato India (@ZomatoIN) December 8, 2015
Online recharge and wallet startup Freecharge has lined up some other interesting engagement and contest activities like cashback on Odd or even days and Odd-Even selfie, capturing the OddEven buzz.
Even founder Kunal Shah seems to be having fun sharing Freecharge’s updates.
Cash back on odd and even days on odd and even order IDs @FreeCharge @ArvindKejriwal @vijay_nair #OddEvenMovement pic.twitter.com/iu1DbXgZ6W
— Kunal Shah (@kunalb11) January 6, 2016
While the eventual fate of the OddEven initiative remains to be seen, looks like the Indian startups, coupled with innovative product offering and a knack for leveraging topical events for marketing, are making the best of the Odd-Even rule.