The pandemic has brought about notable shifts across industries, and the case has been no different for marketing. Today, digital marketing has become a crucial aspect in order to acquire new customers and retain existing ones. In our weekly BrandWagon Ad Talk series, industry experts highlight what has changed over the past two years and more importantly, are these changes here to stay. Pradeep N. Dutta, head – branding, advertising and alternate channel, Panasonic life Solutions India, talks to BrandWagon Online, about the dos and don’ts of digital marketing, best marketing campaigns, and more.
What is the difference between launching a brand in today’s digital era versus earlier?
A sizable portion of the public favours digital communication channels over traditional ones. Digital media allow businesses to focus on and identify target consumer categories based on their interests, which also expands the opportunity to use numerous forms of creativity when interacting with customers.
These days, the product can be customised to the needs of the clients through two-way communication by using optimised data and AI, which is responsible for keeping a customer’s interest across the funnel when a product is released digitally. In 2020, we at Panasonic Life Solutions launched Ziva switch range which is now an over 200 crore category. This was possible by consistently promoting and creating awareness through digital mediums for our newly launched brand.
What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
There are numerous campaigns that brands come up with. However, we only remember the iconic campaigns as they break through the clutter. One such example is Swiggy’s ‘Swiggy Karo, Phir Jo Chahe Karo’ campaign which aired during IPL. The 20-second spot caught the eye of the audience with its wittiness and simplicity. The ad has no dialogue between the characters but with endearing expressions from the actors and running commentary on TV during a cricket match, it sends across the brand’s promise to deliver even the smallest order to their customers. The ad’s narrative beautifully reigned over the hearts of people.
Which brand in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
Anchor by Panasonic Life Solutions India launched an interesting marketing campaign where we engaged with the audience by using witty content under the theme ‘Naye India ke badhte load ke liye’. There were three commercials that highlighted aspiring Indians in need of an upgrade while demonstrating the variety of switches, switchgear, and cables available to support the narrative.
To keep the audience interested, we also created a quick online game (gamified ad). This campaign received favourable responses and did extremely well in terms of sales as well. People now want engaging and compelling information in this busy environment and this trend has been post the covid era. IKEA – Ghar aa Jao and Asian Paints – rang joomega , dhool nahi.
In a post-Covid world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
Advertising experienced a trend of becoming more clever, hilarious, and comical during the COVID era. Using a soft marketing strategy, which relies on a plan for providing a comprehensive consumer experience without the need for pushy material is most effective in encouraging originality and relevance in communication. While it’s necessary to create and promote information, it’s as crucial to assess its success or efficacy.
As mass marketing has lost its effectiveness, it is now more important than ever to concentrate marketing efforts on customer retention. To do this, it is important to target customers using data collected from multiple touchpoints, develop tailored online marketing ad campaigns, automate personalised email offerings, and run retargeting campaigns to increase recall.
One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
There are many situations where we see advertisers promoting their goods using a completely different idea. The idea may have little to do with the goods or services they offer, but it does have some connection to their brand. Some people are innovative, while others fail miserably.
