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. Harshit Jain, managing director, global CEO and Founder, Doceree, 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?
There is a stark difference between the two eras. To put it simply, earlier the brands were ‘nouns’, but today they are more than just nouns – they are verbs. Their actions define them.
Marketing over the years has transitioned from being just a selling strategy to showcasing product features, and to a 360-degree brand-building practice. It is now more engaging, responsible and thought-provoking now. It is also more personalised and well-targeted, reaching more relevant audience groups owing to advanced technology. However, with broader reach, brands today have become more cautiously sensitive to different consumer groups, as it has opened doors for greater criticism.
What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
Recently, a lot of brands left a significant impression on the minds of consumers, connecting with the audience via emotional appeal or sheer product supremacy.
I personally liked Xiaomi’s ‘Tech Ka Shubh Muhurat’ campaign which took a different spin on marketing wherein they informed customers to not buy a product at the given time so as to avail discounts at the right time with #DiwaliWithMi’. This campaign made the brand come across as one for customers and not a ‘profit first’ brand. Also, would like to mention Whisper’s – ‘The missing chapter’ campaign as part of its #KeepGirlsInSchool movement. This campaign broke the stigma around menstruation and spread awareness about periods, thus promoting a social message and getting rid of age-old taboos.
Which brand in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
While they were many brands that leveraged digital marketing aptly, Bharat Pe partnering with Rephrase.ai to build the technology platform for its new marketing campaign called ‘My Shop My Ad’, really caught my attention. It gives millions of offline merchants of BharatPe an opportunity to create their own video advertisement, featuring India’s star cricketers, Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul. The campaign is a good amalgamation of technology and marketing.
In a post-Covid world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
The do’s would be:
- Keep any campaign simple and to-the-point
- Personalise the campaign to make it relatable to consumers
- Make the best use of data insights to predict consumer behaviour to ensure brand sustainability
- Keep your messaging crisp yet effective
- Make proper use of social media, for eg- optimise reels on Instagram, use LinkedIn for thought leadership, etc
- Go global – be present globally but market locally in the local lingos and utilise local trends
And the don’ts:
- Overcomplicate or over spam
- Target audience wrongly to get a wider reach
- Prioritise quantity over quality
One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
They were many ads that have received public backlash recently. One of them was Layer’s Shot perfumes ad campaign that was taken off air for its unwelcome gender-centric dark humour. I believe, it is imperative for a brand to understand the culture of the place to not hurt sentiment. This advertisement was borderline offensive as it did not go in line with the cultural beliefs of Indian society.
Also Read: The impact of digital advertising on the buyer’s behaviour
