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. Rohit Malkani, national creative director, L&K Saatchi and Saatchi, 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?
Let me be clear at the outset, that a brand succeeds only when it creates brand love. The digital era is littered with carcasses of brands that didn’t pay heed to this! At the end of the day, consumers will buy your brand only if it has a larger purpose. The classic Sinek belief ‘people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it’ still holds weight. Fragmented platforms, and over-reliance on performance marketing have become par for course. I find it unfortunate that a marketer’s motivation is no longer- passion for a brand but funding!
What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
There are a number of digital campaigns that have impressed me, so this is a tough one. Chatpat and SOS Children’s Village is a heart-warming piece with a light sprinkle of humour. Clever use of influencer marketing and crafting makes me wish I did it. Another favourite of mine would be, Cadbury’s ‘Not just a Cadbury ad’ which literally gave hope to millions of small businesses affected by the pandemic.
Which brand in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
I would go with ‘Not just a Cadbury ad’! Because it wasn’t just clever, the tech intervention was surprising and the end result was purposive and fuzzy!
In a post-Covid world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
I feel you first need to take a step back and observe how behaviour has changed post Covid. We need to accelerate digital adoption to keep pace with the change in customer preferences. With the absence of physical touchpoints, the onus is on digital to generate leads and drive engagement. People have been through a good deal of trauma, some of it personal. We cannot afford to be callous. The definition of offensive and irrelevant needs to be looked at carefully.
One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
While there have been some sparkling pieces in digital (some of which I have mentioned), largely there is a lot of repackaged stuff going around. The formats and structures remain the same, all that seems to have changed is the context. I am still not sure if we are hitting the high notes on platform innovation.