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. Ayushi Saria, associate creative director, Virtue Worldwide, talks to BrandWagon Online, about the dos and don’ts of digital marketing, best marketing campaigns, and more.
1. What is the difference between launching a brand in today’s digital era versus earlier?
The one main difference I think is that today we can launch brands a lot faster and a lot cheaper than before. The barriers to enter the market were huge earlier and now it’s easier than ever to bring a brand to market, which also means that there is a high turnover on brands that launch and die very quickly. Even though the ease of launch is significant, how brands stay engaged with the consumers hasn’t changed. So in order for brands to be successful in the digital era or earlier, effective storytelling and being culturally relevant is still at the centre of it all.
2. What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
I gravitate towards campaigns that use brands to tell stories that reflect the world we live in today. By that, I mean campaigns like Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad that has been consistently bringing to light the subconscious bias of gender roles and how we can make changes to create a more equal environment at home. These ads acknowledge the problems and show understanding along with the solutions all in one, which leaves no room for people to wonder about the next steps, it’s all there!
My Muse’s anti-valentines, valentines campaign is another brilliant example of the world we live in today. It highlights the fact that love and relationships aren’t one dimensional. The campaign celebrates self-expression, sexual exploration, open communication and modern romance. MyMuse products are shown as existing parts of their narrative that empower individuals and couples to navigate their unique relationships.
Another campaign is McDonald’s Eat equal campaign that wonderfully captures a specially-abled girl with dignity, not pity. It shows her experiencing life just like her peers, not in an overly emphasized way. In a world which isn’t designed for specially-abled people and where they are considered second class citizens, showing them living their best lives is quite a revelation.
And the last one I’d say is Reliance digital’s Technology Se Rishta Jodo campaign. It definitely tugged at my heartstrings as the person in my household who helps her parents navigate technology. The campaign beautifully showcases how the older generation can feel left behind when it comes to new tech but the technology exists to make our lives easier so they shouldn’t be afraid of it, they should play with it. I think it works wonderfully because the insight is so relatable for many of us and our parents and grandparents. I recently taught my mother how to create a reel on Instagram and it made me want to be more patient while I teach her some more so she can enjoy the technology that’s available to us just as much as I do.
3. Which brands in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
With a cluttered digital space, brand loyalty is fleeting. So brands that tap into culture are brands that stay relevant. One of the best places to find cultural relevance is social media. CRED is really good at consistently tapping into that whether it’s with extensive influencer marketing or utilizing Zeenat Aman’s charismatic presence, retro chic vibe and Get Z’s new found obsession with her. Nykaa is another brand that used the digital presence of their content creators for “Clay it Cool”. They were successful in their influencer led campaign mainly because they let the creators be creators and have the freedom to create content that their audience already loves them for.
Another example is Cadbury’s use of emerging technology and combining it with human emotion. Cadbury used generative AI to generate unique birthday songs simply by adding some prompts and information about the person you’re creating the song for. Cadbury used a song that has the same tune and usually the same lyrics around the world, the Happy Birthday song and made it personable and unique. The campaign worked beautifully because it made people feel more valued and cherished on their Birthday, which perfectly integrates with the brand’s proposition to make every occasion special. The song created by AI was also the most shareable and unique piece of content turning users into a PR machine for the brand.
4. In a post-Covid world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
In a post -covid world, nostalgia was a huge hit, whether it was Zeenat Aman’s return for CRED or the reunion of the cast of Wake up Sid for OPPO or even a brilliant press conference by the cast of 3 idiots for Dream 11’s IPL spot. People gravitate towards comfort and reliance. In this post covid world, one of the big dos is authenticity and relatability because everything else is fleeting. People expect brands to portray the world as it is today and also help make sense of what’s coming next. Like 5 star’s “Nothing University” ingeniously shows the relatable struggle of not doing anything because AI will take over jobs by turning doing nothing into an activity in itself. It was a humorous take on a grim possibility.
A big don’t is don’t avoid the elephant in the room. Audiences want brands to talk about the difficult topics and engage in what is going on in the world. While it can be risky for a brand, it can also work in favour of the brand if done in a way that takes the conversation forward with the brand solely being the enabler. At the same time, brands shouldn’t force themselves into every conversation. If your brand does not fit into a narrative, like women’s day, for example, don’t do it.
5. One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
No one sets out to do a bad advertising campaign, often the messaging is misunderstood that puts the brand on blast. But this wasn’t one of those instances. I am talking about the HPV vaccine “campaign” where an influencer pretended to have lost the battle with ovarian cancer. While using your platform to raise awareness is commendable, exploiting a serious issue that many face for publicity is not. While dealing with topics that affect real people, being respectful of the victims and survivors as well as people currently dealing with the disease is the most important.