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 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. Mohit Ghate, Co-founder at Wit & Chai, 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?
Digital has made launching brands significantly easier. The quick distribution and feedback loop of the digital world gives new brands an incredible opportunity to reach early adopters and then to turn them into evangelists helping you “cross the chasm”. The same would take you ages before the advent of digital as one would have to wait for trade shows and other offline activations where limited feedback would be shared by the consumer. However, the pitfall of digital is that launching brands is easy for everyone. This creates a firehose of sorts that is going to become increasingly difficult to navigate. The key differentiator between success and failure now is going to be a brand’s focus on the value they add to their early adopters.
What are the recent best marketing or advertising campaigns you have seen and why?
A lot of great campaigns have come out in last few years, however, campaigns that are appreciated by the advertising community aren’t always the campaigns that work the best for a brand. Artists love art, but the consumer is looking for value. On these parameters, the recent campaign by Zepto where short DVCs showcase the utility of Zepto in daily life of a consumer have really caught my attention. Especially since Zepto is in an arms race with the likes of Blinkit, their approach of becoming a part of their consumer’s day, instead of just becoming a place to buy everyday items really hit home. The results are yet to come out for the same, however, I’m certain they will be promising.
Which brand in the last year has made the best use of digital and how?
Duolingo, their understanding of their audience is impeccable, and their ability to contextualize content to the platform on which they are sharing it is as good as it can be. This potent combination has created a case study worthy of hall of fame of advertising. Again, bringing it back to the effectiveness of advertising in solving business problems is what stood out for me here. Their annual report shows growth in numbers that is almost in line with their growth in followers and engagement, which is rare for a brand of such a scale.
In a post-COVID world, what are the dos and don’ts of digital marketing?
- Do’s: contextualize creative to the platform of distribution, have interactions with the consumer, form long term relationships with influencers
- Don’ts: Use the same creative everywhere, bombard your consumer with paid ads, think of consumers as mere numbers, do single reel collabs with influencers
One recent bad case of advertising you have seen, and why?
The stunt pulled off by YesMadam. Firstly, I think it was less a marketing stunt, more of an afterthought. However, if I’m wrong, they really messed up their position in the market by trying to do something whacky, and ended up landing on their face. It’s easy to come up with disruptive ideas in marketing. It is important to know when to say no.