It was a moment to seize. When Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed the Coca-Cola bottles at a press conference last month, other brands saw an opportunity to score a creative goal. A memes party followed, with several brands hijacking the event and weaving edgy content around it. The idea was to personalize the controversy to market itself, to attract their subscribers and to attract new ones.
“There were two things people were talking about: one, the moving bottle; second, moving inventory with the bottle, â€recalls Harshil Karia, one of the founders of Schbang, the agency behind the eye-catching marketing campaign launched by Fevicol. ‘Na bottle hategi, na valuation ghategi’ was their playful response in an advertisement that replaced Coke bottles with Fevicol jars.
What sparked the creative process was an informal call in which the client brought up the Ronaldo incident. “The call came in at noon and the copy was posted at 3:45 pm,†recalls Karia. The turnaround time – “that’s the way it is,” explained Karia – is crucial. On average, a digital agency creates about ten daily. Each exercise takes two to three hours, from detecting a trend to publishing a campaign.
Capitalizing on the hype
However, not all campaigns are so spontaneous. On July 14, as Zomato prepared for its initial public offering (IPO), Kotak Securities took action. The financial firm, however, was planning a campaign to capitalize on the hype of the company’s IPO, using it to engage with its own clients.
“The goal was to grab the attention of users, which I think is the most difficult task in today’s crowded environment. As Zomato is a household name for millennials, we wanted to take the opportunity to meaningfully connect with clients, â€said Iti Mehrotra, Marketing Manager, Kotak Securities.
The universal public verdict on Domino’s magnanimity was that he was really very considerate of the pizza chain to offer the free pizza for life to the silver medalist …
The teams at the company and its agency Tonic Worldwide had a fairly detailed promotion plan for Zomato’s IPO. The plan included everything from search ads, website and app promotions to social media marketing and direct marketing to its customers. They had a multitude of concepts ready for all scenarios. But when, Zomato, via his Twitter handles, said, “Mereko toh aisa dhaka dhaka horela hai”, the Kotak Securities team popped up with a “Chill kar, hamare saath subah ki chaIPO” followed by another tweet, saying “Order Zomato on Kotak Securities.†The actual copy of the campaign or tweet may be minimal, but there is a mountain of effort behind it. There is a command center that works behind the scenes, said Amandeep Singh, chief of the bureau. from Delhi, VMLY & R, who ran the ‘Sonu ki Smile’ campaign for PepsiCo. In February 2020, #SonuKiSmile started trending as Zomato celebrated his delivery guy with a viral smile.
PepsiCo took advantage of this before other brands could react and created Lay’s virtual packs to celebrate Sonu and his smile, as part of their “Smile Deke Dekho” campaign. This response not only caught Zomato’s attention, but also created one of the most talked about moment marketing cases for Lay’s India. “We brought Sonu’s smiles to India, and the campaign brought smiles to our client with 33,964 unlawful engagements and 3.02 million reach,†added Singh.
Rapid response team
The command center includes young people who follow social media, who are up to date with the world of Gen Z. It also has a few creatives and senior executives who have the decision-making power to launch a creation very quickly. Their main job is to track businesses of all kinds: competitors, those who are digitally savvy, those who are popular with young people, traditional businesses, etc., he said.
“All stakeholders have to be active (instant messaging apps) or else you lose the moment,†said Abhishek Asthana, founder of Ginger Monkey who works with Cars24, who latched onto the marketing wagon of the moment during the Cred’s “Indira Nagar ka Gunda” campaign. , which showed an angry Rahul Dravid stuck in Bengaluru traffic.
Asthana was out when the original campaign launched. He was alerted by a member of the team and quickly found a creative to promote his client. “The idea was approved in 15 minutes,†Asthana said.
“Information from Indira Nagar indicates that a gunda is breaking cars. If this gunda has damaged your car as well, we offer free upgrades, â€Cars24 said in response to the announcement.
“We (the company and its leaders) live in the automotive world. When we saw Dravid damaging cars, we had to react, â€said Nida Naushad, Head of Brand, Strategy and Campaigns at CARS24.
Hit the sweet spot
Team sizes vary from brand to brand. “For a big company like PepsiCo, we have bigger teams,†Singh said.
The next 24 hours are crucial and we must continue to monitor the responses. More reinforcements enter the command center and the teams are ready with four to five responses.
So what’s the secret to a successful on-site campaign? It’s always a collaborative effort, Naushad said. “There must be a synergy between the agency and the brand.
The agencies agree. “For a digital campaign, the turnaround time should be two to three hours. You need this free space for reflection, â€said Karia.
The other crucial aspect is language and its relationship with the audience. “A Drunkard in the Dark may not be so incredible to an Indian (non-English speaking) audience. The nuance comes with understanding the language, â€he said.
And the ultimate thrill? Well, it’s coming from the immediate return, Asthana said. “There is no better high than this.”
Once Tokyo 2020 is over, sponsors and advertisers will need to ask themselves: Was the association a winning proposition?
