Another new term has entered the new age marketing & advertising vocabulary: moment marketing. It is essentially topical advertising but since turnaround times are not measured in days but in minutes it is called so, I guess. It is also a country cousin of occasion-led advertising where brands attempt to gain leverage from big news events or calendar events such as Mother’s Day, April Fools Day or Independence Day. In India, such calendar events are…
Over the last few years many CEOs of business enterprises have used social media (especially Twitter) as a platform for what has come to be known as ‘personal branding’. Sure, a few of them were ‘brands’ (in a positive way) long before social media came into the picture. Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn have offered them a stage to share their ideas, company updates, work and values. Their presence on social media has extended their…
Ever wondered why save for handful of ad agency accounts, a majority of agency brands hardly use social media effectively? I am sure they know that it can be be used to strengthen the equity of the company brand but they hardly get down to ‘doing’ it. It is not a recent phenomenon. Traditionally ad agencies (especially the network agencies from India) have hardly maintained an active blog. Even if they had initiated a blog…
In India, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting recently banned airing of condom ads during daytime. The move came under criticism – see some reactions here, here and here. ‘It is moral policing’, ‘our kids need sex education’, ‘our kids have access to more risqué content everywhere from movies to the internet’ are some of the arguments put forth while criticising the ban. While I agree with some of the points raised, especially the one…
Many have written about the recent incident involving Indigo Airlines from the POV of public relations and brand imagery. A good read on how the brand should have responded is here and a good podcast on the brand’s image is here. Here are my observations on the incident: Discipline and courtesy in public space Indians are not known to be polite in public places. We don’t follow rules either. We will not form queues or…
Greeting friends and relatives on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and festivals, is an expected social behaviour. Of late, such greetings are done through messaging platforms or through social media. So the personal touch of a phone call or a hand written note or a card has anyway disappeared. The greetings are ‘templatised’, mechanical and mostly treated as a chore or formality. Over the past few years, there is competition to your friends & relatives…
Recently there was a good read about what ails advertising today. The writer, an advertising veteran, lamented the lack of craft in the business, driven largely by the advent of ‘digital’ and technology – a common grouse from senior ad agency folk. The points made were spot on. My theory is that creativity lost its way during the digital boom years. Almost overnight, online software meant anybody could create their own layouts. Our clients decided…
How did we survive before the internet, Google Search, the smartphone, apps and social media? It suddenly seems impossible to imagine that we carried on with our lives just a couple of decades ago, without any of these, which have become such inherent parts of our lives nowadays. Needless to say, these add immense benefits to our lives. Seamless, instant connections across the world, lightning fast dissemination of news and ideas, wealth of information, entertainment,…
The list of trending hashtags on Twitter is meant to be reflect what the Twitterati (or the world at large) is talking about. Very often events which create a buzz in real life are reflected on Twitter too: live sports or entertainment events, natural disasters, big political events come to mind. So when we see trends of such on Twitter it seems natural, real and a true reflection of what is occupying the hearts &…
Quick. What is the best way to get a brand’s attention? Tweet something nasty about their product or service. This is what many of us believe for a variety of reasons: (a) it is true that when brands are publicly embarrassed, especially by ‘influencers’ they are shamed and feel the need to get into damage control mode (b) cribbing is natural Twitter behaviour; the platform seems to be ideal for complaining as one can get…