Undoubtedly Diwali is the biggest festival in India. It is also the time when Indians go all out to shop. Be it buying electronics or durables or gold or jewellery or clothes....Diwali makes or breaks lot of brands and categories. Of late Diwali has become famous for offers. Many consumers delay buying just to grab some good Diwali offers. And top of the heap in the charge of the offer brigade were durables.
But this Diwali, something changed. Sure the offers were there. The freebies continued. But some FMCG brands went and build beautiful bonds with Diwali theme. I am not talking about usual culprits like Cadbury Celebrations which for almost a decade has been unleashing some terrific Diwali related gifting excuses. They did the same this year too.
What changed was brands like Nestle Kitkat, Pepsi and Kurkure using the occasion of Diwali to weave beautiful stories around the spirit of Diwali. If you haven't seen them then do watch the same
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6493771657497976552#editor/target=post;postID=8533123562776098219
http://www.collegeokplease.com/techtainment/har-diwali-gharwali-diwali-honi-chahiye/244
So what happened?
The answer I think is simple. Social Media. Three points.
First was the luxury of building and sustaining the emotions. With creative free from a 30 sec or a 60 sec format, the thinking changed from making a TV commercial to communicating a story. #GharwaliDiwali worked because the build up was something that millions of young Indians, away from their parents could identify with. The guilt of ignoring your parents could not have been communicated with a 30 sec framework constraining the creative. #FreedomfromDuration is the biggest gift that Social Media has given to the creative types.
Second was availability of new media channels at your fingertips. With smart phones, accessibility to new messages and brand communication has literally come to your finger tips. Yes, I am talking about the power of viral but more importantly I am talking about the concept of sharing a message or communication which touches you. You saw the film, were moved by it, wanted to share it with your friends, your family....and did that immediately. And you could relive it again and again.
Third was the opportunity to really go 360 degree. Usually brands would keep 80% of its media budget for TV. Now with social media, these brands have taken the huge risk of avoiding TV almost completely. Yet the films have had their audiences. And audiences which matter. So media money could go into promotions like Kitkat #MyDiwaliBreak twitter contest and celebrity twitter promotion. Though frankly on this front the effort still seems half hearted and not yet there.
Would Kitkat and Pepsi or Kurkure done the same without social media? Possibly they could have, but imagine doing a film as strong as #GharwaliDiwali in one minute or imagine the multiplier effect of #MyDiwaliBreak without social media.
What these campaigns have achieved is allowed emotional bonding to dethrone the plethora of offers that Diwali throws at you. Emotion tugging at your heartstrings and not offers tugging at your pockets, has again become the king.
But this Diwali, something changed. Sure the offers were there. The freebies continued. But some FMCG brands went and build beautiful bonds with Diwali theme. I am not talking about usual culprits like Cadbury Celebrations which for almost a decade has been unleashing some terrific Diwali related gifting excuses. They did the same this year too.
What changed was brands like Nestle Kitkat, Pepsi and Kurkure using the occasion of Diwali to weave beautiful stories around the spirit of Diwali. If you haven't seen them then do watch the same
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6493771657497976552#editor/target=post;postID=8533123562776098219
http://www.collegeokplease.com/techtainment/har-diwali-gharwali-diwali-honi-chahiye/244
So what happened?
The answer I think is simple. Social Media. Three points.
First was the luxury of building and sustaining the emotions. With creative free from a 30 sec or a 60 sec format, the thinking changed from making a TV commercial to communicating a story. #GharwaliDiwali worked because the build up was something that millions of young Indians, away from their parents could identify with. The guilt of ignoring your parents could not have been communicated with a 30 sec framework constraining the creative. #FreedomfromDuration is the biggest gift that Social Media has given to the creative types.
Second was availability of new media channels at your fingertips. With smart phones, accessibility to new messages and brand communication has literally come to your finger tips. Yes, I am talking about the power of viral but more importantly I am talking about the concept of sharing a message or communication which touches you. You saw the film, were moved by it, wanted to share it with your friends, your family....and did that immediately. And you could relive it again and again.
Third was the opportunity to really go 360 degree. Usually brands would keep 80% of its media budget for TV. Now with social media, these brands have taken the huge risk of avoiding TV almost completely. Yet the films have had their audiences. And audiences which matter. So media money could go into promotions like Kitkat #MyDiwaliBreak twitter contest and celebrity twitter promotion. Though frankly on this front the effort still seems half hearted and not yet there.
Would Kitkat and Pepsi or Kurkure done the same without social media? Possibly they could have, but imagine doing a film as strong as #GharwaliDiwali in one minute or imagine the multiplier effect of #MyDiwaliBreak without social media.
What these campaigns have achieved is allowed emotional bonding to dethrone the plethora of offers that Diwali throws at you. Emotion tugging at your heartstrings and not offers tugging at your pockets, has again become the king.
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