The Next Level of Social Media Advertising in India.

With the rise of Social Media Marketing and tools for small businesses to grow, India has now entered the list of top 5 nations that spend a huge amount on social media advertising. In times like these, it will be worth knowing how brands are taking Social Media Advertising to the Next Level.

#VoiceOfHunger Swiggy

Agency - Dentsu Webchutney

The buzz started with Swiggy posting gibberish content on its twitter account. People started reacting to it thinking something went wrong. The next day Swiggy posted the big reveal..."Voice Of Hunger"

The challenge involved Swiggy's Instagram users to send a DM to Swiggy, recording audio in the shape of a food item. There were a total of 5 food items each, for 2 days. At the end of each challenge, Swiggy announced the winners and gave them rewards, vouchers, and gifts.

They did not just stop at that. Swiggy involved artists like Ashish Chachlani, Rohan Joshi, Shrishti Dixit, Naezy to spread the word.

Also, brands like Netflix, Airtel, and Kingfisher interacted with Swiggy, which further increased the reach of the challenge.

Swiggy partnered with Dentsu Webchutney and used Instagram's voice recording function to create gamification.

The Result

In just 10 days, Swiggy's followers increased by 30,000. Since entries were based on DMs, there were around 50 DMs per minute and more than 1,50,000 entries at the end.

#AsliButterCookie Amul

Amul had launched their butter cookies with 25% butter content in mid-2019. The biggest challenge Amul had was standing out in this segment.

That's when Amul thought of this brilliant ambush marketing strategy.

Amul asked its followers to post the butter content of other cookies mentioned in the list of ingredients under the hashtag #AsliButterCookie.

The Result

#AsliButterCookie was trending on twitter.

People started posting a competitor brand's ingredient lists, which showed very low content of butter and more content of the oil.

Major brands like Parle and Good Day were dragged into this. This not only attacked competitors but also raised awareness amongst the potential customer group.

The impact was so much that Good Day had to respond saying high butter content means high cholesterol. However, that didn't slow down the buzz.

This is not the first time Amul has done something like this. It had also targeted its competitors in the Ice Cream segment. It called out other ice cream makers for using less milk content and labeled them as "frozen dessert".

Amul has always stood out for its creative marketing techniques. The Amul Girl is now a very important part of Indian Advertising. Amul is also one of India's trusted brands because of its quality and goodwill. Hence, it was not a surprise when Amul targeted other brands for not selling genuine products.

It will be important to see how big brands sell us their products in the times when customers are becoming more and more aware of their tactics.

Madbury Cadbury

Our beloved Cadbury never ceases to impress us. This time Cadbury launched it "Go Madbury for Cadbury" campaign.

The process was simple. Participants had to enter their details on the Madbury website and follow the instructions. This is a perfect example of Submitting where customers have to choose from different ingredients and name their creation.

The winner's Madbury will be officially released by Cadbury. This is a very smart technique of using UGC for marketing.

The Result

People shared their creations on different social media platforms. Cadbury took the help of food bloggers and celebrity chefs to take it to the next level. Cadbury clearly spent a lot on this campaign as food bloggers were mostly conducting paid promotions.

So was all this fuss only for promotion? Cadbury won't spend a huge sum only to get your ideas out of the same ingredients. Obviously, there was a hidden motive, which was to get consumer data.

Every time anyone entered the site, Cadbury asked for his or her contact details. Imagine how well they can utilize this data. This will reduce their future marketing costs.

Their website says they are going through all the entries and will announce the winner soon.

A very smart campaign to not only increase engagement but also get customer data for free.

#LonelyNoMore Burger King

Anyone who knows of Burger King and McDonald's knows about their love-hate relationship. However, India has never seen it, until now.

Burger King took a cheeky dig at McDonald's this Valentine's day. They asked their followers to take a selfie with the loneliest person in the world, Ronald McDonald, the famous mascot of McD.

The Result

This not only created a buzz but also could be the start of a never-ending brand war in India. Users enjoyed this dig at McD but the loyalists overpowered.

Burger King is aware of McD's brand power in India and hence it never attacked. But it's about time these global giants do what they do best in India, ambush marketing.

It will be fun to see how McDonald's India responds.

---

With these brands taking social media advertising to the next level, it will be interesting to see what they can do more!