Covid-19 Pandemic and the lockdown festival celebrations have been muted. Ganesh Chathurthi and Navratri were celebrated in very small scale as there were no public celebrations or pandals. Diwali is on us and it is the most awaited festival as many shops for white goods and much more.
This year as the new normal has set in and though everything has opened up people is still vary of stepping out for shopping. In this lockdown E commerce sites have had a windfall as most of us resorted to shopping online. During this festive period E commerce sites have gone all out to do very meaningful and emotional. Websites like Amazon, Myntra, and Pantaloon, Flipkart etc.messaging in their campaigns is,“no one is stopping you from shopping, come visit our website and get what you want”.
The websites have connected with people by some beautiful and emotional campaigns. The Pantaloon campaign talks about a girl unable to pay the full rent as she wants to shop for Diwali. As the landlord is also missing herfamily, she gifts her a beautiful dress and celebrates Diwali with her by saying I’m your family too…
The Myntra campaign was a path breaker on the internet is about how the family gifts their maid and her kid with new clothes and celebrating Diwali with them. This campaign touches on the inclusiveness of the society.
As per research these websites had 2x profit this year as compared to last year.
We spoke to Advertising professionals for their point of view on this communication by the e commerce brands.
Naresh Gupta – CEO Bang in the Middle: It has been a tough year. Diwali is a celebration of happiness and a lot of that happiness comes from having done well in life. These are times where pandemic has meant loss of jobs, loss of lives and many moments of happiness. Diwali then becomes the festival where people do come together to start afresh. We obviously cannot have a Diwali that is more about celebration and fun. It has to be more about people coming together to drive happiness.
Ashish Khazanchi – Managing Partner, Enormous I think a lot of marketers have all turned blind exactly at the same time. There was a time when people would work really hard to keep their brands distinct, and in finding granularities in personality. Warm and fuzzy was best suited for a wasp’s behind. Now we have so many brands presenting the same generic version of inclusivity that it gets difficult to tell one from the other. We need to go back to basics. What is the brand really about, what about the brand’s voice makes it memorable and desirable and unique, and how can we amplify that. If you can remove your brand and put your competitor’s brand in the ad without substantially changing anything, you really haven’t got an ad. The likes you have got, aren’t for your brand, they are for the one-minutewebisode you have funded.
Aalap Desai, National Creative Director, mcgarrybowen India: When you talk about festivals, inclusivity is the most natural course a communication can follow. When done well and in the right taste, it works wonders. The problem comes when brands try to include everyone in their communication. The result is obvious. Then the inclusivity appeals to no one. That is precisely what some E-commerce sites have been doing. What is inclusivity? For me, it is an emotion that more people can relate to. You cannot force inclusivity on the viewer. They need to feel it. So, they should look at striking the right emotion. If it is universal enough, people will relate to it and feel included themselves.
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Additional Inputs by Kalpana Ravi.
