Filter Coffee Co. (FCC) was established in 2015 and today it is a highly established and integrated digital agency with core expertise in paid as well as organic Digital Marketing, Content Production, Celebrity and Influencer Marketing, Social Media Management & Strategy and other related fields.
In an exclusive chat with MediaNews4u, Anuja Deora Sanctis – CEO and Founder – Filter Coffee Co talks to us about the digital surge in recent times, brand communication in the digital space, and the rise of Influencer Marketing, and much more.
The pandemic has seen a huge surge in the digital side of the business, your thoughts?
Absolutely, digital networks are buzzing. Social distancing couldn’t have been possible without high dependence on digital. Brands too have established innovative strategies to overcome the loss due to lockdown etc. In fact, quick Digital adoption has made the pandemic recovery for the world faster than it would have been otherwise. Sectors like beauty, skincare, fitness, FMCG, and technology came out stronger than ever, as people shifted focus towards themselves and bettering their life. Consumers (especially the millennial and GenZ audience) are now difficult to reach through traditional media channels and prefer social media networks to make purchase decisions. Brands are now relying heavily on digital to steer their business (which would have happened sooner or later) as the ‘Future is Digital’.
The surge in digital reliance for businesses worldwide didn’t really take birth during the pandemic. It merely acted as a catalyst and pushed things towards the direction they were headed, just lightning years faster. People who were quick to latch on and anchor have been reaping the fruits of their digital revamp which, I would go on to say, also worked as an airbag to tackle the blow for brands who were capable of a hyped digital focus, without tumbling over. The future is, as we are all witnessing, increasingly digital.
Filter Coffee was launched in 2015, what were the challenges then and what are the challenges now?
Being one of the pioneers and early starters in the field of social media, digital and influencer marketing, we were lucky enough to truly witness the digital marketing evolution. Filter Coffee Co. emerged out of pure love for all things digital and it has been a super-insightful journey to witness the changes, overcome the challenges and cross various digital milestones.
The past decade has changed the way people consume and surf content on social media. Change is everywhere. Trending concepts and moment marketing run the show now. Earlier, the challenge was to get people to see your content. Now the challenge is to get the RIGHT people to see your content. And more importantly, making these right people stay loyal to your brand.
Back then, Facebook & Twitter were the social media giants with the max audience aware about just these two majorly. Now we have a wide choice of platforms that have turned primary for brands like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Club House, Quora, Pinterest and many others. With the advancement in technology, customer expectations have developed dramatically. Now that the cat is out of the bag, nothing is hidden. The audience is smart and knows what they want. Look, buy; sell is no more the model now. The customer first checks out the product/service, does thorough research on the price, visits their social media platforms for an organic, unfiltered review, re-discusses with peers and then makes the purchase.
With so many options at our fingertips, marketers must continually come up with creative ideas to stand out from the masses. This is Digital 2.0 where innovation and personalization is key.
How are brands today communicating and how does this communication help brands?
Brand communication is and always has been integrated, like information updates, new launches, product and service updates, sales and marketing, after-sales, and even payment-related communication. Just that now, as I said earlier, the knee-jerk reaction to communication is to steer towards digital through multiple SM & Ecommerce Platforms reaching out to and establishing a working equation with influencers, a renewed appreciation for e-commerce platforms as the holy grail. They’re approaching communication with empathy and understanding with an aim to not just sell, sell, sell but connect with existing as well as potential customers in a more holistic manner.
Influencer marketing is the go-to for every brand no, does it really help the brand? also by just having a celebrity does the brand feel they have done the communication right?
Influencer strategy has definitely upgraded from the back seat to the front seat; it is now a part of a brand’s core marketing activations as it helps connect to micro-communities, gain trust and build a base that is unshakeable.
When it comes to celebs, it sure does help to grab people’s attention and get the ball rolling with wide brand visibility, but that needs to be sustained as opposed to just a hike in views/likes/followers for just a day. So we always opt for the fine line in between to strike a healthy balance of micro, experts, and content creators for optimum output to keep the buzz ongoing for a longer period of time.
With new guidelines by ASCI on Influencer Marketing how are you navigating through it for your brands and their influencers?
Simply following it to the T. The guidelines are acting as a foundation everyone can trust and rely on for both building as well as expecting transparency and credibility. This in turn gives an edge over normative advertising or even celeb marketing and therefore connecting the brands better with the end consumer.
When it comes to digital communication and influencers what are the trends you are noticing globally and in India?
As influencer marketing and content creations are strong pillars of our offerings at Filter Coffee Co., we witnessed first-hand and direct impact of the shift towards influencer collaborations for brands. We all know how brands across industries slashed their budgets for traditional marketing and shifted focus towards exploring more meaningful influencer marketing associations – not only because it was a more affordable and niche options to reach out to the millennial and GenZs, but also because this marketing model is ideal in a time like now where audiences seek authenticity through engaging, trending and personalised video content more than ever before.
As video content consumption sees multi-fold growth year-on-year and users’ attention span continues to decline, all brand campaigns are now planned with influencer marketing at the core.. An obvious trend we are noticing (in both local and global brand campaigns) is the shift from one-time associations for single posts and stories to long-term associations. Brands are going for an ‘always ON’ marketing strategy, and this has led to the rise of micro influencer associations – these associations provide better insights, quick turnaround, effortless long term relationships, more UGC, and of course added brand credibility and brand recall.
Live Streaming gained immense popularity in the past couple of years, and is a great way for brands to partner with creators to showcase their products through an engaging and experiential format – most brands also plugged in e-commerce offers to turn users into consumers. Another trend that brands can’t get enough of (for obvious reasons) is Snackable / short videos – Reels, Youtube Shorts, Stories…influencers and content creators have been instrumental in driving user engagement through highly addictive and easily replicable videos.
Long format videos haven’t lost their charm either – users love getting a peek into the daily lives of influencers and see what products they use. Ranging from beauty and skincare, to wellness, fitness, and technology, this content format spreads product awareness and builds customer loyalty like no other. Safe to say this trend is here to stay.
How does social media work for a brand, your thoughts?
For brands, social media is like a portfolio of sorts for everyone to view. Of course, it is also a tool to build brand awareness, connect with the audience, communicate with them and understand them, but since everything shifted from IRL to URL, a brand’s Instagram account is its canvas to draw a genuine picture of the brand. By doing that, you earn the trust of the wide audience you are reaching out to while also getting relevant people into your sales funnel. And design, visuals, and communication play a huge role in how that picture eventually comes out to the people following you.
Way forward in the new normal?
We were and still are writing a new future for us every day, even by something as small as choosing the kind of content to engage with on our Instagram feeds. While granular monitoring of data was the key priority pre-pandemic, it now must be teamed with harnessing imagination. Digital migration will continue, the sense of community and the subsequent importance to localise one’s market is being felt widely, and of course, building trust, transparency and credibility without any of the fluff and bluff will help brands build a returning clientele and an eager audience.
Where do you see the digital marketing landscape in the next 2 years?
Growing steadily and organically. Digital is somehow directly correlated with consumer behavior and requirements, therefore expecting more innovations, definitely and I see digital cutting through the noise and delivering extraordinary customer experiences.
