Leveraging the Power of Real-Time Marketing on Social

Marketers love numbers. Marketers love logic.

Digital Media, in most cases remains a second fiddle to Traditional Media. At least in terms of spends.

Logic is correct. There are more people subscribing dailies, watching popular TV shows and being exposed to OOH, than those on Social and even Digital networks.

But there is no logic that can undermine the significance of Social Media when it comes to Real Time. Unfortunately, this is one area in which not even a handful of Indian Brands have got it right. Let’s see what stops them and their agencies from doing this.

1. Factory Approach:

It is not uncommon to see agencies managing 70-80 Brands.

Simple Math reveals that it is impossible that it is then possible for them to have dedicated creative and planning resources to keep track of the pulse of their brands. Hence, a ‘Happy Friday’ or ‘Happy Diwali’ post is planned, adapted for weekly calendars and published for likes. Which, I strongly believe, does nothing for your brand building.

A lot of people talk about Oreo Real Time post during the Superbowl. But it is important to know that for this activity, a team of 15 people, consisting of the client, the creative agency, media agency and the digital agency huddled in their social agency’s office. Approval was given instantly.

A lot of us have read about this and appreciated it, but what stops us from huddling together the way they did and doing epic things? Factory Approach, maybe?

Some Indian Brands that have managed to pull off interesting real time activity and campaigns. These include American Tourister, Skybags and Cadburys. Brands like Rajasthan Royals live tweet cricketing updates, even during non-IPL matches to keep their audience engaged.

American Touriser’s #BagtheAwards featured Bags which were personified into Bollywood personalities when Bollywood awards being aired on TV. This one shows Amitabh Bachchan.

Cadbury Dairy Milk launched a Real Time activity, linking on-field IPL action with their communication #ShubhAarambh

2. Fear:

No good idea can get though stringent multiple levels of razor edge filters.

- Will it get negative comments?

- Does it fit perfectly well with our current campaign?

- What if it does not give me more likes and Retweets?

- “Talking about Bollywood makes us look too pedestrian. Talking about politics will be controversial. My Brand does not talk about Sports”

Agreed, your brand has a great identity but there is a possibility that it intrigues you much more than your audience. Your audience wants to talk about what is relevant and happening NOW.

Skybags did a post on Kochi Kissing controversy. American Tourister replied.

3. Ignorance:

In many cases, the Brand Custodian/Writer/Social Media Manager lacks knowledge of a lot of events that unfold throughout the world. In this age, this is unacceptable.

4. Measurability:

By now, most of us know that likes, fans and impressions do not matter much. But a lot of evaluation and analysis of Brand’s health on Social happens on these parameters.

It’s high time we move beyond these vanity metrics and do something truly impactful.

Pest Control India sent this communication out minutes after Suarez incident at the World Cup.