Celebrity Brands: The Ranveer Brar social media journey sprinkled with delectable dishes & trends

Culinary rockstar and seemingly new-age youth Food icon, this segment of Celebrity Brands attempts to understand the Ranveer Brar social media strategy with inputs from the celebrity chef himself.

Celebrity chef, food stylist, entrepreneur, television host, Masterchef Judge, and what not, Ranveer Brar is the Food Sufi who believes in the beauty of food that you can cherish but not explain. Hailing from the ‘City of Nawabs’, Brar was inspired by the art of cooking through a local Kebab Vendor while growing up in Lucknow. While most of us know about Brar’s food journey, not many know about his on-point social media strategy as a celebrity influencer.

Brar uses social media in-line with current trends. The influencer is credited to have a Twitter video series with #RanveerOnTheRoad, a culinary sojourn, diving to places in Australia and the mystical island nation of Seychelles, spanning across 2 seasons to unravel local tastes and spices.

Apart from giving back to society and his alma mater, the celebrated chef is also vocal about causes and supports women empowerment, initiatives around hunger and the environment, and everything Swadeshi

In addition to books such as ‘Come into my Kitchen’ and ‘A Traditional Twist, Brar has a mobile app to his name.

As he continues to paint his social media pages with stylized dishes and posts, Brar displays responsible influencer marketing, too. In an exclusive conversation with Social Samosa, he shares that while he is blessed with a plethora of choices for brand endorsements, there needs to be a DNA match. As a thumb rule, he doesn’t endorse aerated drinks or fast-food brands.

“One of the first things that people notice is integrity or a lack of it. That conviction for a brand only comes when there is a DNA match when the brand inherently connects to you,” Brar tells is his social media mantra.

Social Media Footprint and Analysis

• Instagram: 1.2M
• Twitter: 1.7 M
• Facebook: 2.8 M
• YouTube: 2.55M

Brar shares that social media became a tool of self-discipline for him. "Initially, for me, it was about absorbing more than anything else as you want to know what is going on", he explains. But with social media, also came the freedom to communicate with the audience in real-time.

Fond of Live interactions, the chef says, “Social media helps me to express myself beyond a format and showcase content unlike on Television or other mediums.”

With more than a decade across social platforms capped with his own website to support it, Brar started his YouTube channel back in 2013, having crossed 2.5 million followers on the platform. Along with a dedicated set of content series, he uses YouTube for majorly long-format content with stories behind the dishes and much more.

Brar uses Twitter for online chatter, #FoodFactFun posts, philosophy, and sometimes even to redirect users to his other social media profiles. On Facebook Brar is seen leveraging Facebook Watch quite often. Instagram is leveraged for aesthetics, Live, discussions with musicians, poets, independent filmmakers, and more.

Also read: Celebrity Brands – Vikrant Massey – an audience & brands favourite

Social Media Themes & Trends

Each of his videos is special wherein he takes you through the journey of the recipe, folklore, stories behind the dishes, and sometimes their origins, too

Featuring in Forbes top 100 celebrities, Brar has a robust and organized social media content strategy with a platter of content buckets served through 3-4 posts daily, meticulously spread across social media platforms.

Cooking tips, newer dishes, fun, humor, and poems are some of the themes seen in the Ranveer Brar social media journey highlighting dedicated content buckets for almost every day of the week. He engages with fans and followers through post formats including #DidYouKnow, Polls, AMA, Quizzes, and more.

Sundays feature posts from the content buckets of #RBSKitchen, #CookWithRB, ‘Aapka Sath Mera Swaad’, 'Guess The Ingredient', et al.

Monday revolves around #MondayMotivation #Throwback, #FoodSpeakWithRB, #RBTips through Instagram Reels and coming soon posts, Obviously Ranveer (with or without Collaborations), or content around philosophy, humor, and poetry.

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A post shared by Ranveer Brar (@ranveer.brar)

Tuesdays are for #EasyRecipes, #ComingSoon posts, and #ChefRanveer. The day also sees YouTube long-format content such as #RBTravelDiaries, #AskMeAnything, and more.

Wednesday is for #RanveerAapneBatayaNahin, #CookWithRB, and Memes. While Thursday takes the #ThrowbackThursdays and #TravelMeBack route. With Friday come the weekend posts. Saturday is dedicated to cooking tips by RB.

Brar tells Social Samosa that earlier social media was an extension to promote what you do. Now, it is about not just promotions or marketing, it is about putting yourself out there.

“It is not just about telling people what you are doing but also, who you are and what you're thinking,” he says.

In addition to a personal social media profile, the chef has a dedicated page for #TheRBKitchen. He leverages his personal profile to promote this page along with infrequent posts about ‘The Ranveer Brar’ app and food ventures.

An entrepreneur and a creator, Brar’s penchant for launching timely content series in-line with the ongoing trends is another prominent theme observed on his social platforms. 

As the pandemic set in, the Chef began the #BeHomeWithRB series during the lockdown on Instagram Live, collaborating with celebrities such as Shankar Mahadevan, Ritwik, and more. He also kickstarted #RBCookbook leveraging Instagram blogs, during the same time. A slew of other noteworthy series includes #FoodSpeakWithRanveer and Kam Mein Zyada, too were released.

As Brar accomplished the feat of 1 million followers on Instagram in September 2020, he initiated some campaigns like #MakeMillionCount with #BringThemBack, to bring back street food, supporting and empowering vendors during COVID-19.

Millennials adore the chef and a number of his posts are re-shares of kind words by his fans. He even caters to their requests and questions.

His Instagram profile also features highlights of stories, systematically showcasing an overview of the varied content buckets/topics, Brar speaks about.

Ranveer Brar social media journey comprises a balance of dynamic and static posts based on content themes and buckets with usually long captions.

Also read: Celebrity Brands: The Shilpa Shetty social media strategy – from a diva to fitness guru

Brand Associations

Ranveer Brar has been in the brand world for quite some time now. Speaking about brand endorsement, he explains that there needs to be a genetic match between the brand that he wants to endorse and his personal brands. These genetic factors sometimes go beyond attributes and measurable factors.

Throughout his endorsements, he attempts to weave an unsaid story around the values, aspirations, desires, and passions of the brand or poduct in-line with Brand Ranveer Brar. “It is only fair for the talent to go beyond his/her projection and present themselves in entirety to a brand. The same goes for the brand.” 

He further shares, “While doing brand deals, I look at the brand language. A lot of brands come to you because there is a synergy.”

Known for leveraging new content trends, Brar shares that more than 80% of the brands he has associated with, has stayed with him for more than 4 years.

With brand associations across sectors ranging from Health and fitness, OTT, F & B, Fashion, and FMCG, the celebrity chef features in the top three popular chefs with increased and more palatable content slated for 2020-21.

Swiggy

Kellogg’s

Breathe 2: Into the Shadows (Amazon Prime Video)

Gujarat Tourism

Philips

Celeb Speaks

While Ranveer Brar seems to be a man of action with a meticulous interweaving of creativity and data for his social media journey, he is not very thick-skinned when it comes to the unnecessary bullying that the platform brings. 

Feedback is beautiful, he says. “If someone says, that I have tried your dish, it is pathetic and the other chef has done the same dish in a better manner - this is feedback but telling in an outright way that you are pathetic is negativity. Am still coping with that”, he explains.

Brar shares that the one thing he adheres to and has learned is that sometimes it is okay to put your head down and do what you're doing for there will always be such people in the tow. “In my case, I stay in a cocoon. I know I'll be affected by it, so I close my eyes and do my work.”

During a fun Rapid-Fire segment with Social Samosa, he shares...

• One Social Media Platform you can’t do without - Instagram
• One thing you Love about Social Media – The volatility of it
• One thing you hate about Social Media - Lack of privacy and the expectations that come with it
• One person, you would ban from Social Media- Donald Trump (After the last incident in the capitol)
• One social media account that changed your life - Sadguru

If Social Media Platforms were a Dish...

• Twitter - ‘Karele Ki Sabzi’-  either you love it or you hate it, there is no in-between
• Instagram - ‘Samosa’ at a 5-star restaurant
• Facebook - Quintessential to being like a portion of comfort food or ‘Dal Chawal’ 

To Sum It Up

Authenticity, creativity, business acumen, tapping into the right moment at the right time, cracking the code of food content with discipline and dedication tilted towards video content, is what shines through the Ranveer Brar social media strategy.

Brar aims to bring relevance to the audience with fun, facts, and a systematic content plan. In a world that might be fraught with trolls and a mix of good and bad aspects, Brar believes that social media teaches us not to be too hard on ourselves.

“If something is not working today, it will work tomorrow”, he says. According to the celebrity brand, the volatility that social media brings with it is an advantage and allows you to start afresh each day despite making mistakes.

“Mausam bahut jaldi badalta hai social media pe”, says Brar signing off.