Keeping up with the evolving preferences of the next generation, Saridon has donned a new hat with a revamped look and a stronger social media strategy. Here's more.
Saridon has been around for over five decades, a legacy it is now leveraging to make inroads in the world of millennials and Gen-Z through social media. They have relaunched the product with refreshed, contemporary packaging and a message that nudges people to relieve themselves of pain instead of hiding it for the sake of others around them. It goes well with the needs and aspirations of today’s youth, which is much more vocal about their lives, the good and the bad, than the generations before. The social media presence and strategy of Saridon complement it well.
To build resonance with young, resilient Indians, Saridon is leveraging social media and other digital platforms as crucial elements of its media mix. Traditional media continues to be essential as it helps them reach a wide range of consumers, especially in Tier II and Tier III markets.
“Marketing today is challenging and exciting at the same time. The mix of traditional and new age media offers the best of both worlds,” says Ritu Mittal, Head-Marketing and Digital, Bayer Consumer Health India.
She further explains that marketers today can target their consumers not just demographically but based on their behaviours, preferences, and purchasing patterns. It drives relevance and improves efficiency. "For medical brands, this trend has been a welcome change as it allows us to simplify the complex language of the product and reach our target consumers directly with relevant content and context,” Mittal adds.
Rebranding is bound to be an uphill task for any legacy brand. the same is true for Saridon. They sell a product that no one would buy unless they have to. It is not a commodity that a person would buy in the hope of ever using it. Saridon seems to have factored this in their social media communication. The brand is embracing the rough instances and portraying how their presence helps turn things around. And, they are using social media and its netizens to do so.
"While our media strategy is all-encompassing, television will continue to be one of the key mediums to communicate our message of positioning Saridon as the first line of defence for headaches. We are also leveraging regional language platforms to engage with young adults in Tier II/III cities using static and video content — including those who use feature phones," Ritu adds.
Sirf Ek Saridon
As a headache relief brand, Saridon wants to be the trusted ally for its consumers. They are using the #SirfEkSaridon campaign to reiterate how the product can help people enjoy a pain-free life by getting rid of their headaches. Based on their old jingle, Sirf Ek Saridon Aur Sardard Se Aaram, the campaign leverages a mix of traditional and new media.
For over five decades, the jingle has gained a lot of brand recall for Saridon.
Ritu explains, "Banking on the jingle's nostalgia factor, the brand's lineage and deep-rooted consumer trust, we decided to relaunch the brand with a new tagline, 'Sardard Chupao Nahi Mitao' while retaining the iconic #SirfEkSaridon."
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Sardard Chupao Nahi Mitao
Stress, heaps of workload, and increased screen times are common causes of headaches among young adults, especially those working from home due to COVID-19. They are the potential consumers for Saridon, and the brand understands this well. They have been pivoting their brand communication to communicate with young adults — to be a trusted solution in times of distress.
"The usage of creative imagery, taglines, hashtags, GIFs, polls, and moment marketing has proven to be fruitful in driving engagement," Ritu tells us. She adds that they have also been using AI technologies like facial recognition and smile detection to bring the core proposition alive in an engaging format for their consumers.
In association with mCanvas, Sairdon had come up with a campaign where smartphone features and sensors were used to replace the sad smiles of users with happy smiles. It was an extension of their TVC-led digital campaign called #SardardChupaoNahiMitao.
The Saridon Social Media Strategy
Saridon has picked up a yellow-blue colour scheme for their revamped avatar. All their social media communication is hued in the same palette. It includes regular posts as well as festive, topical, and trending content. It is helping Saridon establish a visual brand identity and recall. They are amplifying the same communication across their social media profiles. These creatives are being used to portray the various day-to-day activities that can lead people to develop headaches and how Saridon is a solution in such instances.
For their #SirfEkSaridon and #SardardChupaoNahiMitao campaigns, the brand has also used influencer marketing as a strategic element of their media mix. Ritu explains, "We are leveraging reels and moment marketing to establish resonance with young adults between 25-45 years of age. We had reached out to macro and micro-influencers on Instagram to recreate the iconic jingle, urging consumers to share their reactions."
Concluding the conversation with Social Samosa, Ritu predicts the top three advertising trends in the post-COVID-19 era: Rise in influencer marketing, user-generated content, and growth of purpose-driven brands.
Article by Sneha Yadav & Jagruti Verma