Holi playbook for brands: How to ensure you're easily forgettable

When you think of Holi campaigns, what comes to mind? It’s probably Surf Excel’s ‘Daag achhe hain’ campaign. The catchphrase has a recall like no other and stands out on its own. But who wants to stand out these days? It’s better to play it safe and do what everyone else is doing. More and more brands are looking to appease the majority, and rightly so–after all, it’s easier to just get done with the festive momentum and avoid the hassle of managing an unfortunate repercussion.  

Standing out and doing something extraordinary means drawing attention. And who wants to draw attention? Especially if you are a brand, it becomes all the more important that you not draw attention. Or else, heaven forbid, people might know about and recall your brand? That just defeats the purpose of marketing. 

So, for a brand to seem like a mere cog in the magnanimous brand machinery, it’s important to take as little creative effort as possible. And it’s comforting to know that brands have been actively doing that in recent times. Although if you are a brand that has been commanding attention by standing out and wants to join the conformity party, here are a few points you can keep in mind during this Holi to be truly forgettable and become just another splash in the Holi chaos:    

Holi-fy your logo (Bonus points for cultural insensitivity):

Slap some colored powder on your logo and call it a day! After all, Holi is about spreading cheer, right? Who needs to understand the deeper meaning of the festival or respect its traditions? Colors should be evident and slap people in the face, or they wouldn’t know that it’s Holi. 

Don’t take chances

Place emphasis on using a formulaic approach every year. After all, why take the extra effort when you can just repeat the same messaging year after year? Why take a chance when you can make do with mediocrity? Hey, if you don’t stand out, at least you joined the parade. 

Swiggy’s OOH campaign made the mistake of taking creative liberty and spreading awareness. The outcome? The brand had to take down the billboards. There’s a valuable lesson to be learned here. Never take chances with something that seems like it’s advocating change. Do what everyone else is doing and rid yourself of the inconvenience.    

Don’t worry if Holi does not align with your brand

Make sure you check Holi off your list even if the festival does not naturally align with your brand or the products you sell. It’s not about alignment, is it? It’s just something we have to do every year and show that we joined the bandwagon. Even if people are left clueless as to how Holi is relevant to your brand, at least you were able to make a mark in their minds–although it’s for the wrong reasons.  

Appease the majority

Navigating a diverse landscape such as India is tricky, but the majority of the country celebrates Holi. So it is essential for you to appease them lest you get called upon or questioned. Make the messaging as bullet-proof as possible, even if it means compromising creativity or righteousness. 

Take lessons from what happened with Surf Excel, for example. Its 2019 Holi campaign which featured a duo of Hindu and Muslim kids, got embroiled in a controversy. It was a thought-provoking and progressive campaign, but what was the result? It sparked debates, received unwarranted criticism, and faced huge public outcry. The good thing is they learned the lesson. The following year, the brand incorporated a slightly formulaic and safer approach. 

Standing out and staying true to your ideas sometimes means going against the majority, going against the tide. But why do that when you can play it safe and appease the majority? 

Force the puns

Nothing says ‘We understand the cultural significance of Holi’ like a groan-inducing pun campaign. If your brand name closely resembles anything related to Holi, capitalize on that. Go all in with the wordplay so that people know that you know that it’s Holi - The festival of colors. 

Exploit cultural appropriation

Even if you don’t aptly know about the traditions or thoroughly understand the festival’s nuances and history, use elements stereotypically associated with it to connect with people. Use generic lines/symbols/imagery superficially associated with the festival to invoke the feeling of Indian-ness.   

Make Holi all about you

Ensure that your communication is focused all around you. It’s important to relentlessly hammer in your brand’s name and logo to solidify recall. Your campaign’s focus should be on promoting the brand while allowing Holi to take a secondary slot. Festivals come and go, it’s the brand that should shine throughout. 

Keeping these points in mind will not only ensure that you don’t end up in controversy but also help you have a ‘safe’ Holi. It’s not to say that all brands should embrace these tactics–some are contemplative enough to think about standing out. 

However, if you are a brand that cares about society–at least in your communication throughout the year–it’s only fair that you make an effort to follow it through in your Holi campaigns, even if it means tackling unwarranted backlash. 

But there is a safer, conformist route you can take to evade the hassle of addressing backlash. Why take the road less traveled when you can conform to what the majority likes? Even if your brand values totally align with sustainability, inclusivity, or progressivity, it’s important that you stick to the overdone conventional approach lest you get hounded and called upon by the populist army. This Holi, join the party, follow the convention, and make a mark by being unremarkable!

You might be wondering about the purpose behind sharing advice on being forgettable–or you might not be considering you figured out the satire. It comes from a place of hopelessness about the current state of affairs. It’s disheartening to see advertising being complacent. The Golden days of advertising featured ads that had a purpose, an attempt to bring in change; no wonder they still resonate with us. Nowadays, it's a sad state of affairs when brands treat festivals as a mere ticking box. Advertising is losing its luster as the focus has shifted to a more capitalist way of thinking. Commerce has trumped creativity–at least, that’s what it looks like. The hope behind this piece is to fan the fire of creativity and bring back advertising to what it was, and it can be.