Brands binge on emotional storytelling to break the festive clutter

Stories of everyday heroism, hope against adversity and women's health help brands expand the digital footprint

What does it mean to miss a Diwali at home? Ask the one who drives an Uber, or a bus, or an air-hostess—all working the gruelling shifts their jobs demand and serving those on their way to a celebration at home, while missing their own. Such stories would once have been staple fare for a Bollywood potboiler, but are now churning the wheels of the digital marketing juggernaut that helps brands drive online conversations. 

The story of unsung heroes working, while the rest light up their homes notched up 60 million impressions for Samsonite’s #DiwaliKaSafar. Similarly, women’s health and how it is ignored by the best of us helped Dutch MNC, DSM Nutritional Products engage with six million people. Its campaign #InvestInIron urges women to focus on iron and not just gold, during a festival dedicated to buying the precious metal.

These campaigns found traction on social media, winning  brands visibility and recall in the process. In contrast, routine jewellery advertisements or those that force-fit a product to the festival’s celebratory sentiment did not hit the digital mark, failing to bring brands enough ‘likes, shares, retweets and comments’. 

Anushree Tainwala, executive director, Marketing, Samsonite, South Asia said, “We have been choosing scripts that touch people and inspire action. This can happen only when emotions are involved.” The timing is crucial too, as people are most receptive when travelling or planning to do so for the festival. Hence Samsonite went on air between October 21 and 27 and not before that when most people shop for the festival.

The Maruti Suzuki ad on the joy of togetherness during all festivals

DSM Nutritional Products said it targeted urban women and sought to reframe the conversation around ‘streedhan’ (women’s wealth) that typically refers to material wealth. Alok Kohli, business director at DSM India said that data shows that one out of two Indian women are anaemic and as Dhanteras is an auspicious time to buy and invest in gold or metal, it was an opportune moment to drive the message home. “The campaign is part of Project Streedhan and fulfils an essential need to create awareness about anaemia in a manner that resonates with Indian urban women," he added. 

Hindol Purkayastha, senior vice president, Dentsu Impact, said that brands have had to work their way around the tepid economic sentiment this festive season. “In such times, a hard sell on the product will not get you anywhere,” he added. This is perhaps why Maruti Suzuki too decided to focus on the joy of celebrating together, rather than the product or the auspicious nature of a purchase. Its campaign 'Ghar aaya tyohar' (the festival comes home) talks about the joy of spending time together as a family, across all festivals.  

Shashank Srivastava, executive director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India says that the campaign was received well by their dealer partners and vendors too, apart from their online community. “We have been able to garner 26 million plus views in a short span of 10 days,” he adds.

Pranav Kosuri, co-founder, Brandie, a Swedish social media marketing start-up working with several brands in India says that emotional storytelling works well in the country, especially during the festive season when brands go the extra mile to connect with their audience. And for Diwali, he added, advertisers want to create value for their brand and generate a feel-good factor rather than look at a return on their investment. Sentimental storytelling, most agree, scores over everything else, at a time when emotions often trump reason.