Is there a new norm in brand storytelling?
The core storytelling principles simply don’t change
Because we have a pandemic and we have to be super emphatic towards consumers.
The short answer: FUCK NO!!!
Unless you are from the super talented marketing team of Mondelez that coined ‘Humaning’. I think it is the biggest BS I have seen in 2020. How the fuck you pronounce it. And the year just gets fucking amazing.
A few months ago I thought it was We Are In It Together.
Mark Ritson writes that it isn’t the biggest piece of bullshit in marketing history.
“In fact, it barely scrapes into the Marketing BS Index (copyright pending) I maintain up in my ivory tower. I use a highly scientific formula to assess every major marketing pronouncement and award it a BS Index Score from 1 to 100.” (Don’t miss the BS Index. I think Facebook should be the winner. And I wish to make one for India)
Are you offended? If NO then read on.
If YES then go down and see the P.S.S section - I have a funny video to cheer you up :)
The year is 1960.
Lata Mangeshkar lends her voice to the song ‘Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya’ for Anarkali - a declaration of her love for the prince in front of the King and the entire court. Obviously, this meant inviting death but love makes you fearless and blind. This is one of the most celebrated songs of Bollywood history from the movie Mughal-e-Azam.
Fast forward to 1983 - Subhas Ghai directed and produced Hero - a romantic action movie with Meenakshi Shehshadri and Jackie aka Jackie Shroff. The film was a blockbuster hit because the youth loved it.
A few years later my father bought a Philips Tape Recorder and two cassettes. One was Hero and the other was Disco Dancer. While Disco Dancer happens to be my first movie in a theater, ‘Pyar Karne Wale Kabhi Darte Nahi’ became one of my favourite songs.
Fast forward 2020 - our country is imposing laws for ‘love jihad’. Call it guarding the culture or political strategy some states are creating strong laws. Interestingly the constitution of India gives a free right to the citizen to choose his religion or change.
There are two sides to the entire episode. You can Google it and use your brain to decide. Just don’t open TV channels and consume the prime time debates.
The debate also has surfaced after Tanishq showed an ad showing a baby shower organised for the Hindu bride by her Muslim in-laws. The ad was not received well by a certain section of people, got trolled online and finally, the ad was removed by the brand.
Tanishq was once again at the receiving end right before Diwali. Another ad released by the brand advocating people to not burst crackers became the talking thing on social media. The ad thereafter was removed.
In fact, someone joked about the strategy of Tanishq - select a controversial topic, create an ad, burn media money, wait for a day to get trolled, and then remove the ad with a template apology. End result Tanishq stands out as a forward-thinking, and futuristic brand that India deserves.
IMO Tanishq was well aware of what it was doing and decided to take the risk. Does it become a forward-thinking emphatic brand? No. One needs to keep in mind that getting offended is becoming a national pass time.
At the same time, one needs to keep the basic sentiments in mind. Interfaith marriage is cool on TV or digital but not offline. Sorry, a brand doesn’t become progressive by placing its store workers in danger.
And if you really want to be the next Nike then have the balls and stand with conviction. Greatness cannot be achieved without sacrifice.
Tanishq isn’t the first brand and won’t be the last one touching taboo topics. From LGBTQ issues to interfaith marriage to caste issues, brands have tried being the differentiator but the energy phizzes out with a 40 seconder or a minute-long video.
Today advertising has become topical. The communication is alive for a day, gets some media coverage, gets some views and at the end of the year might win some awards that are decided by your budgets for the award show.
My parents are big-time tea drinkers. For years they have been buying Red Label for its strong flavors and not because of its ads supporting transgenders or interfaith love. They don’t care. TV never gave the option to skip ads, YouTube gives. But these days it is also becoming a TV.
In a recent post Marvin Chow, VP of Marketing at Google tries to decode what 2020 has taught about storytelling fundamentals.
“The core storytelling principles simply don’t change – no matter how upside-down everything else seems to be. The best, most resonant stories are always rooted in core human truths and successfully connect those to what the brand uniquely can deliver — in a culturally attuned way.
But in the face of significant contextual shifts — such as those driven by the COVID-19 pandemic or the resurgence of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement — brands need to reevaluate how they put those pieces together to best connect with people at the sweet spot of empathy, ownability, and timeliness.”
Putting out a new 30-second spot with a “we’re in this together” message isn’t likely enough.
Last month right before the festival week, HP India released a set of videos with an objective to showcase the 360-degree features of Spectre x360. The brand which considers the new laptop as the world’s smallest convertible decided to show its unique features with topical use cases.
One of my favorite ‘The Group Study’ ad shows a very relatable episode. I wouldn’t reveal the storyline. Watch it and hit me if you fail to find it interesting, relatable, and funny.
The purpose of an ad is to tell you a story in a way that gets you hooked up and hopefully convinces you to buy. Whether the consumer buys or not depends on many factors.
If interfaith marriage is a hot issue then ed-tech companies making your child the next app star is a big issue being debated on social media. WhiteHat Jr has been on the receiving end for its ads. However, all the people who have critiqued WhiteHat Jr (WHJ) or its marketing campaigns have found their posts swiftly taken down, across social media platforms.
These days I call my 8-year-old niece ‘Whitehat Champion.’ Recently she gave me an extensive tour of the app, her project work, and how she is excited to build an app.
Her mother explained to me why she decided to go with WhiteHat Jr? “It was one of her friends who had enrolled in the online class. And after two more recommendations in the school group, we tried a free session.”
Since then my niece has been busy learning coding. And her mother isn’t bothered with the ads, she finds the company doing a great job from managing the account to reporting. Although she finds it to be on the expensive side and a bit irritated with the endless retargeting ads.
“The ads keep following me every time I log into Facebook. Wonder when will they stop.”
Meanwhile, ASCI has asked the company to pull down the ads. How seriously ASCI is taken is something beyond my understanding.
If I was a parent and based on creativity or storytelling I would have vouched for Unacademy’s latest ad that it released during IPL. Some stories just hit you like BOOM, so did this ad. Relevant, topical, simple, and refreshing.
A volcanic eruption was never so easy to understand?
Creativity needs to transform into sales
Creative minds would disagree. But if the consumer isn’t buying your product then what good are the awards for?
This year has also shown the growing consumer concern for misleading ads. Around 80% of Indian consumers do not trust advertisements and want the government to create an advertising code and regulate misleading ads, especially at a time when the country is fighting a pandemic, according to a survey conducted by online community platform LocalCircles.
About 30% feel that ads for cosmetic products and services are the most misleading, while 22% believed ads related to real estate were misleading, food products and supplements (15%), e-commerce (14%), health products and services (11%) and banking and financial services (5%).
Digital is adding to the consumer pain point.
Former Google employee Tim Hwang's new book, Subprime Attention Crisis, lays out the case that the new ad business is built on fiction. “Microtargeting is far less accurate and far less persuasive than it’s made out to be, he says, and yet it remains the foundation of the modern internet.”
“The source of wealth for some of the world’s biggest, most important companies, and the mechanism by which almost every “free” website or app makes money. If that shaky foundation ever were to crumble, there’s no telling how much of the wider economy would go down with it,” reports Wired.
With companies doubling their digital advertising spends amid COVID-19, ad frauds are projected to go up in the range of 45-55 percent compared to the present industry average of 25-35 percent, said a new report.
While the total global ad fraud market is debated: TrafficGuard/Juniper set it at $34 billion, predicting it will increase to $87 billion by 2022; most of this will be lost in the APAC region, with the current $19 billion set to rise to $56 billion.
The pandemic and the growing mistrust of brands are enough for us to ask the question: Are we doing it right?
Rather than asking what is the future of storytelling?
“The future of brand storytelling is in partnership with consumers. People are creating their own content. They are interacting with brands and the stories that brands are telling in new ways. It’s not just enough for a brand to broadcast their story; you have to shape it with your consumers,” says Ete Davies, CEO at Engine | Creative.
Thankfully the social distancing teapot is one of the limelights of 2020.
“The core storytelling principles simply don’t change – no matter how upside-down everything else seems to be,” says Marvin.
So dear brands and marketers don’t find a retarded jargon in this pandemic just to make a fool of yourself. “Advertising is simple - tell a story that the consumer can connect. Obviously, you're not doing for charity, the consumer isn’t dumb.”
Twitter has been a hotbed of controversies and conversations with the President declaring himself as a clear winner. Acceptance is the key, my friend.
Nonetheless, to promote Twitter conversation settings it has collaborated with the famous viral BBC dad. He definitely knows something about interruptions.
So is there a new norm in brand storytelling?
P.S. If brands can remove the topical calendar I have a feeling that they will connect to the good old form of storytelling.
P.S.S Fire up YouTube and see the section of trending videos. Do you find any brand video trending? You know the answer. Anyway, while Carry Minati’s latest video is trending at the top, Gaurav Kapoor’s audience reaction video is hilarious.