Diwali is one of the biggest festivals in India, which makes it one of the best times to get your message across to people all over the country. Every brand and agency starts planning campaigns in advance for the festive season. They need to make sure that their campaigns are in pipeline, reach out to the targeted individuals as intended, and meet the end goals they’ve set.
For this, brands have to look through a lot of UGC campaigns, TVCs, or influencer marketing campaigns to curate that one special campaign that goes out on one of the biggest festivals of India. That’s why we’ve made a list of campaign ideas and classified them according to the different emotions they portray. Here’s how you can go about it to meet your campaign marketing purposes.
Brands have to look through a lot of UGC campaigns, TVCs or influencer marketing campaigns to curate that one special campaign that goes out on one of the biggest festivals of India. Here's where we come in. Click To Tweet
When unsure, go for humour!
Most good things have humour in one form or another. Humour is safe, fun, and engaging to the audience. It also fits perfectly as it lightens up the festive mood. Here’s what we found in our box of humorous marketing techniques.
Most good things have humour in one form or another. Humour is safe, fun and engaging to the audience. It also fits perfectly as it lightens up the festive mood. Click To Tweet
Araldite – How a middle-class family celebrates Diwali
Araldite collaborated with Vishnu Kaushal, who has more than 500k followers, to make a funny and yet subtle product placement. In the video, Vishnu tells us how middle-class families react during Diwali celebrations and explains a solution for everything that breaks during the festive confluence – using Araldite. The collaboration is hilarious and definitely deserves a second watch. So, a win for Araldite.
Soulfull Snacks – Boring Family Film
Aadar Malik is downright hilarious! His collaboration with Soulfull Snacks – Boring Family Film – is anything but boring. He narrates this brilliantly crafted script in which he can be seen gifting hampers to his family members at odd times. In this intentional dry narration, Aadar manages to mention the customisable hamper, honest promotions, and a couple of really funny jokes.
Be bold for a cause
Like some brands, you can go bold and make a social statement with your campaign. However, it would be best to cross-check what goes well with your audience and maintain a contingency plan in case the campaign backfires.
Bajaj Allianz Life – Diwali Unboxing With Chintu
Bajaj did not hold back when it came to making a social statement. With its satirical Unboxing with Chintu TVC, it showcased the lives of Chintu and other similar children in a modern take using unboxing techniques. This TVC takes a huge shot at people who encourage and engage in child labour. A little unnerving, but this TVC serves its purpose.
RHB – Light In a Time of Darkness
For their Diwali 2020 campaign, RHB Bank and FCB Malaysia took the real-life example of Vikey Magic, who lost his gigs due to the pandemic. This TVC showcased the different hardships the magician had to endure before turning into a durian seller. Vikey (Vikneswaran Allagu) is a well-known magician and influencer who’s been awarded the prestigious Merlin Award. The TVC packs a punch and ends on an uplifting note – Light in a time of darkness.
Like some brands, you can go bold and make a social statement with your campaign. However, it would be best to cross-check what goes well with your audience and maintain a contingency plan in case the campaign backfires. Click To Tweet
Being soulful always works
Being soulful is as safe as being humorous, if not more. However, you must be cautious not to bombard your clients with constant preachy messages. You also need to make sure your product is integrated into the campaigns in a way that doesn’t look odd or forced.
Asian Paints – People Add Colour
Asian Paints’ #PeopleAddColour contest was wholesome. It is a little unorthodox that Asian Paints, a paint company, would like to run a colour-centric campaign for Diwali and not Holi, but they managed to pull it off! Asian Paints collaborated with the likes of Ayush Mehra, Barkha Dutt, and Kritika Khurana to promote their contest, and it turned out to be soulful, engaging, and rewarding!
Surf Excel – #AbLagRahiDiwali
When it comes to soulful content, trust Surf Excel to get the job done. In yet another beautiful TVC, Surf Excel had some curious kids trying to light up a laundry person’s Diwali. Because what’s one of the most relevant things to Surf Excel? The laundry guy. The sentiment, however, remains the same; kids ruin their clothes on a festive day for the greater good.
Being soulful is as safe as being humorous, if not more. But, brands must be cautious not to bombard audiences with constant preachy messages, and ensure that a product is not forced into the influencer campaigns. Click To Tweet
Tell the sincere, heartfelt story
What is the best organic pull for your brand? Stories! Ask yourself – what are some of the most relevant stories today? If you could showcase your brand helping people during difficult times, you’re going to have some of the best organic traffic for your brand. These stories will help people relate to your brand and are the best lifestyle examples of your brand’s value in their lives.
Dukaan – Naye Saal Ki Nayi Shuruwat
This soulful TVC starts with the story of a sweet shop owner with a huge customer base. But due to the pandemic and lockdown, the tide shifted, rendering the whole business ineffective. However, Dukaan came to the rescue, helping him and other small shopkeepers maintain their digital presence. On similar lines, brands can use influencer marketing to tell their own COVID stories from the lockdown.
Nestlé Milkmaid – Create Sweet Stories this Diwali
So what, if people are celebrating an occasion like Diwali in their homes? Nestle’s Haanji yeh special Diwali hai sums it all up! In the 2020 TVC, we can see families celebrating Diwali inside their homes due to the pandemic — but with a twist. Nestlé subtly markets their Milkmaid to help you prepare sweets at home this Diwali. While this isn’t an influencer marketing campaign, your brand can showcase its usage during the pandemic with the help of influencers.
Make a simple announcement
Your Diwali campaign does not have to strictly revolve around the aforementioned sentiments. Sometimes your campaign can just be a quick announcement. However, these might work for selective brands depending on their audience.
Viviana Mall – #ExperienceVivianaAgain
Viviana Mall partnered with influencer & RJ Arjun Singh to show how shopping in Viviana is safe, easy, and reliable post-pandemic. The montage shows a huge collection of clothes and ends with a note – Come celebrate #DiwaliYourWay with us.
Kurkure – Masaba Gupta
In the festive season of 2020, Kurkure collaborated with Masaba Gupta. The announcement video flaunts the new, festive packaging of Kurkure along with other offers customers will get. And coming via Masaba, this builds the hype around the Diwali season.
From curating a full-fledged Diwali campaign to a simple announcement, we’ve seen that everything works if it hits the right sentiments. For a festive occasion as big as Diwali, you can experiment with a lot of emotions and plan your campaigns as either funny, emotional, nostalgic, quirky, or wholesome. You can also use your campaign to make a social impact.
From curating a full-fledged Diwali campaign to a simple announcement, we’ve seen everything works if it hits the right sentiments. And micro-influencers can help brands genuinely tap the pulse of the audiences. Click To Tweet
Brands and agencies must understand that choosing the right emotion for the brand essentially means choosing the right emotion for your audience too. Thus, there should be no forced humour or marketing techniques where your brand could come across as pushy. Keeping these pointers in mind and choosing the right emotion can help your brand nail this festive season.