10 best marketing campaigns of 2016 – India
We liked, shared and talked about some amazing marketing campaigns in 2016. 2016 also marked the year of devaluations, mergers, talks on unit economics, startup fund crunch and more. In the midst of all of this, we have shortlisted 10 marketing campaigns by Indian marketers that really stood out for us in 2016. It is obvious that there has been more amazing work done out there which we have missed out on covering in this blog. Please do share the same in the comments section below.
These top 10 shortlisted campaigns are not a function of popularity, views, “engagement” or the amount of media money spent on them. We have objectively looked at them and understood if they tick on all or most of the below questions
- Does it establish a positioning for the brand?
- Does it integrate the product/service USP seamlessly with the brand message?
- Does it establish a strong functional/emotional benefit for the end consumer?
- Does it stand on a strong consumer insight?
- Does it induce change in buying pattern or consumer behaviour?
- Does the creative do justice to the overall idea?
Based on above, we have our top 10 campaigns in no particular order.
Rajasthan Tourism – “Jaane kya dikh jaaye”
Rajasthan is a beautiful place. We have a strong product right there which is waiting to be marketed in the right fashion. There certainly seems to be a gap with the way we see Rajasthan compared to foreigners. While Rajasthan is ranked no. 5 among all Indian states in the number of foreign visits it is ranked at 10th place when it comes to domestic tourist visits. (2014 data). It was after 25 years that the state returned to tourism marketing and earmarked 100 crore budget for Rajasthan Tourism.
The below campaign strikes the right chord with a potential tourist to discover new experiences in a state which has a lot to offer. The campaign urges to discover Rajasthan and see it through your eyes to find something new and absolutely interesting. See it for yourself rather than us pointing out what is so great about it. It does this by telling stories of different protagonists, some turn out to be funny while others purely magical. The camel, sand animated logo, folk music in the background are all elements that make the state of Rajasthan which are integrated well in the creative to develop an obvious association.
Ariel India – #ShareTheLoad
P&G and HUL the two biggest FMCG companies are housing 2 detergent brands. It not only becomes difficult to have an extremely strong distinction from within but also to make sure that the consumer understands the difference. So while P&G’s Tide competes with HUL’s Rin at the same time P&G’s Ariel competes with HUL’s Surf Excel.
Ariel targets upper middle class segment who own washing machines and are willing to pay a premium for benefits like fragrance and color preservation.
In this light, Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad talks directly to it’s target audience. It talks to an audience that is changing with time and is progressive in a society that takes them for granted. A brand like Ariel is fairly known so this positioning and stand makes it stand out not only from cheaper substitutes but is also a fitting reply to the long running “Daag Acche Hai” – Dirt is good campaign of its closest competitor.
Paytm – Paytm Karo
Coming to the most talked about brand of 2016, Paytm. I remember being miffed with Paytm when they came out with their TV campaign – Paytm Karo. I said to myself, here comes another brand that so desperately wants to be a verb (Paytm Karo). There is nothing wrong in that ambition however, I felt it was too early for a brand to be taking this position.
Moreover, if you go back and see the brands that have become verbs or have replaced themselves with services they offer, then you will realize that it happened as a natural phenomenon and not because of any sort of push marketing.
“Facebooking”
“Google it”
“Xerox it”
“Call an Uber”
However, then came November 8, 2016, when Narendra Modi announced the war on black money by demonetizing all 500 and 1000 rupee notes and suddenly it all made sense for an upcoming startup to say “ATM Nahi, Paytm karo”.
We have got two words for you: Paytm Karo.
— Paytm (@Paytm) November 8, 2016
What usually takes an exceptional product, immense word of mouth, likability and years of consistent performance for a brand to reach the level where it is being used in common everyday language, Paytm was able to achieve it in few years.
Click below to view the ad
Madhya Pradesh Tourism- “MP mai dil hua bacche sa”
Another tourism ad but this one has been purely included because of its creative execution and also because of MP Tourism’s legacy of coming up with creative ways of showcasing Madhya Pradesh’s wonders regularly, one ad campaign after another. The below is what you get when you truly play and market on your product’s best differentiators. Stuck to the brief, did not try to oversell and scored full points on all creative aspects.
- You want to see the ad more than once
- You can easily recall the ad and differentiate from other tourism ads
Click below to view the ad
Swach Bharat Abhiyan – #DontLetHerGo
Sometimes the best ads are based on the simplest of insights. This was based on something that we have all learn in school but never really took it to heart – Cleanliness is next to godliness. This ad hits right at people’s conscience and brings out the inherent already existing fear of god in them. With some of the biggest stars backing Narendra Modi’s hero program for a cleaner India, this ad strikes the right chord. Watch to know more.
Click below to view the ad
Nike – Da Da Ding
This is an obvious inclusion in the list of all marketing campaigns that were released in 2016. This campaign was a marketer’s dream come true. It went viral, it created conversations and all of it was attributed to no one else but the brand. It had high risk of becoming a marketer’s nightmare where you make an ad so good that people forget which brand did it. However, having read enough case studies of the iconic 5 decade old brand which just needs a “swoosh” to recognize itself, this one was a masterstroke.
The timing was perfect with it coinciding with Rio Olympics. Women empowerment was a theme that was latched on by marketers this year and it struck the right chord with an absolutely vocal and receptive online audience.
For many this was a “finally” moment in the midst of regressive fairness cream ads. Historically, Nike has been talking to men and this one was a welcome change that encouraged the aggressive, raw spirit of women, encouraging them to take up sports, to “let’s go”.
Click below to view the ad
So much was the impact of this campaign that mashups were created to showcase the other majority of women that make up for India’s population but not necessarily users of Nike.
Click below to view the ad
Sulekha – #AntiJugaad
One of the most sincere and honest marketing campaigns of 2016. This campaign was also in the truest sense a complete 360 degree campaign with radio, outdoor and digital legs to it. As mentioned earlier, that the best ads always have the simplest of the insights, the one being here is the “chalta hai” attitude of Indians. Sulekha was in dire need of breaking its image from just another classified website and did an amazing job at associating itself with the be all and end all and simple solution to all your “jugaad” jobs with this entertaining creative.
Click below to view the ad
Another thing to note here is to decide what to say when you have too many things to say about your product. A lot of times brands lose focus in being too desperate to speak about each and everything that their product has to offer.
While the basic segmentation strategy is to identify who should your ad speak to in this diverse Indian population, the other thing very important to know, especially in complicated business categories like Sulekha is what to talk about.
For example : Sulekha offers real estate, education, home services, jobs and a lot of other services but from a business and communication point of view it was important to identify what is that one category that will get me the initial traction.
OLX – No More Dekhte Hain
This is a personal favorite. I have always looked up to campaigns by OLX because each of their ads either from communication perspective or from business strategy perspective had a very strong insight. It is difficult to become a household name of a service that just sells used goods. Although, to be fair, OLX had the liberty of having media budgets to reach where it has today, I feel from a creative perspective they have rarely gone wrong.
Jugaad, take it easy and laid back attitude that Indians have when it comes to spending money was exploited by many brands, OLX being one of them. We often want to adjust specially when it comes to selling old things and buying new stuff. We want to delay that as much as possible till the time it is absolutely necessary.
The below campaign takes that insight forward and urges you to change your behavior. Again a beautiful marriage of creative insight meets consumer needs.
Click below to view the ad
Google Maps – #LookBeforeYouLeave
We always used to wonder, why would Google need any sort of marketing. Here we are seeing ads by Google on TV. A lot of companies have realized what India brings to the table and Google obviously was not the one to stay back.
However, more than selling, Google ads are more about consumer education. Google Maps have become integral to people’s lives. It is a life saver in many occasions. It has become difficult to navigate through the city. It has made people more independent. It is the reason why the top valued companies in the world like Ola and Uber are able to function smoothly.
There is no doubt that Google Maps is a stellar product and there is dire need of more education around it. With the 2 set of creatives below, Google brings in situations which brings India to a halt and a product like Maps can come in handy urging and encouraging an already prevalent behavior of checking traffic on Google Maps before you leave for anywhere important.
With a simple product oriented copy and seamless integration of the product, this one is a winner!
Click below to view the ad
Click below to view the ad
Bajaj V – Everyday Pride
This has been included not because of the campaign, but the sheer masterstroke of an idea of the product itself which will sell on its own when done the right way. Bajaj was smart to realize that they have a winner at hand the moment they decided to make a bike out of the steel of iconic INS Vikrant that served in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Usually, product gives birth to a marketing idea but things went other way round here and it worked!
Click below to view the ad
For a value buyer like me, apart from the initial euphoria of owning a piece of something historic, the question will boil down to basics and practical questions like power, speed, mileage, engine. However, the bike was not made for buyers like me. It was made for people who want to look beyond these factors. Who dont want something sporty, yet dont want something too basic for their image. Bajaj gave them a chance to own a bit of history and take pride in that, everyday.
Within 2-3 months of its launch, Bajaj V was not only averaging at 25k bikes per month but Bajaj had also increased its overall market share in the premium commuter 125cc+ segment. The bike was priced around Rs. 65000.
Click below to view the ad
What do we know? What have we learnt?
- A good ad, at times stems from simply knowing the best features of your product from a consumer’s lens.
- A brand needs to look beyond functional benefits after a point to influence its TG.
- Marketing needs to close to the business objectives. The goal should be to become the revenue center than a cost center.
- A marketing idea can at times lead to new feature generation which will not only result in new business but also great creative outcomes.
- Gone are the days when we were fixated on brand awareness, recall, share of voice. All marketing campaigns need to aim at changing consumer behavior, induce action, change buying pattern in the long or short term.
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