Changing Nature of Ads In The Social Media Era

Advertisements have been a very important strategy for brands to promote their products, services and ideas. Over the years, ads have evolved. From tv commercials to digital campaigns, the dynamics of advertising have seen a sharp shift. While tv commercials were directed to a mixed audience and bigger groups, they were made in a subtle tone. On the other hand, social media campaigns cater to a more specific audience and therefore can be more artistic and bold.

Social Media and the changing advertisement dynamics

Most brands today have active social media accounts on various platforms and create engaging content on it. Since the pandemic, digital campaigns have become a go-to tool for brands to popularise themselves. These digital campaigns range from trending memes to humorous challenges laid out for the audience in order to increase engagement. 

From tagging people, using hashtags or creating videos, digital campaigns have gone to various lengths to create a strong brand image for the company. These campaigns have now started to bring in big names of the industry as a face to make it all the more impactful.

Social Media has truly changed the world by opening up newer avenues which would not have been possible otherwise. Digital campaigns are another offshoot of the social media impact that has benefited many companies tremendously putting them up on the corporate ladder.

Today we will speak about 4 digital campaigns that stole our hearts.

Birla Cement- Flag Without Colours 

Birla Cement, a successful venture of Birla Corporation, is a famous brand, especially in the northern and central parts of India. Their digital presence proves that even the biggest brands cannot remain untouched by the power of social media.

Also Read: The 2023 Most Influential Young Indians: GQ India’s Ultimate Game-Changers!

For the Republic Day Campaign, Birla Cement adopted a dual marketing strategy, both in person and online. The donated cement flag across blind schools in India with no colours on it, instead, Braille markings on it, which explained the different colours and their significance. This allowed the visually impaired students to enjoy the Republic Day Celebrations to the fullest.

A YouTube video also was prepared on the same lines which received immense love from the audience in the form of likes and shares.

The overwhelming video has more than 1 million views to it.

Swiggy- Voice of Hunger

A Food Delivery Company born out of the think tanks in Bangalore, Swiggy quickly rose to fame because of its user experience and the amount of convenience it offered. The marketing team at the corporation also needs to be credited for its fast-growing success, which has made Swiggy a household name.

In 2019, Swiggy released a digital campaign called “Voice of Hunger” and to date, this is one the most successful digital advertising to exist. Just when Instagram unveiled its voice-note feature, Swiggy followed it with this exciting campaign. They challenged people to use the voice note feature to create a waveform of their favourite food. Within 24 hours, they received more than 10000 entries.

Swiggy bagged 3 Bronze Lions at the Cannes Lion and a 2100% increase in traffic because of this digital campaign.

Uber- Art Day Campaign

The World Celebrated Art Day on April 15th and Uber India was too smart to miss this opportunity. Uber Auto, a service offered only in India, was made the base of its Art Day celebrations in India. Uber India collaborated with Aravani Art Project- a Transgender Led Artistic Platform to paint autos in Mumbai.

Ahead of “The Day”, Uber released consistent announcements on its official Instagram account to keep the people posted. It also worked with Comics like Aakash Gupta, Prashasti Singh and Aashish Solanki to make it more engaging.

Uber Auto, as an expression of Art, indeed won the hearts and trended on the charts.

Zomato – The ZoMAAto – ZoMAIto debate

Zomato, a food ordering and delivery app is known for its quirky Instagram Account. The Puns are epic and are sure to make you laugh out loud. They also partner with different brands to increase their visibility. From time to time, they bring in content creators from different fields to promote themselves. Their marketing game is so strong that “Zomato” is often used synonymously with ordering in and eating out. 

Their recent ZoMAAto- ZoMAIto debate has been trending and has forced people to pick sides. They also went ahead to cash on the 2008 Bhajji and Sreesanth fight where they are each seen picking a different pronunciation. They used viral video to highlight this debate and we are truly loving the magic this is weaving. 

Surely, the brands have transcended advertising boundaries and have adapted to the changing trends pretty well. We have understood, social media campaigns blended with other forms of advertising are a sure-shot trick to a successful marketing campaign.

Tell us in the comments below which is your favourite digital campaign and we might do a part 2 soon. 

BRB, the final round of ZoMAAto – ZoMAIto is happening now at the office.