Online backlash makes companies revisit brand strategy

Strong social media reactions shaped by factors such as festivals, ceremonies, religious beliefs and local customs are forcing brands and companies to revisit their product and marketing strategies in India. Story-telling techniques for product marketing and brands could take a beating for certain categories as a result and devising post-campaign response strategies is getting all the more critical now, marketers, advertisers and consultants said. Some felt the brand campaigns should be better managed and more "thought through" considering the reach of the digital mediums. Ceat Tyres, Dabur, Tata Cliq and Fabindia are among the latest in a line of brands to have received online backlash for their ad campaigns. Subhash Kamath, chairman of the board of governors of industry watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), said the ASCI has very well-established codes in place for a long time, and he does not see the need to create any specific guidelines for categories such as festival ads. Industry insiders expressed concerns about the rising online discontent concerning brand campaigns. "Currently, adverse social media reactions shaped by religious beliefs are forcing brands to revisit their product and marketing strategies. Somewhere it will affect the motivation for the next round of communication based on the backlash received. The story telling might take a beating for a certain genre of advertisers," said Amit Tripathi, MD of independent digital-first agency IdeateLabs. Varun Duggirala, co-founder and content chief at The Glitch, a WPP agency which has worked with companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Netflix, LinkedIn and Diageo, said the developments will lead to a lot more planning for response management post campaigns now. "How will brands respond to the negative comments and the narrative after the ads, there will be a lot more focus on that now. Brands will have to increasingly plan for the reactions before they go live," he added.Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO and co-founder of Gozoop Group, an independent advertising group across India and the Middle East, said it is unfortunate that there is a sharp rise in cancel culture and cyber bullying but brands are also equally responsible. Naqvi said some brands seem to be taking campaigns "too lightly" and are not thinking through enough. "Another reason could be to think of your customers only and not the larger audience which consumes your content which is not the right approach when it comes to digital," he added. Brand strategy expert Harish Bijoor concurred. "Most brands getting into trouble are the brands trying something different or woke. I think India as a market is too early for woke. When you try to push niche arguments to the masses, it will never win. It will take a niche channel to percolate it. This is where brands advertising for same-sex Karvachauth or no crackers on the streets fail ... the norm is crackers on the streets," he added. Fabindia pulled down its jashn-e-riwaz promo after severe online backlash recently. Consumer goods maker Dabur India apologised for its latest ad on Fem bleach which showed a same-sex couple fasting for each other on the festival of Karvachauth. While many social media users said they appreciate the ad for being inclusive and progressive, an equally large number of people said the ad was against the festival and hurt their religious sentiments. Some also equated the ad to promoting fair skin. "Our intention is not to offend any beliefs, customs and traditions, religious or otherwise. If we have hurt the sentiments of any individual or group, it was unintentional, and we apologise," Dabur posted on its twitter handle. A Tata Cliq festive ad drew the ire of some users who complained about the models in the ad not wearing bindi and wearing green outfits. Users called for boycotting Ceat Tyres following an Aamir Khan ad which urged users to not burst crackers on the roads.

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