A beacon of hope in the horizon

The Covid-19 wave brought the world to a standstill and sprung the wheels of the ever so growing digital marketing industry. On the lookout to produce fresh content, brands relieved their existing strategies to adopt the ways of the pandemic and launched relevant campaigns. It resulted in a massive social media transition as brands no longer fixated on operations and heavily invested in devising means for digital sustenance and social media growth. Brands could now see the possibility of generating revenue online by upscaling their strategies and shifting their crucial focus on the digital spectrum of the world.

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The lockdown saw an 87% increase in social media usage, and an average India retained up to four hours on both Facebook and WhatsApp. Brands were now able to target audiences that were way beyond their geographic scale. With more time on their hands, brands curated opportunities that were more customer-responsive and aggressive. With an increased audience and retention span, brands created a growing platform with every post, share, tag, and tweet.

And as things swing back to normalcy, people are more than ready to engage in festivities and welcome trends with open arms. The reluctance to participate is slowly vanishing as our present becomes clearer, steering away from any possibilities of another lockdown. The festive season in India is easily one of the most critical periods for marketers as customers heavily invest in brands and splurge relentlessly. This year, a wave of optimism is on a roll as people genuinely look forward to changing in their sluggish pace of life owing to the infinite lockdown everywhere.

Last year, Covid-19 caused a severe blow to brands in sales as people found ways to curb expenses due to their cuts in paychecks and the imminent rise in inflation. However, this season people are engaging in discretionary costs due to the increase in social commerce platforms that have given them the confidence to shop online easily. As a result, customers have become habituated to online shopping.

A survey reported that 82% of consumers shopped online at least once a month in the past six months, with 91% of Indian consumers planning to purchase more during the upcoming festive season. Brands have seemed to crack the code and brand themselves bigger, better, and bolder this festive season to capture all there is.

With families that were once estranged and now reuniting, brands are leveraging these customer sentiments to target audiences and instil a feeling of togetherness that was once lost amid the Covid carnage. The conversion of influencers to celebrities saw a rise due to an increase in online engagement by users. Brands are remarketing their resources under the influencer banner and are going heavy with influencer marketing. OTT Platforms had a considerable rise in data consumption, making these celebrities a customer favourite overnight.

Brands have cleverly used these celebrities as endorses for promotion with lucrative and engaging brand campaigns.

It will be interesting to see brands carve out different ways to get the Indian audience thrilled and excited for the festive season despite the horrors Covid-19 brought upon the world last year.

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