Moment marketing gone wrong: A quick tactical post is the worst way of doing it - Experts

The break-neck speed at which events happen and are made viral on social media have led to a rush among brands and agencies in being the first to capitalise on the ‘moment’ and come up with some campaign highlighting the issue at hand. An equivalent of Breaking News on television, ‘Breaking Ads’, aka moment marketing, have become a part of marketers’ arsenal to tap into a current event/ occasion/ issue that is gaining traction on social media.

While quite a few brands get it right and win the moment with their moment marketing campaigns, there are some for whom things go horrible wrong and they end up getting flak and criticised in their haste to win the moment.

A latest in the series of moment marketing fail is an ad by Bombay Shaving Company, which sought to join the conversation on a UP school board topper and the uncalled for attention to her facial hair. Bombay Shaving Company drew a lot of flak for being insensitive and unethical in their bid to capitalise on this sensitive issue.

As stated by Naresh Gupta, Co-Founder, Bang in the Middle, “Topical posts by definition will sound like doing a quick tactical post. That’s the worst way of doing it.”

Cautioning against jumping into the fray without serious thought, Arneeta Vasudeva, National Head, PR&I, Ogilvy India, stressed, “It is important to weigh your options carefully. As they say, you don’t bat every ball; similarly, prioritize addressing sentiments that demand intervention.”
Avoiding the viral trap

Prashanth Kumar, Chief Digital Officer, Infectious Advertising, said, “Like someone once said, there’s a lot of clarity in hindsight! I wish that as marketers we had the ability to predict how audiences would react. To what they might take offence or what might alienate them. But this is a complex area that isn’t always apparent.  Navigating moment marketing amidst evolving societal values requires a blend of sensitivity, foresight, and agility. Staying informed about the changing values is critical. As is being aligned with the long-term brand values. But most importantly, brands need to ensure that they are contextually relevant. Nothing can be worse than trying to force-fit a brand into conversations where it doesn’t naturally fit.”

According to Naresh Gupta, “The hardest thing for a brand to do is create topical posts that are relevant for the brand. Purely from a strategic perspective, the brand has to work hard to find the right connection between the brand and the trending topic and then find a way to be differentiated and memorable. Agencies get more time to create point of sale material than they get to create a topical post. The reality of our times is that a well done topical post is rarely remembered but a badly created topical post lives forever and will be a part of news cycles for a long time. All this is not good for the brand.”

“Today, the consumers pay attention to ads that are intrusive and engage them. Every time a brand archives that, the topicality works for the brand. But when the message is wrong, the brand will pay the price,” he added.

Course correction

Lloyd Mathias, Angel Investor & Business Strategist, listed some key checks and balances to get the moment marketing strategy right:

• Comment on a topic or a trend if your brand has a relevant point of view and the topic itself is relevant to your category and audience. Stay authentic. Get the timing right.
• Don’t get snide or snarky and never capitalize any person or group's discomfiture. Be sensitive.
• Avoid sensitive topics that can flare up and topics that have political/ religious/ political overtones.
• Ensure that your moment marketing efforts comply with legal and ethical standards.

Prashanth Kumar added here, “A course-correction strategy necessarily requires a rebuild of the trust between the brand and its audience. Their evolving perceptions and consequent feedback play a vital role in how the brand responds. And since it is trust we are talking about, it is bound to take time and sustained effort. When brands prioritise transparency, adaptability, empathy and demonstrate a spirit of continuous improvement, they can easily navigate the complex world of ever-changing social norms.”