From Trend Tide to Brand Ride: Mastering the Art of Moment Marketing

Brands are increasingly riding the moment tide to build recall and recognition for themselves. Is it a fad or a sustainable opportunity?

Fevicol seized the Coca-Cola Ronaldo controversy with this brilliant ad

During a press conference before Portugal’s Euro 2020 match against Hungary on June 14, 2021. Christiano Ronaldo, removed two bottles of Coca-Cola from the view of the cameras and replaced them with a water bottle, muttering “Coca-Cola” with an undertone of disgust. He then held up the water bottle and said “Agua” in Portuguese, urging people to drink water instead of Coca-Cola. The incident caused a massive loss of finances for Coca-Cola, with share prices dropping and wiping off about USD 4 billion from their brand value. Well, this story is only half of the Fevicol story that subsequently ensued. Fevicol, the renowned adhesive brand which is known for its witty ads seized this moment by putting its own ad in media which showed two Fevicol cans in a similar setting as that of the Coca-Cola with the heading — Na Bottle Hategi, Na Valuation Ghategi (Neither the bottle will be removed, nor the valuation will drop).

Na Bottle Hategi, Na Valuation Ghategi

As brands constantly strive to connect with their target audience in real-time while trying to break the message clutter in the market, Moment (Topical) Marketing can be an effective tactic to gain traction among the audience.

What is Moment Marketing?

Moment Marketing refers to the practice of capitalizing on current events, trends, or cultural moments to create relevant and timely marketing campaigns. It involves seizing (momentary) opportunities and delivering tailored messages that align with the audience’s interests and emotions, thus helping brands build awareness, salience and often loyalty in a cluttered market. The Moment Marketing phenomenon can be explained using the 4C approach based on — Catch, Connect, Converse, and Convert.

• Catch: Know where your audience is, and expose them to the most contextual and engaging content around the moment being captured
• Connect: Brands are able to connect with their audience at a level which is fun, relevant and contextual. This brings the audience’s attention to the brand as it piggyrides on the moment.
• Converse: Once the brand has been able to build a connect, it expects to start conversation with the audience. This is the stage where a lot of user generated content is created, For example, promoted as well non-promoted hashtags, comments, posts, and likes etc. This is also the stage where the communication goes from B2C and C2B towards C2C. This enables the brand to build trust and credibility among the audience.
• Convert: By effectively mazing through connect and converse, the brands are able to convert the audience into customers or believers as they win customer’s trust and confidence.

Amul has by far being the leader in running moment marketing campaigns in India

Five-step Process Funnel for Moment Marketing

Despite being really effective in breaking the message clutter for brands, there are no prescriptive frameworks that guide brands to adopt Moment Marketing. This article presents a five-step check-list to plan and execute Moment Marketing campaigns for brands.

• Know Your Brand: Understand your brand’s identity, values, ethos, personality, offerings, and target audience. This knowledge serves as the foundation for crafting relevant and impactful campaigns.
• Identify the Moment: Explore various sources such as sports, entertainment, politics, global events, trends, news, days, and festivals to identify relevant moments that align with your brand and target audience.
• Have a Goal: Define your objectives and determine what you want to achieve through moment marketing. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or building customer engagement, clarity of goals is essential.
• Distribution Channel: Choose the most suitable distribution channels based on your goals, target audience, budget, and overall marketing strategy. This could include social media platforms, email marketing, influencer collaborations, or real-time advertising.
• Key Success Metrics: Monitor key performance indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of your moment marketing campaigns. These metrics may include goal metrics, audience engagement, sentiment analysis, and tracking negative comments to make necessary adjustments.

Brands tapping on the six 6s that Yuvraj Singh hit in a match against England in ICC T20 World Cup in 2007

Challenges in Moment Marketing

While Moment Marketing presents significant opportunities, there are also potent challenges that brands must navigate through. These include the risk of coming across as insensitive, being perceived as insincere with the moment, and appearing opportunistic. Brands must exercise caution and ensure that their campaigns align with their core values and resonate with their audience while avoiding controversies and negative backlash.

Surf Excel’s campaign trying to tap on Holi Festivities was perceived as insensitive by a section of society. Similarly, Pepsi’s ad on Black Lives Matter was adjudged insincere and had to be taken down by PepsiCo.

American Apparel’s ad for offering discount to people ‘bored’ of a deadly storm that affected lives and livelihood was considered as opportunistic by various sections of people

Conclusion

Moment Marketing has emerged as a dynamic and effective tool for brands in India to break clutters and place product in the midst of a bigger ongoing moment. By connecting with their audience, initiating conversations, and converting them into customers or believers, brands can make a lasting impact using Moment Marketing.