The IPL has come and gone, leaving behind many memories. Apart from the sporting action, what does linger in the mind is the huge marketing blitz it unleashes all around. For instance, it’s the IPL final on a Sunday and Twitter and FB posts on their picks for the day are ruling the roost. In fact, just below the ‘What’s in your mind’ tab on your FB page, there’s a line that reads, “IPL final: SRH vs RCB. Are you watching it?” Soon, Twitter too catches up with similar messages.
When viewed from a business perspective, IPL is surely a product that’s marketed well. Can we also deny the fact it is being force fed into our minds? Here’s the ‘X (brand name) Maxiumum for the day’ and ‘Y spectacular catch for the match’ are lines we often hear from the commentators. Good for the money-makers we say.
The IPL tournament is just another instance to show that brands today have so many avenues to ensure their target base knows ‘we’re happening’. Movies and cultural events of all genres have gone beyond stapled ‘bulk email’ option to thrust the product in one’s mind. ‘ Ki and Ka is releasing in theatres today, Have you watched it?’ is also an example of the way social media is doing it. Publicity and marketing experts are relying heavily on the ‘you’re missing out on this’ factor to ensure their product stays top of the mind.
Take the case of the push Bookmyshow has given to ‘products’. You would’ve wanted to catch The Jungle Book in theatres, but even before you click on the movies section in their website and the app, the promotion has already begun. How? In the little space provided to the ‘movies’, there were tree branches with the sign of Mowgli (without the name) to let you know that the film hits the screens later this week. A similar thing happened with the recent release Veerappan too, with the promotional image placed in the tab. These subtle hints grow on the users mind.
Then there’s in-film branding too, more prominent in Hindi films than the regional ones. The word ‘Nokia’ in Happy New Year , the mention of brands like ‘Stayfree’, ‘Saffola’ in Ki and Ka (no surprises there, with director Balki being a prominent ad-man) and the indirect hint that Brahmotsavam threw on the footwear in one of its posters, weren’t received so well.
For those who want to be more aggressive, your mobile app-download activity is the place to make their pitch; within no time you’d get a message to follow ‘Fasoos’ or ‘Swiggy’ on Twitter. These are part of ‘promoted’ tweets, which can be both dependent and independent of your usage activity.
The email-contacts-sync feature in your phone can be equally responsible to promote the ‘brand’, if it’s the same ID through you’ve registered in your social media accounts. The call log, the Google and social media searches too may be enough to track your trends and preferences of brands sometimes, though there may not be a definitive proof to this.
Selling a product might not be the only big thing in today’s times, it’s equally necessary to expose potential cutomers to these knacks that’ll help the brand be the ‘buzzword’. You are only giving yourself a window of hope, but who knows, that can also be the driving factor for your big leap !
