When you think of all the time the writer takes to create a “quick repartee” in literature, you cannot help but wonder if it was all that “quick” after all! However, when you read the Metaphysical poets or Shakespeare you are amazed at the available “wit on demand”. I would like to compare that with “Marketing at the Moment” or “Moment Marketing”. Marketing at the moment is exactly what it says. It usually pertains to making use of an important international/national event, topical political news or current affairs to market your brand. Your wit and speed in this kind of marketing is directly proportional to the popularity of your campaign. Let’s break that down a little.
So when you are following the World Cup and you happen to see a really witty post from a brand, tying itself to a player being bowled out two seconds ago, you get the same feeling of awe as when you read Shakespeare’s word play. But in reality in both cases the strategy has been thought of and planned and rightly so. A thorough planning must always precede moment marketing campaigns. To do that there a few steps one must follow.
While the meticulous planning within the marketing budget of a firm allows varied platforms such as advertising, events, public relations to be used; moment marketing is a miraculous solution for brands to stay relevant to their followers and reach them instantly. It gives the brand an identity that people can relate to and have a dialogue with. Twitter itself has made it really easy by publishing this quick tutorial.
To become a brand to reckon with in the sphere of moment marketing one must lay down:
- The occasions that is relevant to itself
- The reasons that those occasions are relevant and what it wants to achieve from it
- Create hypothetical situations that might occur during the occasion or its outcome and be prepared with its content hence
- Use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to help you keep your ears closer to the ground
- Be prepared for situations not anticipated
- Be ready with answers
- Be active and keep communicating or else you will be forgotten soon
One great example of a brand that does this brilliantly in India is Amul. Below are a few examples:
Then again there are always things that one shouldn’t do. Pertaining to Moment Marketing:
- Don’t do it for the heck of it
- Don’t do it without a strategy and without being prepared to answer live questions
- Try not to be demeaning or inappropriate
There are examples of how companies failed at moment marketing and the campaign backfired to make them look monstrous! I remember one such instance in 2012 when Kitchen Aid tweeted an insensitive comment about Barack Obama’s late grandmother after he mentioned her during a presidential debate. The person responsible was fired but the brand had already suffered an irreparable damage.
Get in touch with us to know more about how you can incorporate Moment Marketing into your planning and execute it like Shakespeare! You might just live the life of a legend for a while.
About the Author
Kriti Mukherjee – Project Director
Kriti is a solutions-focused Marketing & Communications Professional with proven success in not only revenue performance, but also in customer service, satisfaction and retention. As a marketer, her work has traversed concept, strategy, tactical implementation and ROI management. When she isn’t working, Kriti likes to daydream, read, drink martinis and listen to music. Mail her at kriti@inception.net.in
