“How’s the Josh?” seems to be a particularly popular phrase that is making the rounds now. A number of Indian brands are leveraging this phrase by unionising it with the on-going surgical strikes and Indo-Pak affairs. But the question is – how effective is this?

The posts above are not examples of brands that have used real-time marketing effectively. They do not particularly exude positivity. Brands should not show emotions of vengeance by mistaking it for patriotism. This creates an unpleasant atmosphere for the consumer. It is important to keep your target audience in mind and weave the communication in a way that is relevant to the brand as well as the audience. Above are examples of brands that have used real-time marketing inefficiently.

Moment marketing strategy is a way to create real-time engagement with consumers. This is proving to be beneficial in creating traction and attracting attention towards the brand. However, this strategy is nothing new for Indian brands. It has been used in content marketing for years now – Amul being the prime example. Amul has the wittiest and most spontaneous reactions to real-time incidents. The brand has had an opinion on nearly every big event that this nation has witnessed – from demonetisation to the Ranveer-Deepika wedding, they have covered it all!

It is important, however, to understand your target audience and make these real-time incidents relevant to your brand. The creatives should not look mismatched and be created just for the sake of it. Few brands that have used real-time marketing or moment marketing in the best way possible are Paytm (for demonetisation), Durex (death of Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy), NASA (Oscar win for the movie ‘Gravity’), among several others.

Final thoughts: Real-time marketing is the best way to market products and services. Looking at all the above examples, these brands have scored with their timely content. Content is king but timely content is even better in this growing digital world of ours. Being in sync with what’s trending on social and creating content that breaks the monotony of the brand’s social marketing plan, are two essential things that will help the brand grow and keep the buzz going.