How entertainment revolutionised brand marketing
"Deshi Nagad ey Beshi Labh" or "Payment diben bKashe"
Taglines like this get stuck in one's mind and draws them to the product, subconsciously. Brands have carefully picked up some successful formulas to enter the hearts of Gen-Z consumers.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. From peppy jingles to popular sitcoms- they have incorporated elements from pop culture to reach their target audience.
Popular brands like- Daraz, Foodpanda, bkash and Nagad- have discovered the powerful tool of digitisation and went on to realise that entertainment is the fastest route to promote their official campaigns.
We talked to representatives of some popular brands to decipher their marketing strategies and how such promotions help to boost their official campaigns.
Daraz
From "Daraz 12/12 campaign" to Rafsan Sabab's popular reality show "What a Show" – Daraz has created a market where they have used popular faces like Shakib Khan, Tahsan, Tasnia Farin, Salman Muqtadir and others to reach their youth demographic.
Their target audiences are mostly aged between 18 and 45 years, who can easily access anything with their smartphones. When celebrities or influencers promote their content online they can reach a wide spectrum of clients.
"Content promoted by celebrities or influencers have reached around 3.4 million people. This demonstrates the propensity of target consumers and their urge to follow celebrities and influencers," said a Daraz spokesperson.
During their campaign seasons, Daraz utilises the popular faces from both Dhallywood and social media to boost their sales. One of their strategies involves Facebook Lives, where celebrities interact with fans while giving away gifts and prizes to promote the brand by engaging with a potential consumer pool.
"Facebook Lives send notifications to the followers, increasing the likelihood of more views, which increases Daraz's online visibility. The most interacted live video for this year's 12.12 Daraz sale was Shakib Khan's live, which yielded 150,000 views in a mere 30 minutes of its airing," said the Daraz official.
Daraz is heavily involved with influencer marketing and most of the campaigns involve a large number of influencers partnering with the brand for their content.
"With our core brand vision of 'uplifting communities through the power of commerce', we are constantly supporting influencers from all spheres ranging from the micro-level emerging influencers to mega celebrities. We have trained more than 100 micro-influencers through the School of Influencers programme, and 10 of them have joined Daraz as affiliates," said the representative.
Daraz also has a popular reality show called "What a Show" hosted by Rafsan Sabab. The show was launched in 2019 and was influenced by western late-night talk shows, particularly Jimmy Fallon's programme.
The clippings of the shows went viral over social media as fans were in awe of the antics of their popular stars. The episodes featured stars such as Sariful Razz, Bidya Sinha Mim, Nusraat Faria, and Siam Ahmed, among others.
"I started hosting shows in my college days. I wanted to pursue an anchoring career when I was at University. Having hosted different forms of shows, I loved the power that a live audience brings. Hence, I created 'What a Show' to break away from the common pattern of talk shows in Bangladesh. Jimmy Kimmel, Fallon, and Ellen worked as inspirations. The audience embraced the show as the most refreshing and entertaining talk show in the local scene," said Rafsan.
The popular host also said he got a sense of freedom and liberty while working with the e-commerce site.
"Working with Daraz has been very empowering for me since I had the scope to pitch my ideas and was allowed the freedom to some degree. In a way, Daraz and I shared a middle ground and were on the same page with a majority of the ideas. This ensured a smooth and successful path for both parties in our collaboration," added Rafsan.
Another social media influencer whose life changed after working with Daraz is Bushra Kabir.
"After I came back to Bangladesh from Australia, I started my career in an agency. After a while, I decided to quit my job and proceed further with my blogging career. Daraz was one of the first brands I initiated a campaign with," said Bushra.
"Daraz helped me get a lot of exposure in the country. I was approached by many other brands directly after my affiliation with Daraz," she added.
Last year, the e-commerce platform concluded its 12.12 campaign. Just like last time, they have brought in celebrities and social media influencers to boost their sales.
"The promotions conducted by influencers and celebrities during this grand sale not only boosted the sales but also created a positive perception of Daraz. This was made possible due to the engaging posts by the key leaders throughout the campaign," said a Daraz representative.
"Compared to 2021, significant growth can be seen in the unique visitors (UV) parameter in 2022. In 2021 the UV number was 95,483, which jumped to 155,788 in 2022. The Mega Live Performances on social media platforms like Facebook have significantly helped the growth of overall engagements as well."
"In terms of unique likes, there was an increase of almost 45,000 likes compared to 2021, and the number of unique comments has more than doubled in 2022 with almost 85,000 unique comments, compared to 2021 when around 40,000 unique comments were made," added the representative.
Foodpanda
Foodpanda is known for creating vibrant and eye-catching campaigns and advertisements. The company has used a variety of mediums such as television, print and online advertising to create awareness about its brand and services over the years. The company uses humour, relatable scenarios and celebrity endorsements to connect with its target audience.
Recently, one of their commercials, featuring rapper Towfique Ahmed, has been widely appreciated.
"People have started calling me the 'Foodpanda rapper' since the commercial went on-air. There has been not a single negative comment about the commercial. Initially, I was only supposed to act in it, but eventually, I ended up rapping. The advertisement has been beautifully designed in colourful backdrops so that the Gen-Z audience gets drawn towards it," said Towfique.
Foodpanda is careful when it comes to sponsoring content on television. Their prime goal is to ensure that they can reach their target audience effectively.
"Foodpanda wants to be present at all the passion points that our consumers love - music, movies, sports and topical trends. We want to embed ourselves as a part of their busy and happening lifestyles so we build our campaigns around that." said Manisha Safiya Tarek, Head of Marketing, Foodpanda.
Most of the time, the brand sponsors dramas on digital platforms rather than on television. However, during Eid or other holidays, they sponsor Eid special tele-fictions like Vicky Zahed's "Bhul Jonmo". The brand also sponsored an Eid special song by social-media influencer Keto Bhai in 2020.
While they get to reach a certain target audience through TVCs and online programmes, they have also been sponsoring concerts like "Headbangers Paradise" in Chittagong and "November Rain 2021".
All the concerts we sponsored after the COVID-19 pandemic got good responses from our target customers.
Foodpanda has its own original series 'For The Love of Food' which showcases celebrities cooking live. Another popular series by the brand is 'Heroes of Foodpanda', where the riders and restaurant owners showcase how Foodpanda has impacted their lives.
Bkash
It was simple story, where a young daughter teaches her father to use the bKash app. The commercial did not have an overly-decorated backdrop. What it did have was the realistic performance by Sabila Nur and KS Firoz, which succeeded in touching the hearts of the audience.
"Working with Daraz has been very empowering for me since I had the scope to pitch my ideas and was allowed the freedom to some degree. In a way, Daraz and I shared a middle ground and were on the same page with a majority of the ideas. This ensured a smooth and successful path for both parties in our collaboration"
"I am really happy that I was able to perform with Firoz uncle in this commercial directed by Piplu R Khan. After the commercial was aired, many people asked me whether he was my real father or not. He was such a humble and nice person. Unfortunately, we lost him to COVID. That was the time I realised how much people felt closer to the story and how they became emotionally tied to that scene," said Sabila.
If one pays attention, one can see how bKash commercials emphasise on a rural story of the everyday lives of the common people. This is because their target audiences are all around the country, from farmers to small business owners.
"bKash is an app which is used by the masses. The main motive of this app is to reach people. Fortunately, we were able to show how bKash is easy to use and that anybody can access it through the commercial. I hope that bKash keeps on creating content with beautiful concepts and narration," said Sabila.
Apart from commercials, bKash is also putting a great deal of emphasis on entertainment-based products to reach the youth.
"People's media consumption behaviour is going through a paradigm shift as they move towards digital content. To better connect with the customers in a more relevant way, bKash often sponsors some content like drama, film, and shows on music and sports," said Mir Nawbut Ali, chief marketing officer of bKash.
Another popular initiative by bKash is "Dhaka sessions", which has successfully run for five seasons. Its unique concept grabbed the attention of fans, who were able to watch their musicians perform live at Bookworm Bangladesh.
Popular bands like Cryptic Fate, Nemesis,
and the Imran Ahmed Trio have performed in Dhaka Sessions. It also featured emerging artists to help them reach a broader audience base.
Dhaka Session's producer, Chotu Khan also conducted multiple interviews with celebrities like Suborna Mustafa under the initiative.
bKash also sponsored Bongo BOB (based on books) drama series comprising two seasons, which included Afran Nisho's "Prayoshchitto" and Bangladesh's first ever interactive web series "Chol."
"bKash is relentlessly working to usher in an inclusive ecosystem of digital transactions and to democratise the payment industry. One of the recent TV advertisements, 'Payment hok bKash-e' has hooked audiences of all ages and gathered a massive response as it has portrayed the convenience of bKash payment and increased digital literacy among the customers. This musical creation has resonated with a wide number of audiences," added Mir Nawbut Ali.
Nagad
Almost all of the commercials by Nagad feature some of the most popular faces of the entertainment industry, including Chanchal Chowdhury, Mosharraf Karim, Nusraat Faria, Omar Sani, Dipjol, and Ziaul Hoque Polash. Through these TVCs, they try to connect with people from remote areas of the country.
"Foodpanda wants to be present at all the passion points that our consumers love - music, movies, sports and topical trends. We want to embed ourselves as a part of their busy and happening lifestyles, so we build our campaigns around that." -
"All the names that you have stated are artists who have become household names through their excellent performances. By working with them, we want to affiliate ourselves with their 'household' image. Brands are usually an extension of human beings. If people see that we have a strong relationship with stalwart actors like Chanchal Chowdhury and Mosharraf Karim, we will get to establish ourselves as a brand for the common people," said Indraneel Chattopadhyay, director of brand & creative communication at Nagad.
Nagad has also produced a lot of popular dramas, including Ziaul Faruq Apurba and Sabila Nur starrer "Breaking News," Afran Nisho and Mehazabien starrer "Raja", and Rafiath Rashid Mithila and Musfiq R Farhan starrer "Baba o Amra". As a brand, they have invested a lot in entertainment programmes.
Ziaul Hoque Polash aka Kabila of Kajal Arefin Ome's "Bachelor Point" has a massive fanbase. The actor's Nagad commercial has become viral as it was aired just days before his marriage.
"Nagad commercials are very well written and witty. It feels like I am simply connecting with my fans through the commercial. There was this line in the advertisement where I say that I hope to get married in the Bangla month of Magh. Some of the viewers believed that. Funnily enough, I tied the knot with my wife Nafisa before Magh on December 16," said Polash.
The actor also addressed Nagad's popularity in the rural areas of our country.
"Nagad's target audiences are based in the rural areas of the country. Whenever I visit any such area, locals or tea stall owners would repeat the brand's tagline 'Nagad ey aschi' and that makes my day," said Polash.
Apart from TV commercials, Nagad also emphasises online campaigning as well. When asked whether Nagad can solely rely on online campaigning or not, Indraneel asserted that mere online campaigns are not enough to reach their target audience.
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