Facebook Diwali Ad: Depicting the power of Facebook Community
Updated: Mar 14, 2021
Brand:
Facebook
Agency:
Taproot Dentsu
Even though Diwali’s ended, I feel like I’m still in the zone of celebrations.
And a part of these celebrations is to celebrate amazing work done by brands.
I came across this communication on my LinkedIn feed, and the first thought that crossed my mind was- ah, the duration is too long!
I still clicked on it, and trust me- I couldn’t stop till the end.
I should call it a short film, instead of an ad campaign.
If you haven’t seen the video, go ahead and do that first, here
Advertising Background:
Facebook advertising in India, and that too so frequently, why?
They had this entire campaign of celebrations focussed around IPL, and continuing the same thought process, we have this video coming up.
It started off with a WhatsApp advertising campaign back in July 2020, which spread the message of staying connected.
A similar thought is highlighted here, though what’s the sudden need to advertise for Facebook?
The reason is quite simple, Facebook usage in India is growing by leaps and bounds.
We are the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size, with over 290 million users.
It’s an important part of all our lives, and hence the brand wants to highlight this emotion, by showcasing how by being a part of the large Facebook community, you can do ‘More Together’.
This Diwali communication is also a part of the same overarching theme, and it’s so relatable because a lot of us are already using Facebook in a similar manner.
Advertising Objective:
Let’s first understand the difference between Diwali 2020 and any other Diwali.
Covid-19 was responsible to bring in a lot of negativity, whereas a lot of brands tried to highlight the positives.
A lot of businesses were affected, while the large organizations are slowly recovering, the medium and small-sized organizations are still facing the brunt.
Many would’ve shut down their operations altogether, thereby a lot of workers lost their jobs, this same situation was highlighted in the Facebook Diwali Ad campaign.
The objective of this campaign was to highlight the importance of achieving a lot more when we work in communities.
Advertising Strategy:
This Diwali was different and hence your brand communication had to be different too.
What I love about this Facebook film is how smaller nuances, including the usage of the brand, are highlighted so beautifully that it almost makes you feel for the person.
It's not just centered around the current scenario, but the overall approach taken by the brand revolved around showcasing various efforts that people took to help each other in times of need.
We saw so many celebrities helping people out, the biggest example being that of Sonu Sood.
But Facebook highlighted the real warriors, people like you and me, who may not be financially secured themselves but are still willing to help out when in need.
And this strategy has helped create a stronger connection with the audience because the relatability quotient went up drastically.
The video acted as a journey to showcase how India has come a long way, fighting this pandemic through multiple meaningful ways.
I feel the video is also strategically motivating individuals to do their bit, so if I were to look at it from a non-branded content point of view, I’d still love the communication.
But the subtle brand pushes, work well- because the core message is still revolving around using Facebook as a medium to stay connected.
Advertising Execution:
Facebook collaborated with renowned ad filmmaker and director of the national award-winning film, Amit Sharma.
And maybe that is what contributed to the flawless execution, casting, storyline, the location, the scene switches, and just everything!
The story of Pooja’s resilience and her efforts to do something for the greater good, shows how there is something good within all of us, we just need that trigger to be pushed to do something.
Another part that I loved about the execution is how non-extravagant the whole feel was, yes it’s a Diwali ad but the feel throughout was to portray a real-life situation.
No fancy dressing style, no Diwali shenanigans, just real people, and real emotions!
In my opinion, it changed the perspective of how we can look at celebrating Diwali or any other occasion this year.
Advertising Results & Learnings:
Let’s look at the TME Ratings for this one-
Relevance – 10/10
Creativity- 9/10
Strategy- 9/10
TG Focus- 8/10
Impact- 10/10
Overall Rating: 9.2
Here are my top 3 learnings from this:
1. A brand no matter how successful, needs to stay connected to its target audience.
This whole need to advertise, for a brand like Facebook, was still something a lot of us couldn’t understand.
But that’s where the concept of brand love comes in, we feel even more connected to the brand usage with communication like this.
It just teaches us that advertising or rather marketing is not just for those brands who want to be known, it's also for those who are already pretty well-known.
2. Slice of life communication sells, and how!
I have spoken about this already, the more relatable your content is, the better it works.
However, I believe, this is also the most difficult to incorporate.
That is because to be able to develop that relatability, you need to know your consumers extremely well, what works or moves them- you need to know this and work accordingly.
3. Longer duration is hardly a problem if your content is amazing
I wasn’t as keen to check out the video given the duration, but all that was needed to just hit the play button and within a few minutes you were hooked.
Hooked to the extent that you want to see what happens next, you want to know how Pooja brings about a difference in the lives of those in need.
You want to see how these same people, help Pooja out in their own way.
So the duration hardly becomes a problem once you have your consumer hooked.
Conclusion:
It’s commendable for a brand like Facebook to bring in that right connection with Indian audiences.
Communication like this sets the bar high, and also acts as a reminder that no matter what the situation may be, humanity always stays strong!