Collaboration with digital platforms and influencers delivers maximum ROI, says Vidyut Kaul of Philips India

Brands often try to make the most of occasions such as Father’s Day to promote their products and create something to stand out in the clutter.

Philips India in their Father’s Day campaign has managed to do that by bringing out a different aspect of a father-son relationship.

While a father and son may share immense love and respect, they find it difficult to express that bond. Philips India brings out this dimension in its campaign, #KhulKeBolo, to promote the Phillips OneBlade razor.

Vidyut Kaul

Vidyut Kaul, Head, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent, said the campaign aims to capture the awkwardness that often inhibits the father and the son from expressing their feelings for each other.

As part of the campaign, they have created a video in partnership with TVF, featuring Abhilash and Dhairya from Aspirants. The nine-minute video depicts how the gift of Philips OneBlade and a game of Never Have I Ever leads to a special moment between a father and son.

“Fathers are the real-life heroes in their children’s lives, the inspiration behind their actions and one of the most influential figures in their upbringing. The thought behind this initiative came from the insight that even though they share a special bond, it is difficult for them to express their love for each other. Fathers typically shy away from showing love and affection to their sons and vice versa. The campaign #KhulKeBolo brings to life moments from everyday lives while exploring the nuances of their relationship. It encourages people to express their emotions through words and small gestures, which go a long way,” he said.

To promote the product, it has taken on board celebrity influencers on Instagram. Kaul said they chose this route for the campaign because influencer marketing has proven to be credible in the past and it helps them build the personal connection, which is integral today like never before, as people stay at their homes in complete isolation.

“Today more than ever, brands want to remain connected and engage with their consumers. In this era of social media, brand-influencer collaborations help to capture customer attention and brand-specific audience. We at Philips want to be connected with our larger audience, create buzz around our product proposition subsequently, and this is where we integrate influencer marketing into our brand strategy. We have made use of digital platforms and influencer collaborations to come up with engaging content for the consumers and make them a part of our journey through various campaigns. This form of marketing gives the best return on investment and helps to reach new and larger audiences. It builds social trust and increases brand recall value,” he said.

While several brands bring out campaigns around Father’s Day, what helped this one to stand out was its emotional appeal and relatability. The videos seemed straight out of the influencer’s daily life and it is something that we all experience in our lives as well. The gentle sprinkling of emotions and the open display of love shown by the celebrities and their fathers make it more enticing to watch it. What makes it even more endearing is the special appearance of their fathers in the video post — either physically or virtually on a video call. This would especially interest the followers as it gives them another glimpse into the celebrities’ real lives. 

“The key to a successful campaign lies in the content that is created and how it is presented in a way that is clutter breaking. Our marketing strategies are a reflection of our brand’s proposition and vision, which lies in being authentic with our audience. We believe that the content should strike a chord with the audience and connect with them. Through #KhulKeBolo, we wanted to focus on what this occasion is truly about – celebrating and expressing love to the men who helped raise us. We aimed to show another outlook and point of view of the relationship between the father and son. It focuses on the thought of how fathers and sons can better express their love and affection for each other and create simple yet cherished moments in their lives. The campaign is quirky, relatable for everyone and prompts the need to express one’s feelings, however awkward it may be,” said Kaul.

The videos are in a long-form format wherein they have a storyline, keeping the audience hooked till the end.

For a successful influencer marketing campaign, it is essential to select the right set of influencers who can put to life the brand’s messaging and create content relevant for the target audience. The brand has onboarded a whole host of male influencers to promote the campaign—Mridul Madhok, Vaibhav Keswani, Varun Verma, Rithvik Dhanjani, Vipul Juneja, Shakti, Raghav Gogia, Aparshakti Khurana, Sumeet Vyas, Sunil Grover, Jatinn J, Aly Goni, Jay Bhanushali, Zaid Darbar among others.

Speaking on the choice of influencers, Kaul said, “It is important to pick out influencers who are effective, engaging, authentic and appropriate to be the brand’s face. We take into consideration the content created by them in the past, metrics that can help us determine their popularity and impact. For Philips, it is crucial that we are able to convey the brand's vision and messaging through them.”

All these influencers have relevant target audiences and have a good reach. They create authenticity for the product. Despite there being several videos for this campaign, no two videos are the same. Each influencer has created a unique video bringing in a personal touch. This ensures the campaign looks organic and not scripted. However, all the videos have the same central message that it is not difficult to express your love for your father and we can all do it in our own special ways.

For example, Aparshakti Khurana in his video engages in humorous banter with his father and ends the video with a few lines that they have written for each other.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Aparshakti Khurana (@aparshakti_khurana)

Sumeet Vyas delivers a dialogue written by his father and then expresses his gratitude to his father for giving him the gift of writing.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Sumeet Vyas (@sumeetvyas)

Vatsal Sheth plays the flute to wish his father.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Vatsal Sheth (@vatsalsheth)

According to data provided by content marketing agency Sheeko, the influencer-driven campaign has reached more than 7.5 million people at a media value pegged around Rs 50-60 lakh.

Sheeko Brandscore graph of the brand’s performance on Instagram over one year:

From Sheeko’s brand score activity graph, it is visible that Philips did a campaign during the first week of June to spread awareness on mental health with celebs such as Dia Mirza, Sonu Sood, Tamannah Bhatia, etc., which helped them in gaining a reach of more than 40M.