Streax plans to increase ad spends by 20%, influencer marketing to play key part

Hair care brand Streax, which portrays itself as a fashionable, young brand for the savvy Indian consumer, believes in a 360-degree marketing approach using multiple touch points — mainline, digital or on-ground —to reach out to potential users who resonate with it.

In an interaction with BuzzInContent, Ashish K Chhabra, Joint Managing Director, Hygienic Research Institute, talked about how apart from the mainline channels; content and influencer marketing is becoming an important part of its mix. The brand, he said, plans to increase its ad spends by 20%.

“We look at influencer associations from multiple angles depending on the brand strategy. For example, for new products, our objective revolves around increasing awareness and so the content is designed accordingly. Influencers also play a crucial role in providing product demonstrations and actual feedback, which is crucial in personal care products such as hair care. With social media being the driving force for effective and sometimes viral communication for brands, influencer marketing will continue to be a key element in our communication strategy, moving forward,” he said.

For its ‘Raho Streaxy With SRK’ music video, which talks about being as Streaxy as SRK, it associated with popular influencers such as Awez Darbar, Gauhar Khan and Rithvik Dhanjani.

‘Raho Streaxy With SRK’ music video:

Awez Darba for ‘Streaxy’:

These influencers showcased their own groovy dance iterations of the Streaxy hook step alongside SRK and called on their followers to show their Streaxy moves. The association with influencers with an objective to showcase the new Streaxy communication to the audience garnered over two million impressions and engagements.

This music also helped the brand grab the attention of its TG.

The 360-degree approach to release the music video across social media, press statements and Twitter saw an overwhelming response from SRK’s team. He also uploaded the same video across his social media handles, helping the brand garner more than 5.6 million views and engagements.

Chhabra said, “The launch of the music video on our own YouTube channel garnered over 8 million views along with Shah Rukh Khan’s own fan clubs re-sharing it on their pages.” 

Social media has changed the way consumers engage with brands online. Whether it is researching about a new product, skimming through reviews or checking out the opinions of their favourite celebrities, everything is done online. The internet is now a treasure chest of information and the first place of contact for consumers when it comes to researching products and services offered by brands.

He said the loyal followership of these influencers for their unique and niche content helps in grabbing attention of the brand’s target group, thus allowing Streax to connect with its potential customers. 

It focuses on viral platforms such as social media, OTT networks, influencer promotions (across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), Google Display Ads as well as traditional mediums such as television and print. It uses these channels, on national and regional levels, to promote its communication. 

On the ground level, it uses direct points of contact to engage with consumers — at a retail and marketplace level.

Chhabra said the brand is growing at a rate that is faster than the rest of the hair colour category average, and after the communication with Shah Rukh Khan, it expects a 20% increase in ad spends in the foreseeable future.

He believes the brand is fashion-forward and has always worked on offering differentiated products and propositions to its consumers. Its content plan is in line with its overall strategy of offering a different, entertaining and educating/training content for audiences, he said.

“Our content on social media and digital platforms shows the fun and stylish side of the brand. The choice of influencers is also in line with the brand image of being stylish and cool,” he added.

Acknowledging the reality and relevance of the changing dynamics of content consumption, it has adapted itself by taking up associations not only on TV, but also by having a fixed percentage of spends on OTT platforms over the last couple of years.

Such collaborations are great ways of engagement, he said. “Our strategy ahead would be to further increase the percentage of digital spends compared to TV communication,” he added.

Asked if it plans to associate with marquee properties such as IPL and  BiggBoss, he said that being one of the players in the FMCG market, consistency is key and it is essential that it drives communication to its customers, existing and potential alike, throughout the year. Therefore, it is certainly looking at taking up relevant properties skewed towards sustenance and frequency, he said.