The sweet spot in brand integration is yet to be cracked, say Gautam Reghunath and PG Aditiya of Dentsu Webchutney

Dentsu Webchutney turned out to be the underdog of the Indian communications and marketing industry at the recently concluded Cannes Lions Festival of creativity. Unlike a few previous years, this year India won very few metals and Webchutney came out like a face-saver by fetching the highest metals from India. The agency’s user-generated content campaign ‘The voice of hunger’ for Swiggy won one silver and two bronze at the world’s biggest advertising festival.

BuzzInContent.com caught up with  the people behind the campaign -- PG Aditiya, ECD, Dentsu Webchutney and Gautam Reghunath, EVP and Branch Head, Dentsu Webchutney -- to talk about the nitty-gritty's of UGC campaigns, use of influencers in content marketing and the space shaping up in India.

Marketers often use incentives to lure consumers to generate content, which is the reason behind UGCs not working well. “Expecting incentives alone to do the trick is part of the reason why a large chunk of UGC-centric campaigns doesn’t click. Voice of Hunger asked something new out of users; hence the incentive was something a user can use as a reason or excuse to do something out-of-the-ordinary,” the duo said.

While India is continuously upping its game in the content marketing and branded content space, the line is also continuously blurring between content marketing and advertising agencies. Aditiya said, “There’s a lot that traditional ‘advertising’ across mediums can learn from the rules of content marketing and vice-versa. Content marketing agencies might lack on the brand understanding and brand fit front, and traditional ‘advertising’ agencies might restrict themselves with the rules of a pre-defined brand world. Learning from each other’s strengths is potentially the need of the hour.”

There is a long way to go for the industry to get the content marketing game right. Reghunath added, “The sweet spot in brand integration in content is yet to be completely cracked. Metrics wise, how do different forms of content marketing add to a larger marketing framework to deliver specific KPIs? I doubt too many of us have answers to that yet. Plus, like the gaming market, the sheer amount of content and the number of players creating that is huge across industry verticals: making ‘breaking clutter’ that much harder.”

Excerpts:

Can UGC be generated and also be worthy without any contests and offers attached to it?

Aditiya: Yep, it can. If the nature of the interaction and expected UGC is organically attractive to the user. But expecting incentives alone to do the trick is part of the reason why a large chunk of UGC-centric campaigns don’t click. Voice of Hunger asked something new out of users; hence the incentive was something a user can use as a reason or excuse to do something out-of-the-ordinary. " target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cheetos Museum, a great hit at Cannes two years ago, also tested a similar belief.

What made Swiggy’s ‘The Voice Of Hunger’ a successful UGC campaign? What according to you are the key ingredients of effective user-generated content?

Aditiya: Voice of Hunger broke new ground for us on social. The campaign result speaks for itself, but this was our truly integrated social campaign — if such a thing exists. We used Twitter to confuse followers at first, followed by Facebook and Instagram video to launch the challenge— driving it ultimately back to business. Influencers across social drove initial participation to support the organic virality the campaign was receiving on Instagram. Quite a few tactics intended at urging maximum participation came together for a cohesive campaign strategy that delivered on one brand KPI: social excellence.

 A lot of professionals in advertising are still confused between advertising and content marketing. They believe that advertising is also a form of content. What do you have to say here?

Aditiya: I don’t think we achieve much by either integrating or distinguishing between the two, unless that distinction/integration helps us all create better work. There’s a lot that traditional ‘advertising’ across mediums can learn from the rules of content marketing and vice-versa. Content marketing agencies might lack on the brand understanding and brand fit front, and traditional ‘advertising’ agencies might restrict themselves with the rules of a pre-defined brand world. Learning from each other’s strengths is potentially the need of the hour.

Marketers use influencers to distribute content hugely. How can they make sure that the brand’s content the influencers are posting is good enough to actually make an impact and break the clutter?

Reghunath: Difficult to give a straight answer to this considering its potential solutions lie in understanding ‘influencer and brand fit’, understanding the followers of the influencer and the realities of the given task. But using influencers as media vehicles alone is potentially an issue. The follower-count of the influencer can’t be the only yardstick upon which they are chosen (just like the ‘fan count’ on a brand’s owned FB page can’t be the only yardstick to measure success). More creator freedom in content choices and a commitment to a good working relationship between all stakeholders of course helps in the long run.

How do you see the state of content marketing growing in India? What is holding back the industry to utilise the space to its full potential?

Reghunath: The sweet spot in brand integration in content is yet to be completely cracked. Metrics wise, how do different forms of content marketing add to a larger marketing framework to deliver specific KPIs? I doubt too many of us have answers to that yet. Plus, like the gaming market, the sheer amount of content and the number of players creating that is ‘huge’ across industry verticals: making ‘breaking clutter’ that much harder.

What does Dentsu Webchutney brings on the table for brands that other agencies don’t have when it comes to branded content and content marketing solutions for brands?

Reghunath: Content marketing (especially short-term projects with creators) works a lot basis good relationships and chemistry: I’d like to think we do a good job of ensuring both the creator and the brand feel they’ve worked on something objectively interesting and fulfilling.

The kind of money that brands spend on web series and long-form content is huge. At times the brands have also invested hugely in TV shows for the long term. Can content help fetch the same kind of ROI like other forms of marketing?

Reghunath: Difficult to say. Investing in long-form content or a web series lends itself back to long-term awareness focused goals as against a tactical, direct ROI. Also, because too many kinds of creative outputs technically qualify as “content marketing”: whether it’s a text-based long-form article or a branded audio podcast or a 3-minute sketch with a creator. We can’t judge all of them with the same metric.

According to you which are the mediums that are less explored by brands when it comes to content marketing and branded content? What scope do you find in them?

Reghunath: TikTok, definitely. There are a few up and coming ones too, especially catering to vernacular content, but I think we’ll need a little more time to gauge the sustainability of these platforms.

Would you agree that any content marketing effort’s ultimate goal should be lead and sales generations else it’s a waste?

Reghunath: Any marketing effort’s goal should be directly or indirectly contributing to a purchase decision. The question is simply how formally we choose to ladder it back to sales. Softer metrics like TOM, recall, brand favourability, positive sentiment, etc., do add up to business goals as well, but indirectly. The key then would be to structure our thinking to ladder back everything we do (directly or indirectly) into the goals a marketing team collectively is chasing and spend accordingly.