What does Mumbai Police have to do with Game of Thrones?
Or when did Zomato, which is just an inanimate brand, have to worry about pressure cookers and its whistles?
And why did Burger King have to make an offer to McDonald’s on peace day?
You maybe thinking, ’Sachin, this makes for interesting content on social media.’ And that’s right.
But the reason I decided to write this blog is to understand why this kind of content or marketing works for brands on social media. Also if there’s something that other brands and individuals can learn from this.
Watch the Youtube video we made on this story.
Being human helps.
No, I am not referring to a certain NGO run by a maligned yet super successful Indian movie star. I am stating that a brand acting like a human helps.
We were always used to this style in advertising. But, in the last decade or so brands on social media were presented with new challenges. What it meant was that brands had to have constant conversations with their audiences.
Beyond a point no one is interested in the drab and dull language used by brands in corporate communication. Somewhere along the way, brand managers figured that the approach wasn’t working. And they found the answer in human to human storytelling or H2H storytelling.
Cognism on its blog says, ”Human to human marketing is a conversational way of communicating with other brands and clients. It’s recognising that you’re selling to humans and conveying this in the way you speak and the topics you choose to speak about.”
A simple example to understand why H2H storytelling works is this.
Imagine you have a formal email from your employer. On another hand you have a friend’s text message with some juicy details on some colleagues. Which one would you prefer to read first?
If you are like me, and unless the email is about your increment, you’d look forward to your friend’s text.
Similarly, brands embodying human traits on social media and elsewhere engage better with audiences.
Mumbai Police – the OGs of real conversations on Twitter.
Mumbai Police is an organisation with a bunch of cops. And what do you do when you spot cops?
Avoid them, right?
But if Mumbai Police’s Twitter account is anything to go by, they are probably the most approachable of police departments in the country. The Game of Thrones reference is not a one-off. Their Twitter handle is credited for regularly sharing witty jokes and educating citizens through clever use of memes and social media trends.
Zomato, a food delivery app? Or a fun friend of yours?
Zomato, and a few other Indian startups, have got their character spot on when it comes to social media. They are always ready with a joke, are aware of conversations and not scared to be completely un-business-like.
Otherwise why would a food delivery app talk about Elon Musk. Here’s that example, when Elon’s Twitter buyout saga had captured everyone’s attention.
But Burger King and McDonald’s love-hate relationship is the epitome of brands acting like humans.
Burger King is known to roast its competitors, especially McDonald’s. But on World Peace Day in 2015 they made a truce offer by suggesting they introduce ‘McWhopper’ on peace day. McDonald’s was a little late to respond & eventually turned down the offer.
But Burger King was lauded for this initiative. Fans and followers were disappointed when McDonald’s turned down the offer.
The Burger King-McDonald’s saga continues almost like two friends who love to hate each other. And clearly the approach has served Burger King well with sentiment analysis and statistics proving the same.
But should brands keep something in mind before taking the human approach?
Well, yes.
Here are somethings that help turn your brand into a somewhat of a human character on social media.
- Take a step back from selling: Sometimes, all you need to do is talk, listen & even entertain.
- Speak like humans do: So do away with all the industry jargon and business speak. Write like how you speak with friends and family. Basically, don’t be boring.
- Be agile: Know what’s trending and what your TG is talking about. May be you had a piece of content planned for today, but something else is trending – feel free to switch. Keep the approval processes lean.
- Hire the right people: This is perhaps the most important of all suggestions. Don’t be afraid to hire young folks who have a grasp of what’s happening on the internet. Hire someone who is funny. Yes, that can be a requirement. A lot of brands & agencies hire people just to make memes.
- Don’t be worried if some people don’t like you: When you decide to act like humans, you are bound to be disliked by some. And that’s something brands need to be okay with.
Similarly there are things brands need to be weary of while acting like humans.
- Pick the right tone, platform & TG: Being human is not just about being casual, there’s a lot more that goes into it. Understand your audience, what tone suits your brand best and also consider the platform. For instance, Linkedin as a brand on Instagram is lot funnier and opinionated than you’d imagine it to be.
- Don’t cross the line between funny & insensitive: There are numerous examples of brand getting things wrong in creative communication. The same is true when you humanise your brand for social media or otherwise. Though Layer’r Shot campaign was an ad, it isn’t difficult to imagine that they’d have gone with the same theme on social media as well. So yes, it’s good to be funny but another thing to be tone deaf or completely insensitive. Anything that is a no-no for a public figure is a no-go for your brand too. After all, your brand is a public figure too.
- Don’t talk about anything & everything: Just like people, your brand needs to have interests too. If you are seen talking about and commenting on everything, then you’ll be perceived as inauthentic. Worse still, you may alienate your target audience.
- Make sure your content has a brand connect: Every example shared in this blog had an overlap with the brand’s objective. Mumbai Police was cautioning people against drugs with the GOT inspired meme. Zomato used a chat inspired by Elon Musk to remind people about food delivery. Burger King’s McWhopper is a about the brand’s most famous delicacy. So while being human is good, being so without any context or brand connect might be counter-productive.
Suggested read: Few other ways in which brands can use storytelling.
That’s mostly it about why brands act like humans on social media. Hopefully the blog also gave you some suggestions on how to get your brand started on this journey.
However, there is another thing I keep thinking about. That while brands are waking up to the perks of being human, are humans themselves forgetting how to communicate like one?
A lot of leaders, managers and professionals communicate like robots in business and at work. And I feel that’s hurting them, their teams and their organizations. Isn’t it time to become human again?
If you’d like me to write about how individuals can reclaim their own character and succeed in business, then drop a comment. The more the comments for the topic, the faster I’ll get to it.
Stories mean success, let’s narrate many more of them.
