Interview: 90% of our digital content is video led says Devarshy Ganguly, Dr. Oetker India

With the launch of its new campaign, FunFoods by Dr.Oetker paves its path for evolution from educative to storytelling ads. Social Samosa talks to Devarshy R. Ganguly, VP - Marketing, Dr.Oetker India to know more about the brand strategy and its offerings.

Funfoods by Dr.Oetker recently launched its new campaign- 'Iska Taste Mile Toh Sab Milein' around the brand's transformation from educative to storytelling ads.

The brand hopes to spread the message of bringing families together over food through Dia Mirza depicting the role of mayo in the consumers' life. In conversation with Social Samosa, Devarshy R. Ganguly, Vice President Marketing at Dr.Oetker sheds light on the marketing strategy of the brand and the road ahead.

Excerpts

How do you plan to position FunFoods as the quintessential, must-have product in the kitchen, like ketchup?

If you look at the key global markets, Mayonnaise is the most consumed condiment owing to its versatile nature. It is much bigger than ketchup which is predominantly consumed as a dip.

However, in India, understanding of Mayonnaise is still limited. The product name, ‘Mayonnaise’ is not self-explanatory. Since the beginning, our endeavor has been to establish Mayonnaise as a category by educating consumers on its usage and versatility, seeking penetration as an outcome.

2015 saw the launch of our first campaign ‘Food Mein Daalo Magic’, which was also the first TV advertisement for Mayonnaise in India. It was based on an educative approach to introduce the product and showcase its usage. With the new campaign, ‘Iska Taste Mile Toh Sab Milein’ (ITMTSM), we have evolved from education to storytelling. The new campaign showcases our brand’s role in the lives of busy urban households. The story highlights how Mayonnaise can customize food solutions and cater to different taste preferences of family members, also bring them together over food.

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We see digital and social platforms playing an important role in engaging with our target audience and growing brand affinity. Social platforms help us drive preference for the brand through education and engagement. Facebook being one of the largest social platforms helps us drive incremental reach to support our campaigns. Our social content is a healthy mix of recipe videos, engagement activities, and influencer outreach.

#JustAddMayo puts forth Mayonnaise as a better option to ‘bahar ka khaana’. Is this competing directly with food delivery apps? What is the idea and insight behind this campaign?

The insight for the new campaign is that homemakers today are under constant pressure to whip up something which is not just interesting but also appeals to different taste preferences of family members in less time. FunFoods Mayonnaise with its rich creamy flavor acts as a perfect ‘binder’ in bringing everyone together over food.

Through this campaign, we are focusing on Mayonnaise’s role in delivering taste and convenience to our target audience (urban families).

We believe that food delivery apps are helping popularise western food. We also are a leading supplier of western sauces and spreads to restaurants, hotels, and QSRs. Through #JustAddMayo, we hope to inspire consumers to try their hand at giving a delicious twist to humble food available at home with Mayonnaise.

What is the role of branded content in marketing strategy for FunFoods?

We see branded content as an important means to drive relevant conversations (engagement) and awareness of the usage of different products. Our approach has been to have a healthy mix of education and storytelling which we believe is more effective in driving consideration and credibility for the brand.

As a brand, we also believe in co-creating content with content partners which is, therefore, more meaningful rather than being an interruption.

We measure Branded Content's success through the saliency it achieves, the share of voice it generates and the engagement it garners.

We have also observed associations with chefs like Ranveer Brar, blog associations and influencers playing an important role in the marketing of FunFoods. Please share your thoughts and the role of these entities in your marketing strategy.

With digital content consumption on a constant rise and big social platforms limiting organic reach, it’s important to look at digital outreach through Influencers, experts, and content partners.

Our focus is to build an “always-on” strategy and working with partners who have a connection with our audience. These influencers also help us exhibit interesting ways of using the product.

Our approach is to achieve consistency

and build relevance. We believe in developing meaningful relationships with our

partners by having a constant dialogue and experimentation.

In the new campaign, ‘Iska Taste Mile, Toh Sab Milein!’, it is depicted that the dad cooks the food for the family as opposed to the previous ad of Sonali Bendre, where the lady of the house was showcased as the protagonist. Is it trying to take on gender biases and a swipe at the changing times?

With the new campaign, ‘Iska Taste Mile Toh Sab Milein’, we are moving to emotional storytelling “Slice of Life” approach to showcase how Mayonnaise can customize food solutions and cater to different taste preferences of family members and bring them together over food.

Today, with the shift in societal paradigms both ‘man and the lady of the house’ are sharing the chores and responsibilities. This is owing to the fact that urban households are challenged by a fast-paced life where time is of the essence. We are simply reflecting this through our campaign and using the backdrop to present a story to our audiences who will be able to associate with this context and setting.

What are the digital trends you plan to capture as a part of your marketing strategy?

Video

Video is by far the most popular way the audience interacts with brands. Currently, 90% of our digital content is video led. We plan to explore doing more meaningful video content to tell relevant food stories.

Personalization

We will

use available data effectively to customize content and advertise contextually.

We will be working on creating personalized experiences across all channels on

which we are present (owned social, online marketplace)

Vernacular

With higher smartphone and internet penetration than ever, content consumption in regional languages has seen rapid growth. With our new campaign, we are also collaborating with Hindi and Hinglish content creators along with a few regional ones.

FunFoods often creates content around recipes and easy to cook food with your products. Do you think utility content that offers value or some takeaway to the consumers works better? What kind of content hooks work best for the brand?

While creating owned content our focus is on its relevance to the consumer, product application and ease of use. Over the last few years, we have seen contextual and utility-driven content perform best with our target audience. For example, we shot an occasion led Party Dips recipe video around Diwali last year, which achieved a perfect relevance score of 10 on Facebook.

Similarly, a disruptive social video like #NothingLikeHomemade (which was created to show how homemade food can be as tasty as outside food) has been our most engaging campaign video so far with over 5.5 million views on Facebook and YouTube.

Simply put, when viewers find educational or emotional value from any content they are highly likely to share it and talk about it.

What are the 3 tips for the marketers to stand-out through FMCG marketing with the advent of digital?

Be Relevant. Be Useful

Today, consumers expect a lot from digital experiences and want to consume content that is useful & relevant. In order to stand out and provide a relevant, personalized marketing experience across channels, you need to extract the deep, evolving insights from behavior as its happening.

Personalized Messaging

Delighting customers when they interact with your brand is no longer a perk, but a core component of successful marketing experiences. One of the best ways to this is personalized messaging.

Shifting from Attention Economy to Emotion Economy

Today, driving noticeability is just hygiene. It’s also important to deliver happiness and win hearts. Buying is often an emotional decision and customer experiences have to trigger the right emotions to get them to buy – and keep buying.

Digital platforms give you the opportunity to have a conversation which increases the likelihood of taking the actions that drive business. If a brand wants to sustain that growth, it must meaningfully pull these emotional triggers.