Celebrity Brands: Sonakshi Sinha- an 'ASLI' social media strategy...

Celebrity Brands this week, takes a look at the Sonakshi Sinha social media strategy, understanding what makes her social footprint Dabangg.

Be it standing up to trolls & speaking up on cyberbullying or going out & slamming stereotypes, Sonakshi Sinha has earned the image of being ‘Dabangg’. An actor, singer & philanthropist, Sinha’s personal brand on social media & initiatives undertaken have made her social media strategy, a tad ‘Hatt Ke’.

With bold statements such as, “I made it as I was and I have nothing to hide! Not my curves, not my weight, not my image," Sinha attempts to make a mark in the world of brands, too, with her selective brand associations.

Popular as the ‘Shotgun Jr.’, the actor walked away from advertising a brand in 2012 when questioned & asked to shed the 'body flab'. Back in 2018, she joined hands with UNESCO to promote a safe Cyber environment for children. All these & more shape up her stance on brand endorsements.

While the actor quit Twitter in June 2020 with the rise of nepotism & unforeseen circumstances, she remains prominent on Instagram & Facebook, attempting to balance home, work, and social media life. In association with Talkwalker we underline the fundamentals of the Sonakshi Sinha social media strategy.

Sonakshi Sinha Social media Strategy - Overview

#Asli, Fashion, Self Love, Stay Real, #StayHomeStaySafe, #ChupChaapGharPeBaitho #LifeInTheTimeOfCorona, #WarAgainstCovid19, #AbBas, are some of the prominent themes that emerge from Sonakshi's social media presence. Other than voicing her opinion for varied issues, the actor leverages social media to portray a combination of her ‘Girl-next-door’ & her rebel avatar.

Other prominent hashtags for the past 30 days include:

In-line with her stance on body positivity & being herself, she collaborated with Myntra for the #BiggerThanUs initiative sharing a befitting reply to trolls who criticized her for weight issues. She shares, “I thought that even after shedding 30 kgs, they are still at it? That’s when I said, to hell with them. Because Sonakshi Sinha is here for a reason. I am not a number on the scale and that’s what makes me bigger than them...pun intended.”

A noteworthy trend across Sinha's social presence is leveraging Instagram for its visual aesthetics. The actor is known for her simple & elegant sense of fashion, donning both traditional & modern styles. She utilizes Facebook for further amplification.

Another trend observed is cinemagraph posts on Instagram & Facebook with a moving background comprising nature with a static image in the foreground.

The actor started the year with a new year wishing post, followed by continuing with #biggerthanthem posts followed by a BTS film footage & a candid post for Umang 2020.

With the ongoing pandemic, the actor was seen professing & practicing social distancing & urging people to ‘Chup Chaap’ staying at home.

Earlier, associated with PETA for the cause of animal sterilization, Sinha raised voice for animal protection while expressing gratitude to the frontline warrior.

The actor often showcases her inclination & skill towards art & craft. Other trends include #throwback travel posts, movies, leveraging Live interactions with fans, posts about friends & family, recitations & sometimes content collaborations with varied platforms.

Touted as memers’ favorite with occasional lapses (the infamous one on KBC11), Sonakshi is known for her hard-hitting social media posts & messages, tackling bullies with aplomb & boldness, through & through.

The actor also occasionally leverages topicals & trending formats for posts.

Social media footprint & analysis

Forbes Celebrity profile list ranked the actor in the 20th position amongst the 100 celebrities. In 2019, Sonakshi Sinha also topped the list of most tweeted entertainment accounts from Bollywood amongst female actors.

Sonakshi social media footprint is as given below:

• Twitter - 16 million
• Instagram - 18.5 million
• Facebook - 31.2 million

While Shotgun Jr. was quite active on Twitter, known for immediately addressing any fake news about her, she quit the platform due to the toxic nature of the conversations happening.

Presently, Sinha is most active on Instagram followed by Facebook.

The content themes across the actor’s social media presence include – movies, art especially abstract portraits, poetry, fashion, nature & philosophy.

The audience demographics that engage the most across the actor's social media presence range from the 25-34 age group (62.6%). Out of which 57.8% comprise males as per the data analytics for the last 30 days.

Further, 64.6% of Sinha’s followers use Android phones, suggests Talkwalker.

As the actor associated with Mission Josh for #FullStopToCyberBullying & launched the 5th Chapter of the series on 21st August 2020, the social media handles mentioning the actor’s name was also at an all-time high during the same period.

With people leveraging more & more emojis to express their thoughts, the most frequently used emojis by the actor is the camera emoji for picture credits, hearts, & even hands raised in 'Namaskar' for greeting people.

The seeming approach of the old meets new, & the shades of retro, bold & modern appear quite prominently through the post images of the actor.

Her captions are mostly in 'Active' voice & range from long posts to shorter ones to just emojis, describing the images. The post tonalities usually range from traditional to on-point & direct words, mostly written in English & sometimes in Hindi & Marathi language on Instagram & Facebook.

Fun, Recitation & Humor

Sinha often associates with organizations for recitation & poetry. She seems to strike the right chords with words & expressions to touch the hearts of the viewers.

The 'Dabangg' girl

The actor gained popularity after working with Salman Khan as the ‘Dabangg’ girl. Often on the receiving end of mixed reviews, she is known for her forthright attitude even through her social media presence.

Also read: Celebrity brands: The Big B of social media…

Brand Associations

FMCG, Fashion & Retail dominates the actor’s selective brand endorsements, usually, in-line with her belief system. These prominently include- Myntra, Streax India, Tide, CavinKare & more for 2019-2020.

The actress was also seen as a judge on Myntra Fashion Superstar for a digital fashion-influencer reality show.

Myntra

Initiatives

Time & again, Sinha has expressed her inclination to utilizing her privilege & voice for causes. Amongst the innumerable initiatives, she was a part of 'Mission Sapne' to spread awareness about violence against women back in 2016.

Apart from supporting government initiatives, during the ongoing pandemic, the actor also collaborated with Tring to raise donations for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits for the frontline healthcare workers.

Other than attempting to spread positivity & speaking on mental health, the actor also took on self-help challenges like #TheSamaajScopeChallenge, focussed on making life better & helping the environment, in the process.

Another initiative in collaboration with Fankind India, a platform that gives fans an opportunity to experience a fun activity with their favorite celebrity while supporting fundraising for charity, the actor launched the 'Bid for Good' campaign to support daily wage workers with food supplies & ration kits.

After experiencing massive trolls, she also took a firm stand on cyberbullying with the #AbBas campaign & spoke at length on Self-love & co-existence with dignity & grace.

She continues to inspire & urge people to stay safe & not give up hope

Content Collaborations

Having a penchant for philosophy, prose & recitation, the actor often collaborates with content platforms to bring forth relatable videos. Sinha shares these as social media posts for amplification as the dynamic posts are either related to ongoing scenarios or the initiatives that she supports.

Filtrcopy

#AbBas episodes in collaboration with Mission Josh

Art & Craft

The actor often turns to art & paintings, seeming to find solace. She even leverages her skills for fundraising & donations for causes. The art posts are usually dynamic in nature gathering significant traction on the actor's page.

Love for Family & Gabru

In rare occasions & birthday wishing posts, the actor shares glimpses of childhood & leverages nostalgia to express herself.

Fashion & Films

A common trend leveraged by the actor is sharing behind-the-screen footage of her movies & throwback posts on films done in the past. These posts are usually short videos.

As per reports, Sinha was a fashion designer prior to her stint in Bollywood. The diva often shares social media posts that showcase her donning vintage & modern styles in beauty & fashion.

Summing it up

Sense of fashion, boldness & style, dominated by causes aligned with personal experiences stand out in the Sonakshi Sinha social media strategy. Attempting to stay raw & real is another pattern that seems to reverberate through her personal brand which positions her as #Asli in real life.