With decreasing attention spans and increasing competition, brands constantly look for marketing opportunities. One way to do this is by “moment marketing”, a strategy of using topical content to leverage the popularity of trending content to further your marketing goals. This could range from latching on to breaking news to the latest meme. Several brands have employed this strategy successfully to good effect. A certain beloved dairy brand is a good example of this technique as they have successfully used their mascot for moment marketing several times over the last half-century. When used well it can be a wonderful tool to connect with your audience as well as benefit from the popularity of the given trend to get improved reach for your brand.
However, there exists a fine line between being clever and opportunistic. While being clever showcases your brand in a good light, being opportunistic can look done in poor taste. Take for example the case of the class X state topper who went viral over her appearance. This was a negative social media trend where grown adults ganged up and bullied a minor child over her appearance and insensitively shared her picture around with hateful comments. Although this was a trending story, it had several negative connotations attached to it due to the obscene nature of child harassment it entailed. Despite this being a sensitive story involving a child, several brands exposed their opportunistic side by latching on to the story to further their brand reach. Most notably a certain grooming company received plenty of flak for running an advertisement featuring the child’s name.
Several such campaigns have been run in the past including faking the death of a certain celebrity in the pretext of spreading awareness or the use of COVID-related terms during the pandemic to market new products. Using someone’s misery to further your marketing efforts can improve your reach in the short run, but can leave negative associations with the brand in the long run.
The effects of this phenomenon can be understood with the Marshmallow psychology experiment on children to determine long-term success. Children who can withhold short-term gratification in favour of rational long-term views are proven to grow up to be more successful. The same can be said to apply here where on the lookout for short-term traction you might end up affecting your brand image in the long run. Having a long-term vision for your brand makes it easier to identify the right stories to engage and avoid.
It is important not to lose touch with sensitivity in pursuit of mere marketing traction.
