Tanishq Ekatvam – Utterly Butterly Emotionally Senseless (Controversial) Advertising 

Tanishq #BoycottTanishq: Tanishq defines their Ekatvam range of jewellery products as “The Beauty of Oneness“.

Tanishq is known for is out of the box, totally unconventional advertising, which touches the social issues and taboos such as wedding of parents or widows.

A recent ad based on the theme of religious wedding – (of course the two opposite religions) has created an online storm. #BoycottTanishq was trending as soon as the ad was released and caught attentions of online netizens. The audience were divided as usual, some supporting the theme and many opposing the ad.

Due to the upcoming festival season and the rising heated sentiments, Tanishq decided to withdraw the ad and issued a clarification (cum apology?) Now, was it a good move? What Tansihq could have done in such a situation?

The very first thing is that the trend of BoyCott is pretty old and boring. Much stronger brands like HUL have faced it earlier.  Even Global brands like Nike and Pepsi were subjected to online firestorm.

My article is NOT about the tolerance or love jihad. But purely about marketing and branding. Here are some of the points to ponder, specially why one should avoid such online Boycotts:

• The very first serious impact of the Tanishq #BoycottTanishq trend was on the stock price which fell to 2.5% in a single day!  So, a simpler question is whether the ad / theme is worth of such a huge loss?
• What happens to the brand image – since brand image is an intangible object, it is difficult to put a number. But the controversy has been covered in all popular media. However, no need to be happy about free media, because the media in India is also divided on such sensitive issues.
• Why Tanishq decided to touch the very sensitive topic, which is already attracting political debates and specially after the Delhi riots, the sentiments are boiling – people are at the edge? Well, common sense is NOT so common after all!
• #BoycottTanishq trend is grabbed as a digital opportunity and many YouTube videos are already posted attacking the brand. The BRAND can’t risk a fight, or have the resources. So, the energy that must be kept in these tough times of corona to build a strong consumer engagement is totally wasted!
• Now, some of the online supporters have questioned the backtracking from the issue. So, if Tanishq is really about supporting social cause, why the hell in the world, they issues a clarification? What kind of signals it give to people who are supporting it. In fact, they are in a Catch 22 situation. They made haters happy and supporters angry.

 

Hence, to reiterate, i have shared many times, as a brand NEVER try to preach consumers! Specially in very sensitive cases. In this whole fiasco Tanishq has shown that it is a spineless brand. This further raises question marks on their earlier social ads. Well, the emotional aspect is fine, but without a logic/rational, don’t fall into the trap of – to borrow from Hindi Proverb ” Aa bail mujhe maar”.

Apple said “Think Different” and became successful. They didn’t say “Think Senseless“! 

And, if brands really want to do something emotional, they must watch this to understand – how to respect the sentiments, cultural beliefs and social values of a society/community/nation! A basic course on cultural sensitivity would do a lot of good to these mindless creatives, specially Tanishq #BoycottTanishq. Or, the easiest way is to create two ads – reversing the sides to satisfy the consumers. But the big questions is “Can Tanishq create a second ad with reversed religions/people?”