From Swiggy to Pepsi: How brands found unconventional ambassadors in common people
Just a few days ago, Swiggy found an unexpected ambassador in a Mumbai delivery guy who rode a horse to reach the customer during rains
A Swiggy delivery, one guy on horse, and a meme fest: that’s what the previous few days have been like on social media. For the people who might have missed this rather uncommon but now a very popular incident, a few days ago a video went viral on social media showing a Swiggy delivery guy galloping on horseback in Mumbai rains. The internet could not stop talking about it and the brand too took notice, urging people to identify the man for a Rs 5,000 bounty in Swiggy Money.
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Swiggy, in fact, introduced a special tribute on its app for the “rider and his steed” by updating the delivery icon with a horse riding icon instead of a two-wheeler.
The tribute: pic.twitter.com/qLYmR3qOnr
— Prithingar (@prithingar) July 5, 2022
However, it’s not the first time that a brand has found unexpected brand ambassadors and created indulging opportunities for its users and patrons to partake in the marketing journey.
In September 2020, another food-aggregator app, Zomato ran a contest – #Zomatoloot, rewarding Rs 25 lakh for a consumer-created ad after users complained that its ‘YouTube ads suck'.
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The challenge was won by Delhi-based Harkirat Singh, who runs Gath Productions.
Another popular brand, Dove has had a history of involving ‘real’ women in its ad campaigns. In 2021, the brand came out with its #StopTheBeautyTest campaign. The film showcased five women talking about their insecurities and judgements that they faced based on how they look during the matchmaking process.
The same year, one of the world’s biggest social media influencers Khaby Lame was brought in to promote fantasy sports platform Dream11 during the IPL with #Dream11PeDimaagLagaNa campaign. The ad was created as an organic extension of Lame’s deadpan party piece.
In 2019, Pepsi went ahead and made 87-year-old Charulata Patel – who rose to fame after she was spotted at a stadium in England cheering for team India during the Men’s Cricket World Cup match – its face for the ‘swag campaign’.
