Emerging Trend of Hash-tagging

Beginning its journey from the twitter conversation to strengthening its hold all over, off and on twitter – the use of hashtags can be witnessed on all the social media platforms today which indeed provides leverage to the brands using the strategy of hashtags wisely and effectively keeping the customer affinities in place.

Apart from making its mark on the social media platforms hashtags have also bagged their position in the advertising and marketing industry by leaving behind the trend of tagline. Connecting the dots of the shift of trend in the indian advertising sector, almost every range of products and services have now adapted itself to the trend of hashtags. Be it a food and beverage brand or the household detergent in use.

Recollecting the first ad of Coca Cola with the tagline ‘Drink Coca-Cola’ to its present day ad campaign – #Shareacoke. The advertisement for Parle-G biscuit which wrote its tagline as ‘‘G’ means genius’ to the present day Good Day biscuit ad campaign which conveys the message in the form of hashtag as – #SmileMoreForAGoodDay. Similarly #AbLagRahiDiwali ad campaign from Surf Excel creates an appealing image of the brand in consumers mind through the message of Diwali being the festival of light for all in the society irrespective of their working classes or busy schedules.

Hashtags not only help in increasing the social media engagement with new users but also establishes a direct contact between the users and the brand. Businesses use hashtags to attract new customers and grow their online presence. It plays a pivotal role in marketing the brand because the message or the story which the brand wants to convey to the consumer is in the hashtag which also contributes to the main idea of the advertisement campaign.

With the increase in the use of hashtags for brands, the communication process for the brands also went through a makeover. Previously in the advertising industry, the trend of 30 seconds TVC prevailed. Today, all brands are switching from TVC’s to ad campaigns with a storyline at the backdrop for the brand.

The pattern of storytelling using the brands and concluding it with hashtags works two ways – Establishes brand recall for the viewers / potential customers and sets in the marketing techniques for the brand, increases the brand visibility and makes the searching and following process for the customer easy and time saving.

When done properly and strategically and consistent with the organization’s tone and brand, a hashtag campaign can be effective in building the brand image of the brand.