International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 5/Issue 6/June 2022

Advertising Strategies of Selected Brands in Times of

Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis
Dr. Anuradha Mishra
Journalism & Mass Communication, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, India
Email Id: 2anuradhamishra@gmail.com

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6772082

Abstract

The year 2020 was a difficult year for the advertising industry. The advertising business has been upended by the Coronavirus,
along with other sectors of the global economy. The advertising sector was one of the first to be affected as its investments were
cut back. The advertising industry had to bear the loss in many ways. For example, advertisers were hit tremendously due to a
fall in sales, a fall in audiences for live sports and events, and in-person pitch meetings were cancelled. To overcome the loss in
the advertising business the advertising agencies and advertisers had to change their advertising strategies. The brands which
were previously advertising on traditional media have to shift to digital advertising. Those brands which were already using
digital advertising had to upgrade their technologies and creativity to fight for their place in the market. In this light, the selected
study aims to identify and compare the advertising strategies of selected brands. The research is based on the qualitative research
approach which covers data from a secondary source of information. The study would also help in estimating future strategies
for advertising campaigns.

Keywords: Advertising, Brands, COVID-19, Strategies, Campaign

Introduction
The global pandemic made the year 2020 a challenging year for the advertising industry. Due to the pandemic, there was a
subsequent decline in print, radio, television, and Out-of-home (OOH) mediums of advertising. The initial few months of the
pandemic had a substantial decline in advertising expenditure in India. In such a challenging situation it became a portent for
advertisers and advertising agencies to adapt themselves to a changing environment.
The new normal has forced brands to shift towards digital advertising. Many brands which were using traditional methods of
advertising were unable to adapt to the change. The companies which were earlier advertising partly on digital platforms and partly
on traditional platforms faced a lot of issues with completely shifting online. The brands faced difficulty to digitalize and rebuild
themselves. Presently, business strategies for advertisers and brands have changed unimaginably. To overcome the business loss the
brands started shifting to digital means of advertising from traditional ones. During the pandemic, digital became the way ahead for
both business marketing and method of doing work. Digitalization has helped to keep the optimism alive amongst the advertisers
and advertising agencies. Thus, in the present situation, it has become essential for advertising agencies to plan new advertising
strategies. In this light, the research will cover an important aspect of changing trends of advertising and the future of advertising in
a post the pandemic phase. The following are the research objectives of this study:
 To study advertising strategies of selected brands during COVID-19
 To compare and analyze the advertising strategies of selected brands
 To understand the future of advertising

Significance of the Study

The study will help the advertisers to follow the dos and don’ts of the advertising business in a changing environment. It will help
the advertising agencies to understand and plan the future requirement of the advertising business. In addition, the study may help
the brands to develop strong customer-brand relationships that may help to boost new sales.

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Review of Literature
The previous studies have discussed the different viewpoints on advertising strategies in India. Some of such studies are discussed
below:
The research paper titled ‘Emerging Trends in Advertising’ (R.Logambal, 2016) helped to understand the history of advertising in
the Indian context. The study emphasized the advertising trends from the 20th century to show a change in advertising strategy from
traditional advertising to online advertising. Moreover, the study has helped to identify the possible ways to advertise through social
networking sites. For example, product advertising is getting more popular through the use of social networking sites. Similarly, the
research paper titled ‘Changing Trends of Creativity in Indian Advertising’ (Basson, 2017) has discussed the creative ways of
advertising in modern times. One of the creative ways was the use of cartoons and caricatures in modern Indian advertising. The
study established that cartoon characters and the use of graphics helped in having better advertising appeal.
The research article ‘The Changing Face of the Indian Advertisements’ has discussed the changes in advertising in contemporary
times (Mahapatra, 2014). The research article pointed to the change in advertising strategy due to the change in the Indian face of
consumers from the middle class to the high aspiring middle class. In addition to this, the change in purchasing power of consumers
has led the advertisers to focus beyond value for money. The advertisers are now focusing on those advertisements which lend to
consumer life. This study has helped in understanding the advertising strategy for the middle class in pre-Covid times.
A research study entitled ‘Impact of Media Advertisements on Consumer Behaviour’ revealed that traditional media still plays an
effective role in advertising. However, in the present circumstance media mix decision is crucial for advertisers. This study has
helped in correlating the advertising strategies in pre and post- Covid times.
To understand the impact of Covid-19 on advertising the article ‘Coronavirous Impact: How the Indian ad Industry is dealing with
uncertainty’ explained the new challenges which are faced by the ad agency (Nair & Vardhan, 2020). The article has put forth the
issues of managing staff for creating advertisements during a pandemic. The advertising industry started promoting virtual pitches
and online production to overcome the crisis during a pandemic. Besides this, at the time of festivals, the brands spend more on
advertising to boost their sales. In this context, a research article titled ‘How Coronavirus will change the face of festive ad
campaigns this year’ (Mishra, 2020) has discussed meticulously the advertising strategy during a pandemic. This study has put
some insight into innovative ways of advertising during festival times that may help brands to promote their products.
The previous research studies have discussed the trends in advertising and have given some insight during pre-Covid-19 times. The
present study covers the research gap by explaining the advertising strategy since Covid-19. The study is based on a comparative
analysis of selective brands of similar nature which may help to understand the emerging strategies in advertising.

Methodology
The selected research study is based on a qualitative research approach that covers10 brands based on their wide usability with the
widest range of advertisements. The study is based on a comparative analysis of similar kinds of products like Airtel and Jio, Amul
and Nandani, Netflix and Amazon Prime, Ola and Uber, and Swiggy and Zomato. The brands of varied nature are taken into the
consideration to understand the advertising strategies of different products. The study focuses on advertising strategies and
campaigns launched during a pandemic. The data for the qualitative study is collected from secondary sources such as blogs,
newspapers, magazines, websites, reports, etc.

Data Collection & Comparative Analysis

The data collection and comparison of advertising strategies for the same kinds of products were done based on advertising
campaigns launched by the brands. These Ads campaigns were further analyzed on the following basis:
 Creative strategy: It includes product development, media selection, and audience engagement/attention
 Media strategy: This includes media platforms, frequency of Ads, and budget
 Audience strategy: It covers market segmentation and target audience
 Miscellaneous: Includes offer given or any other services

1. Airtel and Jio Advertising Strategies

Table-1: Comparative analysis of Airtel and Jio Advertising Strategies

Advertising Airtel Jio
Strategies
a . Campaigns Airtel my Plan Family Lockdown Heroes Campaign
launched
Superhero Program Jio Associates

Airtel announced measures to shield low-income mobile Dhan Dhana Dhan Campaign,(IPL)

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 5/Issue 6/June 2022

customers

Airtel Thanks app used for digital self-assessment test

Recharge Revolution Campaign
b. Creative Product Media Selection Audience Product Development Media Audience
Strategy Development attention Selection attention
Adding more Combination of Engaging Ads Tapping topical content Digital Covering the topic
features in digital platforms and promoting the platforms of communication
services & and TVAds Indianness of Jio
emphasizing on
quality
Airtel thanks Use of Innovative Customize Ads Prioritizing content Using celebrities
App digital platforms based on quality relevant to platforms
audience
c. Media Strategy Media Frequency(Ads) Budget Media Platforms Frequency(Ads) Budget
Platforms
Connected Maximum Increased ad Using different Maximum Increased 3 times
customers Visibility spend 118 times approaches through Visibility more
through more different platforms:
Facebook, Facebook, Instagram
Twitter and About 47% spend Youtube & Whatsapp
Google+, on digital ads
Youtube

d. Audience Low-income people, Non-smartphone users Urban and two-tier middle and upper-class people
Strategy
e. Miscellaneous Combo offers, Earning 4 percent commission through making recharge
Airtel discount of 4 % on superhero program

a. Advertising Campaigns Launched

Airtel is one of the oldest telecom sector players which initiated multiple advertising campaigns in times of Covid-19. Some of its
advertising campaigns are ‘Airtel my plan Family’ and ‘Superhero’ Program’. Besides these campaigns, Airtel extended prepaid
validity advertising campaign for the low-income mobile consumers who were impacted due to COVID-19. In addition, the Airtel
Thanks app was also promoted through Ads to help the Airtel customers with digital self-assessment tests. It was done in
collaboration with Apollo hospital to bring awareness and break the chain of the spread of COVID-19 (Airtel, 2020). Another
advertising campaign ‘Recharge Revolution’ motivated the customers to recharge for their friends who do not use a smartphone or
those who are not able to recharge as shops were closed due to lockdown.
In comparison to Airtel; Jio initiated advertising campaigns like- the ‘Lockdown Heroes Campaign’ which was known as
#ChangeTheCycle. The Ads covered the story of all those people who helped others during COVID-19. Besides this, the ‘Jio
Associates’ advertising campaign was similar to the Airtel recharge revolution where customers and small businesses may recharge
on Jio mobile numbers of friends and may earn a 4% commission on the amount. The last advertising campaign of the Jio
‘DhanDhanaDhan’ campaign aimed to celebrate Jio fiber and IPL in their commercial.

b. Creative Strategy
The Airtel creative strategy covered more product features and facilities to increase its demand. Airtel has always focused on quality
of content than quantity. During a lockdown, it introduced Airtel Thanks App for ensuring extended services for its customers. Airtel
also took the initiative to bring awareness among small and micro business companies about its digital products and services to help
them to meet their business challenges during the lockdown (Parbat, 2020). To promote its services Airtel used almost all the media
platforms. However, in recent times its advertising strategy focused on multiple digital platforms. It adopted innovative ways of
using different media platforms to attract its audience. It focused on customer engagement through its advertisements. In addition,
the Ads were customized and focused on quality consumers.
Moderately, Jio's creative advertising strategy placed its product as an Indian product. Jio has used digital platforms more rather than
traditional media to promote its product. Simultaneously, it has emphasized topical content through digital Ads. To gain audience
attention the use of topical content in Ads initiated communication among the audiences. It was a very good strategy to engage the

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audience with the product. In addition, during IPL Jio endorsed celebrities to promote its product as the audience gets easily
attracted and they relate the product with the celebrities.

c. Media Strategy
During a lockdown, Airtel used extensively TV and a wide range of social media for advertising to connect with their consumers.
Some of the social media platforms were Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Besides this, on youtube, Airtel has more videos and
views compared to Jio (Shastri, 2022). Airtel has extensively used social media to bring awareness about its services to attract
customers. It has increased its advertising spend in times of Covid-19 up to 118 % in comparison to previous years. Its digital Ad
spending covered over 45 percent of the Ads budget (Mansuri, 2020). Comparatively, Jio used innovative approaches through
different platforms. It has a large number of followers on Facebook, Instagram Youtube & Whatsapp. Besides this, various other
digital platforms were used in an effective way to attract customers. However; the frequency of TV Ads for Jio was comparatively
less than for Airtel. The advertising spending of Jio during Covid -19 has increased 3 times more than in previous years.

d. Audience Strategy
Airtel advertising campaigns were made for different target audiences like; family plans for family members and mobile plans for
low-income people or non-smartphone users. Whereas Jio's advertising campaigns were targeted toward the urban and two-tier
middle and upper-class customers.

e. Miscellaneous
Airtel's advertising campaigns helped the customers to bring awareness about its various offers like combo offers and Airtel discount
of 4 % on superhero program. Relatively, Jio focused on earning a 4 percent commission through making recharge.

2. Amul and Nandani Advertising Strategies

Table-2: Comparative analysis of Amul and Nandani Advertising Strategies
Advertising Amul Nandani
Strategies
a. Campaigns Creative topical released during lockdown No as such campaigns but to maintain production and
launched promote new products
Better Saaf than Sorry
b. Creative Product Media Audience Product Media Audience
Strategy Development Selection attention Development Selection attention
Introduced a new Traditional Healthy Nandini Turmeric Transit media To focus more on
range of products platforms like essentials Milk increasing
and focused on TV and Print consumption
partnerships

Brand Identity Social media Billboards Discount on new

platforms like products
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram
Topical awareness
Ads Youtube
via social media:
Hashtags, memes,
and reviews
c. Media Strategy Media Frequency(Ads) Budget Media Frequency(Ads) Budget
Platforms Platforms
Dominating the Frequent Ads on TV Increased Twitter, TV The frequency of Limited budget
TV media in media spend Ads is not much
advertising Social media Ads
were extensively used Twitter was used
Use of social most often
media like
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram
d. Audience Kids, Youth, and Health Conscious Kids, Youth, Cheese for Maharashtra
Strategy

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e. Miscellaneous No discounts Discounts

a. Advertising Campaigns
Amul released creative topical Ads during a lockdown. One of the popular advertising campaigns was “Better Saaf than Sorry”. The
topical Ads got the immediate attention of the audiences. Relatively, Nandani focused on maintaining the proper distribution of
surplus production during the lockdown.

b. Creative Strategy
During a lockdown, Amul took positive steps to ensure its customers that there will be proper production and distribution of Amul
products to meet its customer requirement. Amul took Covid-19 as an opportunity to produce a wide range of products. It introduced
about 33 new products during lockdown like Amul Haldi milk (Vora, Vora, & Kulkarni, 2020). Furthermore, Amul's advertisements
focused on maintaining its brand identity. It used topical awareness Ads through social media hashtags and memes. Besides this,
Amul's media selection was both traditional and social media platforms to reach out to a large number of audiences. Through
television commercials, Amul ensured its customers that it is a promising brand that focuses on “the taste of India.” Amul made a
successful attempt to build trust in the audience about its quality and brand image. During a lockdown, Amul used a creative
advertising strategy by giving reactions to top headlines. Creative topical were released like “Wuhan se yahan le Aaye”, “Stay
healthy, not hungry”, “Ab boarding pass hai, Khali Hath Nahi” “Thaali hath thanks kijye” etc (CNBC-TV18, 2020). Besides this, the
most remarkable thing for consumers was the healthy products that were easily made available during the lockdown. Comparatively,
Nandani introduced a limited range of products like ‘Haldi milk’. To promote its product Nandani's media selection strategy was
billboards, transit media, and Youtube. These media platforms promoted discounts offer given on new products to boost sales.

c. Media Strategy
During the pandemic, the television Ads were dominated by Amul. It adopted a smart and innovative move by bringing old
advertisements during the broadcast of Ramayan and Mahabharat. It helped to increase the share of voice disproportionate.
Moreover, as soon as the government announced a lockdown in the country Amul Ads assured its consumers that milk supplies
shall be soon normal (Bera, 2020). Besides TV Ads various social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were also used to
advertise Amul products. During a lockdown, Amul doubled its marketing spending to increase its sales. It did not curtail its
advertisements in comparison to other competitors. Consequently, Amul's brand recall and its brand image both increased. The
brand got good deals with TV channels, print, and digital media. It is noteworthy that it was the only brand that was advertising
during the times of Covid-19 (Laghate, 2020).
During a lockdown, Nandani faced the problem of surplus production as distribution of products to different markets was not
possible. Due to the lockdown employees were unavailable as a result production of some of the Nandani products stopped
(Kidiyoor, 2020). Besides this, the media advertising strategy was limited to the mobile parlour, transit media, and billboards. These
media platforms promoted new immunity booster products like Ashwagandha milk, clove milk tulasi milk, ginger milk, and, pepper
milk (BP, 2020). Additionally, Youtube was also used to advertise the Nandani cold coffee (Youtube, 2020). Nandani
advertisements were promoted on limited media platforms with a limited frequency of Ads which reflects on low advertising spend
of the brand.

d. Audience Strategy
The pandemic has led to a significant change in consumer consumption patterns, purchase patterns, and price patterns.
Understanding the change in the market situation Amul Ads quickly responded to the expectations of consumers. Consequently,
despite the pandemic, Amul was able to induce growth along with increasing market share. There was a 5-7% increase in demand
for Amul’s liquid packaged milk as consumers trusted the Amul brand over loose milk (ICMR, 2020). The Amul advertisements
were focused on kids, youth, and health-conscious people whereas Nandani target audience was kids and youth. Besides this, they
increased their target area to Maharashtra by launching cheese to grab the 20 percent cheese market of the state (Bose, 2020).

e. Miscellaneous
There were no discounts on Amul's new products whereas Nanadani gave discounts on a new products.

3. Netflix and Hostar (Disney+Hotstar) Advertising Strategies

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Table-3: Comparative analysis of Netflix and Hotstar (Disney+ Hotstar) Advertising Strategies
Advertising Netflix Hotstar (Disney +Hotstar)
Strategies
a. Campaigns One story away India Ki Vibe Alag Hai.
launched
The Spoiler(Spec ad Campaign)

b. Creative Product Media Selection Audience Product Development Media Audience

Strategy Development attention Selection attention
Brand value Social media Youth Different languages Youtube and Wide variety
Facebook
Enriching content Billboard Using topical Prominent Genre, Billboards Watch parties
awareness Entertainment and
Ads Cricket
Using a database of Different Partners Pre polls &
consumer Midroll
behaviour
c. Media Strategy Media Platforms Frequency(Ads) Budget Media Platforms Frequency(Ads) Budget
Facebook, Maximum Triples TV Commercial, social Maximum More TV Ads
Twitter, visibility advertising media, and Out-Of- visibility
Instagram, spend Home.
Linkedin,
and
Billboard

d. Audience Youth, Male Male, Youth, and Urban population

Strategy
e. Miscellaneous High price model Different plans, including free service plans

a. Advertising Campaigns
During Covid -19 the popular advertising campaign of Netflix was ‘one-story away’ that aimed to embrace the power of storytelling.
The next advertising campaign was the Spoiler billboard advertising campaign which was a spec campaign and was not aired. The
advertisement aimed to make people aware of the spoilers at train and bus stops. Comparatively, Hotstar launched Disney+Hotstar;
an Indian version of the OTT platform by collaborating with Disney (Patwa, 2020). The Hotstar advertising campaign was India ‘Ki
Vibe Alag Hai.’. The lyric of the anthem was sung by local talent in eight languages and the video was shot across all eight cities to
represent each team taking part in IPL (Indian Premier League) (BuzzinContent, 2021).

b. Creative Strategy
Netflix's creative strategy focused on building a strong brand value. Therefore, it enriched its content available on various platforms
through its alliances with filmmakers, producers, writers, and animators. These tie-ups helped Netflix to target a wider audience with
customized content. It also used the database of consumer behaviour to enrich its content and meet its audience demand. Netflix has
used a smart strategy of digital advertising to build its brand image (Menghani). They strategically focused on creating value for their
viewers and meeting their expectations. Netflix has created its brand image by connecting to audiences through memes and jokes
(Menon, 2020). Netflix's creative strategy may also be witnessed at the time of media selection. It followed a media mix approach by
using platforms like social media & billboards. The Ads were targeted toward youth, and to gain their attention topical issues were
used. Relatively, Disney+ Hotstar ensured its services in different languages by covering entertainment and cricket. Hotstar content
was based on the taste of Indian audiences that covered daily television soaps and cricket. In particular, the IPL cricket match gave
the lead to Hotstar (Sharma, 2021). Besides this, Hotstar had also done tie-up with the world’s best creators like Disney India, HBO,
Marvel Studios, and Nat Geo. It helped Disney+ Hotstar to create wide and good content. For media selection, Hotstar Ads were
visible on Facebook and Twitter. It used innovative advertising strategies like pre-roll and mid-roll to promote its services (Hotstar,
2021).In addition; the use of billboards came out to be a very successful advertising strategy during a lockdown. Besides this,
Hotstar also came up with the proper planning to gain the audience's attention. For example, Netflix advertisements highlighted a

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variety of content available on its platform. Even the facility of watch party was introduced to those audiences who wanted to watch
films and cricket while chatting with one another.

c. Media Strategy
Netflix prominently used TV, billboards, and social media like- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to advertise itself. It
reflects that Netflix used an intensive media strategy to increase its maximum visibility in media. It tripled its advertising spending
during the lockdown. Netflix increased its digital advertising budget spend from $150,000 per day to more than $500,000 per day
(Hale, 2020) Comparatively, Disney+Hotstar advertised on TV commercials, social media, and out-of-home. The selected media
platforms had a good frequency of Ads. The frequency of Ads was relatively more on TV in comparison to other platforms. Besides
this, the Hotstar advertising promotional increased to 68 percent in the year 2021 (Wagon, 2021).

d. Audience Strategy
Netflix Ads were targeted toward youth and male which had a wide geographical reach. Relatively, Disney Hotstar + target audience
was male, youth, and urban populations of areas like Maharastra, Telangana Tamil Nadu, and Kerela.

e. Miscellaneous
Netflix did not use any attractive discounts however; it used a high-priced model to provide wide original content. In comparison,
Disney +Hotstar followed the idea of different plans along with the free service plans to establish itself.

4. Ola and Uber Advertising Strategies

Table-4: Comparative Analysis of Ola and Uber Advertising Strategies
Advertising Ola Uber
Strategies
a. Campaigns Safe ride Safer for each other
launched Ola Emergency Move What Matters
b. Creative Strategy Product Media Selection Audience Product Media Audience attention
Development attention Development Selection
Safety Digital and Car sanitation, Uber essentials Besides the Provided medical
facilities, traditional media Availability of digital platform, grade and child-safe
hygiene, plastic screens Bigbasket mainline media disinfectant to
emergency tie-up with Uber drivers
services

Partnership
with grocery
c. Media Strategy Media Frequency(Ads) Budget Media Platforms Frequency(Ads) Budget
Platforms
Besides the Limited No increase in Social media and Limited Doubled Ads spend
digital Ad spend traditional media on digital media
platform,
mainline
media like
Television
d. Audience Strategy Created platforms for senior citizens and a bunch of Child safe disinfectant for drivers
communities

e. Miscellaneous Emergency service, Ola fare less expensive till the Ride cost was less till 3rd wave
second wave, Drive The Driver CSR activity

a. Advertising Campaigns
Ola advertising campaigns in times of pandemic were ‘Safe ride’ and ‘Ola Emergency’. This advertising campaign helped to bring
awareness among people about the important facilities of Ola that were available during the lockdown. In association with Republic
Media Network Ola initiated the “Ola Ride Safe India” campaign. The campaign highlighted the numerous efforts undertaken by
Ola Cabs to ensure a safe and sanitized travel experience for its consumers (Baptista, 2020). Moreover, the 'Ride Safe India' anthem
by Ola became a morale booster for all Indians. It urged everyone to travel safely & follow the safety guidelines set by the
government. Another advertising campaign initiated by Ola was ‘Ola Emergency. It helped to inform the customers that Ola
conveyance is available to and from medical centres to hospitals in around 20 cities and ramped up to 200 cities.

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Uber started its advertising campaign when the situation of a pandemic was improving. The advertising campaigns Uber encouraged
people to start leaving their homes. Its popular advertising campaigns were ‘Safer for each other’ and ‘Move What Matters’. ‘Safer
for Each Other’ campaign helped to bring awareness among people to sanitize their hands, wear masks, and must not travel while
they are sick. This effort of the people may help others to be safe (ETBrandEquity, 2020) While the ‘Move What Matters’ campaign
urged users not to travel so rides could be saved for frontline workers.

b. Creative Strategy
Ola Ads were well planned timely executed and filled with creative ideas. To advertise Ola services its media selection was a blend
of traditional media and digital media. The Ads were determined on highlighting the safety facilities like sanitization and the use of
plastic screens for safer rides. Besides this, Ola also started a pilot grocery delivery in Bangalore in the year 2021.
On the other hand, Uber started its campaign with Uber essentials to provide basic essential facilities during the lockdown. It
ensured to provide efficient and reliable transportation for riders. Its essential services were based on important locations such as
hospitals and pharmacies (Auto, 2020). It also tied up with the big basket to deliver the grocery to the customers at the time of
lockdown. Uber used traditional and digital media to attract its consumer by highlighting Ads on medical grade and child-safe
disinfectants to drivers.

c. Media Strategy
Ola used a digital platform and mainline media to promote its Ads. The frequency of the advertisement was limited. Relatively, Uber
used digital platforms along with traditional media to make people aware about its facilities during pandemic. The visibility of Ads
was more frequent on digital media. The digital ad spend of Uber had doubled during lockdown.

d. Audience Strategy
Ola ads were targeted towards senior citizens and a bunch of communities whereas Uber advertisements were targeted toward child
safety during the ride.

e. Miscellaneous
During the second wave, Ola was faring better than Uber. Comparatively, Uber fare prices increased in the third wave. During
lockdown -1 cab operations were suspended for 1.5 months, however, essential services were operational (Malik, 2021) Besides this,
Ola initiated a CSR initiative with a campaign known as ‘Drive the Driver’ to help its driver community. These drivers had no work
to do, in the wake of the 21-day nationwide lockdown. The company launched the campaign under the aegis of its social welfare
arm, the Ola Foundation to help the drivers. This CSR initiative provided essential and emergency support to the drivers and their
families (Manral, 2020).

5. Swiggy and Zomato Advertising Strategies

Table-5: Comparative Analysis of Swiggy and Zomato Advertising Strategies

Advertising Swiggy Zomato
Strategies
a. Campaigns At your service Deal of the day
launched
Foodoshop on Instagram Everything at one price

b. Creative Product Media Selection Audience Product Media Selection Audience

Strategy Development attention Development attention
Swiggy Instamart, Social media Smaller Contactless Twitter; aggressive Food for
HealthHub and cities delivery, social media strategy quarantine
Swiggy Genie Hygiene &
Rider relief
Swiggy fund
collaboration

c. Media Strategy Media Platforms Frequency (Ads) Budget Media Frequency(Ads) Budget
Platforms
Social media Maximum visibility Advertising TV C, Wide visibility More TVC
spend Instagram Ads,
reduced Facebook, and frugal
Twitter advertising
spend

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d. Audience Smartphone users, youth (18-35age group) Smartphone users, youth

Strategy
e. Miscellaneous Heavy discounts, Zomato Gold Extensions
“Deal of the Day” and “Everything at one price Contactless Delivery
& heavy discounts
a. Advertising Campaigns
During the pandemic, Swiggy's advertising campaigns were “At Your Service Campaign” and “Foodoshop on Instagram”. The
former campaign used social channels intending to instill trust amongst the consumers. The advertisements encouraged consumers to
support their local restaurants by ordering in. Latter, advertising campaigns targeted those people who missed their favorite dish. In
this campaign, the consumers used Instagram filters and shared pictures of food (Bapna, 2020). In addition, Swiggy followed
consumer confidence-building initiatives through Ads to revive its demand and build brand loyalty. Comparatively, Zomato's
advertisement campaigns were ‘Deal of the Day’ and ‘Everything at One Price’. These Ads focused on the discount offers to target
the new consumers of smaller cities (Mittal, 2021).

b. Creative Strategy
To overcome the initial loss due to lockdown Swiggy launched new offerings such as Swiggy Instamart and HealthHub. Besides this
Swiggy emphasized expanding its services like Swiggy Genie. It is a new offering launched to let consumers pick up anything like
groceries, laundry, and sending across home-cooked food to friends and family. In addition, Swiggy also collaborated with
Universal Music India and Havas group to launch ‘Shukriya Kare’ - a thank-you anthem for all delivery partners of Dunzo, Grofers,
Medlife, and Swiggy (Bapna, 2020) Among the other collaborations Swiggy collaborated with NRAI ( National Restaurant
Association of India (NRAI)) to launch a campaign #AtYourService, urging customers to support their favourite restaurants by
ordering or dining- in (Tewari, 2020) The media selection of Swiggy was digital media with a wide use of social media. The Ads
were targeted to get the attention of smaller cities' consumers and workers who required food supply during a lockdown.
Zomato's creative strategy focused on delivering food through contactless delivery. Understanding the need of consumers in times of
pandemic focused on hygiene and good quality food. Moreover, Zomato also advertised its campaign on Rider Relief Fund to help
the riders who were dependent on daily wages and did not have any earnings due to Covid-19. Through this fund, riders got the
support to buy rations for their families and can meet their requirements in a medical emergency (Goyal, 2020).
Zomato used an aggressive advertising strategy through social media and selected twitter for promoting its campaign. Zomato
attracted those customers who were quarantined and required a food facility. Besides this, Zomato also launched the ‘Har Customer
Hai Star advertising campaign’. The advertisement featured Bollywood actors Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif which aimed to
show that Zomato cares about its delivery partners. However, this strategy of Zomato went in vain as on social media people
criticized that instead of paying Hrithik Roshan they would have better-paid delivery executives (Adgully, 2021).

c. Media Strategy
The media strategy of Swiggy focused on social media. The Ads had maximum visibility on social media platforms. However,
Swiggy's advertising spending had reduced in the year 2021 by 75 percent in comparison to the previous fiscal year
(ExchangeforMedia, 2022). Relatively, Zomato used television commercials (TVC) along with social media like Instagram
Facebook and Twitter. The Zomato Ads had wide visibility across social media and TVC. The maximum advertising spend of
Zomato was on TVC.

d. Audience Strategy
Swiggy was targeting tier 2 and tier 3 cities like Jodhpur, Tripura, Agartala, Jamshedpur, etc (Mittal, 2021). In addition, it covered
working professionals or businessmen who live in posh locations with a nice lifestyle. Comparatively, Zomato Ads targeted
smartphone users and youth. For example, the consumers who were fed up with eating home-cooked food and were craving yummy
dishes were targeted in Zomato advertisements (MoneyControl, 2020).

e. Miscellaneous
During the initial months of lockdown, the food delivery industry saw a decline in orders. Later on, when the situation was
improving Swiggy and Zomato gave heavy discounts to their customers up to 60 percent. Swiggy discounting models were “Deal of
the Day” and “Everything at one price” (Mittal, 2021). While Zomato offers were: Zomato Gold Extensions which was a small
gesture of Zomato to extend the paid Zomato gold membership up to 2 months at zero cost. There was another service based on
contactless delivery initiated by Zomato to ensure safe delivery to its customers. In this service, customers may opt to allow the
delivery partner to leave the package outside their home.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 5/Issue 6/June 2022

Findings
The comparative analysis of the advertising strategies of selected brands reveals the following findings:
1. Both Airtel and Jio are popular brand which has supported their customers in times of Covid-19. During the pandemic, Airtel's
media selection and its product features & services were far better than Jio. The media strategy of Airtel was a combination of
traditional and social media to promote its product and services. Relatively, Jio media selection was confined to social media.
However, the advertising budgets of both brands have increased to promote their respective product.
2. The advertising strategy of Amul was better than Nandani's. Its advertising campaigns used varied media platforms that covered
topical issues to attract more and more audiences. The creative strategy of Amul was well planned with more product features for the
consumers who wanted to be healthy. Amul's media strategy was rigorous and its advertisements spending was far better than the
other competitors. Nandani was facing the problem of surplus production with limited distribution. Consequently, to increase the
sales of Nandani the Ads displayed the discounts offer on the purchase of new products.
3. Both Netflix and Hotstar had a rigorous advertising strategy. Netflix quickly responded to the change in consumption patterns of
consumers and focused on improving its content. Comparatively; Disney+Hotstar was launched during lockdown therefore; its
advertising strategy focused more to launch the new platform. Netflix Ads promoted a wide range of content through social media
and billboards. Netflix advertisement spend was more on social media whereas Hotstar Ads spend was more on TV. Moreover,
Netflix services were promoted through Ads on a high-price model whereas Disney+ Hotstar services were promoted with different
plans including the free plan.
4. There was less demand for Ola and Uber during a lockdown. Only emergency services or essential services were allowed as per
the government rule. Both Ola and Uber's advertising campaigns ensured that they would provide a safe ride. Their media selection
included traditional and digital media to promote their services. Ola did not increase its advertising spend however; the advertising
spend of Uber on digital media had doubled. Ola services were targeted at senior citizens and emergency requirements whereas Uber
services were for child safety. Besides this, Uber's drive was less expensive till the third wave, unlike Ola whose drive was less
expensive till the second wave.
5. Understanding the food requirement in times of Covid-19 both the food delivery app Swiggy and Zomato ensured their services
accordingly. Their Ads focused on staying healthy, eating healthy food, and offering food discounts. The food app aggressively used
social media to promote its services which indicates the frugal advertising spend with maximum media visibility.

The future of advertising seems to be based on multimedia platforms. There would be more use of digital platforms. Advertisers and
brands have to identify niche-based advertising strategies that may include a smart way to advertise and increase the demand for the
product. For example, Airtel came up with the idea of a recharge revolution campaign that motivated the customers to recharge for
their friends who do not use a smartphone. It was a good way to retain their customer. Similarly, extending the validity of incoming
calls has also helped the company retain its customers.

Conclusion
The advertising strategy of brands like Amul, Netflix, Hotstar, Swiggy, Zomato, Airtel, and Jio may be considered successful in
times of Covid-19. The advertising strategy of these brands emphasized creativity, proper media selection, and focused audience
strategy. For example, on social media, there was the promotion of topical content, indigenous product, and brands' care for their
customers. The brands which cared or provided worth to their customers in times of pandemic had better consumers recall.
Therefore, advertisers must make sure that their advertising message must be suitable and distinctive. In post-Covid-19 the brands
should focus on the safety and care of consumers. Brand should re-align messaging around “new” core consumer values – safety,
security, comfort, and health. The advertising strategies of brands during the pandemic also indicate that now brands have to focus
on long-term strategies to boost sales. Simultaneously, brands have to do rigorous planning related to changes in consumer
behaviour and modified budgets. Though, an epidemic may have curtailed the ad spending for the short term, however; companies'
agreement must be towards unexplored areas of Ads in times to come.

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