Swiggy`s `Voice of Hunger` Instagram Campaign

Abstract:

The case study “Swiggy’s ‘Voice of Hunger’ Instagram Campaign” is about the social media marketing campaign, #SwiggyVoiceofHunger. The campaign was conceptualized by Swiggy – the biggest on-demand food delivery platform in India, and Dentsu Webchutney – a Gurugram-based online advertising agency. The case study provides details of the campaign objectives to make brand Swiggy the preferred food delivery platform among millennials (its key target consumers), increase the number of Swiggy’s Instagram followers, and engage consumers through a memorable experience.

The case study also explains the conceptualization of the campaign by Dentsu Webchutney. Next, it describes the launch, execution, and impact of the campaign with a few details as well. The case study ends with a short note on Swiggy’s business strategies to adapt and survive the Covid-19 pandemic and its unabated marketing efforts on Instagram to promote its services during the Covid-19 lockdown in India. The final section also talks about the future of social media marketing in India and the innovative features launched by Instagram in the US, the UK, and Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic, which enabled restaurants and eateries in those countries to deliver food to customers through delivery partners.

Issues: » Understand the effectiveness of social media marketing. » Understand the importance of innovations in marketing and impact of user-generated content. » Understand the process of designing communications. » Become aware of the importance of market segmentation and target marketing. » Become aware of the characteristics and aspirations of Indian urban and rural millennials. Introduction In February 2019, Swiggy, the biggest on-demand food delivery platform in India, launched a marketing campaign on Instagram called #SwiggyVoiceofHunger. The campaign’s primary aim was to make brand Swiggy the preferred food delivery platform among millennials (its key target consumers), increasing the number of Swiggy’s Instagram followers, and engaging consumers through a memorable experience. Interestingly, the campaign was not based on photo sharing, the primary feature and functionality of Instagram, but on voice note, an ancillary feature of the platform’s direct message tool. (Refer to Exhibit I for a brief note on the voice note feature of Instagram). The campaign turned out to be a smash hit in terms of attracting new millennial Instagram followers, increasing sales, and consumer engagement. Following the campaign, Swiggy registered a 40% increase in the number of Instagram followers with nearly 40,000 of them belonging to the millennial cohort. The campaign also won several awards for marketing excellence including the 2019 Cannes Silver Lion award for User Generated Content and Co-creation in the ‘Direct’ category.

Key words:
Social Media Marketing; Instagram Marketing Campaign; Market Segmentation; Target Marketing; Designing Communications; Online Advertising; Digital Marketing; Brand Recall; Brand Penetration; User Generated Content; Influencer marketing

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