What will hurt Tanishq more — the Ekatvam ad or its pull-back?

After facing flak on social media for its Ekatvam advertisement, jewellery brand Tanishq, a Tata product, pulled back its advertisement. Was that a right move?

The ad film, which featured a Muslim family celebrating a traditional South Indian baby shower ceremony for a pregnant daughter-in-law, created a stir on social media, with many calling to boycott Tanishq.

Issuing a statement regarding the pull-back, the company said it is withdrawing the ad film, keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well- being of their employees, partners and store staff.

Moneycontrol had reached out to Tanishq but did not receive any response till the time of filing this report.

“The pulling out of the ad will do more damage to the brand than whatever good it may have been done by the release of the new communication. The flip-flop shows the brand in bad light,” Sandeep Goyal, Chairman Mogaé Media, a Mumbai-based marketing and communication agency, told Moneycontrol.

“In the first place, if you have the conviction as a brand to say or do something you believe in, do it with 100 percent commitment. If you get scared by a bit of trolling, unfortunately, it signals that the conviction was only superficial, and that the brand does not have the spine,” he said.

According to N Chandramouli, CEO, Trust Research Advisory (TRA), a brand intelligence and data insights company, the pull-back of the ad has a dual impact.

“Firstly, it encourages social media bigots even further, and, secondly, it sets an incorrect precedent for other brands and brand managers who will dither to take such decisions in the future. The pull-back of the ad, unfortunately, will have a greater negative impact on Tanishq.”

But it affect sales during the festive season, which is an important period for jewellery brands?

Chandramouli thinks the festive sales of Tanishq will be impacted in a couple of ways.

“One, with their planned advertisement campaign derailed, they would probably have to put out another campaign. However, if a new campaign is created, it is likely to bring back memories of the pull-back among customers, who thought the first ad was appealing, and chances are, some of those will put off buying from Tanishq.”

“Also, consumers buy into brands that reflect their own personality, and it is unlikely there will be an extra purchase at Tanishq by the ultra-conservative social media trolls, and the Tanishq customers with whom the ad resonated strongly will also feel disenchanted, and it has a good chance of affecting its sales from both sides,” he added.

Along with the festive period, Tanishq was betting big on the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. This is why it launched the Ekatvam campaign during IPL. The idea was to create a strong visibility.

“Due to the pull-back of the ad during the high-visibility IPL period, Tanishq has a high probability of feeling the impact in sales,” said Chandramouli.

Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division, Titan Company, in a recent interview to a paper had said that Tanishq is pinning its hopes on the festive period and expects around 80-90 percent of business of last year to come back in the festive months this year.

“Festive season is what the gems & jewellery sector was banking on. From now till early-December is when jewellery brands sell up to 50 percent or more of their annual turnover. This double-whammy controversy during this period is definitely not what Tanishq will call good timing for sure,” added Chandramouli.

Along with the festive period, Tanishq was also focussing on the online medium.

Through video calling, Tanishq had served around 4,000-5,000 customers in the last two months, and recorded sales worth around Rs 100 crore, Chawla had noted in the interview.

But will the controversy around its Ekatvam campaign affect Tanishq’s online presence?

“Having taken a stance to pull out, it is likely that the brand will be silent in the digital space. That will surely impact its online presence,” said Sunit Khot, Chief Strategy Officer, Network Advertising.

While Goyal thinks that the timing has not been the most appropriate for Tanishq, when it comes to its new ad campaign, “the point is if the brand did not think that the communication was kind of risky during this important peak season of sales, then I would say I am surprised.”

“If they decided to take the risk, a little downside should really not affect the brand in any way,” he added.

Khot added that, for Tanishq, there was an opportunity to go on the offensive. “It is quite likely that if handled correctly, it (Tanishq) could have projected itself as a brand that stands for the right things and has the courage of its convictions.”

While brand experts are of the opinion that Tanishq should have stood by its ad campaign, Kuber Chopra, Founder, Creative and Strategy Director, Rasta, a creative agency, shared a different perspective.

“One has to give credit to the team for having released this particular ad film. Considering how cluttered this festive season is expected to be, cutting through the noise is definitely going to be tough. According to me, the idea was to counter the current cultural fascia and I sense the team would have been well aware of the risks and would have pre-planned the removal if trolled. If so, the tactic was an intentional stroke of genius,” he said.

He added that due to the polarising narrative, the trolls are driving more awareness for the brand within its potential customer circle. “The risk of enraging trolls to a point where it begins to impact sales is too far,” he added.