Rainbow Brands. Rainbow Marketing.

Advertising has always held the mirror and reflected the real change in society over the years. It has, in many ways, shared a real India and the metamorphosis of its target customers better than cinema or TV shows have. (There are movies and TV shows which do the same, but their numbers as a percentage is quite low vis a vis advertising). The start of this century saw the housewife graduating from sarees with a bun and bindi (in the previous century) to being in salwars without bindis and now perhaps in complete western wear! You get the drift.

Yet, somehow, it’s been slow to reflect the big change we saw almost a year back. This week India will celebrate the anniversary of amendment of Sec 377, leading to a widespread acceptance, or at the least, an openness for the LGBTQI + community . Is it perhaps too early for them to do so? We do know that an overnight change in law may not necessarily lead to a change in people’s perceptions. Maybe it’s a matter of time.

Of course, when the law was changed, we did see many brands respond on social media. Logos & Brand profile pictures were immediately seen in rainbow colours. Cover pages and posts which echoed the brands verbiage with rainbow flags or ad stills. Yet, after the initial ‘capitalising on a trending topic’, brands and marketers have been slow to take it forward.

As a marketer and advertiser, I was hoping the trend would be faster. In my mind, there were a list of brands and categories which I had honestly looked forward to creating unique communication that reflected this big change for our country & society. Sharing the same here. Some of my favourite brands, as always, are part of the list. Also included, what I feel, were opportunities for brand & categories who could have capitalised on the same.

1.    Titan and its stable of brands have always been ‘up to date’ in its ‘current-ness’. Titan watches has been about gifting and treasuring unique moments of almost every relationship. Surely a LGBTQI+ couple celebrating this moment fits the bill.

2.    Fastrack, again from the Titan stable, has been bold in its reflection of youth & college life. The brand has almost a decade back depicted a girl sneaking out of the boy’s hostel room. An LGBTQI+ couple at campus may now not be out of context and reflect the brand’s support for the same.

3.    Benetton has a history of being unconventional and bold. It perhaps missed the moment to remain true to its brand ethos. 

4.    Wildstone deodorant has placed its brand in situations which would be considered sticky. There clearly was an opportunity to come unstuck here and get bolder.

5.    Uber was one of the first companies to show acceptance by offering to hire LGBTQI+ drivers. Sadly, it remained a PR story! Which is also true for quite a few IT companies who now broadened the meaning of diversity and inclusion but again keeping them as PR stories & HR statements on their websites! I can visualise some really interesting recruitment ads or corporate advertising that supports these initiatives.

Having said this, it’s just a year since the law has changed. And mindsets, would perhaps take longer. ‘Pink economy’ is a new term that is starting to get verbalised and which talks of the buying power of the LGBTQI+ community. Let’s hope marketers catch up soon on the same and create campaigns to target them.

P.S. I almost added Tanishq to this list. But realised we are yet to legalise LGBTQ+ unions by marriage. Maybe then Tanishq would be the first to celebrate. Along with Raymond, giving The Complete Man a chance to be one!

And before I end, can we expect a Cadbury Rainbow bar after the Cadbury Unity bar this 6th Sep?

#marketing #branding #rainbow #pride #pinkeconomy #titan #uber #cadbury #ogilvy 

Note: Brand logos shared are as seen on the respective brand's website and social media assets. Logo usage rights remain with the brand owners. Images used for representative purpose only. Courtesy pexels.com