Haven’t you observed, the kids normally wait for special days to unwrap their wish list to their parents? Any guess on why they are doing so? There is a bit of psychology in it. On a festive day the general mood is upbeat and we tend to voice ayes for anything.
Businesses too play this trick. They leverage the festivals to make their presence felt and even close a sale. One such occasion is the Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day is a festival that largely celebrated in US, Canada, Liberia, and part of Caribbean islands. It has rooted to a long history, started in 16th century where farmers celebrated the day when the crops are set to be harvested. Later, George Washington (former US President), on request of Congress unified the whole country to celebrate the Thanksgiving Day on fourth Thursday of November every year. On this occasion, every person thanks one another for the good that they have done to each other. There are similar festivals with different names in different regions of the world.1
The Indian Version
The Indian version of the Thanksgiving Day are Pongal (South India), Lohri (North India) and many such local equivalents. Farmers celebrate these day as harvesting day. They also welcome the new season with merrymaking2
The Business Angle
Companies across the sectors plan promotional campaigns on festivals mainly to earn goodwill and create brand awareness. Some of them are:
- In 2020, Parachute Advanced, a popular hair oil brand launched a campaign in Pongal season, encouraging its women customers to go for different hair looks with Parachute hair oil while adorning their hairs to participate in the festival.3
- In 2020, Zoom, a popular communication tech company, lifted its 40 minutes limit on free video call on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day. This move makes customers to share the happiness of the Thanksgiving Day and thereby building customer relationship.4
- In 2021, Cars24, a popular pre-owned vehicles platform, launched a campaign during the Pongal festival to promote how its services can be a part of Pongal celebration. In the campaign, it shows how people happily changing their cars at Cars24 where it offers the option to buy and sell a range of cars.5
- Indian companies like TCS, HCL Technologies, etc. and foreign companies like Cognizant, Vodafone, etc. in India do various people bonding activities during the season of Pongal and Thanksgiving Day. For instance, exchange of gifts, festive attire, team dinner, etc.6
Conclusion
Indian diversity allows many festivals, harvest or otherwise, to happen. Discerning brands leverage these festivals for cementing relationship- with employees, customers and society.
Learners’ Opportunity
Earning goodwill is a key strategy for business success. For more details check our program @https://online.ifheindia.org/
Discussion Questions
Recall any social media message/ offer which you received during a recent festival. Do you think that the brand could achieve an additional mileage with this campaign? Why?
Key Words
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Source Article
- Shreya Goswami. What is Thanksgiving and why is it celebrated? India Today. 24 November 2016.
- Kaushal Ladhad. Thanksgiving: Here Is Why The Festival Is Celebrated Around The World. Republic World. 09 November 2019.
- Piyush Sharma. Parachute Advansed rolls out festive ad film for Pongal. Economic Times. 30 December 2020.
- ANI. Zoom to temporarily lift 40-minute meeting limit on Thanksgiving Day. Economic Times. 15 November 2020.
- ET BrandEquity. Cars24’s new digital film brings cheer to all this Pongal. 13 January 2021.
- Hemamalini Venkatraman & Bindu D Menon. India Inc using festive season to bond with employees.16 October 2007
