The start of Spring, the Festival Of Colours and a great marketing opportunity. These are all the things that Holi embodies, though the third may not be the first that jumps to mind. For business owners however it should be, as it’s a gold mine of potential when drawing out your marketing strategies for the year.
Major festivals in the annual calendar such as Holi are an easy springboard to launch campaigns, introduce new products and improve your branding. Jump on the bandwagon of public goodwill, as friends and family gear up for a time to celebrate. With celebrations come spending – and your company can benefit from this with clever marketing to tie Holi into your product or service.
Discover just how to do so with our top Holi marketing campaign ideas you can try this Spring.
‘Decorate’ your brand
Design your own holi posters with easy to use online templates, that you can print out to hang up around your office if you’re predominantly client facing, or post around the digital realm on your social media platforms to show your involvement in the holiday. This could be an embellishment of your existing logo, or a company-specific interpretation of traditional Holi rituals.
Your marketing team will have to come up with the details, but some examples could include a hyper-colourful edit to your company colours, or Holi-related puns in your marketing emails or social media posts. Create personalised Holi cards for your most valuable customers or loyal clients, and strengthen your relationships with thoughtful acknowledgment and gratitude.
Share videos of Holi celebrations in your company
A true way to signal the humanity behind the logo is through multimedia advertising. Create TikTok videos or Youtube shorts of the people in your company celebrating Holi. You could post your team showing their creative side as they design the Holi posters, or hold polls for your followers to vote for who has designed the best rangoli artwork.
Why not throw in a couple of fun shorts, such as a staff colour-dying extravaganza, or a Holi-centred video advert. This won’t be appropriate for all sectors of course, but for most industries, it’s a good way to show a human side to your brand. After all, it’s a holiday for you as well. That makes it a great opportunity to showcase your personalities, and get your potential customers invested in the people behind the name.
Sponsor Holi events
Holi is an incredibly visual festival. Don’t get lost in the crowd and make sure your brand stands out, particularly in high volume areas, whether it’s a busy street parade or in the digital landscape. Sponsor a stall or float as an easy way to signal your presence and willingness to get involved in important cultural events.
By making your brand synonymous with the country’s largest events, you’re well on the way to becoming a household name – just think about Coca Cola at Christmas, with some even claiming it was the megabrand that turned Santa Claus’ cloak from dark green to their signature red.
Collaborate with social influencers
Travel influencers on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Youtube reach staggeringly large numbers with their online audiences. Sponsor their travel to India for Holi in exchange for mentioning your company’s services, or pay them to feature your product in one of their posts.
They’ll get to share their experiences with Holi, and potentially introduce a large new audience to your company. Using a festival as an opportunity to pitch yourself to these influencers is a great way to start a potentially ongoing partnership.
Host a competition
Get people talking about your company with a simple competition on social media that all can get involved in. Encourage customers to share their most colourful Holi moments, their most impressive rangoli designs, or their best surprise colour balloon attacks, for a chance to win a coveted prize associated with your brand. To facilitate a conversation around Holi that centres around your brand, you’ll have to choose a prize that is worth entering for above the others.
Think about what superlatives you can offer your clients that they simply can’t resist throwing their hat in the ring for. Even if you stock relatively mundane household goods, advertise a lifetime supply, or throw a cash prize in there too. One prize at your expense for potentially thousands of people mentioning your brand, and increased interest generated as a result, is an easy winner.
Giveaways and discounts
Public holidays and widespread sales have become one-and-the-same, globally. Some people save their shopping or save for big money items until holiday deals roll around. You don’t want to miss a market that’s ready to spend by failing to introduce Holi-special discounts, because you can bet your bottom dollar your competitors well – and that’s where those customers will be heading instead.
Frame your discounts, special offers, and holiday savings as specific to Holi celebrations, to bolster your sales in tandem with targeted marketing. The important thing to remember is that people are expecting to see deals around this time – so give the customer what they want. This is even more crucial if you do sell anything you can market specifically for Holi. For example, if you’re in the home decorating or fashion industry, market Holi as time for a fresh start, if you supply anything fun or party-related, now is the time to be hosting friends and family. Get creative and see what you can come up with.
As we hope to have demonstrated, pitching your marketing campaigns with Holi or other key festivals as the anchor is an easy and successful way to drive your sales and your brand awareness.
If you haven’t tried some of these strategies before, why not let Holi be the time to give them a go? Some will be better suited than others to your particular industry, but we hope to have given you an insight in how to harness the power of Holi to the benefit of your business.
