As part of our new series, ‘Marketers Playbook for 2020 Post Covid-19?, Kanika Mittal, Business Head, Twitter India showcases how Twitter is empowering brands to engage with consumers in the new normal In a reflection of the current climate, an overwhelming number of brands are evolving their strategies as we speak. Here is a quick read on some top themes and how Twitter is empowering the brands. Personalised 1:1 Virtual Communication With a plethora of Out-of-home advertising (OOH) spaces at airports, malls and roads missing the usual eyeballs, and print circulation dropping, there is bound to be a larger influx of brands in digital marketing both by way of the number of brands with increased adoption across categories and volumes of initiatives with budget shifting from offline to online. Given this scenario, more brands will need to shift gears quickly to 1:1 and personalised digital marketing to break through the clutter and not become a banner blind spot. Twitter’s product suite is intuitively very suitable for personalised digital marketing. Auto-reply campaigns with personalised notifications is a turnkey solution to deliver memorable, real-time interactions on Twitter. The flexible format allows brands to interact with audiences who have opted into their campaign and offer an innovative way to connect more deeply with their audiences thereby, inspiring more loyalty in the future. A great example of this would be tech OEM brands like OPPO (@oppomobileindia), VIVO (@Vivo_India), One Plus (@OnePlus_IN), Samsung (@SamsungIndia), etc., which use personalised reminders for their launches and enhance the consumer experience. OTT players like Amazon Prime Video and Disney + have used this to great effect in recent times to build visibility for their new show launches in a memorable way. Culturally Relevant, Purpose-Led Marketing Marketing communications is usually a combination of consumer insight, the product’s USP and the brand’s DNA. In a world reeling from Covid-19, there is a heightened need for it to also be culturally relevant and authentic. Consumers are smart enough to differentiate between a publicity gimmick and a meaningful initiative. In the new normal, audiences have even less patience to connect with something that does not feel like the real deal. Consumers respect brands with skin in the game, brands that make a real contribution to the on-going crisis management and go beyond the cursory tick of just changing their advertising. On Twitter, brands can find and build fans and advocates for their initiatives and do so in a manner that is conversational and relatable. Twitter’s newly launched Promoted Trend Spotlight is also an excellent way to land culturally relevant messages atop the Explore Tab, which is already made of trending topics and hashtags. This takeover ad placement pairs the undeniable power of video messaging with the premium real estate of Twitter’s Explore Tab. Twitter research shows that a brand’s cultural involvement makes up for 25% of a consumer’s purchase decision, and there is no better time to start building the cultural narrative than now if you are not already doing it. MG Motors (@MGMotorIn) has taken many initiatives during the Covid-19 crisis like designing ventilator prototypes. Vivo's (@Vivo_India) #HeroesWhoCare campaign, on the other hand, encompassed donating PPE kits and sanitizers and celebrating the frontline warriors through a thank you video. As part of its rise philosophy of accepting no limits and thinking alternatively to drive positive change, Mahindra Group (@MahindraRise) not only produced and delivered 250,000 face shields and 350,000 face masks but also made 50 of their resorts available as temporary care facilities amongst other initiatives to support the fight against Covid-19. All these companies and brands leveraged Twitter to spread awareness about their initiatives and services to a leaned-in audience. Virtual Launches We are living in a launch economy with thousands of launches happening every year and only 15% of the marketers feel that they have met their KPIs. This grows even more complex in 2020 where the large scale offline launch events would dissolve and all launch elevation would be created virtually. Moving to virtual events will mean rethinking the flow and concept of the event and doing so with innovation and precision to get your audiences talking. The good news is the potential lift in Return on Investment (ROI) - the production cost you will save, which you can then plough back into amplification efforts. Twitter’s Live Solution can be a very innovative way to make a brand’s product launch stand out and even become a part of the cultural zeitgeist.  Xiaomi’s Virtual Launch saw exceptional engagements and delivered higher than industry benchmarks. Hyundai (@HyundaiIndia) made quite a splash for the launch of their ultimate SUV, the all-new Creta by bringing the complete event experience online.  Agile, Real-Time Marketing There is no doubt that marketing now needs to be agile, flexible, real-time and topical. It needs to monitor the ongoing conversations and consumer sentiment, pick up the tones and reflect the same through communications and actions. Marketers need to challenge their agencies and partners to discover and connect with trends and moments that matter and create a culture of responsiveness. While part of this agility and real-time behaviour will be an outcome of changing mindsets and shifting gears, a large part of this will also be driven by the choices brands make as part of their social amplification strategy and how well they leverage it. Twitter offers a window into what consumers are talking about and taking a closer look at the same can help brands create a voice that is more real and topical. Twitter is where brands can connect to the events, occasions and trends people talk about most and those that do it well can reap the dividends. A great format to leverage this would be Twitter’s Conversation Cards. Conversational ads are Promoted Tweets with compelling images or videos that include call-to-action buttons with customisable hashtags. They prompt users to spread a brand’s message to their followers, further expanding the brand’s reach. They empower consumers with choices and encourage heightened participation in a moment that is already trending thus delivering great value for brands. Samsung (@SamsungIndia) captured users’ imagination in the features of their latest flagship S20  by running custom conversation cards to display cool new features like the 100XSpace Zoom, 8K video Snap among others.  One Plus used the Dynamic Spotlight very effectively for their 8 series promotion and saw a surge in engagement and positive sentiment. SBI used Conversation Cards to give consumers an interactive experience during Holi and connected with the festival beautifully. Insights More Valuable Than Ever Before With so many changes in consumer behaviour, it is imperative for brands to understand the shifts in values, mindsets and behaviours. Powering the insights engine in effective ways could help brands get better ROI and land their communication right. Twitter's suite of solutions allows brands to gauge the pulse of their consumers. A Promoted Media Poll which runs for seven days can help brands get a quick pulse check on their audiences. For example, a smartphone player can run a Promoted Media Poll to understand what features consumers will value even more in today’s times and accordingly amplify content based on the more popular choices. Another great use can be to gauge opinions and burst potential myths surrounding the upcoming products. For example, when MG Motor (@MGMotorIn) was launching their revolutionary electric vehicle MG ZS EV in India, they ran polls leading up to the launch event where they collected the usual misconceptions about Electric Vehicles such as lack of infrastructure, slow charging, higher maintenance etc., which were then addressed by the President of MG Motor India on the day of the launch. OPPO (@oppomobileindia) India also successfully used the poll to generate hype around the upcoming launch of the OPPO FindX2 Series and its unique features. Ahead of the launch, they asked customers to indicate on the poll which feature of their screen they are most excited about and received an overwhelming response. Marketing is changing and shifting steadily and connecting with Twitter’s leaned-in audiences through a suite of custom solutions can land messages in a more personalised and innovative way while empowering brands with insights to help them become more culturally relevant than ever before.