Brands tap trolls to connect with netizens

​​There is a growing trend of internet trolling, with brands looking to spice up their social engagement

When hotel comparison site Trivago ran TV commercials with an unconventional male face, social media was abuzz with questions like `Who is the Trivago man?'. Every now and then, you see a post disapproving him for being `un-model-like'. While netizens were critical, Trivago has benefited from the trolling, with brand recognition growing month-on- month.


“Trolling is certainly being used as a way to break the clutter because we are bombarded with tonnes of information from several screens. It's the weapon of choice for `Newsjackers' who take a piece of news and ridicule it through their social media handles,“ said Brijesh Tanna, founder & creative producer of Flying Sparks Creative.

When Trivago started off, they were clear that they didn't want to engage any known or famous celebrities to be the spokesperson. “Idea is that anyone is capable of using Trivago to search for their ideal hotel and who better to explain the product than an ordinary average person. We always think that a Mr. or Ms. Trivago should just be like one of us,“ said Abhinav Kumar, country development India head, Trivago and the man in the advertisement.

Something similar happened with the face of Airtel, Sasha Chettri. Unlike Kumar who gets trolled for having unconventional looks, Chettri garnered hate for her omnipresence thanks to a full throttle media burst. Brand consultants opine that while trolls can alter the brand popularity online, it does little to detract loyalists.

“While the Airtel girl was trolled online, it may not have impacted Airtel's customer base. Netizens may react to trolls, but they respond to serious complaints,“ said L Hemachandran, CEO, Brand Avatar. He adds that trolling does create brand recall. “Take Saravana stores, a 25-year-old brand. With SS Saravanan appearing in advertisements, he is being heavily trolled on social media, but it makes sure there is a brand recall,“ said Hemachandran. Digital marketers say that `trolling and its management' is a much-needed strategy today. “For larger brands, managing trolls and thereby the online reputation is becoming a part of our marketing plan,“ said Vikas Chawla, co-founder, Social Beat, a digital marketing agency.

Chawla adds that trolling helps brands have a dialogue with its users. Marketers say that more than the immediate impact, the trail that trolling leaves behind, has an impact in the long run.Netizens who would want to try the brand, would be dissuaded because of the negative impact the trolls create.

When Lokesh Vijay, founder, Sight Media was approached by a prominent mall owner in Chennai to create a meme, he created a troll meme around their largest issue -entry gates, traffic and parking.“They have three entry gates, one is popular and hence, faces a huge parking and traffic issue. Our meme got 12 lakh clicks, 25,000 likes and close to 1,000 comments and shares. Today, people are aware of all three gates and the parking issue is resolved,“ he said.

As for folks like Kumar of trivago who are the butt of the joke, it's bit of a sweet and sour moment. “There were some negative tweets and direct comments on my social media profiles but also positive ones with appreciation. When on TV, you are reaching millions of people, so some tweets against me do not really matter as long as they understand how trivago can benefit them,“ he said.

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