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In the blink of an eye: Viral tweet became marketing magic in India | Work

Posted on by darion

For decades, Indian housewives have enjoyed a small but precious certainty: buying vegetables from local suppliers sabjiwala always meant getting coriander leaves and curry leaves for free. Now, even though many consumers use quick-trade platforms for everyday grocery shopping, old habits still die hard.

This nuance recently emerged again when a customer of e-commerce platform Blinkit, Ankit Sawant, whimsically suggested on X (formerly Twitter) that the company adopt the practice after his mother was disappointed with the virtual checkout. Instead of dismissing it as just another customer review, Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa not only acknowledged Sawant’s suggestion, but also leveraged moment-based public relations — responding to the tweet and incorporating the request into Blinkit’s offering.


The post garnered over 1.2 million views, 14,000 likes, 1,500 reposts and over 500 comments, and the post itself was shared over 500 times on X (Twitter).

Virality aside, Blinkit’s response exemplifies the transformative power of moment marketing. By responding accurately and authentically, the company has shown that you can significantly improve consumer perception and deepen engagement by seizing the right moment at the right time and in the right way.

When used properly, moment marketing allows companies to leverage current events, trends or viral moments to create relevant and compelling content that increases brand visibility and engagement. However, the execution must be in line with the brand values ​​and have a positive impact on the recipients.

However, in order to achieve such success, brands often uncritically seize every opportunity that arises to move into trending topics without assessing whether they actually align with their identity and serve their long-term goals. This was evident when just a few weeks ago, Bombay Shaving Company faced backlash after its advertisement made a derisive comment on the facial hair of Prachi Nigam, a class 10 board member in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The ad immediately drew widespread criticism for its insensitivity and reinforcement of negative stereotypes about women’s facial hair, with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) going so far as to say that the ad had the potential to violate its code, which protects children from advertisements that could harm them physically, mentally or morally or exploit their vulnerabilities.

So how can brands do well what Blinkit did, avoid turning tone deaf or alienating their audiences, and navigate these moments with strategic foresight and sensitivity?

Ayush Wadhwa, founder of OWLED Media, explains with an analogy: “Imagine you are at a party and you tell a joke that perfectly fits the conversation going on. As a result? Everyone laughs. In the case of Blinkit, adding free cilantro to your online cart is a similar masterpiece. It’s like brands are quick to engage with trending topics on social media. Recall Oreo’s “You can still dive into the dark” tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl power outage.” – explain.

Such cases show that the brand is attentive and genuinely cares about its customers’ preferences, which can significantly increase its popularity and trust.

Siddhartha Singh, co-founder and director of BlackCab, agrees, emphasizing the importance of relevancy in moment marketing: “In today’s fast-paced environment where people are constantly bombarded with content, capturing the moment is crucial. Attention spans are short, and people only pay attention to things that are relatable and current.”

Singh says social media platforms have begun to offer a dynamic space where brands can connect with people and interactively build communities, making them invaluable tools for real-time customer interaction. A single, well-targeted post can go viral, reach a global audience and send a clear message: the brand is responsive and can adapt to consumer expectations.

Delphin Varghese, co-founder and chief revenue officer of AdCounty Media, says that to succeed in this area, brands must focus on the goal of the campaign, i.e. the communities they are trying to engage with, and focus on consumers’ desires to interact when using channels social media.

“For consumers, social media is an indispensable tool for expressing opinions and concerns, and allows them to share experiences and influence brand decisions.”

Rohit Gulati, chief marketing officer, India and South, Johnson & Johnson Vision, agrees that, when done correctly, social media “can lead to greater customer satisfaction, improved products or services, and stronger relationships between a brand and its customers.”

So if customer feedback is an integral part of building and maintaining strong brand relationships in today’s competitive landscape, and engaging with customer feedback is no longer optional, it’s becoming essential – how can you leverage these insights?

Start by fostering two-way dialogue through social media and other platforms to better understand changing customer preferences, which are invaluable for product development and service improvement. Listening to customers not only leads to increased satisfaction, but also promotes loyalty.

Raghav Bagai, co-founder of SW Network notes: “Interaction with the customer is the basis for building strong relationships with the brand. By actively engaging with customers on social media and other platforms, brands build a sense of connection and community.

When a brand quickly acknowledges and responds to customer feedback, it signals a willingness to change the situation – which is essential to building strong relationships with current and potential buyers. Such moments also generate positive feedback and increase brand loyalty.

Ultimately, the success of Blinkit’s response highlighted the effectiveness of culturally resonant and timely engagement. By adapting its services to a well-known practice, the brand not only appealed to the nostalgic and cultural identity of its consumer base, but also made it more relatable and accessible.

Rajni Daswani, Digital Marketing Director at SoCheers, also highlights the unique and independent nature of this response. Typically, such customer issues are resolved as part of the standard customer relationship management process. By responding to unexpected customer feedback, Dhindsa’s CEO showed that Blinkit prioritizes customer relationships. This shows that top management is as responsive as the customer service team, with an emphasis on customer engagement at all levels of the organization.

Daswani concludes: “Blinkit is known for its speed of delivery. By quickly making the change available in the app, the company demonstrated its speed not only in terms of delivery, but also in ensuring customer satisfaction.”

India Campaign contacted Blinkit for information on the impact of this reaction on sales.