How Zomato and Deepinder Goyal turned the tide on Twitter in their favour

On July 31, Zomato was trending at #1 on social media platform, Twitter. Why? Because of their swift, dignified and smart response to a consumer complaint. 

The complaint, which has since been deleted, went like this, “Just cancelled an order on @ZomatoIn. They allocated a non-Hindu rider for my food they said they can’t change rider and can’t refund on cancellation I said you can’t force me to take delivery I don’t want don’t refund just cancel.” 

The consumer cited the holy month of Shravan, when Hindus don’t consume alcohol or non-veg food, saying that getting a delivery from a Muslim rider is unacceptable. 

Instead of backing away from this ticking bomb, Zomato doubled down on the Tweet with their usual wit and humour. 

An hour later, Founder Deepinder Goyal, supported the decision by their marketing team and posted the following comment in a retweet.

A couple of hours and 26.4K Tweets later, every news portal and media publication carried a story on how Zomato slammed bigotry of a consumer with its ‘Food has no Religion’ retort. 

While the moral aspect of the issue can and has been debated hotly, but from a marketing perspective Zomato may have pulled a Houdini on consumers. It would have been impossible for the food delivery app to accede to the unreasonable customer request as it could have created a precedent for all deliveries concerning non-Hindu riders, thereby costing both money and limiting their manpower. 

By taking a moral stance on the issue and communicating it effectively, Zomato circumvented the need to respond to any uncomfortable questions regarding their delivery service and highlighted the bigotry of the customer who came under fire. 

The creative fraternity has applauded their creative masterstroke and complimented the moral stance taken by the brand. 

So has competitor, Uber Eats. 

Zomato has won over the industry too 

Founding Managing Partner of Reputation Advisory, Astrum, Ashwani Singla, opined “The example of this exists in the US. Ultimately, companies and brands have to stand for their values and beliefs. When they display extraordinary character consistent to the values and beliefs that they profess, then consumers will love them. Zomato caught the nerve of the people because at the end of the day we are a secular, moderate nation. It reflects the main sentiments of the population and stood for what it believes.” 

Nike’s Kapernick Ad, Gillette’s ‘The Best a Man Can Be’ are examples of successful marketing campaigns where brands chose the moral high ground. Marketing studies have shown that customers trust value driven brands and would pick socially conscious brands over time. 

As Shormistha Mukherjee, Co-Founder & Director, Flying Cursor Interactive, put it, “Consumers like to align with a brand that has a purpose and a stance, and one that stands up for what’s right. And in this case, there’s no two ways about it. I think it also instils a sense of pride to support, use or buy into a brand that does the right thing.” 

The results are already showing, as you can see this Swiggy customer talk about switching loyalties.  

The tangible RoI through such activities is not easily measured, but the impact it creates has value. 

According to Naresh Gupta, Chief Strategy Officer, Bang In The Middle, “Doing a campaign generates one kind of visibility, but when the CEO steps in and tweets, then the impact is much bigger than a mere campaign. The simple, factual and strong message won the day for Zomato. Then the whole organisation joined the conversation and that too helped Zomato.” 

The memory of Netizens has always been a short one and the impact of this moment created by the brand may blow away bad memories of their past failures such as ‘Zomato Delivery Man Sacked For Eating Customer’s Food’ or ‘Zomato Is Now Advertising On Porn Sites’. 

“Look at the number of people retweeting or commenting about it, how the consumer traffic is responding to it. It may be small, but look at the value it creates in the minds of the consumers,” said Singla. 

Zomato’s approach to marketing their brand has always been a little tilted and has helped them create a memorable brand history. Instead of pandering to every customer in the market, they have always approached marketing with their ideal customer in mind.

And that is to be lauded, believed Mukherjee, “When you stand up to a social cause, there will be people who will love you for it, and there will be those who will oppose you. As a brand, you have to ensure that you can withstand that and mean a lot to one group, rather than try and mean something to everyone.” 

“You cannot appease everybody, neither can you displease everybody. The question is what is your belief, how much do you believe in it and what is your stand on it. This is a double-edged sword. But at the end of the day, the litmus test is what you stand for,” concluded Singla. 

Zomato understands their customer, just as the customer understands Zomato. 

Call it moment marketing, moral marketing or outrage marketing, Zomato has created a moment it can call its own on social media.

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