A Word Of Hope In Troubling Times
In an attempt to bring joy to GoNuts users lives in these arduous times, the platform has recently launched project Hope. The project is an endeavor to bring a smile and hope in times of trouble. GoNuts believes that during this tough phase, a message of encouragement from their favourite celebrity can boost and encourage those who are affected by Covid and their extended families.
In an interview with BW Applause & Everything Experiential, Joji George, Founder, Gonuts spoke to about this initiative and more.
Excepts:
What is project Hope?
GoNuts is a platform we created for human connection. It is about making one's life richer. It is about bringing a smile to the faces of our customers and hope in times of trouble. Our stars are the real ambassadors of hope and smiles. To bring cheer and encouragement to those who are affected by Covid and their extended families, during this tough phase, we have joined hands with our stars who are using their time, gratis, to send personalised video messages to them.
What is the objective of initiating this campaign?
As a platform and if I were to speak on behalf of artists, our goal is to be a force for good, especially in these tough times. Today, more than money, people need a word of hope, care and encouragement. Our thought is, if we together, offer an opportunity to be a beacon of hope by sending a personal video message to those people who need a word of hope, a smile, a laugh to stay positive, and then we have accomplished the mission of our platform - to make people’s lives richer.
Who are the celebrities associated with this campaign?
Many leading celebrities like singing sensation Shaan, Padma Shri Kailash Kher, Superstar Ashish Vidyarthi, Singing legends Hariharan and Leslee Lewis, anchor and comedian Cyrus Brocha, Harshita Gaur, Kavya Jones, actress Pooja Bedi, actor Rakesh Bedi, Padamjeet Sherawat, singer Rituraj Mohapatra, comedian Suresh Menon and many more have joined hands with us.
How can one avail of this?
If you know of anyone who has been tested Covid positive, is in hospital or needs a word of encouragement, you can write to us at smile@gonuts.com. The Gonuts team will review the request and send you a personalised greeting that is delivered to the handphone of the requester. It's that simple.
The pandemic saw a surge in digital viewing, is this helping the platform in connecting fans and celebrities?
The pandemic has created a surge in digital consumption and changed how brands work with influencers. Not only is it redefining existing industry trends, but it also presents new challenges and opportunities for influencer partnerships. During the lockdown, there was a significant slowdown of investments in partnerships across the board, with some sectors hit harder than others. In May and June, we saw partnerships begin to go back online, though, again at a different pace depending on the industry and geography. We also noticed that the partnerships looked different than they did pre-pandemic. Influencers and brands started to shift their communication more toward branded content and away from mere product advertising and were far more conscious of cost. That is the gap that Gonuts aims to fill, for both D2B and D2C.
A trend, I hope, that will change in the coming years is pegging the value of influencers on their number of followers. It is a bit like how television ratings and advertising rates were based on TAM ratings, even if the sample size never made sense.
I believe that what OTT has done to television, we will do to influencer marketing, which makes it authentic and economical.
From a client’s perspective, we now eliminate layers of people, posing as representatives, gets the lowest cost, guaranteed delivery and the ability to choose from a wide array of stars across geographies, language and price points.
