Hashtags – Future of Robotic Content Marketing

Check out your Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook feed; flip through a magazine or watch a commercial on television. You’ll likely find them filled with hashtags about what we like, what we want, what we think, or even just where we are. We use hashtags now to make sense of our digital world and help us find topics or associate with the latest trends in our social spheres.

So the question looms, will hashtags take over the Internet? Many think the domain name space is dead in favor of search, user experience, apps, and social networks, mostly driven by hashtags.

The Future of Domain Names? – Check What’s #Trending
New generic top-level domains or (gTLDs) are categorizing the browser or domain name experience in self-selected ways, much like hashtags. Not every website should be in .COM. Not every website is about commerce. Some are about changing your perception and maybe .LIFE or .SOLUTIONS makes more sense.

#betterforit (— Nike Women (@nikewomen) April 6, 2015)
#RollYourOwn (— Harley-Davidson (@harleydavidson) April 9, 2015)
#PutACanOnIt (—Red Bull)
#ShareaCoke (—Coca Cola)
#OreoHorrorStories (—Oreo)
#WantAnR8 (—Audi)
#NationalFriedChickenDay (—KFC)

ICICI Bank “Magic Pencil Project”
For the launch of ICICI Bank’s Creative Masters Drawing contest, where participants could contribute to a social cause with their drawings, the brand launched the Magic Pencil Project which promised to give away magic pencils with which one could bring their imaginations to life. A site was created along with a blog, and platforms on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to generate curiosity on the Magic Pencil Project. Users were invited to share what they would do with a magic pencil using #IfIHadTheMagicPencil, a video had the team convincing viewers on the pencil and many activities prior to revealing about the drawing contest.

Head & Shoulders India #ZindagiMiliDobara
For the promotions of H&S shampoo for men, the shampoo brand from P&G launched a 3-month campaign called ‘#ZindagiMiliDobara’. The contest hosted on a Facebook app sought to find two men who deserved to reclaim their lives and treat them with a 5-day trip to Brazil. Men needed to submit a 2-minute long video or a 300-word writeup describing why they deserved the trip.

Old Spice India ‘#WhatsInTheTub’
With Old Spice introducing supermodel Milind Somen as the face of the brand last year, it also set about defining the new ‘mantastic’ smell. To reiterate the magic of smelling mantastic, the deodorant brand had launched ‘#WhatsInTheTub’ campaign this April, where Milind was featured in a tub wearing only the mantastic smell. ‘Mantastic’ movie posters were shared on social media where the tub replaced the main lead, to establish a personality for the tub.

Gillette India “#MyRoleModel”
For the promotions of special edition India razors, Gillette India paid tribute to fathers in #MyRoleModel campaign. An extension of its global ‘Inner Steel’ campaign, Gillette roped in former cricketer and brand ambassador Rahul Dravid to convey the message of fathers as the first role models in a child’s life. The idea was extended onto social media with the #MyRoleModel blogging contest and Twitter contests that triggered conversations around the campaign hashtag.

TrulyMadly “#BreakingStereotypes”
TrulyMadly, a modern day matchmaking service that finds suitable matches using science and technology, launched the #BreakingStereotypes campaign that sought to break stereotypes existing in the country. It ran a social experiment where it asked boys and girls to share how they’ve faced generalizations while growing up, and curated these stereotypes into interesting visuals that could be shared on social networks. Twitter contests helped fuel the message further.

Cadbury Dairy Milk “#MyFavDairyMilk”
Cadbury Dairy Milk transformed its four flavours as part of a brand revamp exercise, and launched a cool campaign #MyFavDairyMilk during the Lok Sabha elections. Riding on the election fever in the country, the chocolate brand also invited users to vote for their favourite flavour at the microsite. There was campaigning for each flavour and Twitter contests dedicated to each of them. A mobile app was built to engage users with fun games around the flavours.

#Hashtag campaigns secret to Ola’s popularity (#ChaloNiklo)
Ola Cabs’ topical and continuous use of the hashtag has enabled it to become one of the most well known radio cab brands on social media according to a report by Simplify360.