The #Knottheblues campaign by Edenrobe is getting a lot of flak on social media. So, we decided to take a look at it ro figure out why.
Edenrobe’s winter campaign is captioned, “Overpower what stops you and conquer the world with new identity through Knot The Blues collection by edenrobe”. It takes a serious issue, mental health, with real stories and puts a spotlight resolving to solve it. The symbolic gesture used to show resolve, tying a knot in your dupatta, puts a visual exclamation point to the stories.
Now, mental health is a big and growing issue in Pakistan and it is imperative to highlight it so that there is more awareness about it. But was this the best way of doing it?
Why not
Brands have always been playing at social issues as a two-prong approach: 1) build the brand, 2) create awareness. This campaign did both, with albeit a mediocre copy. The insightful symbology of tying a knot out a dupatta, which a woman would to do to fight or get something done, works well with the product because it’s eastern wear which incidentally has a dupatta.
What went wrong
Where it fails though is making a connection with the brand and that is an epic fail. Also, the reason why it is getting so much backlash. A brand that in all their previous campaigns has objectifies women, never spoken about the ‘real’ women all of a sudden show that they care? Pretentious. Much?
What makes it worse is that it is not selling a brand ethos, but their winter collection, which might we add is seasonal. Depression, however, is not.
By the looks of it seems that the hashtag came before the idea. Their winter campaign started with the headline ‘Knot the Blues’ with dolled up women posing and selling the product like in any other campaign. Then one day someone in the team thought, hey let’s create a hashtag, since they do so well on social media, around something that makes everyone use it and we will be famous! This might be news to the brand team, but that is not how strategy works.
Edebrobe, how about you overpower the desire to shit on your brand next time. Hashtag know your brand.
