The travel industry worldwide has weathered a number of blows over the past two years due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. Recent news of the Omicron variant spells further setbacks for travel-related businesses and vaccinated consumers banking on a quick return of international travel. On the back of this pent-up demand for holidays, platforms like India’s MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip have had to find innovative ways to keep their audiences engaged. What were some of the highs and lows for these two brands in 2021? We look back at online conversations from this year to give you a quick summary.
Talkwalker is a consumer intelligence acceleration platform, helping over 2,500 brands drive business impact with actionable consumer insights. The Battle of the Brands series utilises Talkwalker’s AI-enabled Blue Silk technology to analyse millions of images, videos, audio, conversations, and tags from across social media, blogs, news channels, etc. - providing a bird’s eye view of mentions, engagement, and sentiment surrounding some of the biggest brands in India today.
Media mentions and engagement
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MakeMyTrip (pink) and EaseMyTrip (purple) media mentions and engagement results from the period 1 January to 29 November 2021 displayed on Talkwalker’s Quick Search app
EaseMyTrip (EMT) began the year on a high note, accumulating much of its advantage in mentions and engagements in relation to its media sponsorships, such as the AltBalaji web series Paurashpur, and payment collaborations offering discounts on local travel bookings. Leveraging the appeal of entertainment and short domestic holidays, EMT has managed to sustain its overall association with positive experiences, a dash of celebrities included.
MakeMyTrip (MMT), on the other hand, has seen more modest mention peaks throughout the year - one of its highlights being a World Tourism Day post featuring the MakeMyTrip ICICI Bank Credit Card, which saw over a thousand likes and shares. The promotion was well-timed, followed by India’s marking of the 100-crore milestone in its vaccination delivery in October. Travel platforms like MMT rode on consumer optimism surrounding one of the most accelerated vaccination drives in the world - with India having administered more than 1 billion jabs in the span of 10 months.
Sentiment
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Colour-coded bars capturing the range of sentiment from positive (left, green) to negative (right, red) for the MakeMyTrip (top bar) and EaseMyTrip (bottom bar) brands.
Based on sentiment analysis, MakeMyTrip and EaseMyTrip are more equally matched. Positive sentiment for both brands was sustained at least in part by each brand’s engagement with the ongoing vaccination efforts. For example, timely donations of oxygen concentrators by the EMT founders won significant praise from foundations and celebrities coordinating the aid. MMT, on the other hand, was able to integrate vaccine booking as part of its platform, creating efficiencies and a safer environment overall for its communities.
These actions drive home a key message that brands must take into account for the next year: In 2022 and beyond, brand inclusivity will be brand critical.
74% of Indian consumers are purchasing from brands that responded well to the crisis, according to a recent Deloitte survey. As consumers increasingly vote with their dollars for responsible brands, it’s no longer an option for brands and their leaders to take a backseat. Category-leading brands are already leveraging consumer intelligence to tap into the pulse of their target audiences, to understand their values and priorities, and to build bridges between the communities that matter to them the most.
Next week: Part two of the comparison, covering hashtags, influencers, and image and video analytics.
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