What Rachit Hirani teaches about brand purpose

Digital is not just a platform, it is a part of us already. So, Motor Octane is one of the leading auto content platforms today. Tell us a little bit about your journey. Let me put it this way. When I started off, Motor Octane was purely a website. Then we had a video presence, but not very active on it. Then after a while, when we saw that the data has become so affordable, everyone is consuming video more than text because it's easy to consume and people like that.

We said, okay, let's move on to this part and see a phase where we focus more on video content than text. So, that's how we started the journey in the video format. For which we are known today. And we started working on feedbacks. That was our strongest point. We were very snackable content. Now, 40 minute videos also at times, which when you think logically, doesn't work. But people who buy cars want a lot of details and that's what we try and cover in that. So, that's been our feedback from the audience that we worked on and we've got the results.

So, when you talk about snackable content, so what do you think are the top three elements of any piece of snackable content per se? I believe snackable content shouldn't be a correct term to be used today. Because content is basically how engagement can you generate from it. What do people like it? Do people dislike it? Even if they dislike it, but if they watch it, that's the key to it. So, I can't say there's one or two or three ways to look at it. But I'll say the best way is you gauge your audience.

It doesn't mean the first video you put out and you're successful. Right. You check out the first video, see what people say, then improve on it, then improvise, then improvise. That's how it will work. You can't create viral content from day one. That's not possible. So, influencer marketing, as you know, is really big. So, what role does it play in the content strategy of a brand? So, I believe influencer is very strong in terms of supporting a brand. But at the same time, the influencer shouldn't be thinking only from a brand angle.

His goal should be supporting the audience. So, I'm from the auto genre. Tomorrow, if a car brand says, okay, I need to sell this car. So, I shouldn't be like, you know, this is what you should buy. It's good. It's great. You should buy it. Wow, wow, wow. That means I'm not connecting to the influencer. My point is I should connect to the audience, find the show points and help them buy it. So, I'm like a mediator for the buyer and the seller. You walk into a car showroom today. There are many people who are turned off by the way salesmen approach them.

And for instance, let's say you go to a car brand and say, I want to buy this car. They're like, no, that car is offering this more. So, the salesperson always has the instinct to put you down saying, no, that's not a good car. This is a better car. Because he's trying to do his job. But at the end of the day, you know, you need to feel special yourself too. So, that's where an influencer plays the role much better than what maybe a salesperson most of the time doesn't do. Which brings us to the next question. Sure.

So, there are macro influencers and micro influencers. So, how should a brand like individually use them? So, a macro influencer is someone whom a company or a whoever the brand goes to and says, you know what? This is my idea. This is this. You go and work it out. Okay. So, now there's a catch here. The biggest catch here is they don't know what the macro influencers audience is all about. They don't know that. They know their product. That's it. Whereas a micro influencer normally comes and says, hey, this is what my audience does.

They're good at this. They might like this. They might not like this. Why don't you work with us? So, a micro influencer will have a better reach, engagement. So, he might not be saying, I get 50 million views. He'll be like, I get this many views. But I know my audience will. You know, do engage, share, comment, whatever you need. That can be done here. So, a talking point can be generated here. Whereas in the macro level, we're not sure what is happening. Plus, the money is a way higher.

You know, we see that digitally driven brands, they resonate better with millennials. Correct. So, should the traditional brands be worried about that trend? Of course, they should be. I mean, we're talking millennials. But generally, it's even other people who have been so engaged on the digital platform. I think digital platform is not just a website or a YouTube or OTT. It's even your WhatsApp. Today, I see my parents. I see so many other people's parents being using WhatsApp every day. They're like, WhatsApp, this is what happened.

This is what happened. You know, you shouldn't buy this. This is wrong. So, digital is not just a platform. It is a part of us already. So, brands are not working on digital. I think they need to rethink their strategy at least. So, for Motor Doctor, you know, video has been your focus area. So, when you create video content, what do you keep in mind? Especially when you create content for millennials, what do you keep in mind? So, I don't know what's the difference between a millennial and a car buyer at another level. Because I'm myself a millennial.

So, I think from a very simple point that the goal is to achieve answers for what he has come on to you. He or she. They'll have some questions in their head why they're looking at this product. So, it's either, let's say, maybe what's the mileage of the car? What's the service cost? They'll have certain set of questions in their head which needs to be answered today. And if you can answer that, they'll come back to you again. Building a platform from scratch and, you know, sustaining the leadership position must be quite tough for you.

So, how do you unwind? I'm trying to unwind because there's no time to do that. Honestly, it's too much work. Okay. But, yeah, I mean, once a week off might be right now the only solution I have. Not any other solution at the moment. So, do you have any hobbies? Hobbies? Hobbies? No time for them, honestly. Okay. But, maybe in the future once the team is bigger, I believe.