Nowadays, Instagram is the place where most of us while away our time — endlessly scrolling through reels that we don’t think have any impact on us. And yet, some Kolkata brands have managed to enter our feeds. Through clever marketing and trending content, they have managed to crack the algorithm, gain visibility and bump up its recall value. Here are a few city-bred brands that have raised their social media game and gone viral…
145 East
The fashion brand based in Kolkata’s Jodhpur Park took the most iconic cloth known to Bengalis, the gamcha, and started making trendy fits with it. First, they turned the gamcha into a fashion statement, and now they are bringing us reels that we can’t stop watching on loop. If you haven’t seen a reel by 145 East, then you’re scrolling on the wrong app. Funny reels, quirky renditions of songs by the Arctic Monkeys and more, their content is so good they don’t even talk about their clothes anymore. If you, too, are looking for tips on how to date a South Cal girl, then you need 145 East on your feed and in your wardrobe. Bringing Gen-Z a taste of zamindari lifestyle and showing us how chaotic Gen Zamindars would have been, 145 East hasn’t just taken the 'gram by storm, but they are also setting out a blueprint for other brands to follow.
PICO- Pizzeria Coffee Bar
Prateek Didwania, the owner of Snacking and PICO, has stepped up his and PICO’s Instagram game. Prateek considers himself a full-time introvert, so what made him get in front of the lens? “I have always believed that people look for places where they feel like they belong. When the owner speaks about the place and describes things that happen within, I feel like customers connect with that. So, it made sense to me to talk about PICO in a way that I know people will not just understand, but also enjoy,” he said.
PICO and Prateek are doing things that no one else is in the city’s coffee community. Watching the owner crack jokes and yet provide informative content is a mix no one expected when PICO first opened up. Prateek’s aim through PICO has been to create a coffee-drinking community. He said, “I am an introvert until you ask me to speak about coffee, that's when I am in my element. The aim of our content is to make coffee simple. I think terms like flat white, cortado, etc., make coffee seem very complicated and so I am trying to simplify things. I want PICO to be a place where it’s about learning and experiencing coffee without getting scared of these terms. While other places serve up aesthetics, we aim to serve authenticity and comfort.”
Prateek said people are coming up with very generous feedback and PICO is slowly but surely turning into a haven that is home away from home for coffee lovers in the city. Here’s a look at Prateek trying to sell his soul (read: coffee) and describing the life of a cafe owner.
Sienna Calcutta
Sienna, in Hindustan Park, has become such a hotspot in town that everyone wants a table to celebrate a special occasion there. Apart from their top notch food and beverages, Sienna is crafting out a niche in the F&B space. And a big part of that is through their organic social media content. Having recently undergone a renovation, the brand taps into the work that goes on behind the scenes to engage with their customers and social media followers. Shuli Ghosh, the co-founder and creative head, said, “Our social media page is the most accessible and impactful tool we have to communicate with our customers. At first, it was managed by me, and it had a personal, human touch, which we still focus on retaining today, now that we have an in-house team.”
But that's not all, everyone in Sienna contributes to their social media efforts, be it the design, font or the ideas behind the footage you see. Shuli said, “Creating content has become an important aspect of our design language and brand voice. It’s a very collaborative exercise that still involves us as founders and also our head chefs. We work closely as a team and try to keep it engaging by featuring our team members, our Sienna family, artisans we work with and even the larger ecosystem from where we get food and ingredient supplies for our restaurant.”
OneTon
In Kolkata, if a place serves good momos, you can be sure they will have a lot of customers, especially if it’s a plate of juicy pork momos. OneTon, near Gariahat, is a small cloud kitchen for decadent Asian, Japanese and Chinese dishes. With a few stools as seating arrangements on the footpath, you can have a hot plate of momos or order in. Having upped their Instagram game recently, we asked Sourjya Barua, the founder, about how important it is for him to keep posting content that is trending.
“Posting engaging content is extremely important for a newer outlet like OneTon as it helps build brand awareness. Social media is a very powerful tool for us to reach potential customers and we find a way to make trending content work in our favour to connect emotionally with customers. We are trying to use it to carve out our brand identity as well.”
But does social media really help in building a customer base? “Yes, definitely,” affirmed Sourjya, before adding, “More and more, we are seeing customers who come to OneTon and tell us they saw a reel or a post that their friends shared. It has helped us build familiarity and also amp up the excitement for someone who tries our food for the first time. The impact has been very real for us and it motivates us to keep working on our content strategy.”
Kolkata Knight Riders
How can one talk about Kolkata brands without talking about the one that reigns our hearts in and turns it purple and gold – the Kolkata Knight Riders. A brand in a league of their own, this one has many emotions attached to it. They may or may not make it to the IPL playoffs this season, but Kolkata loves the Knights nonetheless. This love is often showered and reciprocated on Instagram when they hop on to trends. Last time around, it was Andre Russell giving us the best rendition of Lut Put Gaya and this time it’s Vartaman Ankhon Ka Dhoka. Check out Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Dwayne Bravo dancing to the trending audio to celebrate their win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. With the highest follower count of any account related to the City of Joy, the Knights express our emotions on the field and we show them our love online.