Context

When many users woke up to an updated privacy policy notification from WhatsApp on January 6, the platform hardly knew what was coming. The statement in question suggested that if WhatsApp users did not accept the terms and conditions, they wouldn’t be able to use the app after February 8. This did not fare well with its users.

Apart from social media backlash on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more, the platform also experienced a virtual exodus as many users switched to Telegram and Signal. Besides, the two instant messaging applications witnessed a surge in downloads by up to 4 million since WhatsApp laid out the new policy.

Print and Digital Ads released by WhatsApp for Damage control post privacy notification.

To win its customers and bring the trust back, WhatsApp has since then put out various press releases, digital ads, and clarifications through the app’s status feature itself. However, most significantly, WhatsApp rolled out full-page commercials on the leading print newspapers in India including, The Hindu, The Hindu’s Business Line, Deccan Herald. While many netizens appreciated the move, some also pointed out the irony that a social media platform used print formats to retrieve its users.Studded with statements like, “WhatsApp respects and protects your privacy” and “Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA,” the newspaper ads were remarkably different from its clarifications online. The platform’s digital elucidations included, “WhatsApp does not keep logs of who everyone is messaging or calling” and “you can set your messages to disappear,” highlighting the ‘Disappear’ feature of the app, launched recently.The commercials targeted distinct user bases and intended to imbibe trust in people from different age groups. Across the world, and especially in India, despite the media (Digital and TV) facing credibility crisis, newspapers still hold much more trustworthiness among citizens. WhatsApp used that notion to ensure its print-reading users that their conversations and data are secure on the platform.On the other hand, other elements assured digital customers, acquainted with various technicalities related to the platform, features, and competitors.Entropik Tech deployed its proprietary Emotion-AI platform, AffectLab, to figure out what viewers are experiencing and feel when reading through this ad.

As per the emotion recognition insights, the Print Ad garnered an Engagement level of 35.34, Attention score of 62.16 and AffectLab score of 43.75, whereas the Digital Ad captured an Engagement level of 34.73, Attention score of 58.54 and AffectLab Score of 41.43.The positive and negative emotions only witnessed an average variation of two points. Using facial coding and eye-tracking software, AffectLab also provided the distribution of cognitive metrics that illustrates most people’s responses as neutral.

WhatsApp Digital Ad: Transparency Plot, Emotion Metrics, Affect Lab Score & Cognitive Metrics distribution

Take a look at key emotion insights of readers for both print & digital whatsApp Damage Control Campaign to gain more comparative insights on on the responses of the readers/viewers towards the Print & Digital Ad.Today not only do customers have the power to switch to various alternate options, but they can also air their disappointment and issues more quickly. And everybody knows that information and misinformation both spread like jungle fires on social media platforms. At a time like this, understanding customers’ preferences and needs is more necessary than ever. Tapping into their emotions, real-time responses, and inclinations requires more than traditional surveys and FGDs.In a world where marketing efficacies are nip and tuck affairs, consumers’ emotion can influence the app users on whether to switch to other competitors or not. Acquiring insights through Emotion AI solutions can be the key to unlocking newer and more accurate market research methods.For instance, Entropik Tech’s MediaEQ allows companies to conduct media testing, creative assessment, and media planning optimization. With powerful insights from Emotion AI-enabled platforms, brands can create advertisements resonating with target audiences on an emotional level and help you identify which media and channel are gaining more traction.