A blurry photograph, an absurd internet character or a video that looks like it was never meant to be an ad. Brands are finding ways to make their marketing feel less polished and more at home on the internet.
Kruti Soni, CMO, Anahata Organic, sees this as a response to audiences tired of consuming picture-perfect content. “We are living in a time where feeds are saturated with perfection, especially with AI-generated visuals and hyper-curated content, and audiences are naturally gravitating toward flaws, spontaneity, and human moments they can relate to,” she says. “Relatability builds stronger emotional recall than perfection does.”
The Trojan horse in the feed
The idea is to give people something to engage with before asking them to pay attention to a brand. Ganji Chudail, the bizarre character from Majedar Kahani, built an internet following through rough animation, exaggerated storylines and unapologetic humour. Brands such as Netflix, Swiggy Instamart and Nykaa have tapped into that world, bringing their communication into a space that already feels familiar to online audiences.
Zepto’s Uncle Ji follows a similar logic. The grumpy character’s rants about things people cannot get turned everyday frustrations into entertainment. One reel clocked 12 million views, with 80 per cent of its reach coming from non-followers.
Neither example relies on a conventional product pitch to get attention. The content gives people a reason to watch first.
Not everything needs to look perfect
Sometimes, the difference lies in the visuals themselves. Sweet Truth’s Father’s Day campaign, ‘Shot on PaPhone’, used blurry, badly framed photographs to recreate the kind of pictures dads take. For a brand selling desserts, it was a departure from the usual polished food imagery.
Vaseline India took another route when a creator’s pronunciation of its name as “Basseline” became an internet joke. The brand joined the conversation rather than forcing it into a conventional product message.
Pramod Pawar, VP Quantitative Research, Hansa Research Group, believes the appeal of raw content goes beyond its appearance. “Raw content often creates the perception that a brand has nothing to hide—even if the content is strategically created. Consumers increasingly value content that feels genuine, spontaneous, and human rather than overly produced.”
That distinction matters. Content can look unfiltered without actually being spontaneous. A brand may plan every detail, but the final communication feels closer to what audiences already see in their feeds.
Priyancka Puri, SVP Marketing at HRIPL, says the trend is about more than an aesthetic. “Real marketing is often misunderstood as a creative style when it is actually a response to changing consumer behaviour,” she says.
The discipline behind the mess
Not every meme or unpolished post will work for every brand. Trying too hard to sound internet-savvy can be just as off-putting as an ad that feels overly rehearsed.
Bala Kumaran, Founder and CEO, BrandStory Digital, points to the need for a natural fit between the content and the brand. “Audiences remember brands that feel genuine and not brands that simply try to go viral. The key is to participate in internet culture in a way that still reflects the brand’s personality and values.”
Pawar also cautions that this approach is not universal. For luxury and premium brands, being too informal can risk diluting the image they have built.
Puri makes the same point about keeping the brand at the centre of the idea. “The most successful brands use trends and internet culture as vehicles for their story, rather than allowing trends to become the story itself. While formats change, the brand’s purpose, values, and voice should remain consistent.”
The aim, then, is not to make every campaign look messy and real. It is to understand when a less polished approach makes a brand feel more relatable, and when it simply looks like it is trying to fit in.
