Relevance and Resonance Framework: Why Some Brands Win Hearts While Others Just Make Noise

Last Diwali, I watched two contrasting ads. The first was a jewelry commercial with a celebrity, golden lights, and talk of "timeless elegance," but it felt empty and forgettable. The second was a simple Cadbury Celebrations ad showing a young man meeting his girlfriend's father, breaking the ice with a shared chocolate. My mother laughed, recalling a similar moment with my father. One ad was relevant; the other resonated. That difference is crucial in marketing.

When Relevance Isn't Enough

Walk into any Mumbai local train during morning rush hour, and you'll see the same scene: hundreds of people scrolling through their phones, barely looking up. Every single one of them is being bombarded with content—ads, posts, videos, messages. Most of it is relevant. They're seeing ads for products they might actually need: office wear, tiffin services, investment apps, online courses. But how much of it do they remember by the time they reach Churchgate? Relevance gets you into the room. It ensures your message reaches the right people at roughly the right time. A mutual fund ad shown to a 28-year-old with a steady job? Relevant. A baby product ad to new parents? Relevant. A restaurant chain promoting their new outlet in your neighborhood? Relevant. But here's the uncomfortable truth: in today's India, with over 700 million internet users, relevance is just the entry fee. It's not the winning hand.

The Magic of Resonance

Resonance is what happens when your message doesn't just reach someone's screen—it reaches somewhere deeper. It's the difference between "That's for me" and "That's me." Think about Surf Excel's "Daag Achhe Hain" campaign. They could have created relevant ads about stain removal, fabric care, and washing efficiency. Instead, they told stories about children getting dirty while doing good things—helping a friend, celebrating Holi, protecting their sister from muddy puddles. Every Indian parent has scolded their child for dirty clothes. Every Indian parent has also felt that conflicted moment when they're angry about the mess but proud of why it happened. Surf Excel didn't just acknowledge a relevant problem (dirty clothes). They validated a deeply felt emotion (the complicated pride of parenting). That's resonance.

The Two-Axis Framework

Imagine a simple graph. On one axis, you have Relevance—how closely your message aligns with what your audience needs, wants, or is experiencing. On the other axis, you have Resonance—how deeply your message connects with their emotions, identity, or values:

Low Relevance, Low Resonance: This is where most forgettable advertising lives. Generic messages that could be about anything, for anyone. "We care about quality." "Customer satisfaction is our priority." It's noise.

High Relevance, Low Resonance: This is the trap of rational marketing. Your Google Ads for "chartered accountant near me" during tax season. It works, but it doesn't build anything lasting. The moment someone offers a better price or more convenience, your customer is gone.

Low Relevance, High Resonance: This is interesting territory. Think of brands like Old Spice or Amul. Their individual ads often have nothing to do with immediate consumer needs, but they resonate so strongly with humor, cultural commentary, or nostalgia that people actively seek them out. Amul's topical billboards commenting on current events don't make butter more relevant, but they make Amul unforgettable. High Relevance, High Resonance: This is the sweet spot. This is where magic happens.

Case Study: How Swiggy Cracked the Code

In 2020, when the first lockdown hit India, food delivery apps faced an unprecedented challenge. People were home, hungry, and theoretically the perfect audience. Highly relevant, right? But they were also scared, uncertain, and feeling isolated. Swiggy could have focused purely on relevance: "We deliver safely. Contactless delivery. All safety measures followed." That's what most brands did. And it was fine—functional, forgettable, fine. Instead, Swiggy ran a campaign called "Swiggy Genie." They showed people using their delivery service not just for food, but for forgotten house keys, birthday cakes for grandparents they couldn't visit, last-minute gifts for anniversaries. The tagline? "Delivering more than just food." Was it relevant? Absolutely—people needed delivery services. Did it resonate? Powerfully—because it acknowledged the emotional reality of lockdown. The gifts we couldn't give in person. The connections we struggled to maintain. The small gestures that suddenly meant everything. That campaign didn't just drive transactions. It shifted how people thought about Swiggy. It's why today, years later, people instinctively think of Swiggy Genie when they need to send something across town.

The Tata Story: When Legacy Meets the Moment

Here's a different kind of example. After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Taj Hotel—part of the Tata Group—was severely damaged. Tata faced a business decision: how quickly could they cut costs and minimize losses? Instead, Ratan Tata made a different choice. Tata paid full salaries to all Taj employees during the closure. They set up a support system for the victims' families. They compensated even their temporary and contract workers. This wasn't a marketing campaign. There were no ads. But when the story emerged, it resonated across India. Not because Tata needed to be relevant to hotel customers in that moment—few people were thinking about hotel bookings during a national tragedy. But because their actions aligned with something deeper: the Indian values of dharma, of doing right by your people, of being more than just a business. That resonance built trust that lasts to this day. When Tata launches a new product, people give it a chance not just because it's relevant to their needs, but because Tata has resonated with their values.

Building Your Own Framework: Three Questions

Whether you're building a brand, creating content, or crafting a campaign, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Is this relevant to my audience's current reality?

Not what you think they need. What they're actually experiencing right now. When Paytm launched, they didn't just talk about digital payments (relevant to tech enthusiasts). They waited until demonetization made digital payments urgently relevant to everyone. Then they scaled like crazy.

2. Does this resonate with something they already feel?

Tanishq's "Remarriage" ad in 2013 didn't create a new need for jewelry. It acknowledged a reality many Indian families were quietly navigating—second marriages, blended families, the beauty of new beginnings. It gave people permission to celebrate something they already felt but couldn't quite express.

3. Am I showing up as a solution, or as understanding?

There's a difference. A solution addresses relevance: "We solve your problem." Understanding creates resonance: "We get what you're going through." The best brands do both. Fevicol doesn't just talk about bonding strength (solution). Their humorous ads about things sticking together in chaotic Indian scenarios—overcrowded buses, precarious jugaad solutions—show they understand Indian life (understanding).

The Small Business Application

You don't need Taj Hotel's budget or Cadbury's reach to use this framework. I know a small bakery in Pune that nailed it. During the pandemic, they started posting not just pictures of cakes (relevant to people wanting comfort food), but stories about customers. "This cake is going to Shreya, who's celebrating her first work-from-home birthday. Her team ordered it to surprise her on a video call." The next day: "This one's for Mr. Deshmukh, whose daughter is in Dubai and can't visit, so she's sending him his favorite black forest." The bakery became more than a vendor. They became part of how Pune residents stayed connected. That's resonance built on a shoestring.

The Warning: Fake Resonance

Here's where brands often stumble: they try to manufacture resonance without earning it. Remember when everyone started using the word "jugaad" in their marketing? Or when every brand suddenly had a "desh ke liye" (for the nation) message? When Pepsi tried to pivot from youth culture to patriotism with "Har ghoont mein swag"? It felt forced because there was no authentic connection. Resonance can't be faked. Indian audiences, in particular, have finely tuned BS detectors. We've grown up watching thousands of ads, and we know when a brand truly gets us versus when they're just using cultural keywords to manipulate us. True resonance comes from genuine understanding. From actually listening to your audience. From being willing to take positions that matter, even if they're not universally popular.

The Path Forward

The brands that thrive in modern India won't be the ones shouting the loudest about features and benefits. They'll be the ones that understand the Relevance-Resonance Framework. They'll know that a working mother in Bangalore doesn't just need convenient meal options (relevance). She needs someone to acknowledge that she's not failing—that juggling work and family is hard, and she's doing amazingly (resonance). They'll understand that a college student doesn't just want affordable fashion (relevance). They want to feel like they're part of something, that their choices reflect their identity and values (resonance). They'll recognize that an elderly person doesn't just need user-friendly technology (relevance). They need to feel included in a world that's moving fast, reassured that they still matter and can learn (resonance).

Your Turn

Next time you're creating something—a social media post, an ad campaign, a product launch, even an email to your team—pause and plot it on the framework. Is it relevant? Does it address a real need, at the right time, for the right people? Does it resonate? Does it connect with something deeper—an emotion, a value, a shared experience? The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing at all. It feels like someone finally gets it. Gets you. That's not magic. That's the Relevance-Resonance Framework at work. And in a country of 1.4 billion people, each with their own stories, struggles, and dreams, the brands that truly understand this won't just sell products. They'll become part of the story itself.