Deepika Padukone’s Viral Instagram Reel: A Marketing Analysis

Deepika Padukone recently released an Instagram reel in collaboration with a well-known hotel chain. This promotional video quickly gained immense popularity, achieving a staggering 1.9 billion views.

Nitin Chandil, the former marketing head at Ola Electric, expressed his amazement on LinkedIn regarding the view count of Deepika Padukone’s viral Instagram reel. He pointed out that the figures alone do not tell the complete story.

Chandil elaborated that while the reel amassed approximately 1.9 billion views, it only received about 1.3 million likes, resulting in a mere 0.03 per cent engagement. He noted that this figure is significantly lower than Padukone’s typical engagement metrics.

According to Chandil, the average number of views for Deepika’s Instagram reels tends to hover around 5 million, with an engagement rate closer to 5 per cent. He commented that this indicates the reel in question is likely a boosted (paid campaign) one, resulting in reduced engagement.

Chandil estimated that organic views for the reel may be around 10 million at most, suggesting that nearly all 1.89 billion views were likely purchased.

Taking into account Instagram’s average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) of about $2, he approximated the campaign’s total cost to be around ₹33 crore.

Chandil posed a question about the value of spending such a sum on Instagram for content that is evidently lacking in engagement. He reflected on the missed opportunities for utilising that budget more effectively, asking, “How would one allocate 33 crore wisely?”

View the viral reel here.

The post ignited a lively discussion online, with several users criticizing the spending as excessive given the ad’s lack of engagement. Conversely, others supported the expense, suggesting that the attention garnered from being labelled as “the world’s most viewed reel” could justify the marketing cost for a prominent brand like Hilton.

One commenter remarked, “The creative itself is quite dull. The messaging is all over the place. What do people staying at Hilton even do? Despite a high production cost, the Cartier reel where she simply stands with a voiceover seems to have significantly outperformed this one.”

Another user contended, “That assessment is incorrect. The maximum they could have spent is in the lakhs. Gaining millions of views is not unattainable for just a few thousands.”

A different participant suggested, “If the campaign truly cost 33 crore, it resembles a criminal offence. I would be interested to know the justification from the brand and media manager regarding this expenditure.”

A fourth commentator speculated on the possibility of a lower ad budget, attributing some element of virality. They stated that as loss-making startups have tenfold annual ad budgets, established, cash-rich, profitable companies shouldn’t be criticised for attempting to be noticed in a crowded market.