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The case study presentation for EFFIE 2005 began was awash with excitement. The EFFIE Awards have long been one of the most respected (especially so for the client servicing breed) owing to the fact the award is not given for creativity, but rather for the effectiveness of an advertising/communications campaign. The Advertising Club, Bombay, which hosts the show in India, pleasantly surprised everybody by starting more or less on time. The Who's Who of the advertising fraternity was present, and the
hall was awash with intrigue; the anticipation was to come later.
Leo Burnett — Congress party
Leo Burnett came to the lectern with 'Congress Ka Haath Aam Aadmi Ke Saath'. They did some much needed research only to
find that India was anything but 'shining', as
the competition so vehemently proclaimed.
The number of farmer suicides was mindboggling
and there were countless women's
issues, which had been swept under the rug
and were long since forgotten. The rate of
unemployment — if anything — was on the
rise and the recent stock-market crash
meant that investors were having very trying
times. "Has you life changed in the last five
years?" they asked. The reply: "Yes, for the
worst."
While the competitor's budget was Rs 2.50
billion, Leo Burnett had a comparatively
miniscule Rs 250 million. Research showed
that the majority of the upper-classes didn't
vote and made up a minority of the Indian
population. Leo Burnett didn't even bother
talking to them. No, they were going to
address the common man; hence the conception
of 'Congress Ka Haath Aam Aadmi
Ke Saath'. They addressed the common man
and the issues he was facing with a highly
relevant print and television campaign. In
both cases, the campaign broke out with different,
respectively relevant, visuals for the
north, south, east, and west of the country.
Congress dethroned the opposition, which
had enjoyed a strong-hold at the center for
nearly a decade, and were also declared
among the Top 10 Marketers for 2005.
McCann Erickson — NDTV
McCann Erickson presented their 'Zubaan Pe
Such' campaign case-study for NDTV. They
conducted research and found that the general
population thought that foreign channels
were not good enough for them as they
did not focus much on India. Indian news
was perceived as being just about 'breaking
news' and 'news bytes'. In the foreign news
sphere, the studio was the theatre of action;
in the Indian news sphere, the field was the
theatre of action. Their challenge was to reposition
themselves in the dominant market
of Hindi news. At NDTV, the news is all
about inquiry and they broke with a television
campaign which showed gripping real
life scenes of reporters in the center of
action. Each commercial ended with 'Zubaan
Pe Such, Dil Mein India'.
Apart from the television campaign, they
spread their communication across radio,
print and even graffiti media; like posters,
bumper stickers and motorcycle stepney covers.
The campaign worked and the numbers
speak for themselves. NDTV launched in
2003 and had 4.5 million viewers; by the end
of 2004 the number had risen to 7.4 million.
The channel's shares saw a 72.5 per cent rise
and in 2004, the only other channel, which
had any gain at all was Doordarshan.
Contract — Domino's
Contract regaled us with their '30 Minutes,
Nahin Toh Free' strategy. In 2002, Dominoes
sales remained stagnant and they were stuck
at being a Rs 700-750 million company. They
were forced to shut down 25 out of their 100
outlets in the country. The delivery market
was on a definite decline. That Pizza Hut had
just entered the market with 2-and-a-half
times the advertising budget of Domino's
and was introducing a sizable range of new
products and offers certainly did not help
matters. The key point was it didn't matter
how good your product was; what mattered
was what you could do for your customers.
They decided to invite consumers to a challenge
by adopting a strategy, which had
proved successful in the United States over
the last 10 years. It was simple game, but it
created quite a disruption: if you didn't get
your pizza within 30 minutes, it was yours
for free. At worst, you got a delicious pizza
for free.
The first commercial set the tone by showing
a greedy Gujarati man — who on observing
heavy rainfall and a horrendous traffic
jam — orders a Domino's Pizza. Convinced
that the conditions outside will delay the
pizza delivery boy from making it in the
promised '30 Minutes', he makes a song and
dance about it; only to be rudely interrupted
20 minutes later with the arrival of his pizza.
Never before had such an offer been made in
the Indian sub-content, and that it was for a
perishable product made it even more attractive.
Domino's made their promise and stuck by
it. In fact, in the initial phase, they deliberately
delivered 2 per cent of their pizzas a
minute or two late; they also trained their
delivery boys — in some cases — to insist
they were late even if they were in time, just
so the customer could enjoy a free pizza. This
strategy worked wonders; the word of
mouth confirmation of Domino's promise
ensured a phenomenal rise in sales. Their
target audience was 18-30 SEC A; considering
that their budget was only Rs 30 million
— based on their target audience — they
only advertised on 3 or 4 niche channels.
In 2002, Domino's had 2.2 million orders;
in 2004, the number had risen to 3 million, a
23.2 per cent growth. Year 2005, so far, has
seen Domino's grow by 41 per cent, and at
the rate at which they're going, the firm is
expected to be a Rs 1.20 billion organisation
by the end of this year as compared to the Rs
750 million they were in 2002.
FCB Ulka then presented how they over
came their challenge of making the
'Cinderella of Phone Services' — 'desirable',
'exciting' and 'sexy'. Tata Indicom wanted to
redefine the FWP (Fixed Wireless Phone)
category. It was much more than a land-line
but not quite a mobile phone. The company
wanted to place their phone as aspirational.
The on-air commercial clearly communicated
their proposition clearly: 'Freedom of
Mobility at Land-Line rates.' The service was
called 'Walky' and apart from the television
commercial, they had several on-ground
activities; like having people hold up signs
early in the mornings and evenings in walker-
infested areas reading 'Walky is Good for
You'. It was the first time a service was marketed
as a brand and not a commodity. In the
first six months, there was a 75 per cent
awareness rate of the Walky, turning it from
'Cinderella to The Lord of the Rings'.
FCB Ulka — Naukri.com
FCB Ulka was up again, this time with their
handiwork on Naukri.com. By 2003,
Naukri.com's revenues had grown by 100 per
cent, but then Monster.com breezed into
India buying up Jobsahead.com, bringing
along (with it) its mammoth global stamp of
acceptance and respectability. It was time for
Naukri.com to do something. Fast!
They met the challenge by tapping into a
powerful insight: People don't leave jobs;
they leave their bosses. The first commercial
showed the main protagonist at his boss'
birthday celebration where he slips a plate
with a big slice of cake on his boss' seat just
before he sits on it. The second commercial
shows the film's protagonist in the washroom
spraying water from the tap onto his
boss, thoroughly drenching him. Both films
end with the line: 'Guess who's just heard
from us?' Television was the key medium of
communication, supported by an on-line
presence by way of banners. 90 per cent of
their television commercials were aired during
prime-time, and only on niche channels.
The result? Where they had targeted a 100
per cent growth, they grew by 150 per cent
and their top-line revenue doubled.
O&M — SBI Life
O&M's SBI-Life case study was possibly the
most refreshing of the evening. After a short
moving slide-show — to lovely, soothing,
music — of the brand's objectives and what
it stood for, the played the audience a fabulous
video. It featured an old, retired, educated,
middle-class Maharashtrian couple
talking into the camera. They talked about
their marriage all those years ago and
touched upon the trials and tribulations of
the early years. When asked the one thing he
would like to give to his wife today, he said
that it would be the gift of good sight. She
had been a school teacher before she'd
retired and reading was her life; there was
nothing she loved more. Suddenly, a couple
of years ago, she lost virtually all her eyesight,
robbing her of the only pleasure she
had ever known. Nowadays, he read to her
and he said he enjoyed doing that immensely.
That was the insight O&M used:
Whatever your age, your dreams should be
wrinkle free.
Their 'Old Couple' Valentine Day television
commercial features an old couple, very
much like the one in the previously showed
video. The man presents his wife with a diamond
ring and offers the excuse of it being
Valentine Day; the day people in love give
each other presents. The wife retorts by saying
that she's too old, and he shouldn't have
spent so much money buying her diamonds;
look at her age! He replies with: "Heeron ko
kaise pata aapke umar kya hain?" The commercial
ends with the line "Pyaar ke beech,
paise ki kami na aaye" and the brand's slogan
is 'Life ho to Aisi'.
McCann Erickson — Happydent
McCann Erickson's client, HappyDent
White, was facing a clinical problem of sorts
owing to the fact that
all its advertising
looked like tooth-paste
communication. Their
claim, look and feel,
was unmistakably
tooth-pasty. It's commonly
known that people
don't believe toothpaste
commercials; why
should they this? So
they decided to ditch
the whole clinical approach and have some
fun.
The commercial features a wannabe starlet
— fresh from the village — in a photographer's
studio, getting her portfolio photos shot.
She's getting increasingly exhausted, but the
photographer is relentless in taking more
and more pictures of her; yelling out 'smile'
again, again, and yet again, as the village girl
grumpily strikes a pose, the flash goes off,
and his camera clicks. It's only at the end of
the commercial that one sees the camera
does not have a flash, and his orders to
'smile' are not diverted at the village girl, but
his assistant/human flash, who obviously
has a penchant for chewing HappyDent
White. 'The teeth whitening gum' the signoff
reads. HappyDent White also sponsored
'The Most Beautiful Smile' category at the
Miss India Pageant this year.
Their ad-spend budget was Rs 25 million,
but just take a look at these statistics: Their
expected growth target was 50 per cent;
what they got was a completely unprecedented
185 per cent growth. Also, 'Smile!', as
the commercial was christened was the only
Indian television commercial to be short listed
at Cannes in 2005.
McCann Erickson — Saffola
Up next was McCann again with its Saffola
case study. In the early 90s, Saffola was a
very strong heart-care brand, which used the
fear of death in all its communication.
Frightening — and some would say in
extremely bad taste — as the advertising
was, the brand enjoyed the luxury of charging
an 80 per cent premium over other cooking
oils. In the growing edible oil market
with new players emerging or entering the
country, Saffola fell upon bad days. It saw a
negative growth in the 2001-2003 period and
the team realised they'd have to change their
marketing strategy. They would have to start
talking to people, who were not heart
patients, nor in the imminent danger…
To read this article entirely, buy a copy of Impact Advertising & Marketing magazine dated October 31-November 6.