All our strategies emanate from consumer insight: Naseeb Puri, Mountain Dew
At Mountain Dew, we believe in leveraging the power of stories to create authentic consumer experiences, says Naseeb Puri, Director, Mountain Dew, PepsiCo India in an interview with Exchange4Media
Mountain Dew, the beverage brand from PepsiCo, recently launched a campaign ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana,’ to celebrate the journey of a real-life hero, Arjun Vajpai (the third youngest Indian to climb Mount Everest.)
The brand is paying tribute to the young mountain climber through an unconventional way of advertising – that of a biopic. Hrithik Roshan essays the role of Arjun and captures his attempt at climbing Mt. Cho Oyu – one of the most difficult peaks to conquer.
In a recent interaction with Exchange4media, Naseeb Puri, Director, Mountain Dew, PepsiCo India, shared her thoughts on their latest campaign ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ and how it differs from the previous ones.
Excerpts:
What is the philosophy behind ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’?
As a brand, Mountain Dew has always saluted the spirit of pushing boundaries and encouraging people to break out of the ordinary to make a name for themselves. We created the ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform and extended it to the philosophy of ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ to celebrate these real-life heroes – ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary success by willing themselves to rise above the normal.
Why did Mountain Dew create the platform Risk Takers of India?
Mountain Dew has always innovated and developed ways to connect with consumers in a contextually relevant manner. We created the ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform to inspire the youth of India with stories of ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary success through their feats. The platform is based on a powerful insight that our consumers believe that they are capable of extraordinary achievements. We inspire them through platforms such as ‘Risk Takers of India.’
In the current scenario, how crucial is the digital media platform apart from Traditional print and Television advertising for Mountain Dew?
The current advertising landscape offers a range of interesting ways to connect with consumers. At Mountain Dew, we believe in leveraging the power of stories to create authentic consumer experiences. The brand uses a mix of traditional and digital advertising methods to speak to consumers. Given the immense reach of mass media, it helps us convey our message to our target audience whereas digital allows us two-way communication and deeper engagement.
Ultimately, all brand communication for us is about telling the right story to the right consumer through the right medium. For the ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ campaign, we have partnered with VICE to help us tell Arjun’s story. Each of the episodes will feature a different chapter of Arjun’s adventures and will be interspersed with interviews with him. The 30 seconds TVC gave us a chance to set the context for Arjun’s story, while the long format VICE videos will give consumers a more detailed insight into his story and bring to fore Arjun’s grit, determination and relentless spirit.
How important is the relationship between brands and their agencies for an effective communication to reach out to target consumers?
At PepsiCo, we firmly believe that powerful campaigns take shape when the brand and agencies work together seamlessly. This belief extends to all of Mountain Dew’s campaigns as well. The agency is an equal stakeholder in all brand communication - we are able to create impactful stories and experiences for consumers only when the brand managers and agencies are in tandem with the core brand values and are willing to discuss and debate ideas together.
What will be the core strategies of the brand for growth in the next few years?
Mountain Dew is an iconic youth brand and all our strategies emanate from core consumer insights. We have a multi-pronged strategy for the next few years. The first, of course, is what all brands aim to do - continue recruiting new consumers.
The second is to engage with existing consumers through contextually relevant ways. We do this by building on core consumer insights. At the end of the day, all our strategies eventually tie back to what the consumer wants.
Heroism has always been the center of the attraction of Mountain Dew campaigns. Does this strategy work for the brand?
As a brand, Mountain Dew has invested a lot of time understating its consumers. We understand that our core target audience aspires to extraordinary success and they want to make a name for themselves.
Our brand values mirror those of our consumers. The idea of breaking out of the ordinary to make a name for oneself resonates through all of our communication, whether it is through taglines such as ‘Do the Dew,’ ‘Dar Ke Aage Jeet Hai,’ ‘Naam Bante Hain Risk Se’ or through our ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform.
The brand is paying tribute to the young mountain climber through an unconventional way of advertising – that of a biopic. Hrithik Roshan essays the role of Arjun and captures his attempt at climbing Mt. Cho Oyu – one of the most difficult peaks to conquer.
In a recent interaction with Exchange4media, Naseeb Puri, Director, Mountain Dew, PepsiCo India, shared her thoughts on their latest campaign ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ and how it differs from the previous ones.
Excerpts:
What is the philosophy behind ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’?
As a brand, Mountain Dew has always saluted the spirit of pushing boundaries and encouraging people to break out of the ordinary to make a name for themselves. We created the ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform and extended it to the philosophy of ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ to celebrate these real-life heroes – ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary success by willing themselves to rise above the normal.
Why did Mountain Dew create the platform Risk Takers of India?
Mountain Dew has always innovated and developed ways to connect with consumers in a contextually relevant manner. We created the ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform to inspire the youth of India with stories of ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary success through their feats. The platform is based on a powerful insight that our consumers believe that they are capable of extraordinary achievements. We inspire them through platforms such as ‘Risk Takers of India.’
In the current scenario, how crucial is the digital media platform apart from Traditional print and Television advertising for Mountain Dew?
The current advertising landscape offers a range of interesting ways to connect with consumers. At Mountain Dew, we believe in leveraging the power of stories to create authentic consumer experiences. The brand uses a mix of traditional and digital advertising methods to speak to consumers. Given the immense reach of mass media, it helps us convey our message to our target audience whereas digital allows us two-way communication and deeper engagement.
Ultimately, all brand communication for us is about telling the right story to the right consumer through the right medium. For the ‘Risk Utha, Naam Bana’ campaign, we have partnered with VICE to help us tell Arjun’s story. Each of the episodes will feature a different chapter of Arjun’s adventures and will be interspersed with interviews with him. The 30 seconds TVC gave us a chance to set the context for Arjun’s story, while the long format VICE videos will give consumers a more detailed insight into his story and bring to fore Arjun’s grit, determination and relentless spirit.
How important is the relationship between brands and their agencies for an effective communication to reach out to target consumers?
At PepsiCo, we firmly believe that powerful campaigns take shape when the brand and agencies work together seamlessly. This belief extends to all of Mountain Dew’s campaigns as well. The agency is an equal stakeholder in all brand communication - we are able to create impactful stories and experiences for consumers only when the brand managers and agencies are in tandem with the core brand values and are willing to discuss and debate ideas together.
What will be the core strategies of the brand for growth in the next few years?
Mountain Dew is an iconic youth brand and all our strategies emanate from core consumer insights. We have a multi-pronged strategy for the next few years. The first, of course, is what all brands aim to do - continue recruiting new consumers.
The second is to engage with existing consumers through contextually relevant ways. We do this by building on core consumer insights. At the end of the day, all our strategies eventually tie back to what the consumer wants.
Heroism has always been the center of the attraction of Mountain Dew campaigns. Does this strategy work for the brand?
As a brand, Mountain Dew has invested a lot of time understating its consumers. We understand that our core target audience aspires to extraordinary success and they want to make a name for themselves.
Our brand values mirror those of our consumers. The idea of breaking out of the ordinary to make a name for oneself resonates through all of our communication, whether it is through taglines such as ‘Do the Dew,’ ‘Dar Ke Aage Jeet Hai,’ ‘Naam Bante Hain Risk Se’ or through our ‘Risk Takers of India’ platform.
