The Campaign

In India, currently the share of branded entertainment, in an annual budget of an advertiser, is still low - but over a period of time it's likely to rise. Currently 80% of the ad budget of a product is still earmarked for traditional media, while 20% is for non-traditional media, which has seen a rise over the years. As traditional media in India suffers from the low attention span of the viewers and the increasing clutter. Also the youth in India are moving away from traditional forms of entertainment and hence it’s getting tougher to reach them. Therefore branded content is an ideal opportunity to reach out to the youth as it has the ability to weave in the brand promise and insight into the communication in a subtle but effective manner. To connect with the youth audience, we had to engage and involve them, on a platform and for a reason which appealed to them and was therefore fun. The main objective was to grab the attention of the discerning youth and positioning Dell as a brand with the 'x-factor.' Audience analysis and consumer meetings validated our hypothesis that young people enjoy hanging out with friends. However, we discovered that friendship circles are constantly moving, evolving and growing.

Results

We tied up with UTV Bindaas (the top-rated youth channel, seen as cool and fun by the TA) and custom-created a show on which select consumers could take a road trip with like-minded people. By giving young people a platform to have fun, do something new and meet interesting people, Dell was seen as a more fun and engaging by youngsters. A 13 episode customized series, 'Dell Road Diaries', was created on UTV Bindass. A celebrity along with Dell representative flagged off the journey, generating a great deal of positive PR around the launch. Dell laptops were an integral part of the show and were used tactically to showcase the various features of the laptop live on the show. Dell Inspiron laptops were shown as a companion on the show. Dell Inspiron acted as a guide and helped the participants document the entire journey and share it with their other friends. Dell Inspiron was synced with the host's Dell Stream smartphone, Participant profiles, photos and videos; these were posted on the show's microsite which served to generate further interest and drove traffic to Dell’s website as well. Dell was integrated into every communication for the show: • 400+ 'Coming soon' swipes across the channel. • 330+ Tune in promos on the UTV network. • 300+ call-for-entry promos ran inviting participants to visit a Dell store and post their entries online. • 170+ promos for the show ran on the network. • 60+ participant bytes were shot and run. • A radio campaign with over 300 spots each across 8 cities promoted the program and called for entries. • 6,000 sec across11 radio stations. • 20+ hoardings and bus shelters across 3 cities spoke of Dell Road Diaries.

Today, youth are constantly on the look out for new, like-minded people whom they can befriend and make part of their circle. Second, the youth are constantly looking to do new things and get new experiences. They have dreams and aspire to pursue them, leaving the mundane and monotonous behind. “Have you ever felt like dropping everything and taking a trip? Driving along the road less travelled and meeting interesting people?” Capitalizing on our insights into the youth, we gave them an opportunity to do a fun-thing they always wanted (leave the mundane behind) and meet like-minded people (to expand and evolve the friends circle).

Walk-ins to the exclusive Dell stores increased almost by 20% - proving that youth interest had increased in the brand. Over 200 entries were received for the 5 participant spots on the show. This campaign reached almost 1.5 Mn+ consumers in a span of 3 months. Over 3 lakh people reached through posts on Dell India Facebook page and more than 10K unique visitors to the Road Diaries Microsite. We also got free promotion exposure on other mediums, worth 10 million INR – amplifying the campaign and increasing ROI. Over 20 Mn INR worth of free PR coverage in print and exclusive features on few news channels.