The Campaign

HP India wanted to inform consumers that they hadn’t fully explored the uses of a home printer and wanted reach urban Indian families in a way that would resonate. We conceptualized Write&Read as a program to help young children channel their inner writers, to give them and their families a glimpse of what was possible with printers, and to make a difference while doing so. We collaborated with an education-based non-profit to run a series of creative writing workshops and a story-writing contest across India. The workshops provided a platform to showcase HP’s printers and engage with over 1500 children and their parents, schools, teachers and a community of authors and illustrators. In the media outreach and online campaign, we targeted a larger base with the dual messages of enabling creativity and change. The winning entries from the contest were published in an illustrated book – printed on HP printers! All proceeds from book sales were donated to the non-profit partner. The media coverage resulted in more than 54 million impressions. We reached approximately 538,255 people through the online campaign and more than 10,000 key stakeholders directly through the workshops. A program that was conceptualized in India has created waves across the organization. Between the workshops, the printed book, the digital outreach and media visibility, we established stickiness for the HP brand.

The Brief

- Establish that printing has a wide range of applications in the home environment - Highlight HP’s support for building creative writing skills and for children’s education in general Our research showed that the market for home printers was still under-penetrated in India, especially when it came to families with young children. We also learnt that Indian schools – with their emphasis on structured learning - did not do full justice to creative writing as a subject. Our aim was to connect with children and families through creative writing workshops that would address this gap.

Results

Write&Read laid the groundwork for a strong link between HP printers and creative learning. The campaign created significant impact through its many touch points. Some key results include: Media: - 186 positive stories in prominent dailies - 57 million impressions On Ground: - People reached directly through workshops and related outreach: 10,000+ - 8 events in 6 cities in less than 5 months Online: - Digital reach: 538,255 - 3600 unique visitors to website - 200 comments on posts - Direct mailer reach 1,000 ROI and Book Sales: - INR 55 million ROI on spend (based on amount and quality of coverage) - All copies of book with winning stories (By Us For Us) sold out within 4 months; reprints are planned - The book of winning stories (By Us For Us) was a bestseller at Katha’s stall in the World Book Fair with more than 80 copies sold

Execution

A socially relevant campaign integrated with marketing purpose, Write&Read succeeded in doing justice to both aspects: - We timed the initial announcement to coincide with a global executive’s visit in order to convey its importance] - We launched a website (www.writeandread.com) for program updates, information and workshop registration - Posters were circulated to schools and students were encouraged to enroll - We invited the media to attend segments of the workshops to generate more buzz for the program - Printer demonstrations and related craft activities were built into the workshop - Workshop participants were given coupons to be redeemed on HP printers - Each workshop participant also had a chance to enter in a story writing contest - Winning stories were published in a beautifully bound and illustrated book - The book launch at the end was a moving closing event attended by several winners, their families and prominent media

The Situation

Families with young children in Indian cities represent HP India’s main target segment for home printers. As HP India sought to connect with these urban families to tell them of all the innovative things they can do with a home printer, it wanted to deliver this message in a memorable and meaningful way. Our campaign was designed to shape the creative writing skills of school age children while simultaneously positioning the printer as a creativity tool. To reinforce HP’s commitment to children’s education, all proceeds from the campaign were to be donated to the non-profit organization that would facilitate the workshops.

The Strategy

Our campaign was run on several fronts – online, offline and through media outreach – to build a positive association with the brand. The main parts of our strategy included: - Conduct a series of writing workshops along with a contest for school age children - Leverage this engagement to position HP printers as a creativity enabling tool - Run the on-ground activities with the help of some strong partners. We worked with Katha, an education non-profit with programs for underprivileged children, and Prasoon Joshi, a well-known lyricist in India who served as the campaign’s creative mentor. - Utilise the online medium to engage with parents, schools and a creative community of writers and illustrators - Generate national visibility for the campaign through well-placed media articles - Create buzz for the launch of the campaign’s centrepiece: the book of winning stories - Donate all proceeds from book sales to Katha