Results and Effectiveness

There was massive word of mouth from those who had received our voice call – those they informed their friends and relatives about visiting the Colgate stall. Colgate stall attracted over 700,000 visitors with the number going up by over 300% of the pre-promotion period.

Creative Execution

This challenging situation inspired us to think beyond traditional methods. After evaluating various touch points, we zeroed open on the ubiquitous mobile phone, - as it was the only medium that the pilgrims carried on them always. The second challenge was the attraction hook. Since most pilgrims were from rural areas with low literacy rates, we consciously decided for voice-based communication using the voice of legendary Indian radio figure Amin Sayani. The third challenge was to target millions of devotees who had arrived from across the country? We partnered with leading Indian telecom provider Airtel and chose for location based targeting. The voice call was made the moment a visitor entered within 3-5 km radius of Maha Kumbh Mela. This way, any local Airtel subscriber or those roaming on Airtel, were targeted the moment they entered this virtual circle around Maha Kumbh Mela.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

To drive rural toothpaste penetration, building a proposition of Colgate as a modern and scientific product (compared to Daatun) has been one of the core agendas for Colgate. As part of this agenda, Colgate has been engaging with the rural audiences through various rural activation programs. The Maha Kumbh Mela was one such opportunity. With over 80 million people in attendance this year, the Allahabad Maha Kumbh mela was a dazzling spectacle of spiritual fervour. Along with pilgrims, a sea of brands were taking a holy dip at the festival; each vying for the crowd’s attention through innovative branding and advertising. Amidst this clutter Colgate also had a stall - where various SKUs were on offer along with in-stall activities such as magic shows and interactive games. Given the high competitive heat, Colgate had to do something special to attract consumers and drive footfalls to the Colgate stall.