CUBA UNDERGROUND

Short List
TitleCUBA UNDERGROUND
BrandPARLE AGRO
Product / ServiceCAFE CUBA
CategoryB02. Microsites
EntrantCREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai , INDIA
Entrant Company CREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai, INDIA
Advertising Agency CREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Sajan Raj Kurup Creativeland Asia Creative Chairman
Anu Joseph Creativeland Asia Executive Creative Director
Sanket Avlani Creativeland Asia Senior Creative Partner Art
Radhika Sukthankar Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Art
Sanuree Gomes Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Art
Girish Narayandass Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Copy
Divyanshu Bhadoria Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Digital
Mithun Rajam Creativeland Asia Young Creative Partner Art
Pranav Nayak Creativeland Asia Young Creative Partner Copy
Manaswi Mohata Creativeland Asia Young Creative Partner Copy
Satya Shetty Creativeland Asia Chief Implementation Officer
Ritesh Rao Creativeland Asia Business Head Digital
Ankur Rander Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Innovations
Girish Agawral Orion Labs Partner
Rameez Shaikh Orion Labs Chief Developer
Amey Ghule Independent Music Director
Jay Gala Creativeland Asia Creative Operations Director
Sejal Shrotri Creativeland Asia Young Creative Partner Operations
Seby John Creativeland Asia Creative Partner Copy

Creative Execution

Using the MS-DOS/Terminal screen as a base, we used ASCII characters (! @ # $ % ^ & etc) to add a different dimension to the website. Once the theme was set, we sent the user on an immersive storytelling journey. Each user was first welcomed by their IP address and asked to enter commands to continue. We then used ASCII animation set to arcade music to tell a story of how a group of comrades decided to make Cafe Cuba. Suddenly, users met a password protected firewall which led them to interact with our brand's Twitter handle. Then the story continued in the form of our TVC. In the end, users could share our site using command keys.

In only 15 days, we had 500,000+ unique visitor from 115 countries. And almost 80% of them viewed the entire website. 78000+ users shared our site via the final share screen. Average user engagement was over 4 minutes. This led to over 1.1 million+ page views. Both Awwwards.com and FWA.com honored us with Site of the Day. Café Cuba also became the No. 1 trending beverage brand in India for the month of April. The brand Twitter handle @CubaGuy saw a 518% increase in user engagement. Brand impressions worth $ 120 million were earned. Even the biggest media house featured our campaign at the center of which was the website.

After being forced to sell its flagship beverage brands to an international cola giant in 1993, Parle Agro was re-entering the soft drinks market with a revolutionary drink, Café Cuba. A unique mix of coffee and fizz, Café Cuba was brewed to break the Cola monopoly in India. But given the clout the Cola giants enjoy, it was impossible for us to fight them in the open. So, we took the drink to the Underground. The undisclosed place where all revolutions are born. Our Objective: Launch the drink digitally, in a way that complemented our positioning. Insight: To launch Café Cuba in the digital space, we took a cue from Hackers. Because, like our drink, they challenge the norm and they take on authority. This way, our brand’s objectives were similar to theirs. Our Idea: Taking cue from a hacker’s module, we created a microsite using MS-DOS/Terminal principals. This microsite took users on a journey which familiarized them with Cafe Cuba's taste, origins and positioning.

Links

Website URL