The Campaign

Summary: How a simple engaging invite united the best of journalists for a historical product launch. Situation: Back in 1993, Parle Agro was the biggest beverage player in India. An international cola giant entered the market and bought out all contract bottling plants of Parle Agro. Cornering the company to sell all their flagship brands, and sign a non-compete clause that prohibited them from producing any carbonated drink for the next decade. 2014, Parle Agro was re-entering the carbonated drinks category with Cafe-Cuba. Positioned as The-Coffee-Revolution, it was India's first carbonated-coffee-beverage. For this sensitive launch, it wasn't just about getting coverage, it was about getting the right kind of coverage. Our objective was to get a chosen few high profile journalists into one room, get them to feel the coffee revolution and unite them in one positive voice for Cafe Cuba. Idea and Execution: To invite them we didn't just create a direct mailer. We create a newspaper. Called La-Revolucion, in keeping with the idea of Coffee-revolution. Top 30 journalists in the country were sent La-Revolucion as the invite for this covert launch event. This newspaper was delivered at their doorstep with their usual morning newspaper. The front-page carried the respective journalist's pic with cleverly disguised personalized invite. The rest of the paper carried original, freshly written articles with clues to the revolutionary launch. Results: 100% responded to La-Revolucion by attending the launch. 80 publications ran our coffee revolution story. For PR-campaign worth $5000, we ended-up garnering earned-PR worth $2 million.

The Brief

Goal: How a simple engaging invite united the best of journalists for a historical product launch. For this sensitive launch, it wasn't just about getting coverage, it was about getting the right kind of coverage. Our objective was to not do the usual kind of high-decibel PR-event but instead get a chosen few high profile journalists into one room, almost get them to feel like they are a part of a discrete plan, get them to feel the coffee revolution and unite them in one positive voice for Cafe Cuba.

Results

Results: For a medium that has an average response rate of less than 3%, one hundred percent responded to La Revolucion by attending the launch event. All media high profile attendees ran the story on the product launch. Further amplified by more than 80 publications who picked up the news along with various blogs and online business publications. This led to every newspaper in the country talking about the revolution that is brewing. And the entry of Parle Agro into the carbonated drinks category after two decades. The printing and distribution of the invite costed us a meagre $1800. And the unassuming modest event another $3200. So, for a campaign that cost $5000, the brand ended up garnering earned PR worth $2 million !!! Café Cuba, the coffee revolution had begun.

Execution

Execution: The invite The invite for the launch event was not just a regular DM. We designed a whole newspaper. Called La Revolucion. This paper was delivered at the door steps of hand-picked high profile journalist. Top 30 journalists in the country were sent La-Revolucion as the invite for this covert launch event. This newspaper was delivered at their doorstep with their usual morning newspaper. The front-page carried the respective journalist's pic with cleverly disguised personalized invite in the form off the main article. The rest of the paper carried original, freshly written articles with clues to the revolutionary launch. Execution: The event Unlike the normal blitz of a product launch events, we designed a launch that went with our campaign theme of revolution. We organised covert round-tables with the chairman of the company and designed it to feel like a covert planning meeting of revolutionaries.

The Situation

Situation: In 1993, Parle-Agro was the biggest beverage player in India. An international cola-giant entered the market and bought out all their contract bottling-plants. Cornering them to sell their flagship brands and sign a non-compete-clause prohibiting them from producing carbonated-drinks for the next decade. 2014, Parle-Agro was re-entering the carbonated-drinks category with Cafe-Cuba. Positioned as The-Coffee-Revolution. For this sensitive launch, it wasn't about getting coverage, it was about getting the right kind of coverage. Our objective was to get a chosen few high-profile journalists in one room, make them feel the-coffee-revolution and unite them in one positive voice for Cafe Cuba

The Strategy

Strategy: To invite journalists we didn't just create a direct-mailer. We created a newspaper. Called La-Revolucion, in keeping with the idea 'Coffee-revolution'. Top 30 journalists were sent La-Revolucion as the invite for this covert launch-event. This newspaper was delivered at their doorstep with their usual morning newspaper. The front-page carried the respective journalist's pic with cleverly disguised personalized invite. The rest of the paper carried original, freshly written articles with clues to the revolutionary launch. And in tune with brand-idea of revolution the event was designed to feel like a covert planning meeting of revolutionaries and not the usual high-decibel one launch event.