Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

Our work generated an original and useful solution to a marketing problem. It is like an innovation in terms of thinking and deploys divergent thinking to make connections that haven’t been made before in this category. The heartening part was that this creativity translated into effectiveness. We solved a business problem with creativity and delivered business results. Our campaign grabbed attention, generated conversations in culture, created appeal and interest for soups and triggered business growth in an otherwise stagnating category. We looked at the problem differently, interpreted a different business barrier and connected two disparate contexts to solve it.

Background

SOUP IS NOT INDIANS’ CUP OF TEA Soups are not a part of everyday meal and hence relevance is the challenge. Most current consumers are exposed to soups at restaurants or wedding parties. In India’s soup category, Knorr leads the market with 80% share. VETERAN GLOBAL BRAND MADE TO FEEL NOVICE IN INDIA 150-year old brand Knorr built soup in India for 24 years by educating people and consistently driving in core soup codes – Mother-child relationship, 7 pm consumption slot, health and taste, warmth during chills, right level of fill, chef expertise etc. Playing to the status quo of the market took us thus far. While penetration gains happened initially, but it had reached a stagnation – 5.4% to 6.1%, in the last 4 years. Objective TRIGGER 10% BUSINESS GROWTH IN THE STAGNATING SOUP CATEGORY Source: Nielsen data 2019

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

SOUP IS NOT INTERESTING FOR INDIANS AND LACKS APPEAL Classic perceptions in India range from a boring, flavorless appetizer to being for the sick or the elderly to being a confused liquid food to being for sad diet freaks. Competing with snacks as noodles, pasta, macaroni, nuggets, chips etc. on food appeal makes soup look even more pale and insipid. REPEATED PITCHING ON HEALTH + TASTE LIKE MYRIAD OTHER BRANDS FAILED TO INVOKE NEW INTEREST Consistently slotting ourselves to answer the classic mom dilemma of health vs. taste also failed to bring us new attention or interest. After all, a myriad of brands was saying the same including established food giants as Nestle, Britannia and ITC. THE PROBLEM WE NEEDED TO SOLVE How do we get new people interested in soup? Make soup appealing. Get people’s attention and thus, get into new homes to move the penetration needle.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

THE FOODS-MOM-CHILD CATEGORY IS A BLUR OF WARM, FUZZY, ENDEARING CODES In their bid to appeal to the nurturer, caregiver archetype of Indian moms, communication in Foods category was filled with soft endearing codes. Every brand including us was playing to this and hence created a blur for any to stand out. We needed to break status quo if we had to get people’s interest. GROWTH BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE We chose audaciousness over playing safe. Even if it meant being risqué in a category of goody two shoes! To disrupt this category, we latched on to the most provocative topic in current culture – Homosexuality! A conversation that cuts-through our set ways, makes Indians and most of all conservative Indian moms very uncomfortable. A topic that is hardly palatable. BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT: TO GET SOUP ON THEIR MIND WE HAD TO GET IT ON TOP-OF-THEIR TONGUE.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

Idea SHOW HOMOSEXUALITY IN A WAY THAT’S TASTEFUL AND PALATABLE TO MOTHERS. When Homosexuality becomes palatable, Homosexuality becomes Talkable. In turn, Knorr Soup becomes Talkable. Indians are homophobic. This uncomfortableness comes from the distasteful way in which our films portray homosexuality. It’s made homosexuality unpalatable for moms. We knew showing homosexuality in a tasteful way, palatable to moms, will get it out of the closet of awkwardness and encourage people to talk about it and, in turn make Knorr Soup talkable. We found a suitable anchor in mama’s boy, mass-filmmaker, loved talk show host, gay celeb - Karan Johar. Phase I: Digital launch on Karan’s social media to get attention and leverage his 32.7 million followers - Instagram teasers, Digital outbreak of full film Phase II: Knorr films aired on TV (30 seconders) a day after digital outbreak Phase III: Weekly Launch of six seconder bumpers on Instagram and YouTube

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

We drummed up the frenzy with only 1/10th of our competitors spends. (Client data 2020) Knorr soup exploded in the culture, media and became the topic of conversations. People lauded its progressiveness (homosexuality + man in the kitchen). Even moms patted our backs for creating a big change in the ad world. We attracted disproportionate attention – • Instagram - More than 1 million Views, more than 200,000 Likes and more than 3,300 Comments on Karan Johar’s Instagram handle • Twitter - More than 60,000 views on Karan Johar’s Twitter handle • YouTube - More than 150,000 views on Knorr’s YouTube channel • YouTube - More than 28,000 views on Knorr’s YouTube channel for 6 second teasers It brought business growth to grow the category: KNORR SOUP GAINED 3 TIMES MORE VALUE SHARE post campaign (MAT data Nielsen 2020). 20% BUSINESS GROWTH (Nielsen data ‘20) ever since our film launched

Please tell us about the challenger brand and how your campaign challenged / was different from your competitors

IT IS NOT SHARE WITHIN SOUPS BUT SHARE WITHIN SNACKS In spite of being a soup leader Knorr felt like a challenger competing in India’s snacking market with established giants as Nestle Maggi, age-old Indian street foods as samosas (baked savory pastry) and culturally rooted homefoods as poha (rice flakes) and upma (porridge). UNSTEREOTYPE/PROGRESSIVE CONVERSATION IN FOOD AND CULTURE Showed a man cooking in an Indian kitchen - Mother is the default designated cook in Indian society featuring in all ads. It was a bold move to not show a woman at all in a food ad in India. MAKE HOMOSEXUALITY TALKABLE TO MAKE SOUP TALKABLE In a goody-two-shoes foods category with conservative, safe, endearing mom-child codes we sparked a provocative conversation on homosexuality showing Karan’s naughtiness with another man. We ran a big risk of being trolled in today’s digital age and losing years of credibility built with moms.