Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

The Bengali community, worldwide, has always equated the multi-faceted, high on energy, and ever-caring mother to Goddess Durga, their most revered deity and the one who has multiple avatars. ITC Aashirvaad, a leading flour brand, took a cue from this insight to create a multi-dimensional campaign to engage emotionally with its consumers urging them to share the story of their mothers during Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the Bengali community. Aashirvaad team stitched a film, contest, coffee table book, postcard activity, and social promotions together to create this campaign touching consumers at multiple touchpoints.

Background

Culturally, kitchens in India are dominated by mothers & wives who have the final say in what products will make it to their shelves making them as key TG for such brands. Aashirvad Atta (flour used to prepare breads -roti) had always kept its brand communication focused on - health benefits - high fiber translating into high vitality - with mother at the center of it. Extending its journey, Aashirvaad decided to be more culturally relevant to Bengali females and equated the multiple roles played by a mother in her daily routines to multiple avatars of Goddess Durga. Be it a chef, tutor, trainer, friend, guide, or mentor, a mother is a combination of everything. The objective was to increase the recall & brand affinity among the Bengali female audiences between SECA/B 25-45 years old to continues with its leadership position (over 40% market share)

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

As per mythology, Goddess Durga has nine avatars each reflecting a different significance in the life of a woman - power, courage, destroyer, devotion, daughter, beauty, motherhood, and others. Bengali community has always equated Maa Durga to a mother as the latter donned multiple hats everyday to raise their children - chef, tutor, trainer, friend, guide, or mentor. A mother is a combination of everything. Aashirvaad team took a cue from the above insight and equated Goddess Durga to the multifaceted and energetic Bengali mother across all age groups. It further urged people & several celebrities to share stories about their mothers and the different roles they have played in their lives. A few selected stories were etched in a coffee table book and e-book - Pujabarishikim which means - a compilation of beautiful roop (avatar) illustrations of Ma Durga, which immediately connected with the consumers at an emotional level.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The brand strategy with respect to the campaign was multifold - Being culturally relevant to its TG by equating Maa Durga with multifaceted mothers - Continue the consistency of the existing communication - Engage with SECA/B 25-45 years old women - Engage with new-age mothers - Leverage Durga puja period to drive more conversations - Leverage digital & onground medium to drive engagement - Creating a tangible coffee table book - Increase Brand Recall & Continue the market leadership

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The campaign film was launched a week prior to 10-day long Durga Puja festival urging people to share stories of their mothers. Coupled with radio & social media promotions, entries came from all over Kolkata. Team shortlisted entries for a coffee-table book - Pujabarishiki - including nine stories from celebrities, and 108 crowdsourced stories. It was launched at an event on the sixth day of Durga Puja at their pandal (a makeshift auditorium designed for the festival - people visit pandals between the 6-10th day of Puja). The book was given to 50 eminent celebrities & distributed across 500 locations - coffee shops, jewelry shops, etc. People visiting the Aashirvaad branded pandal could click Goddess selfies, send postcards to their mothers seeking her blessings (delivered in a week’s time) and download the e-book by scanning QR Code. The team also organised a virtual broadcast of Puja at an old-age home.

List the results (30% of vote)

According to the research conducted by Kantar (independent agency) - The recall of the digital film was 95% - Substantial increase in other brand metrics like Purchase Intention and Top of the mind recall. Social Impact - The film garnered over 2.4 million views - There were a lot of positive discussions around the film on social media. - Over 10k stories were received from various parts of the country. - 1.5 million eyeballs reached onground - 23,000 people engaged - 50 eminent celebrities received the book - Book distributed at 500 locations - coffee shops, jewelry shops, - 10k postcards sent - 15k+ e-book downloads