Q] What was the strategy behind this campaign? Who are your target consumers for this?
So, the idea was that, if you’re one of the biggest brands over there, how can you connect with West Bengal even more… And with the pandemic, people want to get into the festive spirit and move out of this kind of ‘doomsday’.
Hence we decided to pay homage to this great festival and also do it in a new way by focusing on traditional elements associated with it. We were inspired by these art forms (Patua and Pattachitra), which are also very big in Bengal. Now we will be activating them across multiple touch points in West Bengal.
Q] Will the campaign be largely on Digital? What will your media mix be like for this initiative?
Our digital spends have definitely gone up. And that’s also because during the lockdown, that was the avenue available, in a sense. That said, we have been focussing more on digital year-on-year. It is not that we are spending more, but we are in tune with what the consumer watches.
And if digital consumption across has gone up, it is a trend that we follow. We keep our ears close to the ground. For this campaign, we are very conscious that it is not just about digital.
People do tend to go out and celebrate a festival outside. So we will do some outdoors and some activations at pandals, though we are keeping in mind safety and health restrictions. There will also be a digital activation for this campaign.
Q] Last year, you rolled out a campaign for Tata Tea Premium, which was one of the biggest, hyperlocal campaigns with customised packs and targeted ads. What was the kind of response you saw for that campaign?
We started this in October-November last year for our flagship brand, Tata Tea Premium, and the idea was to launch it across every state where the brand is based and connect locally with consumers there, because the insight was that foods and beverages must have some local taste and nuance.
So, we were paying homage to that, and that is why we saw success with Tata Tea Premium. We catered to specific geographies and we launched in Delhi, UP, Haryana and Punjab.
And then COVID happened, and now again after COVID, we have also launched a pack in West Bengal. Every market, every element of marketing needs to be localised and so, the communication is also different.
The medium is also different as is the packaging. We saw a very good response across markets to the campaign for Tata Tea Premium and we have seen growth.
Q] What are the trends that you see emerging for the F&B industry post the pandemic?
So, I think one big trend that I see is that people are still very wary or at least a lot of people are still wary of the new normal and I think contactless experience is going to be a big thing.
How are you able to interact with your consumers at every touch point without physical proximity? For example, cinemas have opened up with one seat in the middle. So I think all across categories, there is going to be this evaluation of interaction with the consumers.
