Wagga Wagga's mantra for diabetes: Healthy oil for a healthy heart

In its ad campaign, edible oil manufacturer dwells on love for food and compulsion to restrict diet

Brand: Wagga Wagga

Budget: Rs 10-12 crore (estimated)

Agency: DDB Mudra West

In India, health oils are mostly associated with the heart, because of relentless advertising by several brands over the years. But diabetes is as common as heart diseases, especially in India. It is a silent killer that is spoken about by few players in the edible oil space. Tapping into this underpenetrated category, Australian edible oil brand Wagga Wagga has entered the Indian market with their diabetes care variant and launched an campaign titled, “Australian that helps control blood sugar”. Based on the age-old insight that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, the campaign firmly establishes Wagga Wagga Diabetes Care as the perfect ingredient to help control blood sugar without cutting down on one’s favourite food.

The campaign is driven by the character of Lucy Kaur — an Australian by birth and an Indian by heart. She is married to a Sikh and is determined to win the hearts of her new Indian family. The opening film sees Lucy meeting her in-laws. The stern patriarch is displeased by his son’s decision to marry a non-Indian. Next, we see the protagonist facing a series of confrontations until the day she cooks aloo tikki (potato patty), her father-in-law’s favourite dish. The fact that it is made in Wagga Wagga Diabetes Care oil so that her father-in-law can eat it helps her break the ice with her in-laws. In another commercial, the mother-in-law proudly offers tasty snacks cooked in Diabetes Care Oil to her peers as they play a game of cards, right after they are teasing her for serving bland food.

“The edible oil category has a huge number of consumers, many of whom have no issue paying a premium but are looking for a believable brand which delivers health while also being completely natural,” says Sujay Naik, project director, Agro Global Resources Private Limited.

Opening film sees Lucy meeting her in-laws. The stern patriarch is displeased by his son’s decision to marry non-Indian. Next, we see protagonist facing a series of confrontations until the day she cooks aloo tikki, her father-in-law’s favourite dish

Wagga Wagga oil is targeted at the consumers who are looking for products which deliver distinct health benefits, and are natural and chemical-free. The company didn’t want the brand to come across as medicinal or one exclusively for diabetics. It didn’t want it to be preachy or prescriptive. The biggest challenge, thus, was to create a communication which consumers would actually register, rather than the paint-by-the-numbers approach that is so prevalent and so happily ignored by consumers, adds Naik.

In another commercial, the mother-in-law proudly offers tasty snacks cooked in Diabetes Care Oil to her peers as they play a game of cards, right after they are teasing her for serving bland food

According to Rajiv Sabnis, executive director, DDB Mudra Group and managing partner, DDB Mudra West, health and wellness is becoming an increasingly relevant and future-focused space in India. The challenge was to establish the brand in a highly competitive and price-sensitive market. “We focused on communicating the superior benefits of the product, the pristine origins of the brand and the distinguished product benefits. The agency had to get the product noticed among other more established edible oil brands,” says Sabnis.

Wagga Wagga, named after a region in Australia from where the cooking oils are sourced and brought to India, has launched three cooking oil variants in the Indian market. Diabetes Care and Superfry variants are priced at Rs 199 per litre, Heart Care is priced at Rs 299 per litre, and Sautes and Salads is priced at Rs 950 per litre. Naik claims the pricing is designed to be everyday fair pricing for consumers, and not to “fool consumers” with supposed “1+1” offers.

The company’s factory, located in Wagga Wagga, claims minimal human intervention in extraction and transportation of oil. The pristine nature of the place lends the brand its tagline, “Purity, straight from the source”.