 "Like Khatron Ke Khiladi, Micromax believes in pushing the envelope: Shubhodip Pal")
What has been the most interesting sales promotion you have engineered so far?
We come up with uniquely created properties that help us connect with our consumers in a special way. One of our most successful campaigns has been the 'Fly to Brazil' campaign in association with Khatron Ke Khiladi, a show on Colors, one of the most popular general entertainment channels in the country. The contest was open to users who purchased Micromax mobile phones between January and August 2010. The contestants were invited to participate and qualify for the contest and were required to send the IMEI number of their Micromax mobile phone along with the correct answer to the question asked on the channel via SMS to 56882. The three lucky winners were given a chance to fly to Brazil and enjoy a one-day visit to the location of the shoot for Khatron Ke Khiladi and get a chance to spend time with the leading stars.
As Micromax was a relatively a new player in the mobile handset market then and was in a growth stage, the entire idea was to engage with what we thought would be our core audiences segment.
Micromax has always been associated with the youth. And by youth we don't just mean teeny boppers - for us youth is not about age, but an attitude. The idea is to be open to innovations that enable them to do more. Therefore, Khatron Ke Khiladi was a natural fit as we were reaching out to people who want to live life to its fullest. The response to the campaign substantiated our belief that our core audience was looking for an 'experience' from his mobile device and that is what we have to offer through our devices. We were eyeing the masses aged 18-35 years across the six metros and some Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
Why was the promo designed in such a manner?
Before doing any promotional activity, it is important for a marketer to ensure that the campaign reaches the core audience without trying to force fit it with any random brand property. We saw a direct match of our core audiences with the spirit of Khatron Ke Khiladi. We wanted to reach out to people who want to challenge the status quo and push the threshold every time they plan to do something new. Micromax believes in quite the same thing. We have pushed the limits with affordable innovations that have changed the entire mobile phone ecosystem.
Please elaborate on the media plan.
The media plan covered the traditional media including print, outdoor, radio and television. We realised that to reach out to a larger section of our consumers, we had to devise unique ways of activating engagement and excitement. The brand was the associate sponsor of the show for four weeks and also had a FCT (free commercial time) of 60 seconds per episode. The contest was part of the opening and closing credit line of the show along with special promos across the channel about the contest. We also created some on-ground and social media touch points to fire the imagination of existing and potential consumers.
What were the challenges in executing the plan?
Most of the challenges were addressed before the contest was given a go-ahead. We needed to ensure that we are reaching out to our core audiences through the right medium and partners. There was also the thought that Khatron Ke Khiladi is an intimidating show about fear, and our brand shouldn't be perceived as intimidating as well. We took the risk and decided to focus on the positives - on the fact that the show is ultimately about conquering your fears. Once we were able to address that, it was only about getting all the support functions running simultaneously to maximise the reach to our audiences.
Can you give us some sense of the impact of this scheme on the brand and sales?
The campaign really worked well as we saw a surge of 20 per cent on the sales. The promotion gave us an opportunity to build a stronger connect with our consumers and reach out to even more people across the country.
Don't sales promotions harm a company/brand in the long term?
Sales promotions can be effective for a brand if only the brand is able to create something unique for its consumers. Any promotion has to be directly related to the overall business goals and help a brand create a stronger association with end consumers. If a promotion is only to create momentary buzz to garner eye balls, one has to roll out campaigns every once in a while without generating any real or measurable impact.
Fly to Brazil
Aim
To engage with our core audience and to support the brand's growth in the mobile handset market
Target
Mainly the youth aged 18-35 years across the six metros and Tier-I and Tier-II cities
Plan
People were invited to participate in the contest by sending the IMEI number of their Micromax mobile phone along with the correct answer to the question asked on the channel via SMS to 56882. Three lucky winners were to be given a chance to fly to Brazil and enjoy a one-day visit to the location of shoot for Khatron Ke Khiladi, getting to spend time with some of the leading stars
Outcome
We saw a surge of 20 per cent on the sales. The promotion gave us an opportunity to build a strong connect with our consumers and reach out to even more people across the country
We come up with uniquely created properties that help us connect with our consumers in a special way. One of our most successful campaigns has been the 'Fly to Brazil' campaign in association with Khatron Ke Khiladi, a show on Colors, one of the most popular general entertainment channels in the country. The contest was open to users who purchased Micromax mobile phones between January and August 2010. The contestants were invited to participate and qualify for the contest and were required to send the IMEI number of their Micromax mobile phone along with the correct answer to the question asked on the channel via SMS to 56882. The three lucky winners were given a chance to fly to Brazil and enjoy a one-day visit to the location of the shoot for Khatron Ke Khiladi and get a chance to spend time with the leading stars.
As Micromax was a relatively a new player in the mobile handset market then and was in a growth stage, the entire idea was to engage with what we thought would be our core audiences segment.
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Who was the primary target audience for the promotion?
Micromax has always been associated with the youth. And by youth we don't just mean teeny boppers - for us youth is not about age, but an attitude. The idea is to be open to innovations that enable them to do more. Therefore, Khatron Ke Khiladi was a natural fit as we were reaching out to people who want to live life to its fullest. The response to the campaign substantiated our belief that our core audience was looking for an 'experience' from his mobile device and that is what we have to offer through our devices. We were eyeing the masses aged 18-35 years across the six metros and some Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
Why was the promo designed in such a manner?
Before doing any promotional activity, it is important for a marketer to ensure that the campaign reaches the core audience without trying to force fit it with any random brand property. We saw a direct match of our core audiences with the spirit of Khatron Ke Khiladi. We wanted to reach out to people who want to challenge the status quo and push the threshold every time they plan to do something new. Micromax believes in quite the same thing. We have pushed the limits with affordable innovations that have changed the entire mobile phone ecosystem.
Please elaborate on the media plan.
The media plan covered the traditional media including print, outdoor, radio and television. We realised that to reach out to a larger section of our consumers, we had to devise unique ways of activating engagement and excitement. The brand was the associate sponsor of the show for four weeks and also had a FCT (free commercial time) of 60 seconds per episode. The contest was part of the opening and closing credit line of the show along with special promos across the channel about the contest. We also created some on-ground and social media touch points to fire the imagination of existing and potential consumers.
What were the challenges in executing the plan?
Most of the challenges were addressed before the contest was given a go-ahead. We needed to ensure that we are reaching out to our core audiences through the right medium and partners. There was also the thought that Khatron Ke Khiladi is an intimidating show about fear, and our brand shouldn't be perceived as intimidating as well. We took the risk and decided to focus on the positives - on the fact that the show is ultimately about conquering your fears. Once we were able to address that, it was only about getting all the support functions running simultaneously to maximise the reach to our audiences.
Can you give us some sense of the impact of this scheme on the brand and sales?
The campaign really worked well as we saw a surge of 20 per cent on the sales. The promotion gave us an opportunity to build a stronger connect with our consumers and reach out to even more people across the country.
Don't sales promotions harm a company/brand in the long term?
Sales promotions can be effective for a brand if only the brand is able to create something unique for its consumers. Any promotion has to be directly related to the overall business goals and help a brand create a stronger association with end consumers. If a promotion is only to create momentary buzz to garner eye balls, one has to roll out campaigns every once in a while without generating any real or measurable impact.
Fly to Brazil
Aim
To engage with our core audience and to support the brand's growth in the mobile handset market
Target
Mainly the youth aged 18-35 years across the six metros and Tier-I and Tier-II cities
Plan
People were invited to participate in the contest by sending the IMEI number of their Micromax mobile phone along with the correct answer to the question asked on the channel via SMS to 56882. Three lucky winners were to be given a chance to fly to Brazil and enjoy a one-day visit to the location of shoot for Khatron Ke Khiladi, getting to spend time with some of the leading stars
Outcome
We saw a surge of 20 per cent on the sales. The promotion gave us an opportunity to build a strong connect with our consumers and reach out to even more people across the country