Tapping emotions

CAMPAIGN LOGIC/ Aquaguard's new campaign attempts to link purity with spirituality

Water so pure, you can offer it to the gods. That's the message from the new 60-second television commercial for Aquaguard water purifiers.

The visuals show water being used in a range of religions "" from the Hindu who offers it to the tulsi plant during her puja, or the baby being baptised with holy water, to Muslims drinking water to break their roza, the Parsi washing her eyes at the fire temple and Buddhist monks finishing their prayers with a sip of water.

The background score, composed by musician Vishal Bharadwaj, plays up the indispensable nature of water: "Yeh jal dhan hai, amrit hai, jeevan hai" (This water is wealth, nectar, life). And throughout the commercial, the source of water is "" naturally "" an Aquaguard.

"The campaign attempts at a visual corollary between purity and divinity," explains Renton D'Sousa, national creative director, Triton Communications, the agency for the brand. For that, Eureka Forbes (which manufactures Aquaguard) latched on to the age-old custom of offering only the purest to the deities "" a custom that's common to most religions.

The spiritual angle has left little room for hammering home the product benefits "" just a blink-and-miss reference to Aquaguard's "e-boiling" property at the end of the commercial. More significantly, the friendly neighbourhood Eureka Forbes salesman is no longer the star of the show.

But company officials are quick to point out that the latest ad is just phase one of the new campaign. "We will have a two-pronged communication approach," says S K Palekar, senior vice-president, marketing and knowledge management, Eureka Forbes.

So, while round one is concentrating on an emotional connect with customers, the next phase will deal with the rational aspects and product features.

For instance, one ad "" to be released in September "" aims at establishing the superiority of Aquaguard's e-boiling technology to regular boiling in a laboratory setting.

Still, even the new set of "rational" ads will be short on persuasiveness; they will be pure promotion campaigns, compared to all previous campaigns that had smiling salesmen knocking at homes and convincing families of the benefits of Aquaguard water purifier.

Of course, at the time, the hard sell was critical to Aquaguard's success. That's because when Aquaguard was launched in 1984, there were hardly any takers for products like electronic water purifiers. And while mass media could build awareness, customers needed cajoling.

So, Eureka Forbes decided to give the consumer durable showroom route a miss and instead concentrated on direct selling agents who would visit customers' homes. That way, customers could get a detailed demonstration in the comfort of their homes, and the direct interaction would also help convince them of the need for the product.

But since few households welcome visits by salesmen, Eureka Forbes could not send its direct selling agents on cold calls. Also, since the product was not sold at retail outlets, the Aquaguard salesman was the sole ambassador of the brand. So, television commercials launched in the late 1980s and 1990s attempted at popularising the "friendly Aquaguard salesman".

The storyline portrayed the salesman as an unobtrusive, warm person who would offer an honest deal. The TV commercials also flashed the Eureka Forbes distribution offices telephone numbers, where customers could call and book home demonstrations.

But, 20 years later, that approach is perhaps past its sell-by date. After all, the market circumstances are quite different now. For one, Aquaguard has competition, from brands like Kenstar, Ushabrita, Alpha and Monita.

So, although Aquaguard continues to be the market leader with close to 75 per cent of the Rs 400 crore market (source: Feedback Consulting), it needs to be proactive. For one, growing competition has led the company to tap into retail outlets (since 1996) where its competition sells.

The main insight that led to this was that the conversion rate through the direct-sales channel was only one in four. "the remaining three customers took in-house demos but probably delayed purchase," says Palekar.

There was a high probability, instead, of these customers buying competing brands readily available at their nearest durable. So, it was necessary to increase availability at outlets, to facilitate and induce purchase from these customers who made up their minds later.

But the brand retailed through outlets is called Forbes Aquaflow, not Aquaguard, based on the marketing logic that different sales channels need different identities.

"If consumers realise that Aquaguard is available at retail outlets, we may lose out on the direct interaction we can get with the customer through direct sales," says Palekar.

The presence on retail counters is helping. Currently, this channel accounts for 15 per cent of aquaguard sales, while the rest happens through its network of 5,500 Eurochamps (Eureka Forbes sales agents).

That's probably why the Aquaguard salesman isn't being shown the door. Instead, he appears at the end of the commercial, when the toll-free numbers are displayed.

"Over the years, the Aquaguard salesman has become the face of the brand," says Palekar, adding "Aquaguard will continue being primarily a direct sales brand."

The new campaign isn't just about making a statement. Palekar points out that Aquaguard is seeking to expand the market "" this year, Eureka Forbes expects sales from Aquaguard to grow by 20 per cent, compared to the 13 per cent growth last year.

The growth is likely to come from the company's increased thrust on customised offerings, as well as cheaper mass-market options such as tap attachments. That's where the retail outlets will help.

Since a salesman can carry only two or three models to people's homes, the basic product line has only four or five models. But the portfolio expands to over 25 models when customised versions of the water purifiers are included. These include compact models for places like Mumbai and reverse osmosis models for saline water areas like Chennai.

While the retail channels will be entrusted with catering to the specific needs of customers, the campaign will build an "above-the-clutter" image for Aquaguard. Adds Ali Merchant, founder director, Triton Communications, "This campaign will also attract non-users". Will the divine cause help?