Event Launch

RC&M rolls out Grameenon Ke Beech in Southern and Western India.

Taking with it the brand wagon to woo the rural audiences

New Delhi: September 16th - Despite the increasing rural penetration through stand-alone activations, the rural market still remains largely untapped. Keeping this gap in mind a grand rural “Carnival” mela initiative called Grameenon Ke Beech( GKB) has been rolled out from the stables of the experiential marketing specialist, RC&M.

RC&M’s ‘Grameenon Ke Beech’ (GKB as it is popularly known) is a unique property, which provides exposure to the rural audiences and takes their brand and product interactions to whole new level. Any product or service when marketed to the rural mass with fervor & festive spirit thrown in with good measure increases brand acceptability & recall. But when you create a whole environment of ‘Mela’ with multiple brands interacting with rural TG, the engagement opportunity increases manifold.

As a Rural Mela initiative, GKB is a completely syndicated and synchronized Mela set-up at the heart of the rural hinterland that moves from village to village. The objective was to conceptualize and execute a cost effective property that yields maximum reach and interaction for all participating brands. The activation allows all participating brands to explore the fact that in these rural markets, the mela itself becomes the nerve centre of activities, which involve trade possibilities, and creates an unparallel entertainment quotient.

According to Priya Monga, Business Head RC&M “"It gets expensive for each of participating brands to get into these villages with specific activities. By creating a common platform at the fairs, we provide brands a direct contact with a family that includes multiple TGs. Kids play a crucial role in bringing families to such places. We have firm conviction in the fact that this property will benefit the participating brands in terms of high brand recall and mass appeal. It provides infotainment, entertainment and greater brand interaction for the audience. Every brand has specific games and tools to attract maximum audience.

GKB is being operationalised in AP & Maharashtra – 960 villages in the 5-15K pop strata will be covered through pre-publicity & Mela activity with as many as 240 mela events being conducted over a period of 2 months.
The brand basket of participating clients includes Kodak, Parle, Cadburys, Tata salt (i-shakti), Wipro, Idea, Bajaj, GSK, Airtel DTH to name a few.

RC&M has also conceptualized some syndicated brand games, which offer the TG lots of fun and frolic along with lucky draws gifts and prizes. Mimicry artists and magician have been deployed to increase the entertainment quotient.
It is an all day entertainment for the entire family & the reach across the entire campaign is expected to be around 12-15 lakh people.

Apart from the sheer scale and grandeur of GKB, the brands get to encash on the innovative interaction opportunities, faster conversion, real time product demos & experiences, positive recall with qualitative data capturing and trade possibilities.

The Media Mix- Way ahead

The writer of this article – Ms Priya Monga , Business Head RC&M

Forty-three feet- football stadium on move, online games making you win real money, surprised? Don’t be as this is just a beginning of the new age marketing. In today’s frenzy and hypercompetitive market, marketers and brand managers are on a look out for out of the box ideas creating excitement, lasting impression and widening brand’s reach.

Brand Managers are going beyond the traditional mediums of brand promotions, print and electronic, to launch or promote their products. Latest word is ‘The direct Interaction revolution’ which touches heart & head of a consumer.

Recently Budweiser promoted the Budweiser football cup, which was to be held at old Trafford, Manchester, through a medium that was an experience in itself. A 43 ft trailer was transformed into a life like football ground where audience registered themselves for the cup. Audiences were spell bound by the 43ft “Stadium on wheels”, performances, games, football match and a chance to win and play at Manchester.

With increasing exposure to foreign markets and media, consumers have become more demanding; they wish to experience the product or service that is being offered to them. Corporate have understood, it is the brand experience, which drives a consumer to own or be associated with a brand. Hence marketers are ready to provide experiences that create an emotional bond, have strong recall & satisfaction value with their consumers.

Marketers are experimenting with traditional mediums, utilizing them differently to achieve magnificent upshots. Mobile marketing is the latest buzzword, companies are using this medium to advertise and promote themselves through WAP banners, games, downloads etc. aggressively. There are more than 25 million mobile users and the database is still increasing.

Online marketing is another tool that is taking marketing to a higher level. Promotions through networking sites are rising as these sites provide a direct platform to the marketers to associate with their target group. Also companies feel that this medium helps them connect to the TG faster and the contact percentage can be captured. For e.g. Youtube, the leading user-video sharing website, is allowing the brand managers to experiment and interact with the user base, leaving an imprint on TG’s mindset, consumers have become much more conversant and wish to.

Nowdays, Brand managers are also using a media mix, which means, ATL, BTL, Online and Mobile marketing is used to launch or promote a product. One of the finest examples of today is TVS, Flame; the latest bike launched by TVS was aggressively promoted through radio, Television, on ground and online medium.

On ground activation through a hunt for the hottest flamer was activated in top 51 towns in India. The hunt targeted towards the youth to experience Flame and get direct feedback from. A dedicated Flame website was prepared for audience to register themselves and download free digital calendar. Online networking sites had uploads of pictures and information about the winners during the hunt road show. Scratch card, contests, dance performances, data collection, enquiry generation, response management activities were undertaken through the road show. Web mailers were sent to a huge database and winamp downloadable mailers in the shape of the bike were also a part of the promotion.

Recently we all have experienced that reality TV game shows and movies are using diverse platforms to launch themselves. The mega star shows like “Kya aap pnchvi paas se tez hai” (KAPPSTH) and Dus ka dam were promoted through on ground activations as well. KAPPSTH express, life like classroom, covered around 25 cities in six states. Extensive branding was done through hoardings, websites, and web mailers for the game. Audiences were made to play game on the board and win a chance to be on the show. Similarly, the Salman khan starter show- Dus ka Dum used mix of ATL and BTL to communicate the launch of their show and let their viewers experience the show.

Corporate have realized it is imperative to use different mediums and innovative ideas to capture consumers. A media mix can help them achieve the desirable outcome, by maximizing their brand presence and influencing consumer’s mindset along with creating an impression through an emotional connect.

So, Next time when you go out keep, remember it’s just the beginning of new-fangled epoch marketing. Brands are allocating budgets for these activities, and to make a significant mark they want ideas that are exclusive and will bring them ahead of others. This is just the beginning, in coming years we will see these as a part of every marketing plan, the company’s makes.