How Digital Marketing Can Move the Masses in India - Global News - Advertising Age

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How Digital Marketing Can Move the Massesin India

With a Smart Website, Tata Tea Has Become a Mainstream Civic Force

Posted by Sourabh Mishra on 04.02.09 @ 11:18 AM

In a market like India, it is easy to assume that something as "evolved" and

technology-dependent as digital marketing can be used successfully only to

target and communicate with an "evolved" target audience -- perhaps in

suitably cutting-edge categories like, say, the latest smartphones or gaming

consoles or computers. It's an assumption based on conventional thinking

that cannot be faulted for its correctness. But one brand showed how

disruptive digital thinking can help establish a mass connection for a brand.

The brand in question is Tata Tea, a mid-segment tea brand from the corporate house of Tata (of

Nano car fame). It started with a campaign for the brand based on the proposition "Jaago Re,"

which literally translates to "Wake Up." You get the drift -- tea and waking up. But the leap in

the th inking happened when they took the "Wake Up" proposition beyond the physical waking

up to a larger call for social action.

Think back to 2008. 2009 is general election year in the largest democracy in the world. A widely

acknowledged problem in India is the large percentage of no-show voters, especially from theeducated middle classes. So now you have this TV commercial from Tata Tea (below), wherein a

group of young men is exhorting people to "Jaago Re" (wake up) and go out and vote on election

day, because if they don't vote, that means they are sleeping. They are handing out cups of Tata

Tea to wake people up and send them to the ballots. "Ha! Ha! Cute ad ... but we know all this.

The problem is: How do I register myself as a voter in a country infamous for its bureaucratic

hassles?" is what I thought. And the answer comes the next second from the protagonist in the

spot who is trying to "wake me up."

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3 Comments Sort by Date | Popularity

Fantastic idea and, one fantastic way for digital advertising in INDIA. The Gurus in India, now

must admit that, digital advertising, is one way to reach the target audience - and TATA TEA

seems to have done their homework well to prove this theory. The point is, how many more

brands will use this media, in order to give way to develop this media and thus, create a new

avenue for advertising.

By mohindersobti | Grajewo April 2, 2009 02:16:25 pm:

I agree that jaago re is a 'first-of-its-kind' effort and the site claims they have woken up

500,000, though its not clear if these are users who have applied for voter registration online.

Could as well be a simple counter. I feel that maybe the agency lost out on an incredible

opportunity to create a much more buzzing community - something that would give the theme

a longer run. Concepts like citizen journalism, forums, campaign drives by individuals and NGO'sthrough sub domains which are loaded with certain tools...This can extend the life of the brand

to beyond the immediate elections. It can become a resource for activism. To that extent the

current website has limitations including a registration process that is quite cumbersome. But

still, its a first and hopefully it will trigger of better th ings in times to come.

By krnkmth | Bangalore April 3, 2009 07:22:33 am:

That is where a good campaign made the transition to an absolutely brilliant one. The answer is

at jaagore.com, the spot tells you. When you log on to the site, you realize that it has everything

you need to know and do to register yourself as a bona-fide voter in India. As the home page

says, "Jaago Re! One Billion Votes." And that audacious bit of ambitious th inking and execution

to involve an entire country's electorate with the brand's message is what takes the campaign

from good to an all-time great.

The digital beauty of the entire thing is that there is no other way for a brand to have dared to

think of connecting with the entire country (or at least the 18-plus eligible-to-vote segment),

except through a website. A tea brand that tells me to "Wake Up" my social conscience and then

actually shows me exactly how and what to do climbs up several notches in my esteem.

The brand team stood conventional wisdom on its head and used digital to connect with mass

India. The brand message is an intrinsic part of this movement to "wake up" the slumbering

Indian voter and get him to take part in electing his leaders. And then digital is integrated

seamlessly to deliver on the proposition. As a matter of fact, it is only digital which could have

delivered on the brand's proposition to an entire nation. So in hindsight, the entire campaign was

made possible because someone understood the possibilities offered by the digital medium.

As an aside, a follow up e-mail campaign directed at senior managers in organizations asked

them to send out an appeal to all their employees to register and vote -- the process now having

been made so simple at jaagore.com. And I know of at least a few ad-agency CEOs whose

agencies handle competitive tea brands who have sent this to all their employees. That to me is

a truly powerful brand idea.

P.S. The author of this post and his agency had nothing to do with this idea or its execution. But

how he wishes it was not so ...

~ ~ ~

Sourabh Mishra is chief strategy officer, TBWA/India Group, India.

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Great campaign, great connect etc etc. Except that the Internet reaches only about 40 million in

India (regular + occasional + ever user, give or take a few million). Call me cynical, but I guess it

really is just about the brand then. Along similar lines, there's the Idea Cellular campaign, and it

is imbalanced and juvenile to boot.

By aarcee | New Delhi April 7, 2009 06:40:13 am:

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How Digital Marketing Can Move the Masses in India - Global News - Advertising Age