By: M4G Bureau
Last updated : March 18, 2021 10:46 am
Post lockdown when out-of-home movement of consumers had practically come to a standstill and marketing initiatives were frozen for want of consumer attention, FMCG major ITC found an opportunity to tap metro markets with strategic use of OOH. Aishwarya Pratap Singh, Head – Marketing (Snacks, Noodles & Pasta), ITC Ltd, shares his viewpoints on how multiple outdoor campaigns launched across metro cities helped the brands Sunfeast, YiPPee! and Bingo! connect with the consumers once again and accelerate their market reach.
Outdoor branding has always been a critical part of communication for our brands- it is an enabler for local area marketing and is a critical reminder medium. OOH is also quite a relevant platform as our brands are consumed outside home too; hence a contextual reminder helps.
We have been using OOH as part of our overall marketing campaign for years. In fact, recently we also partnered with a TV channel for their teaser OOH campaign that generated a lot of curiosity on social media as well. Our recent campaign for Mad Angles pack change is also an excellent example of innovative use of OOH.
During and Post Covid-19 lockdown, with constrained consumption opportunities, ensuring mental and physical availability of our brands and products became critical for us. So, we took the task of engaging with consumers at every relevant touch point.
When lockdown was lifted, we observed that the consumers were going back to work/ streets; so we decided to use OOH as an effective medium to enhance salience for our brands. In fact, in the current campaign, we focused on metro markets that were most impacted by the lockdowns. So effectively OOH is helping us gain market standing in the resurging metro markets.
You have primarily used bus shelter media. Could you share how this format helps in branding?
For FMCG brands, it’s important to stay as close to the point of consideration as possible. So, we focused more on sites that are near residential areas, major commercial areas and markets. Also, post lockdown, the recovery of vehicular traffic is more in these areas/ localities. Bus shelters are more relevant for this kind of requirement, besides being cost effective.
Having the right creative is quite important for OOH. What is your approach to creatives?
We check the following while designing an outdoor creative:
These checkpoints are important considering the nature of the medium. OOH gives you only a few seconds of attention from the viewers, so multiple messaging, confused creatives or even too much information defeats the purpose.
What kind of support do you expect from the OOH industry in the current scenario?
In this increasingly complex world where novel, more engaging and personalised mediums are emerging, OOH should support brands in terms of the following:
Your recent campaign is a long-term one. How does long term outdoor branding help the product and brand?
Long term campaign leaves a longer-term impact through multiplicity of exposure at same sites. It also helps us get better deals as well as better utilization of one-time fabrication and mounting cost. We have to acknowledge that consumer is bombarded with multiple messaging across mediums/ touch points. So, consistency and multiple exposure only help towards creating preference for the brand.
How has been the response to the current campaign?
The campaign is still on and we are getting encouraging reactions for the coverage of the city, choice of locations as well as for the effectiveness of the creative. Therefore, we are planning to extend the campaign. JCDecaux, our partner for this campaign, helped us in identification of the right sites as per the brief to bring the idea alive with a quick turnaround time. Their team explored Delhi meticulously to get relevant sites at appropriate rates and has also been helping us in constant site monitoring.