Marketers have not flexed their muscles in experimental BTL activation
Ambika Sharma, National Head, Jagran Solutions
Today marketers and planners are faced with fragmented consumers, changing consumer purchase patterns, the all new intelligent ever evolving consumer added to this, the media and sales proliferation in an unprecedented fashion has arguably beefed up the challenges ahead in deciding the media mix for a brand!
Coping with these rapidly evolving challenges, marketers have started looking for unique ways to promote their brands to grab consumer mind share and hold their attention through integrated marketing communication programs, which capitalize on the unique proposition of below the line - minimal spill over. Due to their sheer impact, usability and a virtually limitless scope for innovation, BTL has emerged as a strong alternate media.
In India, however, marketers have not in totality flexed their muscles in experimental below the line activation and alternate media in pace with their global counterparts. Most of us rely on conventional and template mediums. Budget allocations get restricted within this understanding. Even these forms are not explored in totality for their delivery mechanisms or the content or creative solution required increasing measurability and effectiveness. BTL opportunities extend into many other forms like word of mouth marketing, viral marketing and street marketing, which are still a rarity in the Indian parlance.
The flexibility and potential of Below the Line has been grossly undermined and hence, under-utilized. Thus the humble "Roadshow" has sadly migrated from being a medium to being THE activation. BTL doesn’t work in silos. In fact it is possibly the most flexible platform wherein all the existing media vehicles can be seamlessly integrated to create a long lasting brand salience. Convergence is the key to the new age BTL activation and the resultant is the multiplier.
How many times have we had to respond to a query on the cost for a below the line activation before the concept has been put in place? Yes, the instances have reduced in the last few years but are still quite substantial. We all agree more or less that below the line activation is but a fragment of the fragmenting media landscape. Yet most of us, marketers and agencies alike when confronted with a below the line activation tend to concentrate more on the output rather than on the outcome.
The burden of bringing about a "renaissance in the BTL planning process" lies with the BTL agency and, but of course, also with the client. The not so distant bells of change are already chiming, making the logical creative process in BTL evident amidst the clutter of the templates.
To highlight the same in a realistic connotation a case in evidence is that of a leading Brand of scooterettes. Post reaching out to their target audience with a contest driven promo at cafes they were confronted with the eventuality of handing over the prize to the winner. The contest required the participants to creatively design the product within its outline and the gratification being a real scooterette in the mirror image of the winners design. The "Ceremony" was planned in Mumbai with the brand ambassador, a leading bollywood actor handing over the keys to the winner at a press conference. The objective was enhancing the ROI of the activity via a substantial PR multiplier. The challenge being that a celebrity awarding a prize hardly held the promise of the multiplier at a national scale. The solution was derived keeping in focus the required outcome - the perfect photo-op and exciting media content for the brand. The ceremony transformed into a celebration at a Mumbai cafe which saw the Brand Ambassador and a leading painter, painting live the colors of the season for the next variant of the product. What's more, the "painting" was purchased by the Actor with the proceeds going to an NGO which works for the betterment of the girl child. The output remained the press conference while the outcome was a substantially increased presence, with powerful imagery in national media, print and electronic alike. The activation went on to gain recognition under the
"The Most Innovative Idea or Concept" category at the Promotion Marketing Awards of Asia 2006.
We may not wish to interpret the instance as a mega-shift in the way we operate, not just as below the line planners but as the marketing community, it's definitely indicative of the impending renaissance. The instance is not one of isolation. Such clutter breakers are making their presence felt in increasing numbers and with an appreciable ability to take calculated risks breaking away from the mundane.
Another interesting case is a recent activation by a leading Radio Station. With accidents involving Blue Line buses in Delhi being the omnipresent topic of conversation and threatening to consume the entire front page news space, Red FM took the initiative to take the message of road safety directly to the bus drivers. On a day which has a tradition of making the promise of safety and protection as an integral part of our culture.
Raksha Bandhan saw the Red FM RJs with a branded brigade, boarding Blue Line busses, tying rakhis to the bus drivers while extracting the oath to drive safely in order to protect delhites from the fury of the dreaded blue line. On air promos and live bytes multiplied the impact as did the proximity of the topic for the city. The take away for the brand was huge.
What can't be ignored is the shift in creative endeavour in below the line, where policy on convergence, planning and creativity is being rewritten as a cornerstone contributor to a maturing medium. Below the line may be under explored and with fuzzy boundaries but in the shift of precedence (however nascent) from output to outcome, are we witnessing the evolution of the BTL medium? More over are we participants or bystanders? It is increasingly clear that in view of the new possibilities in integrated BTL communication it is imperative is that the quality of the brand experience be more engaging than need of flagging a 'Reach' numerical to it.
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