Buoyed by returns, Voltas pushes on with ‘All Weather’ proposition

Voltas has released its summer campaign for the year. The campaign continues with the brand’s ‘All weather’ positioning introduced last year.

Watch the TVCs created by Soho Square here. The films feature Mr Murthy, who was introduced in last year's 'All weather' campaign. This year, he is accompanied by his wife.

Continuing with the humour route, the films show how Voltas cools down the wife who gets annoyed by the heat of Delhi in one film (and sweat and heat of Chennai in another). Thanks to Voltas’ ‘All weather’ ACs with insta-cool compressors, Murthy explains that he is able to calm his wife.

Campaign India caught up with Deba Ghoshal, head – marketing, unitary products business group, Voltas, on the campaign, and results from last year. Edited excerpts:

What was the response to last year’s campaign?

This is the second year of the campaign. Last year the objective was to launch the ‘All weather’ positioning. This year we plan to strengthen it with widened appeal across the country.

Last year, while we had launched the concept and repositioned the brand, we did have a good summer. Overall, the business met its objective. Last year we also secured the number one positioning in the room air conditioner market. Not only for a month; the financial year data shows us to be the number one brand. The campaign is not the only reason for the achievement. However, the campaign scored on many other factors. Our brand equity went up from 1.9 to 3.3 on the Nielsen Index, which is one of the highest among pure AC brands. Our campaign was also acknowledged in the Effie Awards, where we were the only brand in the consumer durables category to win a Gold. So, the campaign saw a fair amount of success.

What’s the idea behind the campaign this year?

When the campaign is successful it becomes more difficult to raise the bar. The challenge is to make it more meaningful and engaging for the consumers this year. The returns have been acknowledged by the market and the brand too.

You had spoken about this being a campaign thought for two years. Are you tempted to use the ‘All weather’ positioning for longer?

Last year, I mentioned that any new positioning should be there for at least two years in this category. Depending on how much effort and time is devoted to this, the success can then be measured. Last year, we looked to distinguish ourselves on the ‘All weather’ platform. This year too, we’ll invest in making it stronger. I can’t comment on the future, because the (delayed) summer has just set in. We’ll be able to take a call on the future by July.

What is the spread of the campaign this year?

This year too it’s a 360-degree campaign. We are using print, in English and vernacular. Digital will also be implemented soon. Radio spots are already on. We’ll also be looking at strategic OOH initiatives in key markets like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai. Even at the store level, we think it’s very important to be present. Big dealerships or trade partners will see this campaign.

What are the challenges in the space?

Air conditioning as a category has a penetration of 3.8 per cent pan India. The category has been witnessing a flat growth over the past two years. But within this flat growth, Voltas has witnessed a good growth. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target for this year too. One major challenge is that whenever there’s a late summer, we have to be ready when the discomfort peaks. So the campaign, distribution network has to be ready at this time. Also, the fact that we have to flatten out the big demand over the year. That’s why we have this ‘All weather’ positioning to look at returns beyond the summer. We were the only brand that was present in the peak winters in North India. We expect this to be the same again this year too.

Are there any new trends in AC advertising? We see competition talk a lot about Inverter ACs.

We hear a lot of noise around Inverter ACs. While we are also well armed with our 'All Weather Inverter AC' portfolio, we feel that it’s too early for the consumers in India to completely shift to Inverter ACs, due to their higher price points. From a pure communication perspective, we will have the right answer to the Inverter AC campaign, very soon; at an appropriate time of the product life-cycle.