MediaCom devises ‘Who Will Drive Me crazy’ activation for Ambi Pur

MediaCom India’s new idea for Ambi Pur aimed to explode the low involvement air-freshener category, by driving category relevance through disruption. Gaurav Virkar, business director, P&G planning, MediaCom, explained, “In the category that talked only about air freshening, being ‘guest ready’ by eliminating bad odours in the car was the platform that the brand found its ground on. The idea was to sensitise male consumers to be guest ready at all times with Ambi Pur in their cars. You never know when the opportunity (read celebrity) knocks on your car door.”

The ‘unexpected guest’ roped in for this activation was Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia.

The campaign was carried out in November and December 2011. Radio and PR were employed as the media to spread the word about the initiative, and MediaCom associated with Fever FM for the ‘Freshness Drive’. Virkar said, “Our consumer is on-the-go male who spend a lot of time travelling in the car in clogged city roads. He is so busy with his professional or personal life that he finds little time to consider the ambience of his car as being a critical factor in car care. This audience is hooked on to radio while driving to office on weekdays, and hence, radio was identified to be one of the top priority medium for this TA.”

For the execution, the first phase was to connect with the audience by creating the need for an air freshener in cars via stories on freshness by RJ mentions and spots. A poll was also conducted to select the celebrity that listeners would love to go on a drive with. In the second phase, the results on the most preferred celebrity were declared. Ambi Pur gift hampers were also given away.

To drive the message of being “car guest ready”, Neha Dhupia went out on the Delhi roads on 22 November 2011, asking for a lift from cars that were passing by. She decided to stay inside a car or get out on the basis of the freshness quotient of the car. Her journey was documented as live feed on Fever FM.

A related contest offered listeners a chance to go on a drive with the Bollywood actress.

Vidya Murthy, brand manager, P&G home care, said, “Riding on the fantasy of males to go on a drive with a diva was the key hook of the idea that MediaCom came up with. Multimedia amplification through RJs, ground event, print media is what drove scale for the activation.”

MediaCom says the activation will be carried out in other cities on the basis of the final results of the Delhi exercise, the results of which are still awaited.

Credits:

Client: P&G
Client team:  Norbert Dcruz, media manager, P&G India; Vidya Murthy, brand manager, P&G Home Care; Shraddha Kohli, assistant brand manager, Ambi Pur India 
Agency: MediaCom
Agency team: Gaurav Virkar, business director, P&G planning; Vineet Kumar, senior business manager; Kokil Airen, group head; Prem Anand, buying director