'Paani toh har koi peeta hai'

Campaign India caught up with Shraddha Waikar Nathani, marketing head, Bisleri International, to find out more about the ‘Kiss to Drink’ campaign, it’s TG, Bisleri’s association with IPL, movies and more.

Tell us the objective behind the ‘Kiss to Drink’ campaign.

This is the first time a brand is doing a nationwide campaign around an SKU. Because of our market leadership position we need to do something innovative and with water you can’t really do much. With this campaign, we wanted to focus on the 500 ml packaging and highlight that it’s a convenient pack and it’s very easy for the consumers to carry. This is an interruptive campaign that has its insight from a consumer behavioural habit. In India we are very careful about the water we drink and we do not like sharing our glass or bottle with others. Taking cues from this insight, we developed this whole idea is that each person should have their own bottle and not share it with others.   

What was the brief given to the agency?

The brief was very simple. We wanted to use the consumer insight that people don’t like to share their glass or bottle of water. We wanted to communicate this in a way that is not too preachy and help us establish a connect with the TG.

What is the media mix for this campaign?

We have made three TVCs that will be first launched on the digital platform as this is a youth-centric campaign. Following this, one of the TVCs will be released on the GECs this Sunday and in the next two Sundays we will subsequently release the other two. Bisleri will launch a radio campaign and will roll out mall activities from next month. Bisleri has earmarked 30 pc of its annual marketing spends towards the campaign and would be spreading it over three months starting April 2013.

Who is the TG for the campaign?

Our target audience is very inclusive. The TVCs have college students, middle aged people and we have an old lady also. It covers across all TGs because ‘Paani toh har koi peeta hai.’ I cannot say that there is a particular age bracket that drinks water. So the campaign is an all inclusive one, but yes, more youthful as you need to stay in tune with the times.

How has the communication evolved from 'Stay Protected’ to the 'Kiss to drink' campaign?

The ‘Stay Protected’ communication was thematic and more on the brand as Bisleri has always been in the space of ‘purity’ and ‘safety’. We created a very strong campaign based on this proposition. And, at that time a lot of brands were in the ‘taking care’ and ‘protection’ space, so it made logical sense. So, that was a theme communication while this is a more SKU-driven communication that we are doing right now.

What is the market share of Bisleri in the bottled water segment?

In the branded water segment we have a market share of 60 pc.

Please share the marketing plans going forward?

Our agenda is to focus on various SKUs as we move forward. We have made seven to eight SKUs depending on the requirements of end consumers. The idea is to ensure that every pack that we have is well communicated to the end consumers and there is proper distribution of the same. So if there is a need to do a campaign for other SKUs then we will do so. If there is a need to create a communication that includes all the SKUs, then we may take that road.

What is the potential of the flavoured bottled water category in India? Is Bisleri looking to foray into it?

This segment has tremendous scope and Bisleri will definitely foray into it soon. Personally, I believe the market is still very nascent and when the time is right we will be there.

Bisleri was the hydration partner of the movie Inkaar. Will we see more such associations?

Yes, there will be definitely more of these associations in the future. We don’t really believe in brand endorsements as a company and you will never see Bisleri appointing a celebrity as a brand ambassador. But, when you see products in film, the reach is massive and people are more receptive when it comes to a medium like films. It is a good medium to be present in as compared to television where a viewer can switch channels. The brand placement always has to be relevant to the situation. It needs to fit in to the story snugly and only then will we do such things. 

Why did Bisleri discountinue its association with IPL?

We did advertise for two consecutive years on IPL. But, we have stopped our association with the IPL because we don’t have the kind of budget one requires to make a big impact on IPL. It was a strategic decision and we have moved on. Secondly, I believe that IPL is extremely cluttered with so many brands associating with it. We would rather use GECs to increase our reach. Surprisingly, Bisleri’s core target audience for some reason is sill male. So we ensure that even though we are using GECs, we are giving equal importance in our media planning and buying to the male audience. We try to be visible during news and other related programmes on TV and some part of cricket that may not be IPL. Thus, we invest in other sporting events like the Champions League and so on. The idea is to ensure that we get value for the money we spend since we have a tight budget for the year. Instead of doing a 45-day campaign on IPL, we do a six-month campaign on the GECs.