Perfetti mulls timing of second Rs 25-lakh ‘Mentos Batti Jalao’ riddle

The campaign film went live on YouTube in February.

View the story on the first Rs 25 lakh riddle TVC here

Watch the most recent Rs 1 lakh riddle here:

While over 5 lakh entries were received across multiple channels including online, IVR, Facebook and a Nimbuzz application, the maximum of around 2 lakh entries poured in online. IVR was the second largest contributor of entries.

A well-calibrated campaign

The successful campaign was calibrated every step of the way, underlines Nikhil Sharma, director – marketing, Perfetti Van Melle India, in conversation with Campaign India.

Asked whether the campaign was scaled up basis initial response, Sharma explained, “There was no surprise element – it was always meant to be at this level. I didn’t want any half measures. It was never meant to be a promotional campaign; it was a thematic campaign centred on the core Mentos brand idea of ‘Dimag ki batti jala de’. It was calibrated every step of the way. Where needed, we bought media to give it a spike. We ran contests giving away Rs 1 lakh every week – you can’t do that on a whim.”

And for a digital campaign with this level of continuity, the creative agency had to be on the ball too.

Anurag Agnihotri, group creative head, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, underlined the objective of the campaign as he explained its genesis. He said, “We never looked at it as a promo with a contest; it was a theme campaign for the brand. Therefore we were not really looking at the numbers. But we did get excited when we saw the numbers. If 5 lakh people entered, many more would have seen it. We created the smaller films (with Rs 1 lakh cash prizes) to sustain the interest through the gap between the first riddle (offering Rs 25 lakh) and the second.”

Buoyed by response, mystery to continue

The eighth riddle for Rs 1 lakh is on now, and the brand is mulling the timeline for launching the second big riddle as part of the series offering another bumper cash prize of Rs 25 lakh.

Sharma explained, “We planned to go back after IPL. We might either go back immediately or give it a couple of months when we run some other brand campaign. But the second riddle is coming for sure as planned.”

The brand is buoyed that the response, given that the campaign had digital at its core, has not just been from the metros but also from other markets.

“I would have been a little disappointed if the response had been just from the metros. We’re glad that there were a lot of entries from other markets like UP and Gujarat; the winner of the first riddle is in fact from Anand, Gujarat,” added Sharma.

Admittedly, it would take three months for the real impact of the campaign on sales of the brand - and the brand - would become evident. But the initial signs are ‘very encouraging’, said Sharma.

He added, “Mentos is a 50 paisa brand that sells not just in urban centres but in much smaller towns. It sells across the country in the smallest format of stores. For a mass brand like Mentos to run a campaign with digital as the lead medium and get this kind of response has been very encouraging.”