Sunday Times of India readers wake up to the aroma of coffee

Readers of the Sunday Times of India copy in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru on 19 February were greeted with the aroma of coffee as part of an innovation by Hindustan Unilever for its coffee brand, Bru Gold. The advertisement was conceptualised and executed by specialised ideas consulting firm in media and marketing, [email protected].

In the past, ‘scratch-n-sniff’ had been the only way the sense of smell was addressed in print but it had several limitations. A patch containing tiny bubbles encapsulating aroma chemical was stuck as an additional operation, for which time and cost did not permit its execution in newspapers. Also, when one scratches the patch, a very small quantity of aroma is released lasting for a very short time. With this new technique, the reader gets the smell, without having to scratch, as the whole newspaper spreads aroma.

Commenting about the innovation, Bharat Kapadia, founder, [email protected], said, "I had been working on this idea for a while, and am glad it has been effectively implemented by HUL with TOI; in multiple states. I demonstrated the unique idea with a sample when I learnt that HUL was planning to launch Bru Gold in the premium range. Senior executives at Hindustan Unilever were thrilled that they could drive home the richness of fine coffee by getting consumers to experience the aroma. With over 32 years in media, I knew we could conquer this final frontier in publishing and offer readers a sense of smell."

“I always look for innovations which are relevant to the brand and never use them as gimmicks,” Kapadia added. “And what can be a better reminder to readers of a morning newspaper than the aroma of coffee? Aroma of food products can create a sense of craving and can be a very effective way to lead the reader to consume it."