'The idea was to create curiosity by showing a bit and concealing a bit’

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development has followed up its ‘MP ajab hai’ ‘shadow’graphy with the vibrant ‘Sau tarah ke rang’. Raghwendra Singh, MD, reveals that the marketing budget has been increased to Rs 33 crore, and more, in conversation with Campaign India.

Your association with O&M started in 2006 and the last campaign (‘shadow’graphy) was very well received. Tell us about the new campaign ‘Sau tarah ke rang’.

This is a continuation from the previous ad. The idea was not to show the actual tourist spots in Madhya Pradesh but to create curiosity. The new TVC is an artistic representation of the various locations of MP. The ‘MP ajab hai gajab hai’ campaign was launched in 2010. So we wanted to have some sort of a connection to that.

What was the brief given to the agency?

The last commercial was ‘shadow’graphy and we created that drama by using fingers. This time we told the agency that there has to be a depiction of the location but in a very subtle manner. The idea was to create curiosity by showing a bit and concealing a bit.

What is the annual advertising budget of MP Tourism? And tell us about the media plans for the new TVC.

This year we have increased our marketing budget from Rs 25 crore to Rs 33 crore.

We do not want to put all our eggs in the same basket. And we do lot many things together. We use popular mediums like television, radio, print, and digital. We go for road shows abroad in markets like London, Berlin, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and South East Asia. We have earmarked some money for fairs and festivals and some cultural events. And this year for the first time we are going to introduce air the new ad film is various cineplexes and multiplexes. We want audiences to experience the grandeur of this TVC, the visuals, the music, the lyrics and so on. We have some plans for print advertising too around this new TVC. We had taken some pictures while making the film. We have to now see how we can use those pictures on the print media.

Besides, the marketing spend, how much does the State government plan to invest to improve tourism facilities in Madhya Pradesh?

In MP we are going to improve our public sector investments and we are almost doubling our public sector investment in this financial year. We are also getting very good support from the private sector players. We have done MoUs worth Rs 1,200 crore for patching up some land which is available in our land bank. So this year alone, we are looking to invest anything above Rs 2,000 crore.

Do you plan to launch thematic tourism campaign like other States do? For instance monsoon travel, healthcare travel, and so on?

Madhya Pradesh is a place which you can visit all through the year. Geographically, it’s a huge State and tourists will find it appealing throughout the year.

Who is your core target group, domestic or international tourists? And can you tell us about the influx of tourists you are witnessing into the State?

We are targeting everybody. We witness a huge number of domestic travellers visit the State every year because we have a number of important religious spots. Foreign tourist arrivals are also good. Last year, around 2.79,000 tourists visited the State and we want to increase the numbers much faster.