Virat Kohli urges travellers to cross boundaries with American Tourister

American Tourister has rolled out a campaign featuring brand ambassador Virat Kohli. 

 

The campaign has been conceptualised by Famous Innovations and consists of a film in which the cricketer tells travellers to 'break boundaries' by heading out and enjoying a local flavour of wherever they are visiting. 

 

We caught up with Pradnya Popade, head - marketing communications, Samsonite South Asia, to learn more about the campaign which was rolled out on 31 March, on day one of the IPL.

 

Edited excerpts: 

 

What was the brief given to the agency?

 

American Tourister is a distinct international brand that also ranks as the largest luggage brand in India. The brand has introduced style, colors, and vibrancy and has been the catalyst for moving the category from commodity to lifestyle. It caters to a young audience and is regarded as an aspirational brand. Over the last few years, there have been a lot of changes in the travel category. Earlier people used to take one big holiday but nowadays, they go for multiple holidays with a short and long combination. Travel within the city has also gone up due to the 'staycation' culture. Travelers like to go to the unknown and explore. The most important part of our brief was that we needed the idea which represents the new trend in the category, be a part of evolving travel culture, and the brand to stay ahead of the curve. 

 

Given that the campaign broke during the IPL, how do you think this will be able to break the clutter?

 

IPL is one of the most watched tournaments across India and the world. We wanted to reach the audience at scale and at the same time build the imagery. Both could be achieved by being present on IPL, one of the most impactful properties in India which cut across national and regional, male, and female and all age group audiences.

 

The audience can be reached in multiple ways, but the combination of impact, reach, and affinity makes communication works more effectively. We are using various other platforms like movies, music, news, influencer marketing, PR, social engagement, contests, consumer point of sale material, kiosks, etc. to win the consumer. 

 

Given that the IPL is running on two separate networks, during this season, will you be present on both digital and TV? If you picked one, what is the rationale for it?

 

One needs to look at the best platform or medium for effective communication. We have planned IPL for both TV and online, but have apportioned a larger budget on TV. TV is the preferred and popular medium to watch IPL. Residual recall of the ads is much higher on TV as compared to digital media. Advertising on TV offers more awareness as the attention span is higher on TV. It not only caters to the household audience but also to cater to the audience who watch it in a group at the mall, hotels, food joints, gaming zones, etc. We are also doing sharper targeting for our audience on IPL property on digital platforms. The good part is with the data analysis, audience buying, interest level targeting, etc. the online audience can be reached through other platforms.

 

What was the thought behind the campaign?

 

As the brand wants to be part of the evolving culture, the 'born to cross boundaries' campaign encourages people to go for experiential travel and not just sightseeing. Immerse in local culture than being just to the touristy spots. The attitude of let’s go, explore more, break free from limitations of physical, mental, or both, and cross boundaries to explore more while on travel is more fun and fulfilling.

 

Along with this film, what else will you be doing to catch the attention of the audience ahead of the summer vacation?

 

The campaign starts on 31 March and will be on air till mid-May. The second phase of the campaign will encourage participation from people to share their videos, and stories of them crossing the boundary. The influencer would be taking up the challenge and going out of their comfort zone to take up the activity. Virat’s special gift will be shared with the internal audience and channel partners who demonstrate the best way to cross the boundary. That’s how the brand will engage with the internal, and external audience to keep the moment on. 

 

Post June, while many students cross the boundaries to pursue their further education abroad and shape their careers, the third phase of the campaign will be talking to these students.