Himalaya Rolls-out 'PureHands Take One Contest'

Asks college students across Bangalore to make a video for PureHands, Himalaya's hand sanitizer and win Rs. 1 Lakh!

Rajat Arora | Delhi | February 28, 2011

Himalaya Herbal Healthcare rolled out an innovative marketing campaign for its hand sanitizer, PureHands, today.

Inviting young, creative minds to make a video for PureHands that will highlight product benefits in an exciting way, the contest is being run on Facebook (www.facebook.com/himalayapurehandsvideocontest).

The winning team will receive a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh. The first and second runners-up win Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively.

Says Ramakant Sista, Marketing Manager, Consumer Product Division, Himalaya India, “The benefit of 99.9% germ protection is now inherent to all sanitizers. All players in the category offer this benefit to customers. Health protection and 'germ-check' is therefore a given. There is a need for more evolved communication. Brands therefore need to highlight different value propositions that will make their product the preferred choice.”

He added, “As a brand, Himalaya stands for well-researched, safe and efficacious herbal products. We would like students to highlight our USP and bring out the product benefits in a creative way through their videos.”

The objective of the contest is to generate fresh communication ideas for PureHands while enhancing brand experience for customers by giving them a platform to tell their story and directly involving users of the product in the communication.

Ramakant further added, “We want consumers to use hand sanitizers as part of their daily health protection routine. While the swine flu scare created demand for hand sanitizers, we need to continue building awareness for the product. A hand sanitizer is the most convenient way to keep our hands germ-free and this needs to be communicated effectively.”

Hand sanitizer use is increasing among college students because of their lifestyle. Students spend a lot of their time outside - eating, shopping at malls, engaging in outdoor sports or 'hanging out' with friends. This increases their exposure to germs. Moreover, health consciousness is on the rise.

Adds Ramakant, “We wanted to involve the user community in developing an advertisement for PureHands. Students, who are big users of the product, are better placed to narrate their experience with the product and how it plays a role in their life. If we want customers to connect with the brand and the category, we need to create communication that they can identify with. The product must seamlessly integrate into their life experiences!”

On the use of social media for this contest, Ramakant says, “If we want to reach out to the student community then the best way to do this is via social media.”

“Crowd sourcing is a great way to access fresh, exciting ideas. Companies across the globe are looking at the internet to reach out to their consumers. We chose to run our contest on Facebook as the social networking site is most popular among youngsters. They congregate on Facebook, express their opinions, discuss, deliberate. The contest is a first for us. We are hopeful that students will participate and enjoy the experience”, he concluded.

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