'Brands with purpose' to be cornerstone of HUL's India marketing strategy

Unilever is globally known for its path-breaking marketing campaigns and Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the local unit of the Anglo-Dutch company, has tread the same trail in India with its innovative and contextual campaigns that have had brand purpose at the core.

“Brands with purpose is a passionate Unilever marketing credo. Many of our brands have a strong purpose which resonates with consumers and builds brand love,” the company's spokesperson told BestMediaInfo.com.

HUL, which is India's biggest consumer company by market value, has recently launched #ShreeGaneshApnepanKa campaign for Brooke Bond Red Label tea.

The campaign is inspired by real-life stories and delves into deep-rooted prejudices connected to religion and focuses on Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. It encourages everyone to break open the barriers of notions to come together.

“Inclusiveness is at the heart of Brooke Bond Red brand purpose. Prejudices do come in the way of inclusiveness and questioning some of our deep-rooted prejudices can pave the way for a more inclusive society,” Hindustan Unilever’s spokesperson said.

The campaign was launched just before Ganesh Chaturthi.

“The brand's purpose is to help people find common ground over a cup of tea. Towards this purpose, one of the many things that we do is leveraging ‘contexts’. Festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi provide a great context and are fertile ground for creative ideas,” the spokesperson added.

The company believes contextual messaging has the potential to ride on the current frame of mind that people are in.

Inspired by real-life stories, the campaign celebrates the spirit of togetherness and secularism.

Conceptualised by Geometry Encompass, the campaign delves into deep-rooted human prejudices and encourages everyone to open their minds and break the shackles of their own notions to come together.

The film features a make-shift shop of Ganesh idol where devotees throng in large numbers to choose and book their perfect Ganpati. The film starts with the close shot of an idol-maker painting one of them. A first-time buyer asks him to show him some idols.

The situation turns grim when the idol-maker puts on his taqiyah. The buyer cancels his plan to buy the idol from his shop but his mindset changes as he sips his Brooke Bond Red Label tea. He is shocked to know that a Muslim man makes idols and also knows some interesting facts about Bappa, along with what it truly means to bring home the ‘lord of new beginnings’. He drops all his biases and decides to take home Bappa from the shop.

Sukrit Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Geometry Encompass, said, “We believe in the power of ideas and storytelling to change human behaviour. While the medium shapes the story, it is the message that makes a difference, and here we collaborate with brands to craft messages that can change perceptions. In this campaign, we developed a simple yet an extremely touching message which breaks the uncommon ground.”

The campaign:

Credits:

Client: Brooke Bond Red Label

Agency: Geometry Encompass

Agency CEO: Sukrit Singh

Agency Lead (Managing Partner): Shankar Shinde

Executive Creative Director: Arpan Jain

Script: Madhurya Alankaar (Group Head, Creative)

Creative Team: Meenal Brahmane, Anuvrat Bhansali, Sandeep Gaur, Santosh Kunder, Ganesh Jadhav, Anamta Saltanat

Account Management: Pooja Sawant

Partner Agency: Ogilvy, Mumbai

Director: Divyanshu Singh

Production House: Little Lamb Films

Info@BestMediaInfo.com