Summary
Our communication objective was to spread awareness about the fact that germs often hide in places we least expect them to be and in most cases they are invisible to the naked eye. We were creating a completely new category of paints where the competition was no longer with just Paint brands. we had to ensure that people believe about the effectiveness of the product and not see it as just a gimmick
Challenge
Asian Paints, the leader in its category had introduced a new revolutionary paint, Royale Health Shield - the anti-bacterial paint that has Silver Ion Technology recommended by Indian Medical Association.
Objective
We wanted make people aware and experience the harsh reality of germs being present on walls and not just objects in the house.
Strategy
The biggest issue we faced was people were not aware that walls have germs too. We needed to establish the problem first in the minds of the consumer and then introduce the brand as the solution. Although it was important to establish the need, we also needed to be relevant to the audience. Germs and bacteria in the house is the least interesting topic people would like to hear about from a brand; that too from a paint brand. Hence we had to take a helping hand from the technology to speak to the audience in their native environment yet establishing our communication effectively.
Data
As a brand Asian Paints wanted to target young and new parents. While digital was an apt platform, we also wanted to target them cautiously through an experience that embeds the brand benefits in the mind of the target customers. But a mere branding and out of home creative or communication would not have sufficed the requirement. Also a brand like Royale Health Shield was quite particular about the imagery of the brand and did not want to mimic it in any manner. We had to be very careful in designing the communication and also making sure that the brand is not portrayed in any gimmicky manner. Hence instead of having a regular gaming experience we designed and curated and special virtual experience for the audience.
Solution
Task at Hand: Spread Awareness about Bacteria on walls and create experience and not just advertise Keeping the products technology in mind We partnered with Tech2 where the latest techs are showcased To demonstrate the power of RHS we created a VR game for users where they had to find 8 places at home where bacteria resides (Winners were gratified. They got to walk around the house where they found bacteria with a VR pointer). Once the game started, 15% people found bacteria on walls. Rest couldn't. Both sets were shown a unique message and brand communication at the end of the VR game The ones who actually clicked on the walls were gratified. The ones who did not were reminded that there are germs residing on the walls as well and you missed. We replicated the same experience on 21 top news site homepages where users had to click and find bacteria generating
Results
We generated ~3Mn engagements on top news portals 25Mn impressions virtually 8000+ Footfalls and 3.8 Mn video views on Live stream Almost every visitor with intrigue visited the VR game setup and experienced the harsh reality of germs residing on walls.
