Summary
DEKHO APNA DESH ( See Your Own Country) IHCL launched the Dekho Apna Desh campaign on India's 75th Independence Day. A campaign which endeavored to highlight the beauty of India and encouraged Indians to travel within India, for India. The headlining film, celebrating the richness of India, struck a chord with everyone and inspired travel by showcasing India as a destination of diverse experiences.
Challenge
The past 2 years have brought many changes across industries and people. The new landscape of travel is being defined by safety, hygiene and the intrinsic need to cherish each moment with your loved ones. After over 18 months of people being confined to their homes, travel started an upward trend across destinations with domestic travel restrictions easing in mid 2021. While international travel is still in a dormant phase with safety concerns, closed borders and other restrictions, the opportunity and challenge at hand was to create an environment of trust and inspire people to travel again and explore their country.
Objective
Post Covid the travel landscape changed across various parameters. From a shift in the mind set of guests, to reasons for travel and important consideration factors which drove the decision making process. There was a need to inspire people to take that first step and travel again. The campaign intended to not just have guests returning to our hotels but to contribute towards the revival and "thrival" of the Indian tourism industry which was surfacing from the survival phase. "Dekho Apna Desh" endeavoured to highlight the beauty of India, to encourage Indians to travel within India, for India–Embark on a journey called India. Capturing share of voice by creating clutter breaking emotive content on Independence Day and sstrengthening our brand positioning as a leader in the tourism industry. Supported by a value proposition focusing on domestic travel, which encompasses experiences and is value based whilst leveraging IHCL's extensive presence.
Strategy
The "Dekho Apna Desh" campaign endeavored to create societal, cultural and economic impact to pioneer a new future in the world of travel. The shift in focus from our own iconic hotels and putting India at the forefront of the campaign was backed by a strong intent and commitment to positively influence a larger section of stakeholders in the travel economy cycle. We wanted to connect with a wider section of the audience and hence In a first-of-its-kind for IHCL, choosing Hindi as the headlining language of communication was a path breaking approach, especially for a legacy brand. The creative vision was to showcase the vibrancy and beauty of India layered with elements which enhanced the Indian connect in the form of language used, images showcased and background score created. With the increased penetration and usage of technology across India, we adopted a digital first strategy which created engagement across multiple channels of communication.
Data
Various industries were adversely affected due to the Covid 19 pandemic with the hospitality sector being amongst those worst affected. With lockdowns and travel restrictions in place, hotels chains, resorts, banquets and restaurants across the country came to a standstill. Though the suspension of global tourism has hit the Indian hospitality industry hard, it was time to shift the larger focus on the domestic demands. Millions of travelers, who were unable to travel overseas, would look for quality domestic alternatives. So, promoting internal tourism was the primary objective of the "Dekho Apna Desh" campaign. With hotel occupancies on an upward trajectory of over 40% across most markets for the hospitality sector in August 21, there was a need to fuel this uptake and create a robust pipeline for the upcoming festive season. Key markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Shimla, Uttarakhand, Kerala which were seeing influx of domestic tourists had to be revived and sustained by inspiring people to step out and explore their country again with the assurance of safety and hygiene. IHCL with a large footprint in India set out to create excitement for the myriad destinations and travel experiences domestically.
Solution
With these realities and sentiments of the travel landscape in consideration, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) launched the Dekho Apna Desh campaign on 15th August 2021. As India celebrated its milestone 75th Independence Day, IHCL, inspired by the Indian Ministry of Tourism's namesake outreach program, invited travellers to ‘Dekho Apna Desh', a campaign which endeavoured to highlight the beauty of India and encouraged Indians to travel within India, for India. India is a traveller's kaleidoscope and IHCL, with its expansive footprint of hotels, offers a window into its geographical diversity and rich cultural heritage with special stay offers. Meticulously curated, the ‘Dekho Apna Desh' offer brought to travellers the chance to create memories of a lifetime in breath-taking locales with rejuvenating holidays across India. It also gave guests the opportunity to traverse multiple destinations within the country with bespoke itineraries. The headlining film, celebrating the richness of India, struck a chord with everyone and inspired travel by showcasing India as a destination of diverse experiences. The authenticity and connect was further enhanced by using the language Hindi, in sharp contrast to IHCL's usual creative approach. In a first-of-its-kind for IHCL, Hindi was chosen as the language of communication to maximise reach and establish stronger linkages since it is the most widely spoken language in India. The campaign ‘Dekho Apna Desh', which in English translates to ‘See Your Own Country', inspired everyone to explore our country with stays across various destinations and to truly discover the gems of India in our signature style of hospitality.
Results
Dekho Apna Desh campaign generated a gross booked revenue of USD 4.8 million / INR 3648 lacs. The campaign had an aggregate reach of 26 million on social media with the main campaign film having a reach of over 4 million. Digital activations, i.e. search and display gave a 32.90x ROAS. The bookings and revenues from the campaign, have met and exceeded our expectations. As have the engagement and share of voice garnered on digital mediums. But as importantly, the positioning of India as a diverse destination and inspiring travellers to explore the country once again, has been a cornerstone for the measurement of success for this campaign.
