Memorable Experiential Campaigns
LIFEBUOY’s Kumbh Mela campaign 2013 T
Lifebuoy came to India in 1895 The heritage brand is one of the market leaders in the smaller handwash category with 22.7 per cent market share 2.5 million rotis were stamped during the campaign
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he chunky red soap bar that each of us has seen since our childhood has sported the tagline – ‘tandarusti ki raksha karta hai lifebuoy’ (Lifebuoy protects your health)! Lifebuoy has never deviated from its brand proposition which is why after more than 100 years, it has now become a heritage brand and is one of the market leaders in the smaller handwash category. The positioning of the brand has been so strong over the years that the product – a chunky red soap bar – is a celebrity in itself. The brand always explores healthier ways to connect to its consumers with an aim to give them a healthy lifestyle. In a research, Lifebuoy found that diarrhoea killed 1.1 million chidren annually in developing countries, and Lifebuoy believed that this could be averted by the simple act of washing hands with soap. The vision again was the same – a healthy lifestyle. Lifebuoy aimed at changing the handwashing behaviour of a billion people, by 2015. To achieve this, the brand introduced a unique activation to spread the message on handwashing further. The venue was the Maha Kumbh Mela of 2013. It couldn’t get bigger than this. The Maha Kumbh Mela is the largest gathering of almost 100 million people who descend upon the city of Allahabad during the period of this mela. This unprecedented influx of people almost turns
into a temporary city in itself. Since the infrastructure available is often unable to service the sanitation and health needs of all attendees, infections tend to occur and spread far more easily through transmission of germs, which happens most commonly through infected hands. Lifebuoy chose ‘Roti’ as the medium to communicate the message across to the people. As the only way to eat a roti is through one’s hands, Lifebuoy chose the Roti for spreading the message. Heat stamps were created, which were capable of leaving a simple message on a Roti – ‘lifebuoy se hanath dhoye kya’ and over 30 days, a team of 100 people, stood in 100 kitchens and stamped around 2.5 million rotis. The message reached out to approximately 5 million people at the Maha Kumbh Mela and people following the reminder, reached the nearest wash basin to find a lifebuoy soap to wash their hands with. It was a successful campaign, giving the right kind of message with the right vision and experience. The results were there for all to see. The reach of the campaign went far beyond the festival. The novelty of branding food generated a huge amount of media coverage and discussions across India, helping to spread the importance of washing hands with soap before eating.
Pitch | November 2013