Thirsty dragon

BY IMPACT Staff

Will Bissi help Bisleri reinforce its brand purpose in Phase 2 of ad campaign?

After launching its first-ever animated mascot Bissi (as it is called in the company internally), Bisleri now plans to launch the second phase of its campaign ‘Stay Protected’. Phase two execution will take the campaign a step further by engaging consumers with the brand and product. The first phase was majorly a television-driven campaign with some retail visibility. “Some dipsticks have helped us understand how the ad was perceived across various TGs and how we should customize our communication. This second phase of Bisleri’s campaign will break in December or early January. Television will remain our primary medium with 70% spends; BTL which includes retail visibility and mall activations will be allocated 20% and the remaining 10% will be spent towards OOH, Radio, Online and social media,” said Shraddha Nathani, Brand Manager, Bisleri, talking about the second leg of the campaign. The company has allocated Rs 25-30 crore towards the entire campaign (Phase I and II).

In September this year, Bisleri launched a new campaign, probably after two years, with a new look and a transition from its peg ‘Play Safe’ to ‘Stay Protected’. The objective of this campaign was to reinforce the values of safe and pure of the brand and ‘help the sales team’. But has it worked for them? “The campaign helps create a positive brand awareness cue. It does not, however, help in taking that awareness into an interest in the product. This is good advertising for the existing sets of Bisleri drinkers. But it may not be one that helps convert users from other bottled water brands to this particular brand. Worse still, it does little to the vast terrain of nonbottled water drinkers, who need to be converted into consumption,” said Harish Bijoor, brand-strategy specialist & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.

Redlion, which also worked on the creative of the campaign, will be working on BTL visibility items. “We have fresh ideas which will take place along with Phase II, both in mall activation, and programmes for mobile apps. Big Boss already played the tune, housemates performed a ‘Stay Protected’ task, and many more,” said Elsie Nanji, Managing Partner and Creative Director, Redlion.

However, Harish Bijoor thinks the mascot misses the bus. “What’s a hungry and thirsty animated dragon got to do with it all? It’s a fun icon, but that’s it. I do believe the way forward should be in the terrain of ensuring that the brand competes with every Aquafina and Kinley in staying ahead as the option of first choice for the new consumer entering into the bottled water segment. The brand objective needs to be one that is geared towards the new consumer. This is an ocean of an opportunity,” he says.

The brand now plans to be active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube initially and may introduce a blog at the right time. “It’s very tentative now. Until we don’t see how the consumer reacts to our Facebook and Twitter pages, we will not be able to ascertain the next steps,” said Nathani of Bisleri. Earlier this year, the company had re-launched its website, made it more robust and user-friendly. The company is yet to sign the contract for the social media agency, which according to them is already finalized. Beehive Communications is the media buying agency for TV and online.

Distribution is key for a bottled water brand in order to strengthen its position. Bisleri has placed its home-pack (15 litre jar) across 5,000 retail outlets. The company is also building exclusive brand outlets to give more visibility and to ensure that the authentic product reaches the end consumer.

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