Prem Henna Pvt. Ltd. is half a decade old company selling traditional products. As the name suggests Prem Henna offers products made out of Henna or mignonette leaves which include henna powder, henna paste, henna cones, henna hair colours etc. Henna is a form of reddish- brown natural dye which is used for many purposes in India. It is an integral part of our Indian Heritage and culture. It is also used in the form of ‘Mehendi’ (henna paste stuffed in cones with pointed tips), applied on the palms of mainly women with different & complicated designs. As it is washed off, it leaves a beautiful design on the palm with a light fragrance.
This particular commodity products organisation is based out of the western region of India, with its factory located in Rajasthan and the head office at Indore. Prem Henna offered a range of products that from the marketing viewpoint had barely any marked differentiation from other competitive offerings. Like all other henna companies Prem Henna too offered henna powder, paste and cones. But they also offered black & burgundy henna hair colour which is not offered by all. Even though this made them different from other competitors, this is not what they wanted to emphasize on. They simply wanted to stress on the fact that they offer 100% natural products with natural colouring or conditioning effect. And they wanted large scale promotions, especially in the field of traditional advertising.
ReleaseMyAd Media Pvt. Ltd. as a complete advertising agency took it up as a challenge to make this particular commodity brand stand out among the rest. For any ad campaign to be successful, it is essential to analyze the market and the target audience as well as the timing for promotions. Prem Henna came to us a few months before the Durga Puja or Navaratris-the largest festive season across India, especially in the western and eastern region.
The timing was ideal for a large scale and relentless promotion of the brand. The plan of action was laid down for the months of Oct-13-March-14. The step by step evaluation of the plan is as follows:
- Recognizing Target Audience: The target audience for the products offered by Prem Henna comprised mainly of women within the age-groups of 20-55 years. Prospective brides, beauty parlours, beauticians, women with greying hair, mehandi designers and local retailers topped the list of audiences for the brand
- Choosing the Media: The media vehicle for publishing adverts was one of the most essential steps for Prem Henna, as it was a new company with traditional products. Hence, we started with choosing traditional media platforms for them such as Newspapers, Hoardings, Magazines and Television, finally moving on to Digital advertising (non-traditional)
- Creative Planning: The print ads were designed with utmost care and at par with the ads designed by big names offering similar products like Godrej. Two designers along with two copywriters worked for weeks to come up with most beautiful print and video adverts to be displayed across respective media platforms
The unique thing about the entire campaign was that in spite of offering commodity products, the marketing campaign that was compiled was an aggressive one. The promotions were made across the country starting with West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka and more.
The main section of the Ad campaign was launched a week before the festive season in Kolkata, West Bengal since many people indulge in getting Mehndi designs done on their hands while many opt for natural conditioning therapies as well during this time period.
Newspapers Ads: Running print ads was the first step we took towards promoting them. The print ads were displayed in various regional newspapers of West Bengal like Anandabazar Patrika and Bartaman, which were scheduled till March 2014 and were to appear every day from October 2013.
OOH Ads: Several hoardings and billboards across different prominent locations across the city like flyovers, dandiya events, Durga Puja pandals etc. were put up for maximum & frequent visibility.
Magazine Ads: Ads composed in Bengali were published in different Puja editions of all prominent Bengali magazines. Magazine advertising is quite cost effective and magazines have a shelf life of almost a year if not more. Hence, magazine ads appeal to wide a range of females for a longer duration of time and they are reminded of the product every time they pick up the magazine to read a new article.
Metro Railway TVCs: Incoda offers a new form of audio-visual advertising medium wherein big screen LCD or LED television sets are placed in different public places like metro stations, food joints, lounges etc. It is just a new form of television advertising with a twist. Prem Henna commercials were aired on Metro Railway television screens across all metro stations in Kolkata from Dumdum to Kavi Nazrul.
About 8 lakh people travel by metro in Kolkata, everyday. Most of the travellers need a way to pass their time while waiting for the next metro. Incoda advertising made the brand flash in front of their eyes several times within 10 minutes (which is the stipulated average waiting time for all metro travellers). This makes the brand get noticed and increases recall value in times when the need for the product arises. In case of Incoda ads, unlike normal TVCs, viewers do not have the choice to flip through channels and skip the ads. They watch whatever is displayed on the screen, making it a tactful form of advertisement.
Digital Marketing (Social Media): Next in line was the non-traditional form of advertising for our traditional clients-Online Marketing. After the entire campaign was launched and moving forward as per plans, the next step was instant and direct audience interaction. What better way is there for such interaction other than Social Media Forums like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc.
releaseMyAd Digital (rmadigital.com) launched the complete Facebook campaign of Prem Henna which is currently the most convenient forum for users or potential customers to communicate & connect with the brand directly. Through Facebook posts, current users or those who have liked the page, keep getting updates about the brand, offers, new launches, helpful tips on how and why to use henna, benefits, characteristics and even origin.
The brand has become already quite renowned and revered as a result of such aggressive and full-fledged promotions. Their sales have taken a hike by almost 15% in West Bengal alone mid-way of the complete promotional plan.
For the future, discussions are on with company for a full-fledged Online Advertising Campaign. This campaign is intended to include managing company profile on Twitter, product channels on YouTube, running banner ads on different relevant website, search engines, revamping their website, content management and much more. Through online advertising, we intend to make the brand more popular among the younger and working population and compete with the likes of major online cosmetic products.
“Ad Campaigns That Define Our Success: This special section enlists the detailed Case Studies of all the successful ad campaigns run by releaseMyAd Media Pvt. Ltd. These campaigns have not only provided a new dimension to the products and services of our prestigious clients but have also construed the path towards our success as an Offline as well as Online Advertising Agency. With the help of this section we evaluate, understand and convey our advertising strategies, skills and the our expertise in advertising for different media platforms.”
