The focus of advertisements has definitely shifted to regional languages. With more and more target audience segmentation, companies are relying on using the local connect in order to reach out to their consumers. The mainstream advertising industry is making some serious efforts at segmentation based on a regional marketing strategy by developing publicity material around regional tastes and releasing ad films in different languages. These films are not just dubbed versions but actually made for the particular state.
Take, for instance, the Coca Cola campaign that was released in early 2002. The campaign featured leading Bollywood star Aamir Khan. The advertisement with the tagline — ‘Thanda Matlab Coca Cola’ was targeted at semi-urban consumers where Aamir Khan played different characters.
This was the first time such an effort was made to connect the soft drink with regional locations — Punjab, Bengal, Hyderabad amongst others. Given our varied cultural nuances and linguistic and colour preferences, segmentation is both relevant and the way to the future. And, say industry watchers, will emerge as a growing trend.
Sports and lifestyle brand Puma had come up with a colourful campaign across Asia to promote its spring-summer collection. In order to make the brand popular amongst the local Taiwanese, the campaign featured the Taiwan-based hip hop group Da Mouth. The group was able to translate Puma’s DNA of joyful energy through fresh imagery. The campaign was also launched in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
As Saumya Chattopadhyay, Head, Strategic Planning, Rediffusion Y&R, says, “These advertisements are focusing more and more on regional issues rather than on national causes. They are highlighting the neighbourhood, the suburb and the immediate surroundings.” Examples include the Thums Up campaign during Durga Puja in Bengal featuring Soumitro Chatterjee or Pepsi and Thums Up in Andhra Pradesh with local stories and local stars featuring Mahesh Babu and Ram Charan Teja. “Brands have at last realised that India is not just one mass of people. Each region has its own nuances and cultural sensibilities. This is the reason why the one-size-fits-all mentality will no longer do,” says Chattopadhyay.
Talking about the latest campaign that the company created for the Mahua news channel, Chattopadhyay says that the ad shows a senior citizen being asked “What’s the news?’’ in Bengali (“Ki Khabor’’). To this comes the reply that the population of Facebook is more than that of India and China put together! The response is brilliant and the ad speaks volumes about the Mahuya news channel. Ad experts say that most TV channels are generic about news. However, the Mah-uya news channel decided to tread the off-beat route and created a cultural connect with Mahua news. “The Bengali has an opinion on everything. He always seeks information on subjects that have nothing to do with what he does. He has an opinionated point of view on everything, conditioned possibly by his historical antecedents. Therefore, the ad campaign catered to his core desire to always have an enlightened perspective on everything,” says Chattopadhyay. The agency built up to the launch and ultimately released advertisements that can now be seen all over the city. Only going to show that the art of segmentation is here to stay!
The author is a well-known industry watcher