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Tarana Khan | afaqs! | New Delhi, June 09, 2008
FMCG brands
have always been accused of being slow in adopting the online medium.
However, the online presence of FMCG brands is no longer confined to
brochure like web pages. Most of these brands are actively engaging
their consumers by creating interactive online campaigns using
microsites, games and social media sites.
Evolving online
The
websites of most FMCG brands now lead consumers to games, Facebook
applications and entertaining videos, which is keeping digital agencies
quite busy.
Hindustan
Unilever Ltd (HUL) is reportedly one of the biggest FMCG companies to
spend on Internet marketing. It has a website for most of its popular
brands and some of these sites are quite engaging. The best known
example, of course, is Sunsilk Gang of Girls, which has become a case
study for Indian marketers on how to use the online medium. HUL’s
latest campaign online was for the Lux Provocateur limited edition
soap, for which the company created a fantasy themed site and a
Facebook application.
BC Web Wise created the Sunsilk Gang of
Girls site for HUL. The agency has created online campaigns for other
FMCG companies, too, such as Lifebuoy, Sunfeast, Kelloggs, Horlicks and
Pepsi.
Chaya Brian Carvalho, managing director and chief
executive officer of BC Web Wise, says, “These companies are definitely
moving towards consumer engagement and long term strategies. The focus
is on relationship building and looking at the entire spectrum of
consumer needs that align with their brand proposition. They have gone
so much beyond product push.”
Pepsico is another brand which
has a dynamic online strategy. The latest campaign by the beverage
brand is about a non-existent place called Youngistaan. The Internet is
the only medium which could give real shape to the concept. So, BC Web
Wise created a virtual Youngistaan for Pepsi, complete with a movie
theatre, a pizza joint and a canteen.
Another
brand of PepsiCo, 7-Up, has an animated site on the soft drink’s latest
campaign, Bheja Fry. As animated nuisances bother the character on the
site, a bottle of 7-Up makes them all disappear, aptly demonstrating
the campaign’s message. People visiting the site have been invited to
upload videos, audios, pictures and SMS messages of their own Bheja Fry
situations.
Webchutney is the agency behind the 7-Up site and
it is also creating campaigns for brands such as Mirinda, Mountain Dew,
Happydent and Orbit. Commenting on the changing attitudes of FMCG
companies, Siddharth Rao, co-founder and CEO of Webchutney, says, “The
focus on user generated content (UGC) has increased, and in fact,
brands insist on creating a platform to encourage their consumers to
contribute to the brand story per se. A more aware breed of brands and
agencies are willing to experiment with the medium through social media
and entertaining and engaging content. Marketing online is shifting
towards creating conversations which range from UGC to feedback.”
The
agency has also developed viral campaigns for these companies, another
medium which has caught the fancy of the category. Brands such as
Sunsilk, Happydent and Bingo have experimented with virals or animated
videos which are usually humorous.
Social experiments
Social
media is still a new realm for Indian advertisers, though brands such
as Lux, 5 Star and Bournvita are experimenting with the medium through
Facebook applications.
Some
brands have taken the next step in interactivity. Cadbury’s site for 5
Star, www.lostin5star.com, has a section where people can create a
Missing video of their friends and send it to them as a prank.
Something similar has been developed on Perfetti’s site for Center
Shock, where a fake news bulletin can be created using a friend’s name.
ITC created a virtual campus on its site for chips brand Bingo, and has
plans to evolve it into a Second Life type of world.
Though
HUL, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Perfetti Van Melle and ITC are the usual
suspects with big budgets, there are other FMCG companies, which were
not seen as Net friendly in India, but are now pulling up their socks.
So, now we have companies such as Godrej, Marico, CavinKare, Procter
& Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, which have joined the bandwagon for
their brands, which include Cinthol, Saffola, Spinz, Whisper and
Colgate Max Fresh.
“We are moving fast – from ‘How can you
take this TVC forward online’ to ‘What are the interesting things I can
do online in the next three years?’. FMCG clients are increasingly
looking at online as an effective marketing tool, and it makes sense as
their target audience is all here, especially the youth,” says Subhomoy
Sengupta, creative director, Interactive Avenues. The independent
digital agency has developed an interactive site for Godrej’s personal
care brand, Cinthol, where people can play games on the freshness
theme. The agency also works with John Players, Colgate and Coca-Cola
for their online campaigns.
Despite the positivity, many still
believe that with their spending power and brand muscle, FMCG brands
could still do better in exploiting the online medium.
CVS
Sharma, senior vice-president and director, Arc Worldwide, says, “There
are some who still believe in ending a TV ad with a log on to
www.abcd.com and participate in ‘khelo’ and ‘jeeto’, which serves no
purpose. The 3,000 entries that happen do not merit the ad space
wasted. Neither are they using their TV spot effectively, nor are they
maximising their online presence. Our advice to FMCG marketers is to
treat online as no different from the TV medium. No one is going to buy
a 50 paise candy by logging on to a website. Maximise campaign
visibility using interesting creative hooks at various digital media
touch points. If you have a target of 5,000,000 views for a TV ad,
similarly, see how many views your banner ad/ microsite can generate.”
Arc
Worldwide, the integrated marketing arm of Leo Burnett, recently won
the account for the Indian version of P&G’s community site for its
brand Whisper, Beinggirl.com. Besides P&G, the agency also works
with Heinz, Tata Salt and Perfetti.
Still a small slice
Again,
while the spending by FMCG companies online may appear large in volume,
their budgets are still only up to 5 per cent of the total ad spend,
according to industry sources. These companies spend about Rs 40-50
lakh on an online campaign (including promotion) and Rs 15-20 lakh on a
website or viral. A small slice, considering they spend about 10 times
that amount on mass media.
Some major companies don’t even
have their online strategy in place. Dabur, which has brands such as
Dabur Honey, Vatika, Real and Hajmola, only has a basic corporate
website. When contacted, a Dabur spokesperson said the company had no
immediate plans for their brands on the Internet. Other brands which
are still in the fancy website era are Nestle (Maggi, KitKat, Nescafe),
Britannia, Emami and Parle Agro.
The reason is probably a
lack of faith in online media, according to Krishna Kumar, CEO of
interactive agency Media2win. “There is a lack of authenticated data
about the online media. Traditional media has enough third party
authenticated data and hence, the belief is obviously higher,” he says.
Kumar
also feels that Internet advertising does not work as well for regional
companies, “In India, there are many regional FMCG brands that do
exceedingly well in their respective regions. Here, TV plays a dominant
role. The Internet does well when you need to cover the entire country,
and region level targeting is not yet accurate.”
Media2win
recently developed a game for Garnier’s sunscreen. Aimed at women, the
online game is called Miss in the City and players are required to go
around a virtual town without getting sunburnt. The agency has also
created campaigns for Domino’s Pizza and Colgate Max Fresh.
One
thing is certain – most FMCG companies have changed their goals in
online marketing from branding to consumer engagement. As Sengupta puts
it, “The strategy was Test matches, now things are headed in the
Twenty20 direction!”
© 2008 afaqs! story fileby
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