Campaign Logic: Being healthy never goes out of style

A new campaign by DS Group's Ksheer brand harps on the product's health benefits to drive home the message that it is one good habit that is easy to sustain

Brand: Ksheer
Budget: Rs 20 crore
Agency: Scarecrow Communications

The advertising for food products - the ultimate high-involvement category - has been a big letdown of late. The last really good ads were for Amul butter, especially its fun takes on everyday news. Otherwise, it all revolves around health and happiness, or goody-two-shoes Indianness. (Remember Mother Dairy's 'Happy food, happy people' and Amul's 'Pita hai India'?) Dairy brand Ksheer from the DS Group, is the latest to jump onto the health and wellness bandwagon with its maiden campaign "Ek acchi aadat". The campaign depicts the daily schedule of the Mehras, a joint family in which the members seem to have a lot of bad habits, such as getting up late in the morning, children playing video games, adults struggling to balance work and home life among others. This family has one good habit nonetheless - that of consuming Ksheer products.

The idea behind the campaign is to establish Ksheer's big dairy range as a brand that compensates the health needs of a family. Anshu Dewan, senior vice-president, new business development, DS Group, says that milk and milk products symbolise wholesome health and are perceived as 'acchaiyon se bharpoor' or 'filled with goodness'. "The communication for the Ksheer products is derived from this basic proposition and the brand campaign resonates the same thought. The tagline, 'Ksheer, ek acchi aadat', drives home the idea that consuming healthy Ksheer products is a great habit to have," explains Dewan.

The company's brief to the creative agency, Scarecrow Communication, was to launch Ksheer with a powerful idea so that it becomes an inalienable part of a consumer's everyday life. The creative agency expanded on the insight that today's homemakers who is balancing multiple roles and is always pressed for time feels that she and her family are a victim of a highly demanding modern lifestyle. Managing her family's health, therefore, is her biggest challenge. "We are saying that Ksheer as a brand can play the role of an active health nurturer and provide a delicious range of products that can easily seep into their lives as a habit they can keep amongst many other good habits that they find difficult to sustain," says Scarecrow's founder director, Manish Bhatt.

"We worked on the insight that good habits are hard to keep and that is a fact that holds true for most people, in most families," adds Bhatt. "To increase the emotional quotient and take-away factor of the campaign, we added a song 'achhai ko zindagi se lipatne do' which is layered with lip smacking product visuals."

DS Group is a late entrant in the market. It entered the dairy segment by acquiring a plant in Rajasthan 2011-12 and launched desi ghee and skimmed milk powder under the Dairymax brand. In 2013-14, the company launched value-added products such as ultrahigh temperature milk (UHT), cow ghee, dahi, dairy whitener, dairy creamer, fresh milk, paneer, khoya and flavoured milk under a new brand, Ksheer.

As per IMARC reports, the value of the organised primary dairy market (which includes liquid milk and UHT milk, curd/yogurts, butter, ghee, cheese, paneer, khoya) would be around Rs 1 lakh crore by 2017. Currently, the market is dominated by brands such as Mother Dairy, Amul and Nestle. While the industry is huge, it is highly fragmented, with a large number of local brands dominating regional pockets.

Dewan says that all volume-led categories are price sensitive and the trade plays vital role in product push. He points out that margins in the category are also very thin and cooperatives get advantage in certain cases, where private players have to compete through additional investments. "Our presence is limited to select markets in India and we are trying to establish ourselves firmly in the areas where we currently operate," he says.

Currently, Ksheer is available in leading retail and modern store outlets in Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, and in some cities in the east and the north.