How Rotis touched a chord at Cannes

Lifebuoy, India's largest soap brand, cashed in on the Kumbh Mela, to spread the message of cleanliness

Use of unusual media to drive home a message is not new. But the largest advertiser in the country Hindustan Unilever (HUL) decided to take this to the next level in its endeavour to bring the message closer to the consumer. It used the humble roti, an essential served with most Indian meals, as a means to achieve it.

This year's Kumbh Mela saw roties with the impression, "Did you wash your hands with Lifebouy?' imprinted on it, much to everyone's surprise.

This initiative, for Lifebuoy, which is the largest soap brand in the country, was undertaken by agency Ogilvy Activation.

The idea, explains Sudhir Sitapati, general manager, skin cleansing, HUL, was to remind people of the need to wash one's hands to prevent transmission of germs just before eating one's food. "This was the starting thought from which we developed a unique intervention – the Roti Reminder," he said.

HUL decided to create a special heat stamp with the message for the rotis. The company then hired 100 promoters, to stand in 100 kitchens spread across the Maha Kumbh and instructed them to impress fresh rotis with the Lifebuoy message.

Promoters stamped approximately 2.5 million fresh rotis through the tenure of the Kumbh Mela. But given the fact that a minimum of two people share a table, the brand message reached much more than 2.5 million visitors at the mela, Sitapati said.

In effect, this simple, clutter breaking idea helped Lifebuoy reach out to a massive audience, at a fraction of the cost, he added.

The initiative touched a chord with jurors in Cannes as well helping HUL walk home with a bronze in the PR category.