Marketing in the shadow of the elephant god

Companies employ unique methods to showcase their brands at the ongoing festival in Mumbai

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Devotees at a Ganesh pandal in the suburb of Kandivali venerate the elephant-headed god in an unusual way. They do not bow their heads to a life-sized idol, instead they work out in the premises of the pandal to help their god shed weight.

Ahmedabad-based Zydus Wellness, promoters of the Nutralite brand of table spreads, along with ad agency DDB Mudra, is using holographic technology to marry health and religion. The idol has made way for a digital version of the deity, who rapidly sheds weight over the eleven-day festival as devotees 'donate calories'. Last year, the same team of Zydus and DDB Mudra had launched what was a 'six-pack ab Ganpati', replete with on-site weighing machines, calorie donation screens and sugar-free prasad. 'Over the years, we have seen many pandals that have spent and donated millions, we are the first to spend calories towards Lord Ganesha,' says Aniel Deepak, head of ideas, DDB Mudra Max.

As advertising clutter grows on traditional media, most consumer-facing businesses are pushing themselves to be seen and heard, often in unusual ways. Companies are going the extra mile when it comes to tapping popular events and festivals, going beyond the traditional practice of putting up hoardings and banners around a pandal. The idea is to engage consumers and drive home a key brand message.

Take Pidilite Industries' popular adhesive brand Fevicol. The company has set up a unique 'Fevicol Room' at Mumbai's Lalbaug, famous for the size of its idol and the crowds that throng the pandal. The room gives visitors an illusion that they are walking on walls or hanging from the ceiling. The motive: to drive home the message of majboot jod (or unbreakable bond) of Fevicol.

'Most people in the room,' says Salil Dalal, president, sales and marketing, Fevicol, Pidilite Industries, 'have been clicking pictures of themselves defying gravity and posting it on social media.' This is the first time that Pidilite has executed an on-ground initiative at a popular festival as it attempts to give a 360-degree push to its on-going ad campaign 'Jud Jaao Tyohaar Pe'.

In the same pandal, Parle Products, makers of Parle-G, are also using Lalbaugcha Raja (as the idol is popularly known) to promote a 'biscuit Ganesha'. As Mayank Shah, deputy marketing manager, Parle Products, explains: Visitors to the pandal are asked to tweet using a dedicated hashtag that will allow them to offer a biscuit to the god in their name. This biscuit is then used to build the unique 'Biscuit Ganesha'.

Similarly, in a bid to promote the concept of recycling e-waste, Future Group's electronics arm Ezone has set up an installation of Ganesha at Infiniti Mall, Malad, Mumbai using old electronic appliances that were exchanged for new goods by consumers. The idea, says Mandheer Singh, chief marketing officer, Ezone, is to promote the idea of gifting old appliances even as new ones are purchased.