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Shriram Fertilisers & Chemicals (SFC) has been a dominant brand in northern India with a loyal base of customers and a proven record of well-performing products. One of them is Shriram Super Phosphate (SSP). SSP has been present in Maharashtra for a while. Except for the western region, which is an acclaimed region for horticulture. On account of irregularity on the supply front, the retail presence was unsteady in those areas. As a result, traders, distributors & dealers were hesitant. On the end user’s front, Phosphate, the most generic yet essential nutrient, was by default indispensable and a must-use product for farmers. But no marketing efforts have been put in till now. The brief was to embark upon a marketing initiative that develops the market afresh and builds confidence amongst all the stakeholders for the company and brand.
The conceptualization was transformed beautifully into cohesive action. Having clarity on the scope of integration for the job in hand, Ascent zeroed down on the judicious mix of the activities/media that later became the very reason for success.
It was a three-day affair having a plant visit on the third day culminating in a gala night marking the product’s unveiling.
Day one was a welcome day, more of an informal get-together as distributors came from different places.Â
The event took shape from day two. Since we had access to all the distributors in a single area, an engagement was apt to lighten up the mood and spirit. Tambola was planned to hammer the key messages that make up the campaign proposition, popularly known as housie. The night ended with folk dance Lavani, as a resounding entertainment, followed by dinners/cocktails.Â
Our third day started a little early, and set out for a planned visit with three mini buses on service accompanied by lunch at the site. The evening saw the product unveiling in a compelling, mesmerizing way.Â
Also, the last day was an occasion for the company to talk about business.
Kisan Chetna rally campaign was done in two phases in which pre vans went to all the villages an hour before the main van arrived. Pre van gathered the crowd by playing up the jingle and personally asking farmers to join the rally and by distributing leaflets. As the main van arrived at the location farmers gathered. The dhol was played loudly as soon as the farmers gathered at the location. Their leaflets and mini flags were distributed to them, and then Baton was given to farmers or the dealers of particular villages. Baton was transferred from one farmer to another farmer. A baton flagged off from Ratnagiri plant to client exchanging hands with progressive farmers from target villages before culminating back to the same place. Rally continued in the village as soon as the rally got over; vests were being distributed to them.
The idea behind the rally was to trigger word of mouth by involving progressive farmers and other farmers alike.Â
It pretty much served the purpose and managed newspaper coverage as well.
For those trade partners who were not part of the product unveiling and plant visit. We cracked the idea of “Plant on the wheel.” The interiors of the bus were tweaked to have a good seating arrangement. The sidewall/panel was used to exhibit plant photos, processes, etc.
A total of 580 outlets were shortlisted. Out of this, 100 were premium ones with all the branding inputs. Others were entitled to select inputs. The whole job was turned in in 15 days, from production to installation. Branding input included dealer board, inflated dangler, LD foam banner & paperweight.
Under this initiative, we reached out to farmers to have a more focused engagement with them. Before developing any inclination toward our brand, they needed to spend some time with it. Thus, getting hold of them in their village helped to achieve the same. It was possible because the schematic engagement was put in place. The schematic engagement first paved the way for Shriram SSP by engaging farmers upon the criteria to decide about any phosphate brand. Then we presented them with a new operational plant to access a Shriram product. This gave a local touch to the brand.
The next level was aimed at putting” Karo Shriram SSP ka Irada” into action. The engagement content established our product basis on specific USPs that farmers look forward to while buying SSP. Our engagement required farmers to bang on a punch pad with intensity, and the intensity of hitting would swing the needle on the console from bottom to top. The winners were the ones who swung it fully.
Gifts were distributed among the winners.
This campaign was one of the best and most memorable for the client and us. The farmers, distributors, dealers, and retailers would gladly testify. Moreover, the results of this endeavor provided ample weightage to resonate with the kind of success this campaign turned out to be. To be specific about the results, right after the product relaunch amongst distributors, there were enquiries from new parties to be part of the company. Consequently, the retailer meet on the bus resulted in more than expected participation.Â
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We at Ascent have been in the strategic brand & marketing consulting business for more than 20 years, working with reputed brands right from MNC to national and regional ones catering to multiple product categories like Agri input, Agriculture, Automobile, Consumer Durable, FMCG, Financial, Health, Industrial among the major ones.