OmniSpace helps Colgate show its teeth

Retail level advertising is not about building brand image and brand recall, but about that all important call for action, where a shopper, who is made to engage with a brand, eventually picks it up and places it in his shopping cart.

Brands are now getting help from retail agencies to grab eyeballs and a place in the shopping basket. One such agency is OmniSpace, which creates in-store communication and promotions for brands.

The agency has recently created an innovative campaign for Colgate Active Salt in Chennai.

Colgate Active Salt, with the benefit proposition of ‘Fights Germs for Healthy Gums’, was facing a competitive scenario and wished to increase awareness of the “germ kill” benefit of salt, along with the toothpaste’s refreshing taste.

Thus, the idea used by OmniSpace for Colgate's retail activation at Chennai's general trade outlets was ‘Colgate's Active Salt toothpaste fights germs – without leaving behind its salty taste’.

OmniSpace created a tooth arch gate – a gate in the shape of a tooth – which displays a before-and-after story. This was placed at store entrances. Half the portion showed a tooth affected by germs, while the other half showed Active Salt crystals fighting germs to make the tooth clean and shiny. This grabbed maximum shopper attention.

The challenge faced by OmniSpace was to overcome the shoppers’ mindset, fearing the taste to be overtly salty. Against that notion, the agency was able to effectively communicate that not only does the toothpaste have effective germ fighting properties, but it also has a refreshingly minty taste.

In addition to the tooth arch gate, shelf window branding, danglers, counter top units and shop banners were also deployed. This promotion started in September and will go on till December.

When HUL wanted to launch Kwality Walls Selection in the South, OmniSpace did an activity for the brand in some cities during May and June 2008.

Unlike other categories, the ice cream category cannot enjoy eye level placements i bays and aisles. Freezers from where the product can be purchased are placed at low traffic spots in the store.

The challenge here was to attract eyeballs towards the category, which two out of three times could lead to purchase. With the activation objective of highlighting the new tub format packaging and the introduction of four new flavours, the ice cream freezers inside modern retail stores were made exclusive brand corners for effective shopper communication.

Larger than life ceiling drop-downs were placed above the freezers to grab the attention of shoppers browsing through the store. This helped to get moving traffic to take notice of the ice cream category.

A standee was created to highlight the tub packaging by placing actual tubs of all four variants. The unit invited shoppers to interact with the products on offer. The message, 'Have you picked up your tub of happiness?', was used as a call for action. While a shopper chose the flavour, a fridge board highlighted the two lead variants.

Interestingly, the flavour mentioned on the fridge board registered increased sales. OmniSpace created shopper communication to attract and engage the shopper, achieving the campaign objective and leading to three times increase in the average sales for the period of the activity.

Kedar Lele, marketing manager, ice creams category, HUL, says, "The OmniSpace team’s understanding of the challenges faced by the ice cream category in a modern trade environment was commendable. Their idea of bringing the product out of the cabinet through a floor standing unit (FSU), a first in the category, and communicating the consumption occasion through their design has helped us grow the category."

In March, OmniSpace also handled the pan-India retail activation for the relaunch of Cinthol for Godrej Consumer Products. For Cinthol, the brand values were now sporty and rugged.

Mehta says, "We created a successful brand experience inside the store, with effective utilisation of the brand ambassador, Hrithik Roshan's adventure sports imagery. A perfect balance between the above-the-line communication and the retail campaign was created by engaging the shopper, exciting him, inviting him and following him through his journey in the modern retail store."

OmniSpace went in for a different kind of pillar branding, where, besides a vinyl on a pillar, a mountain bike and rocks were placed close by to give that sporty, outdoors feel.

The conventional point of purchase materials, including bay header, shelf strips and flanges were also designed to give the product range a conceptual brand corner. A floor standing unit was put up to display and dispense the range of soaps, talcum powders and deodorants, with room where shoppers could test the deodorants. The promotional campaign activation at retail outlets carried the campaign feel into reality.

For the record, OmniSpace India was set up in November 2006 to target retailers and FMCG, banking and telecommunication companies looking for effective in-store consumer engagement. OmniSpace has operations in Thailand and Cambodia under the name of Bodhi Tree Knowledge.