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WagonR banks on the R factors
The car brand has been advertised in and around city airports with city specific creatives
We've heard the saying, 'Out of sight is out of mind' – and that is basically where advertising comes in – to help brands attain top-of-mind recall in the consumer's mind. This summer, India's leading automobile manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has launched a creative outdoor campaign for its WagonR brand that precedes a multimedia campaign to be launched soon.
WagonR's tagline reads 'For the smarter race'. Its last campaign, in early 2008, was based on this idea of smartness and smart leadership. The 2008 campaign broke with a TV commercial and was backed by other media later. This time, outdoor media has been the frontrunner for the campaign.
The outdoor campaign has been splayed across outdoor sites in and around airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, targeting car lovers from SEC A and B who believe in smart driving.
In Hyderabad, the copy reads, 'Welcome to the city of Charminar & WagonR', while in Delhi it reads, 'Welcome to the city of Qutab Minar & WagonR' and in Mumbai it says, 'Welcome to the city of film stars & WagonR'. The play on rhyming words in these creatives is catchy, but does not necessarily feature for all cities' creatives in the same way.
Using billboards, unipoles, mobile vans and other outdoor formats in and around the vicinity of airports, the campaign idea is to connect locally with existing and future consumers in different cities.
Airport media is fast becoming the choice of brands targeting the SEC A and A+ consumers. Media costs of sites at airports are some of the most expensive in the country. Mumbai airport's hoardings cost Rs 3-5 lakh per site per month, while sites in and around Hyderabad cost Rs 1-3 lakh.
Newly designed properties and unique hoarding sites cost much more, such as Laqshya's landmark triple sided, double-decker unipole near the Passenger Terminal Building in the Hyderabad airport (total display area of 5,400 sq. ft) that costs a staggering Rs 27 lakh per month.
WagonR's campaign has been featured on 23 outdoor sites and will run for one month.
Outdoor Media Integrated (OMI), the agency arm of Laqshya Media and a specialist in offering out of home services, handles WagonR's outdoor media. Mayukh Bhattacharya, manager, business development, OMI, says, "The idea was to welcome visitors coming into the city by these contrasting creatives in each city. The airports act as a good catchment area. Also, being in and around the vicinity of airports, it also reached out to existing consumers for that feel-good factor."
Amitabh Lahiri, chief operating officer, Hakuhodo Percept (WagonR's creative agency), feels that rather than boring, static hoardings, these city specific creatives will connect better with the people and city. Explaining the strategy behind launching the outdoors first, he says, "The brand is doing very well even in times of slowdown and this OOH campaign is a sort of preparation for the multimedia campaign coming up. This gives great support to the brand and helps WagonR remain on top of mind till the TV commercial breaks later."