A memory cure from SanDisk

Red and white, crisp and clear, SanDisk, world leader in flash memory devices, has rolled out its integrated marketing and advertising campaign in India.

The campaign, which has been created by SanDisk’s international agency, Publicis & Hal Riney (HRP), aims to create awareness and educate Indian consumers on the “need and importance” of high capacity memory cards that will enable them to explore their digital gadgets to their full potential.

HRP bagged the business after a three way pitch. Titled the ‘8 GB’ campaign, it specifically illustrates SanDisk’s eight gigabyte (GB) range of memory cards across a host of product categories. These encompass mobile phones, mp3 players, digital cameras, camcorders and 8 GB USB drives.

However, this time, they have a much more elaborate plan, spanning various media and geographies. Officials maintain that the campaign is a business-to-consumer (B2C) campaign and not merely aimed at companies manufacturing its host products.

In an official communiqué, Manisha Sood, country manager, SanDisk, India and SAARC, says, “India has been witnessing rapid adoption of consumer electronics. SanDisk is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the storage needs for this fast paced market. While the Indian consumer, especially the youth segment, is increasingly demanding more from their digital gadgets, surprisingly, very few realise that all they need is a large capacity storage card.”

In an exclusive conversation with afaqs!, Sood says, “India is a BRIC country. The digital market in the country has grown exponentially, in particular the mobile segment. Add to that lots of memory hungry laptops, digital cameras and handycams, and I think we have enough reason to market the brand in a comprehensive manner in India.”

When asked about the insights behind the campaign, Sood says, “The hunger for memory is a major driver for this campaign, which aims to unleash the 8 GB range of memory cards in the market. Clubbed to that is a leadership statement that we are proud of in this particular category.”

The campaign launched in India is an adaptation of SanDisk’s international communication, with the message being tweaked to cater to the Indian context. For example, the radio scripts have localised content and Indian voiceovers.

The print campaign has a stark, bold look to it – white typography on a red background, along with specific product shots and their respective illustrations. The copy is simple and direct and comprises a headline and crisp body copy.

The radio spots bring forth the proposition of “more space, for more memory” with elements of echoes in the voiceover and instances of people getting lost in the vast memory space of SanDisk cards. The campaign has no tagline; the earlier tagline was 'Store Your World in Ours'.

The media duties for the brand in India will be handled out of Delhi by Media Planning Group (MPG). MPG officials declined to divulge any figures for the ad spends.

Targeted at tech savvy Indian youth (16-30 years), the media mix covers print, online, radio and outdoor to create multiple reach points. SanDisk will also drive an integrated marketing campaign. This will have on-ground retail activation programmes, which will be rolled out during the festive period and hosted across popular multiplexes and shopping malls to interact with customers on the 8 GB and SanDisk brand messages.

The campaign has been rolled out simultaneously across five cities that show high growth for digital devices, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata. The campaign is also being rolled out in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Sweden and Ukraine.

For the record, SanDisk is a Silicon Valley based company, with more than half its sales outside the US. Some of the products in its 8 GB range are the SanDisk 8 GB Mobile Memory Card, the SanDisk Extreme III Camera Card, the SanDisk Ultra Card and the 8 GB Sansa Fuze MP3 Player.