<font color="#CC0033">Emvies 2008:</font> The 'kure' for Kurkure's problems

Frito Lay wanted to make Kurkure the favourite snack of consumers during the summer, an otherwise slack season. MindShare offered them a solution

Frito Lay had a problem last summer, apart from the unbearably scorching heat that is. The company observed that the sales of the spicy snack dipped in summer and it wanted to make it a popular choice among consumers during the hot season. On being told the problem, MindShare, the media agency, decided to leverage the holiday season to boost Kurkure sales.

The focus was to target families going out on a holiday. To do this, MindShare chose a medium that is widely used by Indians – trains. Using trains as a branding and communication medium, Kurkure hoped to be a part of the consumer's vacation experience. MindShare created the Kurkure Express by transforming the South bound trains travelling on the Bengaluru-Nagercoil, Bengaluru-Chennai and Bengaluru-Hubli routes into Kurkure branded trains.

At every station at which the trains stopped, the railway announcements addressed the train as Kurkure Express bewildering commuters and others on the platform. Branding was done on staff identity cards, tickets, reservation charts, train name boards, indicators, the panels above and below the windows, the beginning and end of the trains, coach numbers and even internal facilities such as bed rolls.

Thus, the branding was exposed to more than 70,000 people. The initiative created a lot of curiosity among the consumers through its free coverage on television and print. The sales of Kurkure went up by 6 per cent in the South – all this through a partnership with South-Western Railways.

Further, to boost consumption of the snack, MindShare implemented an innovation on the habit of snacking. The agency needed to create a recipe to increase the frequency of consumption owing to the increased competition from Bingo. The company invited recipes from people in regional markets. The best recipes were printed in key print magazines such as Grihashobha and Women's Era under a branded recipe section. Kurkure received 800 mails of participation and consumption increased from 4.2 packs to 5.7 packs after the activity in the markets in which it was implemented.

The Emvies are given out in six categories after a two stage judging process by a panel of industry experts. Gold and silver awards are given in each category. The categories are Best Media Strategy, Best Media Innovation, Best Media Research, Best Integrated Campaign, Media Agency of the Year and the Grand Emvie. In addition, there are two special award categories: the TAM Award for the Best TV Research and the People’s Choice Award for the Best Case Study Presentation. The Emvies are awarded to both planners and implementers.

Every year, Ad Club Mumbai organises an event where shortlisted entries are presented before the audience. This year there are 53 shortlisted entries across categories. Yesterday at Wellingkar College in Mumbai, 27 case studies were presented. The remaining 26 case studies will be presented today. The Emvies awards will be given out on July 28 at The Grand Hyatt in Santacruz, Mumbai.

The presenting sponsor for Emvies 2008 is NDTV Media, while the associate sponsors are SaharaOne, Just TV Punjabi, Mi Marathi and Microsoft Advertising.