HUL's Bru brews up a catchy marketing activity

An association with the movie, Aisha and mobile vans across cities are some of the marketing activities for Bru

Coffee shops have for long tied up with movies, in the form of co-branded promo videos, in-film placement or brand promotions. This time, an instant-coffee brand has taken this route.

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), over the past few months, has engaged in several activities to enhance the visibility of its instant-coffee brand, Bru. The company recently entered into a
co-promotional alliance
with the new Sonam Kapoor starrer, Aisha.

Aisha is a youth-oriented film, whose core themes -- gossip, love, matchmaking and friendship -- provided Bru the perfect foil for a creative link. Arun Srinivas, category head, beverages, HUL, says, "Bru has always been a brand, which has added fun to shared moments. We believe that our association with Aisha, a young, vibrant movie about great moments among friends, will only strengthen our brand proposition and connect with our consumers."

Thus, a peppy, upbeat TV campaign was seen on select channels, which gave viewers a peek into the special 'coffee moments' between characters in the film.

While the co-branded promo continues on-air, an on-ground activity has been on for some time as well. HUL has appointed below-the-line agency, Candid Marketing for a year-long initiative to initiate sampling of Bru Instant Coffee, Bru Cappuccino and Bru Ice Cappuccino, through mobile branded vans across four cities. The objective of the activity is to induce trials for Bru, by sampling the product, and then sell consumers a pack if they like the sample.

Thus, eight vans in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata visit locations with high footfalls - such as outside colleges, malls, corporate parks, and so on -- where one is likely to find coffee drinkers.

The van is parked at these locations for a few hours and promoters invite people to taste the coffee. The promoters have a target of a minimum of 250 samples per day, and branded cups are used for this purpose.

Each sample of Bru Instant or Bru Instant Cold Coffee is sold for Rs 3, while Bru Cappucino is sold at Rs 10. After the consumer tries the sample, the promoter tries to sell Bru sachets and bigger packs. Candid Marketing also has a sales target (the number of dry packs sold) from the activity, where a 20 per cent conversion is being aimed.

The promoter takes feedback from consumers as well, for which a feedback form is provided.