Dabur Chyawanprash: Keeping the doctor at bay

The company has initiated 'Swasthya Chetna Abhiyan', a 45-day activity that will cover 540 villages and reach almost 20 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The FMCG major, Dabur -- which recently signed actor Ravi Kishan as its brand ambassador for below-the-line promotions in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar -- has launched a consumer engagement programme with him.

The 45-day activity will cover 540 villages and reach almost 20 lakh people in the two states. "This is the first major activity post our signing up Ravi Kishan, and we are using the celebrity in this activation programme," says Suneet Yadav, group product manager at Dabur India.

The positioning that the company is promoting is that Dabur Chyawanprash is a natural immunity booster. "It is something which everyone identifies us with. So, we thought of how to extend the same benefits to our markets in UP and Bihar, where people are not that aware of its (Chyawanprash's) various benefits," explains Yadav.

'Swasthya Chetna Abhiyan' is an extension of the company's school-contact programme - called Immune India in urban areas -- to rural areas. The campaign's elements have been designed to create awareness by conducting health camps in rural areas.

The activity has five elements: free health check-up, engagement activities, movie screenings, spot sales and a meet and greet opportunity with brand ambassador, Ravi Kishan.

The company has three branded vans, accompanied by three doctors each, which will go from village to village conducting the engagement activity and basic health check-ups. Patient registers with the health camp will be maintained by the team.

In addition, movies of Ravi Kishan will be screened, along with inserts of messages about Dabur Chyawanprash. The company is also playing popular movie songs and scenes. "We are also using feeds by Ravi Kishan on how vulnerable people can be because of low immunity and how the product can help strengthen their immunity," says Yadav.

The company has also introduced interactive games such as snakes and ladders, where snakes represent illness and ladders are Dabur Chyawanprash, with messages about the brand's benefit spread across the board.

"We are also interacting with the key leaders like the 'Sarpanch' and health workers, because they are the people who can spread the message further down," adds Yadav. The company is also doing pre-event publicity to maximise the footfall at these camps.

About using an extensive activity to reach the consumers, Yadav says, "We wanted to tell people that there are so many widespread diseases and the underlying problem is low immunity. Therefore, the task at hand was to educate them about the issue, which is low immunity, and how to boost it through Dabur Chyawanprash."

The company roped in Ravi Kishan in October this year, because of his mass appeal in the areas the company is trying to reach. The region (UP and Bihar) contributes almost 40 per cent to the overall sales of Dabur Chyawanprash.

Dabur Chyawanprash is available is three packs: 250 gm for Rs 65 , 500 gm for Rs 120, and 1 kg for Rs 210. During the activation, sampling is being conducted with a small 100 gm pack of Rs 20.

The company has about 5-8 distributors in the 540 villages, which are supplied with the product every fortnight. "The costs are high, as this is part of our long term plans. And as we are targeting new consumers, it is definitely to reap benefits for us. We are spending about Rs 30- 50 lakh on this activity in the area itself," Yadav elaborates on the spends on the campaign.

The company spends about Rs 3-4 crore on BTL activities for the brand. However, it plans to increase spends this year.

According to IMRB, in Uttar Pradesh, the market size for Chyawanprash is 480 tonnes, of which Dabur has a share of 75 per cent. In Bihar, the market size for the category is 624 tonnes, of which Dabur has 71 per cent share.

Competitors to Dabur Chyawanprash include Ranbaxy Chyawan Active, Himalaya, Himani Sona Chandi, Zandu Kesari Jivan, Zandu Baidnath and other local brands.