"It is very difficult to nationalise a tea brand": Parag Desai, Wagh Bakri

Wagh Bakri, popular tea brand in Maharashtra and Gujarat, is bullish on new markets like Western UP and Punjab. But tea is one of the most inertia-led categories and every state has its own favourites. So how does a marketer go about such a task?

Tea, like newspaper, is one of the most inertia-led categories. By and large people are comfortable with a particular brand, the taste of which they've sipped on for years. Therefore, inducing a switch through advertising is a big challenge, more so, when the objective is to foray into new markets.

Wagh Bakri Tea, which enjoys a stronghold in northern and western India, particularly in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan; down South in Hyderabad and Goa, recently decided to expand its reach to Western UP and Punjab.

The move was led by the company's belief that people in these geographies do not have access to good quality tea, informs Parag Desai, executive director, Wagh Bakri Tea Group. The effort is being supported by a 360-degree marketing campaign conceptualised by the brand's creative agency, Scarecrow Communications. It targets young men and women who belong to the socio-economic classes A and B.

The three films under the campaign #PehliMulakat portray a Sikh from Delhi, a Maharashtrian from Solapur and a corporate woman employee from Hyderabad sharing their experience of having Wagh Bakri tea for the first time. Other than the simple testimonial-style execution, what's common to the three ads is that the protagonist in each instance tries Wagh Bakri tea at an acquaintance's place.

Raghu Bhat, founder director, Scarecrow Communications, says, "Our research shows that tea is primarily driven by word-of-mouth. That's because it comes along with certain local preferences. The way people make and like their tea differs from one place to another, and so, even as we tried to go national, we had to maintain a geographical connect in the films."

Desai explains this behaviour with the example of consumers in western and northern India who like their tea strong, but even within the two the latter demonstrates a preference for a slight red colour.

Commenting further on the nuances of the category, Desai shares, "It is very difficult to have one blend for the entire nation. We have a different blend for every state; we are 'blenders and packers'. Our blends need to be fine-tuned according to the water, milk and tastes/preferences of each region in order to ensure that when people switch to Wagh Bakri they get the same satisfaction that their tea has been giving them for years."

This process of fine-tuning the blends takes a minimum of six months of research. But does a cup of tea merit all that effort? "As a tea-drinking nation we are very careful about the brand we purchase. Tea is not just a beverage, but also a catalyst that drives family discussions and bonding. It acts as a problem-solver too," asserts Desai who firmly believes that the humble beverage holds a lot of importance in the Indian household.

It is due to this belief that the essence of brand Wagh Bakri is relationships and the campaign #PehliMulakat has been created on the same premise.

"Tea is not an impulse category where one is tempted to sample a product on coming across an interesting ad. More than a product, it is a relationship, and the starting point of any human relationship is the first meeting or 'Pehli Mulakat'. There is a lot of emotion attached to this moment. Associating the brand with this seminal moment helps us to define a distinct brand space and tell many real and engaging human interest stories," says Bhat.

Wagh Bakri Tea Group, a 122-year-old tea company, has presence in the business since 1892. Today, it claims to be the third largest packaged tea company in India with a turnover of over Rs. 900 crore and over 30 million kgs of tea distribution.