Amitabh Bachchan turns #RaahatRaja for Navratna Oil

Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, director, Emami on the star-studded affair that advertising for brand Navratna has been for years.

Navratna Oil, Emami's answer to sleeplessness, headaches, body aches and exhaustion, has launched a new integrated campaign. Carrying forward the brand's tradition of humorous and tongue-in-cheek advertising, the ad features Amitabh Bachchan as the 'Nautanki' style rapper, #RaahatRaja.

The campaign has been created by Leo Burnett Orchard, and directed by Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal fame.

The TVC showcases the benefits of Navratna Oil, especially for the hard-working masses - liftmen, house help, security guards, coolies, construction workers and traffic cops.

Speaking about the campaign, Amod Dani, executive creative director, Leo Burnett Orchard says, "Through his performances, (Amitabh) Bachchan has always taken us away from the daily rigmarole, relieving us of our daily stress. He is undoubtedly the best stress reliever in our country. We found a perfect fit for our brand in him. Mr. Bachchan brought alive the most popular head massage song in India, 'Sar jo tera chakraye' (again, a perfect song for Navratna Oil) through a colourful nautanki, thereby driving home the multi-symptomatic relief, which Navratna Oil provides."

Emami's over Rs. 700 crore Navratna brand consists of Navratna Oil, Navratna Xtra Thanda Oil and Navratna Almond Cool Oil. Launched in the 90s, Navratna Oil is today the leading brand with a volume and value share of more than 60 percent in the cool oil category. Navratna Cool Talc is a Rs. 200 crore sub brand under the portfolio.

Brand Navratna is endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan (Navratna Oil), Shilpa Shetty (Navratna Almond Cool Oil) and Shahrukh Khan (Navratna Cool Talc). It has also been promoted by Govinda, Rambha, and Shruti Haasan in the past.

As an organisation, Emami believes that strong celebrity endorsements help in establishing brands successfully. Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, director, Emami, says, "When we launched Navratna Cool Oil, there existed a market of cooling therapeutic oils in certain pockets of India which was primarily dominated by unorganised regional players. Understanding the category potential, we took the benefits of cool oil out of traditional pockets and expanded them on a pan-India scale by positioning the Ayurvedic therapeutic, multipurpose cool oil as a national brand in a market aligned to popular concepts of coconut or amla oil. With unorganised players dominating the category, there was no structured marketing communication as well. Emami roped in national celebrities to carve out and occupy the niche."

Sharing an interesting piece of trivia, Agarwal tells us that Emami was among the first few companies to start in-film advertising with the superhit Hindi movie 'Agar Tum Na Hote' (1983) starring Rajesh Khanna, Raj Babbar, and Rekha. In the movie, Khanna (lead actor) played the role of Emami's managing director.

Going forward, he shares, Emami's focus will be on new launches primarily catering to need gaps in consumer mind space, and on targeting the youth. The company launched two new products - Navratna Almond Cool Oil and Navratna i-Cool Talc - under the Navratna brand last summer.

Navratna Almond Cool Oil is a value-added proposition with greater focus on sensorial benefits along with the therapeutic benefits of cool oil. It is targeted towards modern, multi-tasking women who prefer non-sticky oils. The product is available in 5 SKU sizes of 2.7 ml sachet, 15 ml, 50 ml, 100 ml, 200 ml priced at Re. 1, Rs. 10, Rs. 35, Rs. 67 and Rs. 125 respectively.

With the launch of Almond Cool Oil, Navratna Oil's existing brand portfolio also reinvented itself with a fresh, contemporary packaging and brand new communication after a gap of ten years.

Navratna i-Cool Talc is a variant of cool talc with 'Intelligent Sweat Sense Technology' which provides cooling effect not only during application, but also releases an instant burst of cooling for the second time when the person sweats. It is available in packs of 50 gm, 100 gm and 400 gm, at a price point of Rs. 40, Rs. 70 and Rs. 175 respectively.

At a rate of five-year CAGR of 19 percent, Navratna Cool Talc is the fastest growing cooling talc in the category, informs Agarwal.

As per the AC Nielsen Retail Audit Report, Dec 2016, hair care constitutes seven percent of the total FMCG market in India. Within that, hair oils (perfumed and coconut-based) claim a staggering 52 percent share.

In the perfumed oil segment, cooling oils have nine percent share. As a leader in this category, Navratna Oil faces lean competition from Bajaj's Kailash Parbat and G.K. Burman Herbal's Himgange.