Mathrubhumi launches a unique B2B contest as a part of its Onam campaign

It's that time of the year again when all eyes are on Kerala. Onam, the biggest festival in Kerala is almost here. Demonstrating various ways to drive responses from different target groups using different media platforms, Mathrubhumi Integrated Media Solutions is targeting advertisers across the country through an innovative campaign.

Banner ads, offering an all-expense paid trip to God's Own Country itself, are placed on different advertising, media, and marketing websites. These ads take the participants to a website where they have to watch one of their tongue-in-cheek videos that demonstrate clever ways for advertisers to effectively make use of Mathrubhumi's different media platforms, ranging from print to TV to radio to digital.

Every video starts with a question: how to get a particular Malayali target group to spend money or how does a particular Malayali target group decide to buy something?

The answers to these questions are then answered as the video progresses, with a heavy humorous undertone. A typical Malayali father might get his daily dose of ads from Mathrubhumi's TV news channel, whereas the young Malayalis might be watching Kappa TV, Kerala's only youth content channel, or Club FM, one of Kerala's leading FM stations, both under the wings of Mathrubhumi. But their reach doesn't end there. There is also Grihalakshmi, one of the leading women's magazines in Malayalam and Yathra, India's bestselling travel magazine, to add to the empire and on the web, there is mathrubhumi.com.

One of the videos shows a supermarket employee hiding inside while an army of customers is trying to barge into the store, because one of the brands advertised about their product on Kerala's fastest growing news channel, Mathrubhumi News, and Kerala's most credible daily, Mathrubhumi. She's calling the brand in panic as the supermarket ran out of stock. The video, with its over-the-top humor, shows the power of using various combinations of media to drive customer response.

Interestingly, all the videos are in Malayalam with English subtitles. This unique and unusual approach ensured that the humor is elevated and also helps in establishing Onam as a festival every advertiser in the country should be paying attention to.

Ultimately the videos give the answer to a bigger question for advertisers: what are the possible target groups among Malayalis and how to talk to them.

Going back to the contest, once the contestant watches one of these videos given on the website, they have to answer a question about which Mathrubhumi brands are featured in the video they watched. A correct answer gives them a chance to win a free trip to Kerala.

Based on an internal research by Mathrubhumi, 60% of a brand's annual sale takes place during Onam. So, almost every brand that has a presence in Kerala spend a major chunk of their advertising budget during this season. Every brand tries to be louder than the other and a lot could get lost in all the noise.

That's why it's important for brands to know exactly where they should be doing their campaigns on and how. That's where Mathrubhumi comes in, interestingly, without the traditional approach of claiming leadership, talking directly to industry insiders who have seen it all.

Mathrubhumi Integrated Media Solutions currently has over 18 brands spanning across mediums including print, TV, radio, digital and activations in Kerala.