ITC Classmate launches new campaign 'Classmate Man of the Match'

The stationery brand aims to engage with students and the youth through an on-ground and online campaign.

With the re-opening of schools and colleges, stationery brands have gone in hyper drive mode to promote their products.

Classmate, the stationery products brand from the ITC group recently launched an activity called Classmate Man of the Match (CMOM). The objective was to create brand and product range awareness, translating to trials, thereby increasing portfolio sales. The CMOM programme attempts at making a large set of Classmate consumers become more aware and try some of the newer product categories like pens, writing pencils, geometry box sets, etc., that the brand launched some time back.

This has been carried out by the brand activation agency Candid Marketing.

For the brand, the agency has integrated the use of both online and on-ground media to generate awareness about the campaign.

The CMOM activity works simply. It allows the target group to earn 'runs' or points on purchase of Classmate stationery products. Participants with the maximum number of runs will get a chance to meet Classmate's brand ambassador Yuvraj Singh, and be gratified with Pune Warriors India merchandise (the IPL team that Classmate partners).

The 45-day Classmate campaign merges multiple consumer engagement platforms to leverage the brand promotion. The campaign uses digital marketing and activations (including the use of social media), with traditional on-ground platforms like roadshows, and tie-ups with Café Coffee Day (CCD) outlets, thus allowing the brand to be present in the consumer's physical and virtual environments.

The campaign has also been designed to ensure varying levels of prizes and gratification for participants according to the number of runs scored by them.

For example, on getting 100 runs, participants will be given unique serial codes which can be used to redeem a free coffee at any CCD outlet. As part of the campaign, branded tent cards have also been placed at 56 CCD outlets across the country to drive communication.

In the digital space, it's mainly Facebook and Google which have been leveraged to promote the activity by running and promoting the contest online.

Additionally, email marketing and mobile phone-based SMS marketing platforms have also been leveraged. Twenty eight lakh text messages were sent across cities, to people within the age-group 15-25 years and the database was oriented from sources like schools, coaching classes and colleges.

Classmate also created a campaign microsite that encourages participants to register for the contest on making their first purchase, and thereafter subsequent purchases made by individuals have to be uploaded on the site to earn runs.

Discussing the campaign, Karan Kumar, marketing manager, ITC's Education and Stationery products business, says, "As the endeavour was to become an integral part of the consumer's ecosystem, it only made sense for the programme to permeate the twin worlds of click and mortar."

Amrita Kumar, managing partner, Candid Marketing, says, "We decided to use the online medium to facilitate work at a faster pace and used the on-ground platform to create awareness about the campaign. By combining ground activations with a digital contest we are ensuring that the campaign gains maximum popularity."

The company claims that Classmate is already the leading brand in the Rs 3,000 crore notebooks market in India.