Lifebuoy sends out 'branded' chapatis

The soap brand from Hindustan Unilever has come up with an innovative campaign at the Kumbh Mela, where it is distributing stamped chapattis to people with the message, 'Did you wash your hands before beginning your meal'.

The Purna Kumbh gets lakhs of visitors and is a tempting opportunity for brand promotion. Lifebuoy, the soap brand from Hindustan Unilever, has tied up with local eateries to give out chapatis that are marked with the message, 'Did you wash hands with Lifebuoy?'

The campaign, designed by OgilvyAction India, delivers the message through the medium of chapatis, using a heating stamp to mark the words onto the chapati and serve it with the orders placed for food.

The brand has tied up with more than 100 local dhabas and restaurants.. For every order, the first chapati served carries the branded message and makes an instant connection. It has also placed the soap in the wash rooms of all these eateries.

After several months of research, Ogilvy developed its own heating stamp that puts the impression on the chapati after it is completely baked. To ensure that the chapati is completely edible, there is no ink involved; the message is marked with a slight heating of the stamp.

About 100 promoters have been placed in the kitchens of these eateries and stamp the message on to the chapatis. The brand plans to send out 2.5 million fresh chapatis with the message. The cost of stamping a roti works out to much less than a rupee.

Vipul Salvi
, national creative director, OgilvyAction, says, "Chapati forms the staple food so it was an ideal medium for us to reach people through it. Also, the brief was to make people aware of the importance of washing their hands before beginning to eat."

Sudhir Sitapati, general manager, skin cleansing, Hindustan Unilever, says, "The brief to OgilvyAction was to leverage the scale of Kumbh Mela and drive awareness regarding the cause of hand washing in a clutter-breaking and relevant manner."

He adds that the key objective of the campaign was to spread awareness about the importance of hand washing with soap, especially before having food since this is a simple but effective action to help prevent transmission of germs and diseases.

The campaign began on January 31 and will be on for a month.

Samir Gupte, president, OgilvyAction, says, "We are catering to all kinds of audiences in the Kumbh, be it the ones who come and go or those who stay there for the entire period of the Kumbh."

To complete the loop after the message is served, the brand has placed several posters and hoardings across Allahabad to spread awareness on washing hands.

FMCG brand Hindustan Unilever has a heritage of over 75 years in India. It has more than 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergents, shampoos, skin care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water purifiers.

OgilvyAction is the global brand activation network of Ogilvy & Mather. It delivers a broad range of services including experiential marketing, shopper marketing, trade marketing and promotional services. It works with several big clients and has 82 offices across 55 countries.