What was the strategic communications challenge?

About six years ago, Asian Paints introduced Tractor Emulsion, a low-cost emulsion that was targeted at
those who were looking to upgrade from distempers to emulsions but didn’t have the budget for a luxury
emulsion. This triggered off a chain reaction with lots of big paint companies cashing in on this new
segment – ICI Supercoat, Nerolac Beauty, Berger Bison as well as a host of local players.

Cut to 2008 – the great economic slowdown. With rising prices and shrinking real incomes, consumers
started feeling the pinch. Family vacations started becoming closer and shorter. Weekend movies gave
way to DVDs and homemade pop-corn. And when it came to the home, décor took a backseat. Painting
dropped even further down the pecking order. In times of reduced spending in home improvement, Asian
Paints Tractor Emulsion was asking the consumers to spend a little more! It was a superior finish as
compared to distemper but at an incremental cost.

The key challenge therefore was in times of downgrading and downsizing, we wanted people to
upgrade to Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion.

What were your objectives? State specific goals.

1. Grow Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion volumes over the previous year in recessionary times
2. With the competition hotting-up in the last few years, the task was to retain Asian Paints Tractor
Emulsion’s #1 position in the entry-level emulsions category with a market share of over 70%
3. Increase penetration of Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion in 3 major distemper markets – MPC
(Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh), JOB (Jharkhand, Orissa & Bihar,) and ROMG (Rest of Mah. & Goa)
4. Create high recall communication within the category (to be judged on creative recall of the brand)

Total Media expenditure – Rs. 2.5 crore to Rs. 5 crores

What was your big idea?

The inflation-fighting budget paint.
How did you arrive at the big idea?
For the past few years, Asian Paints Tractor
Emulsion was a great value-for-money product
that was built on the fact that it spread 1.5
times more than a regular distemper and
offered a superior finish and better washability.
Hence, was born the proposition“Yeh sirf
dikhta mehenga hai” or It only looks expensive”
– that was firmly established in the market.

In 2008, inflation was at an all time high of

10%. Consumers were not only grappling with
rising inflation but a global economic
slowdown.

In light of the current scenario, this proposition was casted in a fresh mould of Asian Paints Tractor
Emulsion being the Inflation fighter – the crusader brand – and thus the budget emulsion.

How did you bring the idea to life?

This campaign was launched before Diwali which is when most people paint their houses. To escape the
media clutter during Diwali (28th October), it went on air on 27th August. The communication depicted
the 2 protagonists who go to a wedding where cost-cutting is rampant. However, they are surprised and
somewhat skeptical at how the paint seemed expensive till they find out the truth. The media mix
included TVC (with edits in regional languages) since it is still the fastest way to get to people in India
along with outdoor, press, PoS and radio which is a particularly popular medium with this TG. Vernacular
creatives were used in up country markets to build a stronger connect with the consumers.

The communication was

further enhanced through a
budget helpline in focus
markets (MPC,JOB & ROMG)
which enabled consumers to
call in and find out their exact
painting budget if they chose
Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion
versus if they used
distemper.

The budget helpline in these markets generated 1240 leads in 20 days of which, 1200 were distemper
users.
How did you bring it to life? (communications touch points)

□ TV
□ Packaging
□ Retail Experience
□ Product Design
□ Cinema
□ Radio
□ OOH
□ Consumer Involvement

How do you know it worked?

1. ASIAN PAINTS TRACTOR EMULSION WAS THE ONLY BRAND TO OUTGROW THE
CATEGORY AND ALSO EXCEEDED ITS TARGETED GROWTH BY 20%

2. ASIAN PAINTS TRACTOR EMULSION SUCCESSFULLY MANAGED TO MAINTAIN ITS

SHARE PAN-INDIA DESPITE THREAT FROM COMPETITION GAINING 3% MARKET
SHARE OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR

3. INCREASED PENETRATION IN 3 BIG DISTEMPER MARKETS – JOB, MPC & ROMG

4. HIGHEST CREATIVE RECALL AMONGST COMPETITION DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 2008
CASESTUDI
ES