The power of a star: Discover this brand’s KHAN-TASTIC campaign to promote local shops!

Thursday: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Guerrilla marketing holds a special place in my heart. Do you know why? It's because this marketing strategy embodies unparalleled creativity and unconventionality. Guerrilla marketing campaigns provide opportunities for industry professionals to impress the public, foster interaction, and evoke genuine, organic reactions. Today, let's explore another remarkable application of this unconventional strategy. Continue reading to know how this brand saved the smiles of Indians and their businesses with Bollywood’s greatest star! CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

The power of a star: Discover this brand’s KHAN-TASTIC campaign to promote local shops! What comes to your mind when you hear the word, “festival?” Lively crowds? Loud music? Colorful decorations? These are just some of the joys associated with festivals. However, can you really have a festive vibe if the recent headlines of the news are… “New Record-high of COVID-19 Cases in a Day”? “Hospitals Overwhelmed by COVID-19 Patients”? “Unemployment Rates Skyrocket as Businesses Shut Down”? This was the case for Indians in 2021 as they tried to adapt to the “New Normal.” Thankfully, one chocolate company launched a campaign with the help of Bollywood’s greatest action star, Shah Rukh Khan, to uplift the mood for the nearing festival while promoting local businesses. What is this company? Cadbury! Cadbury lights up Diwali 2021 Diwali is the biggest Indian festival that commemorates the victory of light over darkness.The gift-giving tradition during the festival also serves as an avenue for small-time business owners to reach a wider consumer base. One of the most common gifts during the festival is chocolate. However, even the chocolate category sales plummeted by 60% during COVID-19 lockdowns. One of the reasons for this is the low consumer sentiment due to unemployment and salary cuts. Additionally, small businesses had a hard time promoting their products because of the pandemic. So, to promote positive consumerism and uplift the mood before Diwali, Cadbury launched the “Shah Rukh Khan My Ad” or the “NotJustACadburyAd2.0.” “Shah Rukh Khan My Ad” or “NotJustACadburyAd2.0” is the campaign Cadbury launched before Diwali in 2021. This campaign went beyond promoting Cadbury’s chocolates and focused on supporting local Indian businesses during the crucial Diwali shopping season. Initially, the campaign’s goal was simply to promote local shops in specific areas through machine learning and AI. However, Cadbury and Ogilvy, an advertising and public relations agency, realized it would be better to extend the helping hand to other shops in other parts of India. What did the campaign team do next? The team partnered with Rephrase.ai and DeltaX to create the website, NotJustACadburyAd.com. Through the site, local store owners could input their shop’s information so an AI-generated video of Khan promoting the shop would be generated. The videos were also downloaded and posted on social media, making Khan the biggest endorser of several products in India. Was the “Shah Rukh Khan My Ad” campaign effective? The “NotJustACadburyAd2.0” achieved remarkable results: Cadbury saw a 35% increase in Diwali sales in 2021 compared to 2019. 2019 was used as a benchmark instead of 2020 because of the nosedive in sales in the latter year due to the pandemic. Almost 130,000 videos of Khan promoting local products were generated, accumulating 94 million views across YouTube and Facebook. The campaign generated public relations (PR) value worth over INR 6 million, boosting the brand’s visibility. 33 million Cadbury Celebrations gift boxes were sold during Diwali, a proof of how Cadbury was able to bounce back after the pandemic and how effective the campaign was. Local businesses experienced 42% growth despite anticipating a 10% decline. Khan became the biggest endorser of India’s local brands and products, and helped with the growth of local businesses. India’s local economy experienced a 74% increase in Diwali sales—the highest in the decade—as per the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). The campaign also received various awards across award-giving bodies: Gold winner at the 2022 Clio Awards Grand Prix award, Titanium award, and the top prize under the Creative Effectiveness category at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival A Grand Lia award at the 2022 London International Awards Based on these numbers and accolades, it’s clear that the campaign’s sweet success exceeded even Cadbury’s expectations by delivering outstanding results! — What can you learn from Cadbury’s “Shah Rukh Khan My Ad” campaign? Personalization can help your audience relate to your product. By using data and AI, ads of Khan mentioning names of various stores were created. This made the message relevant and more likely to resonate with viewers, encouraging them to support local businesses in their communities. Take advantage of the technology at hand. Through the use of AI and machine learning, a wider audience with a targeted message was reached. This showcased how technology can be useful for creative and impactful marketing. Timing is important in every campaign to achieve the objectives set. Cadbury perfectly timed its campaign by acknowledging the importance of Diwali—the festival centered around gift-giving. The campaign addressed a relevant need—the desire to support local businesses—while also tapping into the festive spirit. Always make sure the endorser of your product has credibility. Khan is a distinguished figure in India. He added credibility and trust to the campaign’s message, making it more likely for people to pay attention to the ad and consider supporting local businesses. … and most importantly, Cadbury promoted corporate responsibility. Beyond uplifting the mood in time for Diwali, the brand left a lasting impression by giving the local shops a platform to promote their products. Consider extending a helping hand in your next campaign! Always remember: A meaningful campaign can transform your brand’s image and also the lives of the communities where you operate.   Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. EVENT ALERT: AI has ushered in the biggest tech mania since the 1990s and has created 500,000 new millionaires—roughly 587 per day—since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. In fact, Nvidia is already up more than 783% in the past two years and just last week, the S&P 500 made a new all-time high, driven mostly by AI stocks. While this may sound like good news, the world elite are already preparing for an AI crisis that could trigger a major catastrophe in the stock market. When this crisis happens, it could impact your money—whether you own AI stocks or not. If you want to protect yourself from this impending crisis, it is crucial that you join Professor Joel Litman on Thursday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time in an urgent AI stock summit. During this AI Panic Summit, Professor Litman will tell you everything you need to know about the impending turmoil on AI stocks and what you can do to avoid massive losses and seize huge gains. Register now through this link to secure your spot at the summit. This event is completely free of charge, all you need to do is confirm your attendance. See you there!     Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing! Do you want to know how one streaming platform’s ambient room campaign became a hit in 2022? See it in next week’s article!