2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Brooke Bond Red label tea is very popular with Indians. But in Dubai, they don’t have a strong, emotional connect with Indian expats. There is very little brand recall with them. We had to do something to become top of mind. So we decided to get their attention by entertaining them during one of the world’s most popular shopping events, the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). We worked on the insight that Indian expats miss everything about home, from their family and friends to tea. We took a non-traditional approach of an entertaining stunt that brought the tea experience from India to Dubai. Every Indian is familiar with Chai Wallahs (tea sellers) who are found in every nook and corner of the country. But they would never expect to see them in a cosmopolitan city like Dubai.

Results

Brooke Bond Red label tea is popular with Indians, but they don’t have a strong, emotional connect with Indian expats in Dubai. Our challenge: To get their attention in a competitive market and sample tea at the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). Our strategy: Indian expats miss everything about home. So we took a non-traditional approach, an entertaining stunt that offered them a ‘back-home tea experience’ that they would never expect to see in a cosmopolitan city like Dubai. Our idea: At a DSF venue, we specially created and placed a mobile tea stall similar to the one Indians see on streets back home. We then got their attention with a typical, Indian tea seller or a Chai Wallah, who did popular ‘chai/tea stunts’. To sample tea, we even used customary earthen teapots, which had a branded sleeve. Later, we shot this experience and spread the video online.

At a DSF venue that had an Indian Pavilion, we specially created and placed a mobile tea stall. This was similar to the one Indians see on streets back home. We then got their attention with a typical, Indian tea seller or a Chai Wallah,who called out ‘Chai..Chai..Chai’ just like the Chai Wallahs in India. He also entertained people by doing popular ‘chai/tea stunts’, which involves pouring tea from one cup into another, and this can sometimes be up to a metre long!The experience was extended to even sampling tea in the customary earthen teapots, which had a branded sleeve.

The Chai Wallah took Dubai for a surprise. • Approx. 500 people visited the stand and sampled tea per day • Without any paid media, the video spread organically on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs • In just two weeks, we received 900+ views on the video. This number is increasing by the day.