2013 Winners & Shortlists

CHAI WALLAH SPOTTED IN DUBAI

BrandUNILEVER
Product/ServiceBROOKE BOND RED LABEL TEA
EntrantWUNDERMAN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUSE OF SPECIAL EVENTS AND STUNT/LIVE ADVERTISING
Entrant Company WUNDERMAN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency WUNDERMAN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency WUNDERMAN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Results and Effectiveness

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.

Creative Execution

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 called out “Chai..Chai..Chai” and entertained people by doing popular ‘chai/tea stunts’ –pouring tea from one cup into another, which can sometimes be up to a metre long! We even sampled tea in the customary earthen teapots, which had a branded sleeve. The Chai Wallah caught people by surprise, as they had never expected to see something like this in a cosmopolitan city like Dubai. This stunt gave Indian expats an opportunity to re-live an experience they miss from back home. Later, we shot this experience and spread the video online. “Chai Wallah Spotted in Dubai” was an entertaining, fun and shareable video, which was seeded online through key influencers i.e. bloggers.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Brooke Bond Red label tea, a brand very popular with Indians, wanted to promote tea to Indian expats during one of the world’s most popular shopping events, the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). Our objective was to attract our target audience and sample tea. Indian expats miss everything about home. We worked on this insight and took a non-traditional approach of a stunt that brought the tea experience from India to Dubai.

Credits

Name Company Role
Kerry Platts Wunderman Dubai Executive Creative Director
Richa Khan Wunderman Dubai Associate Creative Director
Nisha Dembla Wunderman Dubai Senior Copywriter
Malesh Ponnusamy Wunderman Dubai Senior Art Director
Bassel Siblini Wunderman Dubai Account Manager
Ruhbain Adeel Wunderman Dubai Graphic Designer
Amira Hassan Wunderman Dubai Jr. Art Director
Babu Nair Wunderman Dubai Senior Artworker
Tarek Agha Wunderman Dubai Artworker
Joey Carrera Wunderman Dubai Community Manager
Hugh Southall Wunderman Dubai Vo