ROY G BIV Wouldn’t Be the Same without IndiGo

“Leaving on a jet plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again”. Wait. Scratch that. We’ll be back to Delhi in a couple of weeks – so much for innovative blog introductions.

Though I’m reluctant to leave, I’m extremely excited get to Ahmedabad because we fly IndiGo Air today! After our visit to Wieden + Kennedy in Delhi, I couldn’t wait to board an IndiGo plane. Unlike the other carriers in India, the work that W+K produced for IndiGo transformed the low-cost carrier airline into a brand. From the unique sandwich packaging to fun, innovative in-flight merchandise emblazoned with the IndiGo brand, W+K thought of everything to make sure that the IndiGo customer received a chic flying experience with the bonus of an economical airfare.

As I boarded the plane, I felt right at home. While the plane accommodations were outstanding, I couldn’t help but notice the people around me. The flight included businessmen, groups of fashionable young women and families with children. This flight could be easily mistaken for any Southwest flight I would take back home.

Amitabh Kant indicates in his book, Branding India, that Indian low-cost carriers continue to experience a growing market share because India’s large population base, its poor rail and road infrastructure and a highly price-sensitive market. The reality in India is that flying is realistically accessible because the accessibility of low-cost carriers to a growing consumer class.

What impresses me about Kant’s statement is that the reasons for increased air travel in India are strikingly similar to the reasons why we fly in America. I cannot help but go back to my experience on the rickshaw in Old Delhi – the experiences and lifestyles that Indians and Americans are looking for are remarkably similar. And while some might say that Indians are quickly moving toward the American consumer sentiment, I cannot help but think that it might be the other way around. Sure, a growing consumer class characterizes India but an increasingly price sensitive America looks more like us embracing the Indian way.

 

Wieden + Kennedy: Incredible India

Yesterday day marked our first industry visit and we started off with a bang: Wieden + Kennedy India. In the U.S., W+K’s client list is a who’s who of A-List brands. Nike, Target, Levi’s, Old Spice, Chrysler/Dodge and P&G are just a few of these brands and the list goes on and on.

In the Delhi office, W+K services eight brands including India Tourism, IndiGo Air, Motherland magazine, Royal Enfield, Chevrolet, eBay India, The Park Hotels and the agency’s newsiest client, Heineken. Sunaina Gupta delivered a phenomenal presentation showcasing the agency’s work. Perhaps the most globally recognizable W+K Indian campaign is the “Incredible India” campaign developed in response to a dwindling Indian tourism industry. In Branding India, Amitabh Kant states that Indian tourism needed to develop a strong identity that incorporated India’s special attributes and create a definable profile. Kant writes, “the vision was to produce a clear identity, a unique brand, which would revive all marketing strategies. It would pervade all forms of communication and stimulate the travel consumer’s [behavior] and decision-making processes to competitively position India in the global market place”. As a result, the “Incredible India” campaign was launched in October 2002. After the campaign’s initial development at Oglivy & Mather, W+K took over the Incredible India campaign in 2008.

In Sunaina Gupta’s presentation, we saw first-hand how W+K produced great advertising by delivering messages that evoke emotion instead of just show it. W+K’s work speaks for itself serving as an “aesthetic pleasure machine” that pushes marketers out of their comfort zone with provocative advertising that truly speaks to the rich cultural heritage of this remarkable country.

An example of one of W+K powerful cultural campaigns is India Tourism’s 2008 “Incredible India” campaign. In this campaign, W+K featured the experiences of those who visited India as tourist and decided to stay in India to make it their homeland. The stories are strong and powerful and really get to the cultural roots of India and the people who live here.