McDowell’s No1 Soda, Diageo India’s flagship brand, has been associated with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals as the Celebrations Partner for this IPL season. The brand has activated a campaign with innovative “cheers” for each of the teams.
Elaborating on the marketing objectives behind the partnership, Ruchira Jaitly, EVP & Prestige Portfolio Head, Diageo India, says, “Cricket is a sporting extravaganza that brings the entire country together with inspiring sporting action that is a feast for Indians across the length and breadth of the country. McDowell’s No1 Soda is proud to share the spirit of Yaari with these fantastic teams and build a meaningful, long-lasting new partnership.”
McDowell’s No1 Soda’s strategy is to bring cricket, yaars and occasions together, – allowing fans of these teams to cheer for their teams in a fun way. The brand has created cheers for fans to cheer during the fun moments of the matches and indulge in healthy banter with their yaars.
“Through this association, you can see some of the most iconic players of each of these teams create chants, encouraging others to do so and show support for the team,” she adds.
Speaking about the media vehicle for the campaigns, she says, “Diageo has been an early adopter of omnichannel digital marketing, which allows us to connect with the right consumer audience and has given us valuable insights into consumer behaviours while opening new avenues for customer engagement.”
The brand has deployed cross-channel functionality with real-time dashboards to engage with our customers at the right moment.
“And while each social network and channel includes different audiences and expectations and needs different efforts, bringing the overall campaign together is a function of building cross-channel fungibility. Another innovative strategy we are adopting for the #No1YaariCheers campaign is engaging with well-known friendship gangs and fan clubs to drive fun conversations and cheers for their favourite teams in the upcoming matches,” she adds.
McDowell’s No 1 Soda has forayed into the metaverse by hosting Holi celebrations in March 2022.
“The response that we got to it was very encouraging. The consumers were excited to watch Daler Mehndi inaugurate the event and purchase NFTs & merchandise in the virtual mall of this metaverse event. This is a whole new virtual world for sure. We loved the idea because it meant that, regardless of location, and the restrictions that some consumers still face post pandemic, they got to experience playing with colours, attending music concerts by leading artists, and being part of experience zones in this virtual-metaverse mode. Irrespective of their location, they got to choose what they could wear, accessorize, and groove to hit Yaari songs at this event,” she adds.
“The future of the Metaverse is very promising. It would be very similar to our real world in many aspects and even replace real-world activities like working or hanging out. It will also be a huge contributing factor to the virtual economy. As a leading CPG brand in India, it’s only natural that McDowells No 1 be part of this amazing new world in the future as well,” says Jaitly while talking about the branding possibilities Diageo India is foreseeing in the metaverse world.
Speaking about the marketing and advertising strategies of the brand, Jaitly says, “Diageo India has adopted digital marketing techniques, i.e. advertising delivered through digital channels such as search engines, websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. We have also adopted a mix of social media strategies, a blend of organic and paid social media, as social media is excellent for branding and engagement. We seek to offer content that is relevant to our audience. We want our consumers to feel secure and trust the source. Our compelling content marketing is not outwardly promotional but instead serves to educate and inspire consumers who seek information.”
