Mullen Lintas Launches Region Specific Campaigns for TATA TEA Premium

After a decade of brand-led activism, TATA TEA has launched what Mullen Lintas, its agency, believes is the most unique hyper-local campaign India has witnessed. TATA TEA Premium is going through a restage to further its leadership in this category. The category codes are being refined in a scale and depth that no other brand has tried in India.

TATA TEA Premium has recently launched region-specific ads reflecting not just the true spirit of a ‘state’, but also the ‘taste’ of its people. Mullen Lintas has created the first film focused on two North-Indian markets, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Based on a region-specific insight in Uttar Pradesh, the new communication captures the Dumdaar spirit of the people of the state, which complements the Dumdaar Chai of TATA TEA Premium. Likewise, a unique communication was made to bring out the rich-heartedness of Delhiites showing a typical, larger-than-life Delhi wedding with a neat twist highlighting the ‘Dil se rich’ nature of Delhiites.

Puneet Das, vice president marketing, India, Tata Global Beverages, talking about the campaign said: “TATA TEA Premium is the flagship brand from TATA TEA. It’s always broken new ground where thoughts and new propositions are concerned. The strategy on Tata Tea Premium is to go hyperlocal and shift the needle from not just celebrating ‘India Pride’ but to also evoke ‘Regional Pride’. While most national brands only talk about ‘connecting at a local level’, we have taken a truly hyperlocal approach across all our marketing mix elements - whether it’s packaging, communication or the choice of communication medium. To complement the regional taste expertise, which has been the DNA of the brand, Tata Tea Premium has launched a new and distinct packaging for key regions (like UP and Delhi) which captures the elements of pride for each region. We have developed a State wise communication based on local/regional-level insight; and used hyper local media choices to effectively target the region. The communication idea is based on the premise that most states are associated with certain ‘stereotypes’/ perceptions which are generally an outsider’s perspective about that region. Our communication tries to showcase the ‘insider’s perspective’ and celebrates the positive truth behind these stereotypes which will evoke pride among its region/ viewers.”

Commenting on the latest campaign of TATA TEA Premium, Amer Jaleel, group CCO and chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group quipped: “To pay tribute to the widespread love for Premium, TATA TEA took a slightly different route than what most big brands would have chosen. Instead of doing a one-size-fits-all brand campaign, Premium is going local, identifying the local insights of its markets and paying rich compliments to the character and personality of the locals. This work also cleverly uses the existing strength of Premium, which is understanding regional consumer preferences and curating blends to cater to those preferences. The creative is nuanced to deliver how the people of the region are stereotyped and then gently pries away the layer of that lens and sees the people for who they are. After all a brand that’s loved by people should know them deeply, right? Know both their idiosyncrasies and their most lovable traits. I think while attempting this we have also ended up with one of the most unique hyper-local campaign this country has ever seen, and it’s still early days!”

So what happens to Jaago Re? TATA TEA brand story will now be told reflecting the spirit and the culture of each state without losing 'Jaago Re', which has played out now for over a decade.

Amer (who is the master blender of the decade old of Jaago Re campaigns for the brand) adds: “While the plank of Jaago Re remains the property of the masterbrand, the variants, among which Premium is the largest and is one of the most popular one in the country, have always blazed their own trail, talking about their strengths their values in individual and quite unique ways..”

CCO’s at Mullen Lintas, Azazul Haque and Garima Khandelwal conceptualised the hyper-local campaigns. They said: “It’s a fully integrated campaign. From packaging to collaterals to POS to the look of the key visual, everything is given a new look in sync with the thought of celebrating regional pride”

Puneet Das further adds: “The formula for national brands has forever been ‘one size fits all’ and Tata Tea Premium is challenging this conventional approach by leveraging this unique hyperlocal approach. Unlike how a national brand advertises with a one-size-fits-all approach to communication beamed on national television channels, TATA TEA Premium will leverage geo-targeting using creative packaging, digital media, local OOH, and get not just reach but also depth of coverage.”

The regional campaigns have been made live in phases awakening the people to reflect the true spirit of India and TATA TEA.