We wanted to position our brand for long-term, so we chose to go with mascot.

Mark Titus

- Director Marketing, Nippon Paint India (Decorative Division)

Which was the first product campaign of the company and what was the strategy used to reach out to the stakeholders?

Nippon Paint was founded in 1881. The 140-year-old company entered the Indian market much later in 2006. By then, the paint market was well-developed and many existing players had spread their operations across India. Our green & eco friendly, odourless paint factory, situated in Chennai, became the first paint factory in India to be certified with 'GreenCo certification' & 'GreenPro certification' by the CII for its world-class manufacturing processes, products and standards.

Though we are present across the country (other than the east), we decided to first focus our marketing core campaigns to the state of Tamil Nadu and then keep expanding. In early 2017, we launched our high intensity media campaign in TN. This was a 360-degree campaign involving a diverse media mix like TV, print, outdoors, digital as well as radio and retail activation. The objective was to engage with all our stakeholders: dealers, painters, and the end consumers. We created TVCs in the native language (Tamil) which was telecasted in all major TV channels for maximum reach and amplified our campaign visibility through advertisements in leading newspapers of Tamil Nadu and by leveraging radio as well. This helped us to generate 95%+ awareness amongst our TG within a very short time and we are today one of the most loved brands of Tamil Nadu.

What kind of market survey was done for the promotion and what was the strategy used?

In-depth research and frequent discussions with our key stakeholders & consumers have always helped us to understand the market. There are several ways to promote brands including celebrity endorsements and mascots amongst others. Nippon Paint wanted to position its brand for long-term, so we chose to go with mascot as we felt the brand recall value of the end consumer is good when it comes to recognizing a mascot and the brand it represents. Today, our mascot “Blobby” is used in all our brand communications and is a huge celebrity in the markets we operate. Nippon Paint Blobby has become a kids' favourite and has enabled the brand to generate very high recall amongst all consumer segments.

Nippon has always introduced a product based on market need

The Marketing and R&D teams have constantly been interacting with the market to understand the evolving consumer needs, demographic or geographical challenges, climatic conditions, etc; before launching a new product.

In 2017, coinciding with our high impact media campaign, we introduced a path breaking product called “Atom 2-in-1” in Tamil Nadu. The objective was to launch one single emulsion product that could be used by end consumers for interior as well exterior walls of their homes. This launch was of course a huge success as we identified a huge need gap in the market and were able to provide a viable solution.

What were the challenges faced while marketing the brand/product and how did the team overcome them?

Being a new entrant in the Indian market and talking about Green and eco-friendly products has always been a challenge initially; especially when the market had got used to existing brand names. We had to build our own ecosystem, create trusted partners, educate the ecosystem and the generate market recall to ensure Nippon Paint gets a bigger share of the pie in the industry.

With a 60-day window from the conception of the “Atom 2in1” product to launching it in the market, Nippon Paint had to expedite the product launch and market expansion process. Once we launched the product, we did high-impact advertising through various media like OOH, TVCs in popular channels to spread the word.

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