As AI continues to disrupt every facet of life including marketing, a company which has seamlessly adapted integrating AI into its marketing is Tata Consumer Products across its brands and campaigns. Puneet Das, President - Packaged Beverages, India & South Asia, Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL) says, “We adapted to AI in marketing because it fitted in very well with our strategy on Tata Tea portfolio, which is driving hyper localization. We started on this journey about four years ago to be hyper-local, and our entire marketing mix is now curated to a specific region, from packaging products to marketing engagements.”
He continues, “As technology increasingly progresses, it helps us both reach and engage with consumers at the hyper localization level. Now, as we move from hyper localization to hyper-personalization, it is very seamless.”
Leveraging technology to drive engagement
This year, during Durga Pujo, Tata Tea Gold brought alive the craftsmanship of Kumartuli – a traditional potters' quarter located in North Kolkata . Tata Tea Gold launched a limited edition Kumaratuli-themed festive packs and leveraged technology to bring them alive.
Based on the theme ‘Kumartuli Art is the Heart of Bengal,’ the five-pack series captured the essence of Pujo through five symbolic elements each celebrating the five days of Pujo: Dhaki, Shankho Dhwani, Ashtami Pujarin, Dhunuchi dance, and Sindoor Khela.
Each element was depicted through figurines sculpted in the Kumartuli style. Each pack featured a QR code, which upon scanning would make the figurines "come to life" in an AR-Enabled environment through the phone. The consumers could then project the dhaki playing the dhaak, or the Pujarin doing the aarti or the dancer immersed in dhunuchi dance in their home environments through this AR filter.
Das says, “This campaign fit very well with our hyper localization strategy. In India, there are localized palates for food and beverages, and as a tea player we walked the talk when it came to engaging with consumers.” He adds that consumers scanning QR code helps the brand garner consumer insights, develop future campaigns and continue to effectively engage with consumers.
Moving across the country to Punjab, Tata Tea Premium celebrated Lohri, by leveraging AI technology to launch customized ‘Vaddi Khushiyaan De Tappe’ in association with actor Shehnaaz Gill. Das states, “We rolled out this campaign across diverse media platforms, and saw almost 11,000 custom tappe among friends on Lohri. We saw high engagement rate for Tata Tea Premium.”
Taking ahead the hyperlocal strategy in Mumbai, TCPL used Speech AI to launch four chai variants – Kolkata Street Chai, Mumbai Cutting Chai, Purani Dilli ki Mithai Chai, Hyderabadi Irani Chai - as part of Tata Tea Premium Street Chais of India. The speech AI was targeted to people who used specific words like tea cutting garam chai etc. and were then served the notification.
Das says, “It was about where these conversations were happening and hence the conversions were happening. In the 15-day campaign period, we delivered more than 160,000 notifications, and got more than double of industry standard CTR benchmark.” He continues, “For each campaign, wherever AI has been used, the progress in our stated objectives has reaffirmed our faith to keep pushing and leveraging technology and to keep building. This helped engage more effectively with consumers.”
Power of Print
TCPL also innovated with personalized packs for consumers that leveraged the power of personalized variable data printing for various campaigns.
For Mother’s Day, Tata Tea Gold Care offered personalised tea packs through the second edition of its Mother’s Day campaign #MyTurnToCare2. The brand gifted consumers specially curated, Tata Tea Gold Care packs featuring a picture of the consumer with their mother in the front along with a special message. The brand customised packs for over 600 consumers across India and garnered more than 4 million reach for the AI activation.
In addition, to bridge the gap between outdoor and digital via AI. The brand hosted a technology-driven celebration in a mall in Bangalore and Kolkata where visitors witnessed a tech-enabled activation at the Tata Tea Gold Care booth. Visitors could take a photo at the booth with their mothers which was instantly displayed on a digital screen in real-time. To extend the campaign’s reach and ensure active participation, Tata Tea Gold Care partnered with local influencers and radio jockeys to promote the event across social media and radio channels. Das states, “As technology and use cases evolve, the ability to interact and build meaningful connections with consumers will go up by using AI if it fits into your brand strategy.”
Recently, on International Coffee Day, Tata Coffee in collaboration with Times of India combined the seamless immersion of a Front Page Roadblock innovation with infused coffee fragrance aroma in the newspaper.
Talking festive
TCPL has leveraged festivals for launches and campaigns, however, the marketer’s challenge is to stand out in the growing clutter. Das says, “Festive marketing is getting more and more cluttered every year. However, it's a great opportunity for marketers to connect and engage with consumers in a meaningful manner. We have building on our festive calendar every year and leveraging it across portfolio.”
Looking ahead, TCPL is all set with a campaign for its brand Tata Tea Leaf for the upcoming Chhath Puja to create a deeper connection with the people of Bihar and Jharkand.
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