Allahabad, Feb 9 (TruthDive) : Kumbh Mela which is held once in twelve years is also the field for innovative

marketing techniques. Termed as the largest congregation of humanity, HUL is actively marketing its Lifebuoy through an innovative tie up with 100 dhabas and hotels at the mela to serve rotis stamped with Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya? (Have you washed your hand with Lifebuoy?) Ad agency Ogilvy devised this strategy to take its soap and hand wash to the masses. Special heat stamps make an impression of its message (Have you washed your hand with Lifebuoy?) on rotis and stamped by 100 promoters posted in 100 kitchens across the Kumbh Mela. The campaign started on February 1 and will run for the entire month.. The company plan is to put the hand wash reminder on 2.5 million rotis that expected to be consumed from its sponsored dhabas. Roti is most common and popular food item eaten by all classes of the North Indian population.The mela held in a large, predominantly small-town with rural population, is ideally a huge medium to push the soap and hand wash. The company hopes to reach out to a massive audience, at a without having to spend fraction of the advertisement budget. The dhabas and hotels were facing a major problem since LPG was available with no subsidy.With pilgrims finding market priced cooking gas (LPG) priced at around Rs 1400 too costly, Oil Ministry has modified that LPG be provided at subsidised rates to all feeding centers during the entire duration of Kumbh Mela. Oil Ministers government policy, a LPG connection can only be a vailed by community kitchen and commercial establishments like are supplied market priced LPG at Rs 481 per 14.2-kg cylinder and 19 kg cylinder at Rs 1000 plus. Twelve years back around 7000 LPG connections were issued for the mela but after the removal of subsidy on commercial purpose the new connections were only 931. In 2001, around 33,000 cylinders were consumed while so far it is 4000. Oil Ministry has also permitted kitchens in Government run hostels and canteens to get LPG at subsidized rates of Rs 481 without any cap.

At the Kumbh Mela, the largest congregation on earth, a lot of businesses are vying to sell their wares and boost their brands.The Maha Kumbh provides a unique opportunity to communicate messages to a large, predominantly small-town and rural population.An interesting promotion that stands out at this years Mela is Hindustan Unilevers Roti Reminder for its Lifebuoy soap brand.The campaign started on February 1. For this promotion,HUL, the countrys largest consumer products firm, along with creative agency Ogilvy, has partnered more than 100 dhabas and hotels at the Mela site to serve rotis that are stamped with Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya? (Have you washed your hand with Lifebuoy?). The company has made special heat stamps to make an impression of its message on rotis and hired 100 promoters to stand in 100 kitchens across the Mela. The Roti Reminder gets a consumers attention at the exact time when hand washing is critical,that is, right when he/she sits down to eat roti with their hands.The company hopes to put the hand wash reminder on 2.5 million rotis. HUL hopes that this simple, clutter-breaking idea will help them reach out to a massive audience, at a fraction of the cost it would otherwise entail.