Aarong

Showcasing Bangladesh

13 March 2008
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but
in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust
Who are we and what are we here to
achieve?

The Big Idea & The Holistic Solution

 •• Direct
DirectMarketingDirect
MarketingDirect
•• Brand
BrandActivation
Activation Sales
•• Event Sales
Event Design&&
Design
Management
Management
•• Branded
BrandedExperience
Experience •• Creative
Management CreativeCommunication
Communication
Management •• New
New MarketEntry
Market Entry
•• Promotional Strategies
Strategies
PromotionalActivities
Activitiesfor
for •• Brand
Rural
Rural & SemiUrban
& Semi Urban BrandDevelopment
Development
•• Direct •• Media
Media Planningand
Planning andBuying
Buying
DirectMarketing
Marketingfor
for
Rural & Semi Urban
Rural & Semi Urban
•• Outreach
OutreachPrograms
Programs
•• Retail
RetailDistribution
Distribution
•• Catalogue
CatalogueMarketing
Marketing
•• Training
TrainingAcademy
Academy •• Retailing
•• Trade Retailing
TradeMarketing
Marketing
•• Training
Training&&Development
Development
•• Channel
ChannelDevelopment
Development&&
Management
••
Management
Merchandising •• HR
HRProcess
ProcessOutsourcing
Outsourcing
Merchandising&&Promotions
Promotions
•• Outsourced •• Recruitment Management
Recruitment Management
OutsourcedField
FieldOps.
Ops.Management
Management
•• Payroll
PayrollManagement
Management
•• Performance
PerformanceAppraisal
Appraisal
System
•• Provide
Providetotal
totalPR
PRsolution
solution
System
•• Brand •• HR
HRPolicy
PolicyPlanning
Planning
Brand PR, Media.and
PR, Media. and
Stakeholder
StakeholderMgt.
Mgt.
•• Brand
Brandbuilding,
building,Strengthen
Strengthen •• Fiction
Fiction&&Non-fiction
Non-fictionCreative
Creative
corporate
corporate & brandidentity
& brand identity writing
writing
•• Audio
AudioVisual
VisualProduction
Production
•• Post
Post ProductionServices
Production Services
•• TV
TVMedia
MediaContent
ContentProducers
Producers
•• Logistic
Logistic & TechnicalSupport
& Technical Support
The Brief
– Why do we want new advertising/campaign
• To reposition ourselves in a NEW direction.
• To connect with our existing and prospective
customers in a new platform of appeal, value and
image.
– What is the consumer insight?
• I love my country. I love being Bangladeshi.
Embracing my heritage and culture gives me the
uniqueness that will help me conquer the world. I want
my dress, my ambience, household to reflect that.
– Advertising Objective
• Establish the NEW brand positioning
• Commence 30 year celebration
The Brief
– Who is the target audience
• Young Men/women (25-35)
– What does the target audience think and do now?
• For them Aarong is a trusted brand. They visit the store often,
buying products mostly for gifts, sometimes for their own
consumption. For them Aarong provides the reassurance that
they have bought a quality product, that their friends will
appreciate as it is from Aarong. But they don’t feel excited
about the brand. They miss out the excitement. They don’t
feel it fits completely in their life
– What would we like them to think and do in response to
the advertising?
• The advertising should
– a. Trigger strong interest among non – users to try the brand.
» Aarong has surprised me. I never saw it like this. It looks so exciting
and suits my beliefs and values. I want to visit their store. I think it
will make me unique
– b. Encourage regular usage and establish strong connection with
the brand.
» ‘Each Aarong product I buy goes with me so well. I am so enthused
to use it.
– c. Establish the New Aarong positioning.
The Brief
– What is most likely to achieve this change?
• Only Aarong connects my modern lifestyle with my roots, giving me
the confidence to reach out for a more fulfilling life.
– Why should the consumer believe it
• The advertising is able to touch and emotionally involve consumers in
such a strong way, that it grabs their imagination and makes them
fantasize about the future.
– List of practical consideration for execution
• 2 Key tasks are
– Advertising & execution idea that will help establish the brand positioning.
– Campaign idea and plan for Naksi Katha exhibition
• Naskhi Katha exhibition is not a stand alone event rather the starting
campaign for a number of other activations to celebrate the 30 year of
operation. Aarong through all the events and activation wants to
portray the dawn of a new beginning of reaching out to newer heights.
• All individual activation must provide their uniqueness to the brands
new positioning.
• The campaign plan should focus on the execution plans focusing on
different channels without moving into executional details
• Aarong is a lifestyle brand with a strong association with fashion and
style. It is critical that all campaigns and communication builds
reflects that.
Situation Analysis
• We need to break free from being OLD
and STATIC to YOUNG & DYNAMIC
• Has been here, is here, and will be here
• A wide TG – youth, mature, NRB, expat,
et al
– ALL WHO CARE
• The nation is pregnant with possibilities
Questions leading to Insights
• How does a national heritage & lifestyle
brand compete on a global scale?
• Does Aarong only mean ‘souvenirs?’
• Does Aarong only mean ‘festivity?’
• What is it that we (TG) desire to obtain
when we shop at Aarong?
– The experience?
– The badge?
– The value?
– The indigenous art?
Questions leading to Insights
• What are we as Bangladeshi’s that define
us?
• Is there any discord?
• What can I say (as Aarong) that will be
mine (ownable and extendable)?
• Lastly, if all of the above were to be
considered
– What is our platform?
 Being the Storyteller Brand!

recreating imagery banked on our heritage

But what are our stories?
• The Story of Stitches
• The Story of Motifs
• The Story of Breaking Boundaries

Not anti jeans but pro Kurta!

What do they speak about and who
do they speak to, really?
• The Story of Stitches
– Romanticizing the Nakshi Kantha
– Tertiary TG – the opinion leaders
• The Story of Breaking Boundaries
– Taking pride in being a artisan, a woman, an
entrepreneur, and a free soul
– Secondary TG – the artisans
• The Story of Motifs
– Seeking creative sparks from a design POV
– Primary TG – new and upcoming consumers

The existing consumer stays!

Again…

What is the single-most powerful

idea/platform?
Simply put…

Whatever we choose from Aarong to take

home...
Is not merely a product, but we take with
us….
A PIECE OF BANGLADESH

That stays with us as our badge of ‘pride’

This piece
• Is the freedom that we express through
our daily lifestyle choices
• Is the fusion and adaptability that we own
• Is in our heart always…
• Extends its meaning to all ‘who care –
about Bangladesh
We commence with the…

“Nakshi Kanthar Maath” Jasimuddin

Lets retell the stories that make us who we

are.
We highlight ourselves being…

“An Empowered Nation of Women”

Lets uphold the simple stories of a

‘creative Bangladesh’
We extend ourselves further by encouraging…

“The Land of Ideas”

Lets encourage the rise of ‘torch bearers’ of

our heritage
Example: Analysing the Kantha
• History
– Encapsulates the rural essence of Bangladesh
• Design
– Expresses that essence into geometric &
technical patterns
• Usage
– Takes it forward in a multitude of
applications
The Execution Plan
• Commencing
– Invite-based inauguration at Shilpakala Academy
• Live Art in Motion: A Nakshi Kantha of 30 years
• PR Exercises
• Open Exhibition
• Highlighting
– Story based programs
– Newsletters
– In-house Sales Training
• Extending
– Design competitions
– Commissioning those designs into artistry
– Showing off the art at outlet locations
Extendibility
• All these ‘stories’ should be exploited
COMPLIMENTARY TO EACH OTHER to
ensure maximum reach and frequency by
extending the leaps into the following mediums
– Event Marketing – Exhibition & Fashion Shows
– Print (Newspaper, Magazine) – Launch & Tactical
– Outdoor - Launch
– Retail Environment – Architecture & Initiation of
Action
– Promotional Activities – yearlong, festivals
– Foundational Activities with Secondary TG
The creative mood-boards are…

(that can be brought forward in any

media/medium)
A piece of Bangladesh
The Aarong Life
Next Steps
• Awarding the account!
• Finalizing the details
– Cost/Budget
– Timelines
– Deliverables
– Scope
• Design
• Production
• Implementation
– ON A YEARLONG GRID