In today’s episode, we have with us, the brain behind widely celebrated and recognized campaigns of Asian Paints, Mr. Rohan Prasher.
He is a distinguished alumnus of Goa Institute of Management with over 13 years of experience in media and communications, product management & corporate branding spanning across diverse categories and geographies. He currently serves as the Group Brand Manager at Asian Paints and leads Media and Corporate.
Let’s buckle up, as he takes us through what goes behind building successful and long-standing marketing campaigns like ‘Where The Heart Is’ and ‘Donate a Wall’ filled with learnings galore.
It is rare these days to find someone who builds a committed career in one organization for 10 years and running. How has this journey at Asian Paints been like?
I began my career as a media manager, where I worked for four years, before moving on to a corporate position where I was responsible for Asian Paints' entire mother brand as well as key brand building initiatives such as the Corporate Campaigns – ‘Where The Heart Is’, 'St+Art, and other marketing initiatives.
After two years at corporate, I moved on to a brand management position in the waterproofing industry. For Asian Paints, I am currently in charge of traditional media, digital and public relations. I've worked in four different roles in the last 10 years, and that's what I like about the company: there's always something new to learn.
Asian Paints has been very kind to me, and I've changed roles every few years. It was time to shift by the time I got established in one, and that's what keeps us moving at Asian Paints! Your brain’s always working.
Among the different marketing campaigns that you have been a part of, which one is your favorite and why?
My favorite campaigns are Where The Heart Is and St+Art, both of which are extremely near to my heart. I've been working on these projects for the past six years.
We sought to establish ourselves as a home décor company. Paint was a commodity in 1942, when Asian Paints was founded. With the 'Mera Wala Blue, Mera Wala Pink' advertisements in the 2000s, we established a Color brand. In 2012, we had a TV programme called Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai on Sony and Colors that featured celebrities visiting their childhood homes.
Though our journey to become a décor brand started in 2012, and it was in the pursuit of decor that this show, 'Where The Heart Is,' was born in 2017, aimed at today's audience. These 30 episodes have received over 300 million views in the previous 5 years.
The brand has a positive tone and customers get to watch their favorite celebrities in their own homes, thus the engagement rate is high. We've discovered that 'it's not about the home you build, but the house that builds you.' That’s the emotion we want to capture. It works beautifully because we have had celebrities who have had very humble beginnings and upbringings and hence, they have an emotional attachment to certain décor items in the house.
Campaign 1: ‘Asian Paints Where The Heart Is’
‘Where The Heart Is’ is an Asian Paints online series in which celebrities invite viewers into their beautiful homes as they narrate their experiences in creating those spaces. Each episode focused on a well-known influencer in their field, highlighting the fine details that made their house into a loving home.
Tying up with influencers from a wide range of fields assists to expand the brand's digital footprint and generate interest in its online platforms. People were directed to the 'Where The Heart Is' YouTube playlist through various mediums, which provided them with fast access to 'bingeable' content.
Season 5 on-air delves into the particular relationship that celebrities have with their houses, which is a labor of love filled with personal tales and travels. With over 140 million views, a 28% increase over the previous one, the webisode has been acclaimed for showcasing celebrity homes with warmth and a personal touch. It allows viewers an up-close and intimate look inside the home and décor preferences of their favorite star.
Suniel Shetty, Abhay Deol, Guru Randhawa, Remo D'souza, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Neha Dhupia & Angad Bedi opened their doors to viewers in Season 5 of 'Asian Paints Where The Heart Is,' giving viewers a look into their off-screen lives.
The brand stays away from product placement in the ‘Where The Heart Is’ campaign. Do you still believe it continues to attract our target audience to the brand?
We'd refer to it as emotional attractiveness. The idea is to subconsciously let our consumers know where we stand as a décor brand in the industry. While we have 30 - 50 second advertising to express our products and are present in numerous categories such as furnishings, furniture, lightings, tiles, bath, and kitchen, this show is aimed for inspiration.
We want to keep this show pure and serve as an inspiration to our consumers. Having said that, if customers desire a comparable level of customization, we offer a service called Beautiful Homes Services that would help.
The campaign has featured a variety of celebrities. What is the mantra behind who to target?
We have a very clear process of shortlisting. The first anchor is they should have a home and a beautiful home. By beautiful, I mean their dream home – a house that they have built which adds meaning to their life.
It may be Shankar Mahadevan's Karjat farmhouse or Tamanna Bhatia's residence, for example. We also take into account the state of the residences as well as the popularity of celebrities and the popularity of celebrities across regions/areas of work. We selected Prateek Kuhad, who had appeals from the north, and Shankar Mahadevan, who had appeals from the south and west, for example.
We are very conscious of who we portray and how they can inspire consumers. In fact, Neena Gupta and Masaba Gupta were featured in one of the most gorgeous episodes. We were worried that Neena wouldn't connect with the internet audience, but it turned out to be one of the season's finest episodes! We also discovered that connections are crucial and play a vital role.
While the campaign is published on multiple platforms, how does the brand track consumer sentiment? Is there any statement or comment that has resonated with you?
We keep track of something called a tonality report. Where The Heart Is has a tonality of greater than 99%. That's the type of upbeat attitude this exudes. We keep note of every remark, like, and share we receive. In season 1, we constantly listened to what customers had to say, took their input, and used it to improve the following season.
We realized people take screenshots of the show because they want certain decor items or inspiration for themselves. So now when we present it, we feature them much longer so that people can take a pause and focus on it better! There are instances where people have commented that they love how Neena Gupta has displayed her bangles, or the way Shankar has named his farmhouse. It’s the small things that matter.
How has the journey of Where The Heart has been, based on the feedback?
Season 1 was all about - "Oh it is a celebrity show". Season 2 was "Okay, this is a show called Where The Heart Is". From Season 3 onwards, the show was dubbed "It's AP Where The Heart Is."
We build into the series YoY, we don't get returns immediately. Your ROI starts coming in the long run. From season 1 being totally dependent on YouTube, it has moved onto various other platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Performance metrics are tracked regularly to ensure we stay relevant and connected.
Campaign 2: Donate a Wall by Asian Paints and St+Art
Your walls speak more about your home than you do, in the first impression. When it comes to a city, it is the cityscape that casts the first impression. From the walls of offices to schools to residential buildings, they all come together to form a city's heartbeat.
Asian Paints, a home decor brand, partnered with art organization St+Art India for the 'Donate A Wall' programme, which began in 2017, and urges people to donate a wall that would be painted at no cost and tell beautiful tales. On the wall, a tale should be told, and the tale would lend itself to a work of art.
This innovative art initiative brings together public art, talented painters, and a socio-cultural mindset to rebuild and reconstruct public spaces in a unique way by painting local people's stories on the ‘donated wall.’
Asian Paints' effort, in cooperation with St+Art India Foundation, is actually lifting spirits by energizing the world, one wall at a time. The last and final chapter of ‘Donate a Wall’ in Kolkata is a tribute to migrant workers, who are often unseen and forgotten.
Where The Heart Is is all about celebrities and their homes. St+Art is about a community! How did St+Art start and how has been the feedback from the audience?
Asian Paints being such a popular brand, having been around for 80+ years, we believe art is for all and should not be meant for museums and classrooms. Art should be democratized. That’s where it all started. Making India beautiful was another anchor.
Graffiti has always been associated with crime. We wanted to change that impression and make public spaces beautiful. In fact, over the last five years, we have made Art Districts in the country. For example, there is a Lodhi Art District in New Delhi, Maqta Art District in Hyderabad, Kannagi in Chennai etc. The idea is to make places beautiful. One thing to note is that the quality of our paint is so good that it helps it last longer and we've never had to go to any place to rework on it. That’s the strength our paints have and the strength of the mission we believe in.
We attract specific audiences via this who believe in art and brands standing up for such causes. We also take social messages in the form of beautiful art forms such as the World's Aids Day in Chennai - the longest mural in the country. We've been all across India and let consumers donate their walls to us. We call for entries via donateawall.com. Currently we're doing one in Kolkata!
I frequently receive inquiries on the fact that many individuals are unaware that this is something we do. However, bringing in sponsorship, it kills the fun. We want to help, and there is a lot of digital marketing being done to raise consumer awareness.
What goes behind deciding the area that you would want to work on for the ‘Donate a Wall’ campaign?
We collaborate with local bodies, the government, and the culture ministry to create an Art District. St+Art also assists us in connecting with the appropriate individuals to move the project ahead.
We are confronted with several difficulties. Some folks are concerned that we are attempting to take over their property. As a result, we participate in a workshop to foster a sense of belonging and build an appreciation for art. Then we go on to the artwork.
Bringing it all together, in the two initiatives, what are the challenges that you have faced?
In Where The Heart Is, the challenges have been very internal in terms of putting the brand metrics in place. It is easy to have a brand in place but super difficult to make a decision that we will not showcase our brand/product in this. We don't want to push a royale play or a texture or a wallpaper in these initiatives. We did not want to mix the two causes.
In St+Art, the challenges are getting permissions from external bodies and facing apprehensions from people. Shortlisting the right place is difficult too! The plans for this are structured and we also want to control the quality of art. Climate is another challenge. We just have a 4-5-month window to do this given that we cannot have this done in summers and monsoons.
Obtaining clearances for Where The Heart Is during the COVID era was also an issue. You wouldn't want a camera crew in your home, but we got by with a small team and made sure we took all the necessary measures.
In closing, another popular and the longest initiative of yours is ‘Sharad Samman’. How is that different from the other two initiatives?
Sharad Samman is in his 37th year. We began in 1985. Durga Puja is an important event in Kolkata and one of the most extensively celebrated holidays in India. We were a latecomer to the market, and in 1985, we established the Asian Paints Sharad Samman awards, which honor the greatest Puja Pandals in Kolkata. We have been dubbed the Oscars of Puja Awards up to now.
We simply wanted to celebrate art in 1985 since the Pandals and Murtis, the lighting, and the subjects are all stunning. The goal was to honor and celebrate such works of art and artists. We also have a consumer connection, in which we strive to explain how we celebrate Puja with our customers. It is usually observed outside the home.
However, over the last two years, since people are at home, we have had the opportunity to go inside homes and thereby changed the themes and consumer stories accordingly. That’s how we integrated our brand for the first time.
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