MUMBAI: In the ad world, what Super Bowl is to the US, the Kumbh Mela is to India. The annual gathering spot for 120 million Indians is an occasion for brands to make a mark. Zee Melt 2019, on its first day, conducted a session-What marketers can learn from the Kumbh Mela? moderated by Melt editor Anant Rangaswami and speakers Laqshya Media MD Alok Jalan and Dialogue Factory APAC head experiential marketing Dalveer Singh.

While some marketers feel that it is impossible to make a mark on these millions of devotees, Singh chipped in and said that they do not come just to have the holy dip. Instead, they stay at the spot for about 10-12 hours. According to Singh, Kumbh is a great place for a food brand. “You are getting 150 million consumers over a period of 8 weeks and so you can have one single Kumbh brand. They also carry bags back to their home, so you can create a Kumbh package and merchandise which is currently not being done. For example, at IPL, there is a lot of merchandise being sold,” he said.

Jalan agreed that there is a huge opportunity for sales that nobody is looking at currently. According to Jalan, celebrations such as football have a huge TV value unlike Kumbh Mela because it is presumed that the latter is only restricted to people from rural areas and the aged citizens. But this is changing now.  

Furthermore, Singh went on to say that nowadays marketers have realised that Kumbh is a huge area to display campaigns that can win awards. But brands are still missing the opportunity. “I can only remember two brands, HUL and News18, with huge screens, stalls etc creating a little bit of impact. No other brand was able to provide a meaningful presence,” he said.

Preparations for Kumbh begin a year in advance. Singh said that Amul and Colgate have a good grasp of the supply chain at Kumbh after years of experience. Logistics is important to handle 3 crore samples over eight weeks along with appropriate disposal.

Brands also have to tackle the Kumbh Mela rules set by authorities. “Authorities will not allow you to do anything and everything. Their basic concern is that they need to manage the crowd. Advertisers want eyeballs, they want the consumers to look at their products but the Kumbh authorities do not want the crowd to stand, they want the crowd to keep moving. Their point is to get the crowd to the bathing point and bring them back,” he concluded.