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Hitting Hard With Soft Appeal

No longer restricted to FMCGs, advertising campaigns are now selling products as abstract as distinctive experiences on a perfect holiday. Reema Sisodia showcases the `Taj Holidays' campaign.

Juxtapose an advertisement of a hotel selling a service against one that packages a gamut of emotions or an experience. Chances are that the latter will appeal to customers with greater force. And going by the success of The Taj Holidays campaigns, it's a cinch to gauge why.

When Taj Leisure Hotels decided to launch Taj Holidays - its vacation brand - as a separate entity, it hit the market with an all-new large-scale advertising campaign in March 2005. Covering aspects of a holiday experience like reliving romance at exotic locales, enjoying champagne cruises on rice-boats, engaging in adventure sports or rediscovering 17th century palaces, the hard-hitting three-advertisement campaign urges its audience to live out their dreams.

This marketing tactic was a result of research and market findings conducted among Indian and foreign tourists who stayed at the Taj Leisure Hotels. The study attempted to gauge what guests demanded of, and during, a holiday and their expectations. These inputs were then analysed and used to plan the new brand and its campaign. Sandhya Kunjur, GM (Marketing) of Leisure Hotels, The Indian Hotels Company Limited, throws up some figures - the annual leisure market in India is made up of about 10 lakh travellers of which more than two lakh avail four-star and above services. This is why Taj Leisure Hotels is re-evaluating its price as well.

Using the movie poster technique, the campaign highlights the ideal state that vacationers strive for. One copy reads 'He was married to his job, she had no time for the kids. The remarkable story of a family who travelled great distances to come closer'. The key message delivery is clear and compelling and mirrors the extremely strenuous lifestyle that people lead. The cinematic angle explored in the advertisements score highly, where reel life is picked up to illustrate that 'there's nothing more enjoyable than real life'. Kunjur said, "The essence was to create a warm and caring approach, tailor-making holidays to suit specific requirements of travellers. The Taj group spent Rs 4 crore over a period of time to promote Taj Holidays as a brand and targeted clients from key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

Kunjur vouches for the success of this technique. She says, "We started out with a plan to capture about 27 per cent of the leisure travel market within 18 months of the launch. The campaign has boosted our occupancy levels to about 25 per cent across properties in just about six months."