Maha Thanda Tel, as the brand name itself indicates (loosely translated, it means ‘extremely cool oil’), is a cooling hair oil; a head massage which relieves stress. The brief was to create a press campaign that would highlight the cooling property of this oil, with the ultimate aim of increasing awareness about the product. The target audience were roadside barbers, itinerant masseurs and housewives in Bihar, a state in India.

Since the communication was intended for the people of Bihar, we used the indigenous art form of Bihar called Madhubani in all three ads. And to stay true to the art form, the posters were actually painted on rice paper using natural dyes, the way it’s traditionally done in Bihar. And just as Madhubani paintings depict scenes from everyday life, our posters too showed different people (at home, in a barber shop, etc) relaxing under the influence of a cooling Thanda Tel massage.

Since the brand proposition was integrated in an interesting way with an execution that the target audience could relate to, brand awareness and recall shot up and sales went up drastically.