Saavn: Liva #NoFilterNeha Campaign

share
copy link

SUMMARY

Saavn, the audio streaming service, and Liva, the fashion brand, used voice based podcast ads on the former’s No Filter Neha show to increase engagement for both brands on India.

The brands wanted to appeal to young fashion orientated women; Liva’s brand focus on fluidity, confidence and independence complemented Saavn’s audio chat show’s unfiltered approach, which made collaboration possible.
They created voice ads for the show, featuring Neha Dhupia; the campaign was supported by print, radio, PR and OOH.
There were 13m display impressions and there was a 12% increase in brand awareness for Liva.

Campaign details

Brand: Liva

Lead agency: Saavn

Region: APAC

Objectives

Saavn's original audio chat show No Filter Neha sponsored by Liva premiered in late 2016. The original show got a host of Bollywood celebrities to go 'off-the- record', aiming at getting all ears on to the app. Liva being a new entrant in the dynamic and super competitive fashion industry wanted to establish its identity

as the very fabric of every independent and fashionable woman's choice. Saavn aimed at building a fashion connect between the brand and the show with the help of Neha's trend setter image within the industry.

The key performance indicator for the new brand Liva was particularly brand awareness and the campaign's reach to a desired audience. As the campaign also aimed at brand retention, engagement i.e. CTR was also considered an important indicator to showcase performance.

Target audience

Two millennial brands Saavn and Liva have an audience that is similar. The aim was to reach women in the age bracket of 18 - 34 y/o. It was found that the overlap was not just in the age bracket but also in terms of the lifestyle they follow. These women could be young women who are in college or at the peak of their professional careers or even homemakers - the common denominator being that they are strong, independent, expressive, aspiring fashionistas and trend setters in society.

Creative strategy

As the Liva brand focused on fluidity, independence and being confident; the show also mirrored the unfiltered, crazy and no-holds-barred approach. Taking this into consideration, we aimed to establish the 'independent you' expression by Liva with the help of Bollywood trend setter - Neha Dhupia. With her well known expertise in fashion, a new brand like Liva had her as 'the voice behind' the fabric along with a mix of fluid and candid conversations on the show, engaging the right audience. By reaching out to fashionable and independent icons like Kangana Ranaut and Neha Dhupia and have them expressing their thoughts on fashion at large and the brand, a brand image was built.

Also taking into account the young, aspirational, and fun guests endorsing the show, Saavn was able to deliver content that would interest their audience, making this show one that was fresh and millennial to be associated with. Saavn adopted the three-directional strategy approach:

Reach - brand awareness
Engagement with the desired audience
Build brand and show association

To build the buzz around the brand from show connect to brand communication and how Bollywood's going No Filter, the show needed just the right amount of push on multiple platforms. With a focus on both reach and millennials, Saavn opted for more digital advertising than traditional mediums.

Within the Saavn app we delivered multiple audio ads including episode promotional ads, pre rolls (audio ad delivered right before the episode begins) and branded ads, in order to reach out to our existing users. Having attracted more users, we opted for a 360 marketing approach with OOH and radio ads in top cities, print ads, a PR push with exclusive interviews and publicity tours in five key markets, digital advertising, social media promotions and earned celebrity endorsements.

Along with the first time association of Liva and Saavn, this was also the debut season for the show No Filter Neha. While we have had other shows on Saavn Originals, this Bollywood-driven show was unfiltered and has surpassed every other show in terms of reach, engagement, earned media and overall performance.

Execution

Reaching out to users on a music streaming platform, the Liva and NoFilterNeha campaign was particularly a mobile centric one. The results of a research study 'Golden Age of Audio' by Ad Week stated that 37% of listeners use podcast ads to help research brands. Using this power of audio, Saavn has utilized the podcast medium to reach out the brand's desired audience i.e. the digitally savvy and premium millennial group.

As a lot of media consumption takes place while people are engaged in activities where visual media can't reach them, a well executed audio strategy lead to a successful brand campaign. With a comprehensive presence within the app, the brand achieved 12% awareness amongst the NoFilterNeha podcast listeners on Saavn and a 50% increase in the brand and show association. Analysing just the pre rolls i.e. the brand customized audio ads voiced by Neha Dhupia, lead to 14% increase in awareness.

Organic brand integrations along with a comprehensive strategy, is what stood out for users on Saavn.

Read this article on warc.com to view the video

Mobile execution

Using the power of audio, Saavn executed this campaign via native audio ads in the app reaching out to its growing user base. The campaign i.e. Liva and NoFilter association was only on Saavn's mobile application catering to digitally savvy audiences. In order to promote this property, Saavn used a number of marketing platforms including print, radio, PR and OOH; informing and redirecting users to the app.

Comprehensive mobile execution

Liva had a comprehensive presence on Saavn via various properties. Along with customised audio ads for the brand communication, the banners were custom made for the brand and the show creatives had the brand logo present as well.

Here are the in app properties:

Pre rolls: Voice over by Neha Dhupia

These are 30-second branded audio ads (https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad? id=CICAgKDL5uj1MRABGAEyCIlIOlWgpSMm) that were delivered before an episode ran along with branded companion display banners. The script of the audio ad while customised to the brand's communication had organic brand integration.

The aim was to make the audio ad sound like an interaction with the listener rather than an ad that would most likely get ignored.

Liva branded ads

15-second audio ads that focused only on the brand features, message and USP, were delivered to the users during their musical journey on Saavn. The ads were also voiced by Kangana Ranaut, a fashion icon in the industry, narrating her idea around fashion at large and the brand Liva. She emphasised on how it was important to feel confident in what one wears, aiming to influence young and aspiring fashionistas - who also were the brand's target group.

Promotional ads: Voice over by Neha Dhupia

15-second audio unit (http://s.saavn.com/ads/2017/nfn_ranbir-promo-follow-the-show.mp3) that promoted the show along with branded banners, delivered to users listening to music on Saavn.

As per Online Content Publisher report 2016-17 by Nielsen, Saavn achieved the highest engagement time with users as compared to other music streaming apps. Leveraging this differentiator, Saavn's mobile audio as a platform was best suited for a campaign looking at higher brand retention.

Business impact

Liva, an Aditya Birla group brand was under a year old when it came on board to associate with Saavn. While the brand was backed by a large organization, it faced issues in establishing its identity as a fresh entrant into the fabric world. Also, an important aspect they wanted to communicate was that Liva produces fabric, which is used by various other brands in the market, rather than a brand that creates retail apparels.

As a newly launched brand trying to establish its brand identity, it was important to have high brand awareness on features, imagery, availability, etc. Saavn's association was bang on in terms of brand awareness, where we deployed an external research organization i.e. Nielsen to run an ad effectiveness study that would help us with deeper insights on the campaign.

Going back to our three-directional strategy approach we adopted for the campaign, reach - brand awareness, engagement and association, here's what we achieved:

Reach on Saavn

1.7MM audio ads
1.1MM+ unique users
13MM+ display impressions

Marketing reach

25MM+ via OOH in top 3 cities
15MM+ via Radio ads in 9 radio stations
3.3MM+ via Print Ad in Hindustan Times
Earned press worth Rs. 7.2 Crores

As per Nielsen, the campaign lead to a 12% increase in brand awareness - a staggering number for a brand as new as Liva.

Engagement on Saavn

With a 4.3% campaign CTR, the brand reached out to the right audience with 3% CTR from women in the age group of 18 - 34.

Brand association

The Nielsen ADE study also proved that 38% of users were able to recall the advertisement on Saavn and 50% of users were able to correctly associate the show with the brand. Listeners also associated the brand imagery with a 'brand that makes one feel confident and smart' - just how we wanted it!

Saavn adopted an innovative approach which is often appreciated by the millennial group, one that is subtle yet impactful as a communication channel. In order to avoid forced messaging, the pre roll ads that were delivered just before each episode began with an organic brand integration. As Neha talks about her day, the fashion connect and subtle mention of the brand gets weaved in. This lead to a higher impact as the users would listen to it as the part of the show, rather than an advertisement that would have been easily ignored.

As we worked on our marketing, the show also received an immense amount of publicity basis the content it generated, earning a PR value of over Rs. 7.2 crores, showcasing the buzz and traction the audio show created.

Cre: WARC