ITC Foods Intensifies Regional Festival Marketing

ITC Foods ran its most intensive marketing campaign yet at Puri's Jagannath Yatra in Odisha this year. The company's chief digital marketing officer, Shuvadip Banerjee, told Mint that consumer brands are now engaging with regional festivals with greater authenticity, moving beyond simple product specials.

For the Yatra, ITC's Aashirvaad brand campaign, called 'Gunatmaka Paramparaa' or tradition of quality, shifted focus. Instead of just showcasing product ranges, it celebrated the Vishwakarma Maharana community of artisans who build the festival's chariots. Banerjee stated the company now considers how its brands stand for these cultural codes, leveraging its agricultural business connections to farmers.

From Sponsorship to Storytelling

The central question for any major campaign, according to Banerjee, is whether the engagement would be equally interesting without the brand's presence. He argues that while media spending buys reach, experiencing a brand in a relevant context creates stronger retention.

This philosophy guided the approach for Yippee noodles at the festival. Rather than just setting up a sales stall, the brand considered the attendee journey. The team identified the beach as a key post-prayer entertainment spot. There, they created a food integration theme based on the Odia phrase 'Bara Masare Tera Parba' (12 months, 13 festivals).

They developed 13 traditional Odia dishes using Yippee noodles, such as a stuffed parwal dish with noodles. This marked an evolution from a similar campaign two years prior, which featured 51 traditional Rath Yatra prasad dishes made with noodles but lacked integration with authentic Odia flavors.

Deepening Cultural Integration

ITC Foods is planning more intensive campaigns for the upcoming Durga Puja in Kolkata. One concept involves creating an exit alley from a pujo pandal where attendees can sample pan-Asian Yippee noodles styled after Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian street food. This taps into Kolkata's historical connection to Chinese cuisine and its Chinese-origin community.

For its extruded snack brand Bingo Tedhe Medhe, the company is developing a campaign linked to Sukumar Ray's iconic Bengali children's rhyme collection, 'Abol Tabol'. The campaign will celebrate the 'tedhapan' or crookedness of life, aligning with the brand's pillar of fun.

The Nationalization of Regional Festivals

Banerjee observes a significant shift in the relevance of regional festivals. The diffusion of populations across India for work and education, such as the large Bengali community in Bengaluru, has made major cities more cosmopolitan. He notes that while people may be less rooted in their cultural identity in daily life, they still engage with it at cultural events.

This has expanded the audience for regional festival content. A test a few years ago revealed that national news coverage of the Puri Rath Yatra attracted interest far beyond migrants from Odisha. People across the country showed curiosity about the festival's legends and temple details.

As a result, cultural codes are spreading and mutual curiosity is growing. ITC's brand presence now extends across numerous regional festivals, including Durga Puja across West Bengal, Bali Yatra in Odisha, Chhath Puja in Bihar, Bihu in Assam, and Onam in Kerala.