The ‘Pan Bahar’ Campaign in India

Exhibit 1: Front page of major dailies and billboards in India on October 7, 2016
In an attempt to close the gap with market leader Rajnigandha, Pan Bahar had roped in
former James Bond star, Pierce Brosnan. The film carried on the 'Pehchan Kamyabi Ki'
(The Face of Success) thought. Speaking with Campaign India, Akhil Jain, CEO, Pan
Bahar, said, "This pan masala concept was introduced in 1936. It was created out of a
formula at home and was circulated from the household itself. In 1966, the brand Pan
Bahar was created. We strongly believe that we know everything (in this category), but
we haven’t been able to crack it in advertising. We wanted to communicate that we are
masters in this category. The right person for this masterclass, was Pierce Brosnan. We
looked at non-popular faces for this campaign also, but went for Brosnan."

He added, "We wanted a different face versus what competition has. Our biggest strength
had to be shown in the film. First, we wanted to launch a campaign to disclose our brand
story, but went against that. So we went with a guy (Brosnan) who without saying
anything, with his style shows the maturity that can lure the audience. You see his face,
smile and walking stance and figure the type of man he is. He’s the right match for us. He
has matured enough and has maintained his class. In the smaller towns, people may not
identify Brosnan, but he has class appeal in his look."

On the objective of this campaign, Jain said, "Rajnigandha is the key competition. They
lead market share in the pan masala category. The consumers who are consuming
Rajnigandha think they are consuming the best product in the market. We want to gather
the competition’s consumers directly and also add new consumers."
Source: http://www.campaignindia.in/video/pan-bahar-turns-to-pierce-brosnan-to-close-gap-with-rajnigandha/430325

In a matter of minutes, Twitter came alive with wisecracks (Exhibit 2).

Exhibit 2: Twitter Wisecracks

And now comes the shocker that the company had assured Brosnan that the product was,
in fact, a “tooth whitener and mouth freshener”, and not the potentially carcinogenic pan
masala that it is in reality. Presumably neither the company, nor their ad agency realized
that Brosnan’s first wife and daughter had both died of cancer, and that he himself
actively works for cancer-related causes.

So, yes, the ethics of this need to be discussed.

But there is another issue that probably needs to be talked about, and that is the relevance
of having a celebrity / personality like Pierce Brosnan to endorse a product like Pan
Bahar, and the consequent effectiveness of this campaign in doing its intended job. To the
advertising and marketing community, at least, this is a matter of some professional
interest.

Source: https://scroll.in/article/819671/pan-bahars-pierce-brosnan-ad-created-lots-of-buzz-but-was-it-really-effective

The target consumer group for Pan Bahar is 20-32 years old males, SEC A (A1, A2, A3)
and B (B1, B2) urban and rural.

CWE = Chief Wage Earner; NCCS = New Consumer Classification System

Q1. The most credible source is high on three dimensions – expertise, trustworthiness,
and likeability. Evaluate Pierce Brosnan’s credibility as a communicator for the target
consumers of Pan Bahar? (6 marks)
Q2. What were the objectives of the Pan Bahar campaign? Detail any five data points /
information that you would require to ascertain whether this campaign was a success or
not. (8 marks)

Q3. Given the objectives of the campaign, if you were hired to design and implement a
promotion campaign (assume the Pierce Brosnan campaign was not run by the company),
which of the communications platforms/mix would you utilize and how? (6 marks)