Marketing at Kumbh Mela:A Blue Ocean Strategy

The Kumbh Mela is a primer on heartland marketing. Blue Ocean Strategy is referred to a market for a product where there is no competition or very less competition. This strategy revolves around searching for a business in which very few firms operate and where there is no pricing pressure. Most brands are able to find ways to connect with millions at one shot. Brands are nice distractions in the absence of anything else happening. It has primarily been dominated by FMCG but we find mobile phones and finance too nowadays. Especially in the rural space is with any large religious opportunity on the basis of number of people, footfalls and eyeballs. This is the best place, the CPT (cost per thousand) reach is ridiculous; look at the number of exposures. I would describe it as taking advantage of a huge number of people, allowing them to interact with the brand by virtue of sampling, conversations, visits to booths etc. Brands are not doing this since it has anything to do with religion; they tend to be agnostic. They are doing it because of the number of people and India does not give us too many other occasions that let us get so many of them. Everybody has tried everything and so it’s a great area to get our creative juices flowing. Big brands have graduated from billboards and signs to engagement that includes sampling product trials etc both from an awards POV and with real work.When there is limited room to grow, businesses try and look for verticals or avenues of finding new business where they can enjoy uncontested market share or 'Blue Ocean'. A blue ocean exists when there is potential for higher profits, as there is now competition or irrelevant competition.