The idea is to catch up the game frenzy that is running in blood of the smartphone savvy consumers. As almost half of India’s population and also the smartphone user base is younger than 25, games can be used to engage the player while brand message is delivered. In game the armoury of gamer shall consist of HUL products which will help him sail through hurdles in game. For ex. Germs doing a teeth attack and to fight them one needs Pepsodent otherwise one’s power/life goes down or sleep attack coming and to fight it one needs Bru coffee or Red label to freshen up or the protagonist feels thirsty and the pond of water is dirty, one needs Pure-it to clean the water and drink or protagonist has to eat food to gain power and need to wash hands with Lifebuoy to be able to eat food and to get these HUL products one need to complete some task or cross some levels.

Why will consumer play our game when market is flooded with game apps? Our USP will be that we let the player decide contours of the game. We will let one decide what the environment around the gaming zone looks like giving sufficient space to let the creative juices flow and other factor like scores that they clock and promotions they do for the game, top gamers get to submit their dreams and get a chance to fulfil their dream. The expense that HUL shall bear in fulfilling the dream can be restricted to 1-2 lakhs. Consumers shall have to submit a dream that can be fulfilled within that specified amount. This whole proposition gives a personalized touch to the engagement with consumers.

Games are an interesting way to engage smartphone savvy consumers with minimal data usage. Except for one time download and for syncing scores at month end with central server no other data usage is required. Millions of downloads of simple games like Candy crush, don’t tap the white tile and subway surfers reflect the engagement level that games develop. At each instance the gamer uses a HUL product to cross a hurdle; a story is conveyed about how that product caters to that consumer need and with the wide array of products that HUL kitty boasts of, a really interesting game can be developed.

200 million Indian smartphone users present a great opportunity for HUL to convey the brand messaging in increasingly innovative ways deviating from usual TV and print channels. Yes the games are perceived to be kid’s arena but the notion is being challenged by the ever changing scenarios that mobile technology is unlocking. People across age groups need an easy and light medium of entertainment while travelling in trains, buses and cars; short breaks at work or at home or at shops. The channel being proposed is unfamiliar when seen in light of ways promotions have been done by fmcg firms till date but opportunity that it presents is unprecedented. Taking an average of download counts of popular gaming apps even if we are able to beat that average count of 30 million, this is huge scale for personalized engagement with the consumer.

Cost of development of a high end game is around 30000 to 50000 USD according to some popular game development companies, also choosing 5 top gamers each month i.e. 60 in a year and monetary support being 1-2 lakh for fulfilling the dream. This expense comes out to 1.3 crore in Indian rupees. Promotion can be done about game on SKU packets and providing a glimpse in the end of regular TV campaigns and print campaigns. If the later part of cost is overlooked the cost per contact comes out to be 40 paisa.

The idea positions HUL to touch existing/potential customers at many more and earlier points in the buying process, at a lower cost in a more personalized manner.