LG: QUEEN OF THE KITCHEN

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Branded Content

Advertiser: LG ELECTRONICS

Product/Service: MICROWAVES

Date of First Appearance: Jul 12 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: MEC INDIA, Noida, INDIA

General Manager: Anita Bose (MEC)

Business Director: Asad Jamal (MEC)

Business Manager: Vasudha Dawar (MEC)

Business Manager: Yashika Arora (MEC)

Business Executive: Kumar Nishant (MEC)

National Director Content: J. Sathyan (GroupM)

Creative Director: Maulshree Joshi (GroupM)

Creative Director: Dalip Daniel (GroupM)

Media placement: TV - Original telecast - Colors - 12 July 2009

Media placement: TV - Repeat telecast - Colors - 17 July 2009



Results and Effectiveness

LG Queen of the Kitchen gave our target audience the confidence to buy microwaves and use them, reinforcing LG’s market leadership.

The shows outperformed their slots, hitting average rating of 0.86 for the first broadcast, 72% ahead of expectations and 0.55 ratings for the repeat.

Total sales of microwaves increased by 10%, with LG benefiting from a rise of 144% (month-on-month).

A second series of LG Queen of the Kitchen is now underway.



Creative Execution

LG Queen of the Kitchen ran in two stages: recruitment and show. First, we took our microwaves on a 60-city tour to find India’s best chefs.

Then we cast some of them in a 13-part series on India’s biggest TV channel, Colors.

LG Queen of the Kitchen appeared in prime slots when they relaxed at the weekend and repeated on Fridays before they did the shopping.

Hosted by TV personality, Shruti Seth, it challenged contestants to create a fantastic Indian dish, with one using a traditional stove and the other an LG Microwave. Creative cookery expert provided advice and nutritional tips to help us challenge conventional wisdom.

Celebrity guests were recruited as judges, deciding which contestant should be crowned LG Queen of the Kitchen each week.

We reinforced the message at retail with more than 500 outlets using banners, posters and leaflets. Online consumers could download the recipes.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

Indians weren’t big fans of microwaves. Penetration was just 0.5% and with LG holding a 33% share, it needed to grow the market to boost sales.

Indians were highly sceptical about microwaves. They believed that while they could reheat food, “food cooked in a microwave is neither healthy nor tasty” and best suited for western dishes.

We had to demonstrate unequivocally that microwaved food could be both convenient – to appeal to our target of busy city homemakers – and delicious.

The solution was branded content, pulling in ordinary people from across the country to take part in an extraordinary challenge. LG Mallika-e-kitchen (Queen of the Kitchen) would pit microwaves against gas stoves with impartial judges determining the winner. We would also provide nutritional information to allay health concerns.

The content would be leveraged on TV, via events and at retail, with online providing a follow-up resource for consumers.