Rooh Afza (Hamdard) · Rooh Afza: Zindagi Mubarak Campaign · EOMM Pakistan Edition

Chapter 1 mentions the need for marketers to “connect with customers”. But what happens when, over time, a successful brand starts losing its connections with the younger generation, as has happened to many brands? Rooh Afza, the legendary Mashroob-e-Mashriq, felt the younger generation was losing their connection with it. It decided to launch a series of campaigns to reposition the brand as trendy, youth-centric and full of joy. These campaigns started with its flagship ‘Zindagi Mubarik’ launch, and continued with ‘Ramadan Mubarik’, ‘Dosti Mubarik’ and ‘Sardi Mubarik’. It also encouraged all-year-round consumption through its campaigns. It changed its packaging and label design, updating its colors and fonts. And it partnered with celebrity chefs to create special recipes using Rooh Afza as the main ingredient (Dr. Aamir Khan, Case Advisor).

Originally established in 1906 in Delhi by the accomplished pharmacist and physician, Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, Hamdard Pakistan is an Unani medicine company based in Karachi. After the subcontinent’s partition, Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed’s younger son, the visionary Hakim Mohammed Said moved to Pakistan. In 1948, he established Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan which has since become one of the largest enterprises in South Asia. In India, it was carried forward by his elder brother, Hakeem Abdul Hameed. Hamdard has grown steadily while propagating Tibb-e-Unani (Eastern Medicine) through its large selection of products. With a sprawling product portfolio boasting over 450 herbal medicines, including Safi, Carmina, Sualin, Naunehal, Hamdard Joshanda, and Rooh Afza syrup, Hamdard became a household name and is considered an industry leader within the herbal category Pakistan.

Perhaps the most iconic amongst Hamdard’s brand collection is their red syrup, Rooh Afza. Whilst several competitors have propped up over the years, no other syrup can compare with the unparalleled quality and distinctive taste of Rooh Afza. With these characteristics, it has built a strong perception as the Legendary Syrup of The East, “Mashroob-e-Mashriq”. Syrups were a common household usage item in the subcontinent and were traditionally produced for consumption within homes, for both regular and special occasion usage. Understanding this inherent need that was already in the market, Hamdard offered Rooh Afza, a conveniently ready-made, quality flavoured syrup.

Over time, there were several changes in market dynamics and the market got flooded by both direct and indirect competitors. Given the shifts in consumer behaviour and to capitalize on emerging trends within the beverage industry, Hamdard made the transition of offering its product from a glass to a PET Bottle. Its competitor brands followed suit and began bombarding the media with functionality-based advertising. The contemporary consumer, led by a younger generation, felt no real connection with the brand as most started feeling alienated by the pioneering promise of Rooh Afza. Herein lay the brand’s challenge; Hamdard, felt there was a need to revamp the brand image for Rooh Afza, in line with the shift in consumer mindset and market trends. The company felt it had to come up with a stronger brand pull to connect with a younger audience that no longer resonated with the brand due to its perception as an “old-age drink”. An additional challenge was how to position Rooh Afza as a brand that can be consumed all year round.

Hamdard had to go back to the drawing board and come up with ways to address the task both from an immediate as well as long-term perspective. They had to strike the perfect sync in communication objectives, such that the brand’s typical family orientation values did not take a back seat to the modernizing of the brand tone. After much deliberation, Hamdard decided to launch a series of campaigns that would encourage Rooh Afza’s usage all year round whilst simultaneously making it a brand that is trendy, youth-centric, and full of joy. They aimed to achieve all this alongside staying true to their Pakistani roots. The key thought behind the launch was to strengthen the brand’s connection with a younger audience, the household heads of the future.

This preliminary planning formed the basis and eventual launch of Rooh Afza’s “Zindagi Mubarak” campaign in 2017. Presented using contemporary overtones built at reinvigorating the brand’s outdated persona, the campaign depicted the unconditional love of a father for his daughter. The plot revolved around him gifting her a bottle of Rooh Afza as she leaves for abroad so that she does not miss the essence of home. The campaign’s focus centered around the slice-of-life approach and Rooh Afza as the catalyst enhancing everyday moments of joy.

Upon its release, the Zindagi Mubarak campaign resonated tremendously with the audiences and seeing the positive response, the brand team extended the idea to Ramadan Mubarak, Dosti Mubarak, and Sardi Mubarak; integrating the everyday moments of life theme across various pivotal occasions. The campaign continued to deliver and enjoy a stellar response, primarily due to the authentic storytelling evoking strong emotions. The success of the campaign was twofold, firstly it propelled Rooh Afza from being a Ramadan or summer-only drink to a broader, all-year-round beverage for consumers to lift their cheerful moments. The campaign successfully positioned the brand as a drink for all seasons and occasions. Secondly, it drove Rooh Afza in laying down the foundations for a tangible connection with the all-important younger demographic, who would ultimately become household heads in the future.

The premise behind selecting ‘Zindagi Mubarak’ as the campaign’s slogan was the timelessness of the greeting. Culturally, Zindagi Mubarak is something people would say to their loved ones when they experienced the pleasures of life and were thankful for it. For Rooh Afza, which literally means “refresh the soul”, this was an apt choice as a slogan.

Beyond the advertisement, Rooh Afza also needed an overall modification in its packaging and label design, this included updating the font and colour to overhaul the typical heritage feel and modify it to the current market dynamics. To boost non-season consumption, the brand introduced several recipes integrating Rooh Afza as the key ingredient; these included Dreamy Cheese Cake, Orange Blush, Rose Badam Shake, and Pink Noon Tea. Under the segment titled Rooh Afza recipes, the brand utilized a product integration strategy on mass media to create an organic pull and broaden usage beyond the typical summer beverage consumption. Partnering with various celebrity chefs who created special recipes using Rooh Afza as the main ingredient, the brand team collaborated with different TV channels that air cooking shows, to showcase fresh ways of consuming Rooh Afza.

In the digital sphere, a blogger campaign was executed to promote the recipe integration of Rooh Afza. In addition, a User Generated Content (UGC) campaign was developed that allowed participants to enter a competition where they were to create recipes using Rooh Afza.

As times evolve, the way a brand interacts with its consumers also changes. Over the years Hamdard has innovated with formats and ready-to-drink variants of Rooh Afza by collaborating with other top brands in the country. Building upon their enhanced usage positioning, Hamdard introduced variants of Rooh Afza to further penetrate the market. Initially, the main usage of Rooh Afza beyond summer drink was mixing Rooh Afza with milk. Taking this as a potential opportunity, Hamdard collaborated with Omore to make Rooh Afza ice lolly that was offered in the market for a limited time, and Doodh Rooh Afza entered the market in a tetra pack packaging under the campaign of “Energy Wala Fun”. Hamdard also collaborated with Sprite where both brands were combined to make a fizzy drink with the rich taste of Rooh Afza, specifically catering to the Ramadan occasion under the “Rooh Afza ke Sath Iftaar ko Sprite Kar” campaign. Gauging the consumer reaction as generally positive, a carbonated version of the beverage, ‘Rooh Afza GO’ was also launched in a can under the campaign “Red Is The New GO”.

All these initiatives allowed Rooh Afza to enhance its appeal and rapidly grow in the market; however, the brand still needed more efforts to connect with the youth and that was an area that needed more work. Luckily for the brand, Pakistan was tackling the environmental challenge and actively addressing the climate change concern at a macro level. Given the popularity of digital platforms and the rise in UGC, this was the perfect opportunity to devise and implement a cause-driven campaign in line with Hamdard’s philosophy of benefitting society in the maximum way possible. The company had always been at the forefront of championing humanitarian causes that allowed society’s welfare, a manifestation of their founder, Hakim Said’s vision.

As the cries for brands across the spectrum to take up green initiatives were mounting, Hamdard came forward with the “Plant for Pakistan” campaign. Launching it under the Rooh Afza banner, the company planned to give back to society by planting thousands of plants in the 6 months of this campaign and thereafter, to keep it an unending initiative. To begin with this cause, trees were initially planted at Hamdard University Karachi and IBA Karachi, later moving on to other parts of the city. The brand team continued the tree plantation drive, by going up to different parts of Pakistan, in the process engaging children, youth, and elders in the campaign activities.

A grand TV commercial was produced that brought the spirit of plantation to life whilst simultaneously integrating the iconic red syrup as an integral part of the commercial. The advertisement portrayed a social activity that begins with young children, then gets digitalized highlighting an energetic youth playing their part, and eventually has the final shots where elders are doing the same activity. The story in the commercial moves seamlessly illustrating how one child gets an idea of doing something meaningful and that eventually becomes the prompter for a unifying cause where people of all ages and segments get involved.

The results of the campaign showed that Rooh Afza had effectively tapped the youth and created a meaningful connection with them. Moreover, the campaign’s slogan became so popular, it was eventually integrated and used at national levels by the government for a similar campaign.

As the brand experienced a revival of its popularity at national levels, it also took upon the task to create a similar impact at the global level and bring glory not just to itself but also Pakistan. Internationally, Rooh Afza enjoys a prominent place in contemporary pop culture. The global influence of Rooh Afza can be seen in poetry, music, art, and even the Hollywood series Ms. Marvel. The brand team made deliberate efforts to carve out a name in 2018 through the launch of a 30-second Ad animation that was played at Times Square, the sentimental heart of North America. In a glorious ode to its heritage, Hamdard celebrated Rooh Afza globally as Mashroob-e-Mashriq on the 23rd of March, Pakistan’s National Day.

The campaign went viral on social media, earning praise from New Yorkers who were mesmerized by the taste and look of the drink. Seeing the results, Hamdard took the campaign to other prominent locations of the world including London, Toronto, and even as far wide as New Zealand.

That same year, when Pakistan marked its 71st Independence Day, Rooh Afza took to the streets of Toronto, Canada, and hoisted the national flag at the famous Eaton Centre on 14th August. This gesture by the brand, showcasing true love for its country, warmed the souls of millions of Pakistanis living across the world. Screens were placed at Eaton Centre that turned green when Rooh Afza paid a rich tribute to its homeland. Hamdard invited people in large numbers from all over the world to gather at Eaton Centre to witness the celebrations. A similar activity was organized at several Metro Tube stations in London. An open invitation was circulated on social media inviting people to visit these Metro Stations.

These campaigns added to Rooh Afza’s popularity, as the audience positively engaged with accompanying videos on social media. Also, the global engagements helped the brand to add relevant layers and elongate the Zindagi Mubarak campaign. In 2021, a song was released that focused on celebrating life and the focus was again on children and youth. The campaign celebrated everyday moments of life and the beauty of relationships. Following its international appeal, the core message of Zindagi Mubarak was translated into several languages including Turkish, Arabic, German, Russian, English, and Spanish among others.

Questions to stimulate conversation on the case

Classify the promotional strategies taken by Rooh Afza under ATL and BTL respectively. Which set of strategies was more effective, and why?
What is the slice-of-life approach and how is it used in the Zindagi Mubarak advertisement?
Critically assess the Zindagi Mubarak campaign. How can this campaign continue to stay relevant for the youth segment in the present year?
Outline a promotional plan focusing on digital activation by Rooh Afza; what other suggestions would you integrate that the brand hasn’t already done at present?