Hillary Cross, Global Marketing Director at British Council, aptly describes great marketing activity as one that ‘ begins and ends with the customer – understanding them really well and having full clarity about what you want them to think, feel or do.’

Great marketing is one that pushes boundaries and enters territories you wouldn’t expect it to break into. It’s an emotionally engaging expression that builds impressions and relationships that last. But, as we go gaga over the eye-catching, attention-grabbing facets of the creative strategy, we mustn’t forget that it is also a lot about outcomes. When marketing strategist, Simon Carter, says, “Great marketing is not just about a fancy creative or huge budgets – it’s something that makes a customer undertake an action that helps fulfill the objectives of your business”, his words hold much water. Outcomes do matter and how the marketing initiative drives business results is indeed important.

• Kan Khajura Tesan

Talking of a great example, HUL’s stunning mobile marketing initiative, Kan Khajura Tesan, is a fascinating endeavor that has taken rural Bihar and Jharkhand by storm.

KKT is a radio station in a mobile phone that works very simply and all it takes for a fifteen-minute long dose of entertainment is a missed call. The radio content is intelligently interspersed with ads for HUL’s brands. The fully advertiser funded entertainment-on-demand initiative helps HUL’s brands with customer engagement in media dark areas.

Winner of four Lions, the campaign plays on the insight that 65% percent of the population in their target areas were mobile phone users.

What HUL did was transform that rudimentary technology into a reliable and constant medium of entertainment and hence, reach out efficiently to an untapped belt of customers.