A MAHA SEASON PRESENCE IN SRI LANKA

11 December 2020

In the last quarter of year 2020, extensive efforts were made to boost the brand presence. Tactical consumer offers and easy finance schemes were rolled out in partnership with finance companies. With the aim to increase brand visibility and awareness, a branding drive was carried out at select Mahindra dealers’ showrooms. Vibrant collaterals with a strong branding design were displayed prominently.

An island-wide campaign was carried out during the MAHA season. This was organised in two stages – Pre-Season service and In-Season promotion. Pre-season service campaign was intended to nudge the farmers to keep their tractors ready for the season. The Service campaign was carried out in 40+ locations and almost 800 farmers got their tractors serviced by expert technicians.

The In-season campaign involved a 360 degree marketing communication promoting tactical offers. A phased multi-channel approach was adopted, starting with Radio, followed by Digital and Print media. To further improve visibility, ten hoarding were set-up in key junctions having high road traffic. The ATL campaign was followed by extensive BTL activation through demonstrations and roadshows with FM sponsorship.

In an industry-first initiative, we adopted a sell-through approach to tractor sales. During the agricultural season (MAHA Season), we doubled our tractor display points by displaying tractors at bank and finance company branch premises, in addition to existing dealer points. Joint on-ground activation was carried out by DIMO and Leasing companies in key agricultural districts and weekly markets. DIMO joined hands with 4 major leasing companies – Commercial Leasing Company, HNB, SDB and Peoples leasing company to offer attractive low down payment facility on the purchase of Mahindra and Swaraj tractors.

In yet another industry first initiative, a well-strategized digital campaign was rolled out in October. The digital promotions were carried out through GDN remarketing ads, Direct placement ads and Facebook ads. The campaigns were made specific and cost effective by geotargeting in key agricultural districts. Overall 3 million impressions were served with a reach of 0.6Mn, and generated over 1000 leads. The Mahindra Tractors by DIMO page on Facebook is the regular medium of communication with regular static and video post updates. This page was created in January 2020 and currently has over 16000 active followers.

In addition to regular posts on tractors, genuine spare parts and important days, an interesting weekly campaign titled Tractor Bro was launched. This uses an illustrated story telling format to share the life of a young man who owns a Mahindra tractor. A new DIMO Agri Machinery Centre was recently opened in the Mahiyanganaya area, which would soon become the go-to place for farmers for all their farm machinery servicing needs. This new customer care facility is equipped to service both Mahindra and Swaraj tractor customers in the region.

All these initiatives worked together to create a buzz for the brand and to keep the Mahindra brand thriving among the farming community of Sri Lanka and helped achieve 25% plus market share in Sri Lanka.