Case Study: How Shalimar Paints' 'Colours of Quarantine’ drove engagement on social media

Shalimar Paints launched ‘Colours of Quarantine’, a consumer engagement contest on its social media handles fetching around 1k plus engagement for the brand.

The 'Colours of Quarantine' contest by Shalimar Paints revolves around the thought that how people can creatively spend family time while being quarantined at home.   

Category Introduction

Shalimar Paints is engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of decorative paints and industrial coatings. Howrah Bridge, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Salt Lake Stadium, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, among others, are some of the key projects that are still serviced by the paint manufacturer. It currently holds a market share of around 5% of the Indian paints industry worth INR 50,000 crore.

Brand Introduction 

In the
wake of nation-wide lockdown, Shalimar Paints had rolled out ‘Colour of
Quarantine’. It is an innovative campaign/contest that aimed to engage
consumers and encourage them to share their creativity in the form of painting
on any surface – be it on paper, canvas, wall, sculpture, or pot. The brand had
also hosted exclusive online contests for its associated dealers, as part of
the campaign.

Summary

Keeping colors at the forefront, Shalimar Paints aimed to help its social media audiences engage in creative tasks and drive positivity in the process. As a result, the team came out with an idea of painting on any surface such as a wall, pottery, paper, canvas, etc., thus making the most of lockdown.

Problem Statement/Objective 

The objective was to engage with our consumer base on social media during the lockdown, with colors as the central focus.

Campaign Brief

The brief included:

1. An idea that involves the consumer base along with it.
2. Colors being the major driving factor of the idea.
3. An activity or contest which could be done within one's house and should be easy to execute during the quarantine.

Creative Idea

The brand wanted to represent the value of quality time spent with family during this hour of crisis. Secondly, it tried to add some creativity to this idea and make it more interesting for people. As a result, the team came out with an online contest that can engage people and encourage them to showcase their creative efforts in the form of painting.

Challenges

After spending a considerable amount of time in developing the idea and creative, the major issue was around its marketing strategy - How to involve people into ‘Colours of Quarantine’; how to draw them towards the idea of painting or sketching while at home.

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However, the approach to this challenge was simple. As we all love to bring our imaginations in front of the eyes, Shalimar Paints planned to ask people if they can reflect their ideas through any form of painting.

Execution

At a time when things have come to a standstill in the wake of country-wide lockdown, Shalimar Paints took this as an opportunity to be creative. In sync with this vision, it has launched ‘Colour of Quarantine’. As the name goes by, the contest revolves around the thought that how people can creatively spend family time while being quarantined at home.

Going forward, the brand will continue to introduce more such ways of communication that enable consumers to unfold their creativity and stay connected with the world during the lockdown.

Results

Minal Srivastava, Vice President-Strategy, Growth and Marketing, Shalimar Paints said, “COVID-19 has caused serious disruptions to lives, businesses, and economies across the globe. As a result, lockdown came as a necessity rather than a choice. However, at Shalimar Paints, we decided to take these vulnerable times as an opportunity to show our creative sides to the world. ‘Colours of Quarantine’ is the by-product of this vision. We are glad to see the amazing response and interest shown by people through their creative paintings during the campaign. In a bid to keep this energy fresh among our customers, painters, and dealers, we will continue to come out with more such initiatives in the times to come. Going forward, we would urge everyone to be safe at home, take all the precautionary measures, and keep your creativity levels up.”