Onam holds a symbolic significance with celebrations and festivities for Malayalis worldwide. The annual harvest festival is celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit the people of his kingdom during the harvest ceremony so he can see them living in happiness.

The festival, which this year took place from August 22 to September 2, carries a legacy in tradition and rituals. That leads to immense excitement in the air and high-spirited celebrations everywhere. During the eight days of the festival, Malayalees go shopping with a vengeance, and brands focus their marketing might on the state to capitalise on the frenzy. 

This year, with the ongoing pandemic and other calamities that have been plaguing the state, Onam was going to be a low-key affair. The market sentiments were low, and people were not quite ready to face the “new normal” of celebrating their much-awaited festival of the year.

Unlocking Mathrubhumi Group might  

Known as the mouthpiece of Malayalees for more than nine decades, Mathrubhumi Group  undertook the ad sales initiative called The Mathrubhumi Ad Impact. This was a dedicated media platform that offered tailor-made plans for marketers to suit their budget, however big or small. 

The initiative allowed brand owners and media planners to see their brands promoted in print, news, digital, FM radio, and so on. Furthermore, bringing the different verticals of Mathrubhumi in one place helped the group also present the enormity and reach that cuts across various target segments.

It offered advertisers greater opportunities to hit their target market.

Positive results for all

The end result of The Mathrubhumi Ad Impact initiative witnessed was extraordinary in many ways. It penetrated the market deep and wide and reduced our dependency on the traditional lead advertisers. It also beat the competition in many areas. 

The Group created history by attracting more than 1,000 advertisers; of those, more than 200 were local traders of Kerala who exclusively advertised in Mathrubhumi. Each of those advertisers went on record to explain their satisfaction in the responses their ads generated.  

“During the current times, our advertising in Mathrubhumi helping us stay afloat has been one of the biggest saving graces for us,” said Iqbal Sheik Usman of the Pooja Group, Attingal. “Mathburhumi team has been very supportive, too.”  

The success story of Onam was shared with our advertisers and well-wishers by creating two videos.

The first video shared the resounding testimonials to the response Mathrubhumi generated. A second video raised a toast to the group’s internal heroes and express its gratitude to all the advertisers. Both the internal team and the advertisers have received this very warmly.

In a year when nothing was normal, Mathrubhumi was able to create excitement around the annual festival and deliver tangible business results to each and every advertiser.

More importantly, we were able to show that within every challenge, there is also an opportunity. In the end, everyone was happy.

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