India, get a room!

It is monsoon season in India as I exit the airport terminal building for a 7-day visit. I’ve just arrived in Mumbai and I’m getting a good feel for what monsoon season feels like. It’s wet.

I guess that goes without saying, but I never realized how wet it can be until spending a week here watching the rain fall and the roadways submerge. The scooter culture is thriving in India, with millions of residents getting around on these small motorbikes – even in the rain. My heart went out many times to the good people of Mumbai going about their business on scooters in the rain.

I recently wrote about Mumbai’s Lovers Lane, where young couples go for some alone time alongside a busy highway. In this very crowded city where extended families often live together, it can be difficult for young couples to get some private time.

Well, now it seems some astute marketer has come up with a catchy slogan targeting that particular demographic as well as others seeking some away time: India, get a room.

The Indian travel aggregator goibibo, a firm that connects travelers with cost effective travel and hotel options – much like Tripadvisor or Trivago – recently ran an advertising campaign with that slogan.

I thought this a very creative approach to attracting new business while tapping in to a well-known cultural phenomenon. But India is still a relatively conservative country, so this campaign struck me as a bit edgy. But it succeeded in delivering the business.

A friend in Mumbai with knowledge of the campaign tells me that occupancy rates and daytime only occupancy in area hotels soared during this campaign. While targeted at the larger cities – which tend to be more progressive and accepting of this hookup culture – the campaign actually created a lot of social media buzz and new business in smaller cities as well. Overall, it was a very successful campaign.

And who knows, maybe the campaign even saved lives by getting young people off the busy thoroughfares. I think I would have liked for them to include a second tag line along with the main slogan: India, get a room (and practice safe sex!) Maybe for the next campaign?