The Lipton Talent Hunt Journey
November 28, 2008 — SamarTeaser Campaign
In three days we literally painted the campus yellow.
Day 1: A huge banner at the café’s entrance questioned, “STYLE – Are you headed this way? We are too!”, indicating that high style was soon going to rock IBA. Yellow teacups asking, “Do you drink your style? were gleaming everywhere from the café counter to the railings of the MIS building and every place in between.
Day 2: Huge panaflexes in light, regular and strong colours were placed at the two MIS buildings, the library & the café entrance. They gaily beckoned, “Brew your Style”.
Day 3: IBA was bombarded with posters inviting all students to the grand curtain raising and candle lighting ceremony of the Lipton Talent Hunt. From the toilets to the trees, invitations to “Pappu and Dolly ka Rishta” were every where.
Launch de Lipton
The day of the launch, all of IBA was abuzz. At 3 o clock, the auditorium was overflowing. 200+ students cheered enthusiastically as Lipton saved the day and Pappu and Dolly’s rishta got accepted over a cup of Lipton. The second play emphasized the importance of expressing your style with 3 couples, Light Regular & Strong. The curtain was raised & the candle lighted by Ms. Lalarukh Ejaz and all of IBA was fueled for 3 weeks of non stop fun!
Free Sampling
Students were demonstrated the correct way to get their personalized tea in their style. They were also encouraged to make this tea themselves.
Customer Feedback: “This tea is 100 times better than the café tea”, “When I like strong tea why should I be forced to take the weak cafeteria water that they pass off as tea!”
Customization: Customers were taught the number of dips required for each tea style. The importance of correctly making tea in your personal style was emphasized.
Lipton Fraternities
Customers signed up in wither of 3 fraternities – Light, Regular & Strong according tot heir tea style. For practical reasons, it was not possible for us to hold Lipton Games for 2 days and instead we utilized this day to sign up customers for the games to be held the next day.
Lipton games
The concept of Light, Regular & Strong was highlighted with Rangoli for Lights, Musical Chair & Balloon Bursting for Regulars & Tug of War for Strongs. Winners could use the coupons that we awarded them to claim a cup of LIPTON along with muffins. It was a huge success and every one had a blast including us because we were laughing so much watching the fun games in progress. Nothing of this sort had ever been implemented in IBA.
Gurus & Divas
We went up to each class in IBA and awarded prizes for Lipton Style Guru & Diva according to the style in which that person had dressed – Light Regular or Strong. The jury comprised of opinion leaders from IBA to enhance the image of the brand.
The prizes were a little token from Lipton – 2 tea bags along with a chit educating about how to brew your perfect cup of tea in your style.
First Selling Day:
Tea was served at 3 locations: Right at the entry to the cafe – Intercepting customers 
– near the MIS building & through mobile by a trolley parked alternatively at the cafe and the auditorium.
OUR DEALS:
Lipton Nashta: As the name indicates this was our breakfast deal: Halwa, chana chaat and aallo ki bhujia wid Puri + Tea. All at very reasonable rates!
For lunch we served tea with barbecue chicken tikka sandwiches with tea and for the evening we offered rolls with Tea. All the items were hygeinic and scrumptious!
This was proved by out exceptional sales which far exceeded our forecasts!
The star of the day was the “Tea on Wheels”, a trolley equipped to serve you your favorite tea, whenever you want it, where ever you want it on campus. Customers could simple send a text message to a heavily advertised number and the tea would come running. Apart from a few naughty pranks this was a revolutionary concept and gave us incredible visibility & ease to customers.
Also we were able to anticipate customer needs before hand. Since IBA suddenly thrust a compulsory seminar on students between 3-5, we figured students would enter dehydrated and emerge ravenous. Thus we parked our trolley right outside the auditorium door. We had huge sales before and after the seminar, bored students also kept popping out of the auditorium, taking a cup of tea back inside to relieve themselves
The icing of the cake was when the guest speaker from the Indian Institute of Management enjoyed our tea and the entire faculty followed suit.
Thus we were very successful in both wet and dry selling.
Mascot Masti:
The funniest guy in our group dressed up as a Lipton tea bag and went around campus, educating customers about how to dip him to get their style of tea. The “tea bag” also played cricket with the customers.
Customization: The mascot taught customers the correct making of making tea in their style in a humorous manner.
Lipton Dholki:
The cafeteria was transformed into a riot of red, orange and yellow to represent strong, regular and light. Strands of yellow flowers danced gaily from the ceiling, the tables were removed and instead red oriental carpets were laid down invitingly. Red and Orange cushions were propped against the walls beckoning customers to be transported to the dholki of Pappu and Dolly. Three teams- Strong, regular and light played antakshari choosing popular, wedding melodies.
Customers sang their hearts out frequently replenished by cups of Lipton tea. Pappu and Dolly occupied the place of honor and sipped Lipton in delight beneath the red mayoon dupatta.
Make your Style Statement
The purpose was to ascertain how firmly entrenched was the concept of Light, Regular & Strong styles in the minds of our customer. We went up to groups of students milling about the campus and targeted the opinion leaders in each group questioning them as to their style statement, tea drinking style and how important it was for them. Next they posed for pictures and videos with the Lipton Style King / Queen crown. This was a cute yellow and gold crown with tea bags dangling from it and made for many memorable photographs. 92% of customers correctly identified their styles as Light, Regular or Strong.
Customer Feedback: “I can have strong and only strong tea. My style is very important to me!”
Lipton Lounge
Imagine being burdened by a million reports, presentations, assignments and finals just around the corner to boot. Picture yourself in IBA, where there is no place to sit and relax, and the cafeteria food has been tried, tested and rejected by all and sundry. Now imagine being transported into another world. A red carpet is stretched out at the entrance along with a black board merrily declaring, “Now Serving”, displaying the items you can titillate your taste buds with today. You are greeted by soothing melodies and the warm smile of a Halcyon member who asks you, “Chai chahiye?” This world is painted rich hues of red, orange and yellow, a warm fusion of Western and Eastern with comfy sofas and traditional gao takkiyas to let your tension ebb with the music. Garam garm chai in your style is served along with a vast assortment of snacks to tempt you. Halwa Puri and sandwiches for breakfast, garlic mayo rolls and chicken wings for lunch, doughnuts and cookies for hi-tea. All these meals come in three deals – Light, Regular & Strong according to the size and quantity. Chandeliers and lamps unfurl a rosy glow; the music is seeping through your mind as assignments retreat to a distant corner. For the studious, tables have been set up with gorgeous lace tablecloths in Strong (Red), Regular (Orange) and Light (Yellow). Many a meetings are held here, it is a welcome alternative to the library for IBA’s study groups and faculty members.
This was the world that we created at the Lipton Lounge. Needless to say there was never a dull moment at the lounge and customers were always thronging. Yellow arrows all over campus guided students to the Lipton Lounge, however they were not required. As soon as their classes got over, students rushed to the Lipton Lounge! Persistent Customer feedback on the first day, “Can’t we please have this all the year round?” made us realize that it would be a loss to IBA if we discontinued this before our last selling day.
However we made some welcome changes. The menu of the last day was everything the heart could desire and the cafeteria went empty the whole day. A large screen prominently displayed a slide show of the Lipton Journey at IBA. Many students reclined on the gao takiyas sipping a steaming cup of Lipton and watched delightedly the whole of IBA participating in the Lipton Talent hunt, specially when their own faces popped up on the screen.
The Lipton lounge has become a benchmark in IBA of what students can do despite restrictions – provided they have the vision and determination. Which was quite simply this: Transport you to the World of Lipton.
Customer Feedback: “You just gotta make this permanent!”
Customization: Customization was everywhere, from the yellow lights, red cushions and orange sofas, the Light, Regular & Strong menus to the Light, Regular & Strong tables.
Lipton Masquerade
The Lipton Talent Hunt bid farewell to IBA with a bang. In a never-before masquerade, students were provided gorgeous masks of Strong (Red), Regular (Orange), Light (Yellow) and had dressed accordingly. The ugly auditorium was transformed into a hall of magic and mystery. Black draperies adorned the walls, embellished by Strong (Red), Regular (Orange) and Light (Yellow) masks. The lights were all turned off and yellow lamps cast a rosy hue over the masks and of course the stage. The curtains were drawn and from them dangled huge, 6 foot masks at the bottom of which sat the musicians. There were three IBA bands – Light, Regular and Strong who played music accordingly. On this balmy winter evening with the warm lights, the music was the kind which transports you. One memorable melody was “Damadum Mast Qalander” played by the Strong band which had customers doing the bhangra in a frenzy. The ambience became intimate and cozy as the Light lead singer sang Atif Aslam’s Yakeen. Since the band members were all from IBA, customers interacted with them and sang along as they cheered their favorite musicians.
The most successful moment of the afternoon was when we asked IBA aloud after a particularly wonderful melody, “So what are the three Lipton Styles?” and the crowd yelled back in unison, “LIGHT, REGULAR & Strong!”
We then knew that though the Lipton journey had reached its destination, Light, Regular & Strong Lipton Tea bags would never leave IBA.
The multi-faceted Personality of Allah Ta’ala
October 15, 2008 — SamarAllah Ta’ala has 99 beautiful names ranging from “Al-Qaabid” (Rozi tang karne wala, The Restrainer, the Withholder) to “Al-Basit” (Rozi faragh karne wala, The Expander, The Enlarger). This entails that on one hand Allah widens sustenance by His Mercy & Generosity and on the other, He constricts it by His Wisdom. What intriguing, parallel attributes!
We spend our entire lives without knowing the most beautiful of Allah’s Names or at least seeking to understand with our limited faculties, His Qualities. The knowledge that we can never do so, should further prompt us to endeavor for a single sip of this mighty ocean. For who could be more unlucky than one who went through life and never knew his Creator, his beginning and his destination? And finally couldn’t even see Him on the Day of Judgment?
Ask this of one who yearns to know his roots.
It is like being bereft of your identity.
My favourite Name is one that unfortunately not many people know of – “Al-Wadood” (The Loving). Can you not feel His Love engulfing you, every time you receive a blessing and dance with joy? Is His Love not a poignant force, every time you sin and still He continues to bless you? Does He not cloak your multitudes of sins so that the world may not think ill of you? Is it not His Love silently loving you when you receive a wonderful surprise unexpectedly? Every time your mother hugs you, is it not Allah’s Love embracing you? Is His love not alive within you ever time you love His creations?
How would Allah feel when He loves you so much and blesses you; then you hurt another human being whom He loves too?
The strongest bond in the universe is that of Creator and creation; one that is unbroken even in death.
How can one not love such a Loving God? Or even worse deny His very Presence – Allah calls it Zulm. Do you not think it IS Zulm if we reject His Love; instead claiming that another human being or false deity created us?
This Lover continues to love us regardless of what we do. How easy is it for Him to halt the coming breath when we are ungrateful? Why then does He give us our next breath and then the next?
Points to ponder.
Allah says: “Say: O Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the mercy of Allah; verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
(39: 53)
I repeat: How can one not love such a Loving God?
Hurting
October 2, 2008 — SamarWhat do I do when some body hurts me?
I shut my eyes & turn the other cheek forwards.
Later consoling myself that I wasn’t hurt after all.
The Late Aashiq Ali
August 9, 2008 — SamarTears that refuse to fall.
Tears held back.
Tears falling endlessly.
Our relationship with Allah
June 27, 2008 — SamarWithout Allah, life is not worth living, with Allah, life is worth dying for
- Sheikh Safi Khan
Cortesy: Sabeen Khan, facebbok quote
The Essence of Freedom
May 23, 2008 — Samar
Let go.
Let go of the difficulties that are plaguing you. Release the pain. Don’t you know that you are Allah’s creation and that He takes care of all that He creates? Who feeds the insects you stamp on or the multitudes of fish thriving in the sea?
Your troubles are not just your own, Allah sees them, He will resolve them.
“And Allah is sufficient for His creatures wants and needs.”
Be free.
“And I entrust my affairs to Allah. Verily Allah is the All-Seer of (His) slaves.”
- Surah Al-Ghafir (the Forgiver) Ayah 44
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