Case Studies

Case Study: How Mangaldeep used AR to bring the Maha Kumbh experience to devotees' screens

Mangaldeep used AR to bring the Maha Kumbh experience to devotees who couldn’t attend in person. Through immersive 360-degree rituals and interactive elements, the campaign blended tradition with technology. Here's a case study on what the brand did.

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Mangaldeep Maha Kumbh

Not everyone gets the chance to witness the grandeur of Maha Kumbh, but ITC Mangaldeep found a way to change that. With Mangaldeep Ka Mangal Kumbh, the brand used Augmented Reality (AR) to bring the sacred rituals of Maha Kumbh right to people’s screens. From interactive 360-degree experiences to a hybrid ritual where virtual offerings were carried to the Ganga, the campaign blended tradition with technology. Here's a case study on it. 

Category Introduction

Incense is one of the most penetrated pooja needs categories in the country with more than 80% annual penetration (as much as popular categories such as biscuits.) The category size is a whopping Rs 11,000 crore. It is highly fragmented with regional and local players enjoying strongholds in their respective markets. There are only a few brands which have been able to establish a pan-India presence.

Brand Introduction 

Mangaldeep brand has a legacy of over three decades of curating offerings which can felicitate an elevated fragrant pooja experience for its users. With its strong distribution system, the brand goes to 24% of the incense-using households in a year. The brand offers products for pooja needs such as incense sticks, dhoop, camphor, and matchboxes.

Summary

Mangaldeep’s Augmented Reality (AR) Mahakumbh campaign is an attempt at bridging the gap between innovation and tradition. It is aimed at making a once-in-a-lifetime accessible to all while enabling users to experience the satisfaction of participating in a monumental and culturally significant event.

Objective 

  • Establish Mangaldeep as a facilitator and enabler of devotion to the devotees interested in experiencing Mahakumbh 2025.
  • Felicitate a high degree of user engagement which could translate into improved brand consideration and brand love.

Brief

The team was tasked to:

  • Identify a solution which can be extended at scale and reach out to potential consumers from different demographics and markets in the country.
  • Offer a unique medium in which Mangaldeep could bring the much sought-after experience of Mahakumbh to its present and potential consumers.
  • Ensure the brand campaign reaches the right audience to ensure mass usage and a high engagement rate.

Creative Idea 

  • A strong insight drove the campaign – while Maha Kumbh is expected to receive over 40 crore visitors, two-thirds of the country’s population would still miss the opportunity owning to factors such as the cost of travel, health issues and risks associated with joining crowded events.
  • To solve this issue, Mangaldeep decided to launch an AR-powered virtual gateway to immerse the devotees in the sacred rituals of the Maha Kumbh, bringing traditions like the Shahi Snaan (royal bath), Deep Daan (lamp offering), and Aarti (prayer ceremony) directly to their homes.
  • Further, the brand introduced a personalized devotional filter that allows users to create unique Maha Kumbh souvenirs. Devotees could virtually participate in the rituals, capture their spiritual moments, and share them with loved ones, spreading the divine energy beyond the sacred grounds.

Challenges

  • Standing out in a clutter of brand campaigns from different categories fighting for the same customer’s attention.
  • Curating a solution which could be accepted by consumers from different age groups and markets.
  • Ensuring instant gratification in a short span of online engagement with the user
  • Identifying ways to encourage users to turn into brand campaign evangelists and leverage word-of-mouth-led awareness

Execution 

Experience Building

  • With the clear objective of transporting users to Mahakumbh using their small screens, the brand went all-in to understand what Mahakumbh really meant for devotees, why they want to visit it so badly and what are the activities and rituals they are expected to perform to complete their pilgrimage. This understanding built the foundation of the AR experience – the three rituals a user can do once they are inside – shahi snaan, deep daan and ghat aarti.
  • A group from production and digital teams was sent to the ground to capture the Mahakumbh experience as is, in its entirety. The team deployed 360-degree cameras at all high-traffic sights to record content to build a credible AR experience.
  • Then, a team of expert software professionals put their might behind building a 360-degree immersive experience which could mimic the venue of Maha Kumbh, where users could look around by rotating their handsets, hear the sounds of the activities taking place and perform rituals themselves with gestures such as tapping buttons, moving up & down for taking dips and clicking photos, making it a highly engaging and memorable experience.
  • In order to ensure brand recall, branded infrastructure was smartly integrated into the experience without hampering the user experience in the form of branded sign boards, boats and lights.
  • To ensure users had a reason to share their experience, once they landed inside, the brand integrated a personalized Mahakumbh frame which could be generated after users clicked their selfies.
  • Adding to this innovation, Mangaldeep organized a hybrid Deep Daan ceremony, where virtual offerings made by AR users were physically carried to the Ganges each week. This seamless integration of digital and physical realms created a deeply personal connection, ensuring that the essence of the Maha Kumbh was experienced both individually and collectively.

Promotions & Amplification

  • Strategy: To amplify the reach of this intervention, the brand Devised a targeted multi-platform strategy to maximise reach, resonance, and engagement. The brand used leading mediums such as print, social media and communities as its ammunition to keep the fire of excitement burning.
  • Social Media: A one-day paid Twitter trending activity was planned with the #MangaldeepKaMangalKumbh to attract attention on one of the significant days for Mahakumbh – Basant Panchami. On the launch day, the brand leverages a micro-creators-led re-posting relay to ensure the campaign landed on Instagram with a bang. Further, it identified thought-leaders who could glorify the hard work done behind the idea and encourage more participation.

 

Influencer posts: 

  • Meta ads were launched for the high-affinity markets of UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi while excluding pockets with close proximity to the Mahakumbh venue as these residents were less likely to opt for a virtual experience over an on-ground one. The ad objective was straightway set to visiting the AR experience with creatives targeted to different placements on the platform to maximize reach.
  • The brand expanded its reach beyond North markets with a high-impact front page jacket print ad in the leading daily The Times of India. The ad had a QR code leading readers to the experience.
  • To not miss out on the large communities built inside a conglomerate like ITC, the brand activated WhatsApp amplification to reach out to all stakeholders such as traders, shopkeepers and employees.

Results 

Quantitative

  • Campaign exploded digitally reaching 27 Mn users through different mediums of print, social media, influencer collaborations and community marketing
  • Total time spent on this virtual experience crossed 1.2 lakh hours in just 10 days post-launch
  • The campaign received 118 print and online coverage translating into Rs 1.5cr worth of earned media. 
  • The campaign facilitated one-on-one consumer engagement delivering much longer durations of interaction than average user’s attention span online. 

Commenting on the initiative, Gaurav Tayal, Divisional CEO, of Matches and Agarbatti Division, ITC, said, "The Maha Kumbh is more than an event; it is a profound confluence of faith, tradition, and, spirituality. At ITC Mangaldeep, we are honoured to bring this sacred experience closer to millions who may not physically attend. Our AR initiative goes beyond bridging distances—it deepens the connection between tradition and innovation, ensuring the divine reaches all, irrespective of boundaries."

augmented reality AR experience Maha Kumbh Mela Mangaldeep campaign