Case Study: How hyperlocal storytelling shaped Ather Rizta’s festive family scooter positioning

Ather Energy’s Dasara campaign for its family-focused EV scooter, Ather Rizta, leveraged Karnataka’s festive rituals to embed the product into everyday family celebrations. Partnering with regional creators, the brand highlighted three key Dasara traditions, with each influencer organically integrating one Rizta feature into culturally familiar, often humorous narratives. The approach aimed to position Rizta as a natural part of family life while driving regional awareness. The campaign delivered 1.4 million views, an engagement rate of 8.61% and a low CPV of ₹0.24, with Mysore-centric storytelling and surprise-led content emerging as key engagement drivers.

Category Introduction

India’s electric vehicle (EV) market has expanded rapidly over the past decade, with annual sales rising from about 50,000 units in 2016 to 2.08 million in 2024, taking the total EV stock on Indian roads to an estimated 5.45 million, according to Statista and NITI Aayog data. Growth continues to be driven overwhelmingly by electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which together accounted for around 95% of EV sales in 2024, reflecting their affordability and suitability for urban and last-mile use. Passenger electric vehicles remain a smaller but steadily growing segment, led by Tata Motors, which held a 62% market share in 2024, with models such as the Tata Punch EV emerging as key volume drivers. Looking ahead, the EV industry is projected to scale into a ₹20 lakh crore opportunity by 2030, with the potential to generate up to five crore jobs, supported by rising manufacturer interest, from domestic leaders like Tata and MG to newer entrants such as BYD and PMV, and increasing policy emphasis on local manufacturing and supply-chain development.

Brand introduction

Summary

Ather the brand wanted to position its scooter during the Dasara festival. The idea was to highlight three key cultural rituals of Dasara in Karnataka via influencers and showcase how the brand seamlessly blends into Indian festivals.

Problem Statement / Objective

1. Integrate Rizta as a family scooter and a part of festivities

2. Highlight one feature of the scooter in each reel

3. Communicate what the brand was trying to achieve through the campaign

4. Drive awareness in the Karnataka region

Brief 

Assign each influencer one high point or event of the festival and one scooter feature to talk about in their own style, weaving it naturally into the festivities.

Creative Idea

Map out three creators who would each talk about a different ritual that takes place during Dasara in Karnataka.

Challenges
The team had to be very mindful of product and feature placement. This required some back-and-forth on scripts to ensure the integration felt organic and seamless.

Results

Quantitative:

• Total views: 1.4M

• Campaign ER: 8.61%

• CPV: ₹0.24

Qualitative:

Creators who embedded Ather Rizta into culturally familiar, humorous narratives, such as Soumya’s mom-daughter skit and The Local Friendly Bakery’s trunk reveal, achieved the highest engagement rates (9.33% and 10.73% ER) and the most efficient CPV.

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A post shared by Soumya Venugopal (@sonuvenugopaal)

The Local Friendly Bakery’s Mysore-specific storyline and community focus created a strong emotional hook, driving virality and top-tier engagement.

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A post shared by The Local Friendly Bakery (@thelocalfriendlybakery)

All high-performing reels used humour and surprise reveals (for example, the Rizta pooja and trunk capacity joke) to transition into brand messaging organically. Light-hearted storytelling significantly boosted brand recall.

Murali Sashidharan, Head of Public Relations and Government Relations at Ather Energy, said, “Regional creators have an unmatched ability to speak to their communities with authenticity, and this campaign proved the power of that connection. By collaborating with OML and tapping into Karnataka’s rich festive traditions, we were able to bring the Ather Rizta closer to the very families we built it for. The blend of cultural insight, creator storytelling, and hyperlocal celebration helped us reach audiences across the state in a way that felt genuine, familiar, and truly festive.”