A multi-city product launch: 40 Indian cities in 64 days for Transasia Bio-Medicals

The campaign opened with the largest evenings in Bengaluru on 23 March, Mumbai on 30 March and Delhi on 31 March, at The Lalit in Bengaluru and Delhi and the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. Kolkata followed at the Taj Bengal.

The remaining cities were run as a 35-city leg grouped into East, North, South and West zones, so that each team and each kit stayed within reach of its next venue. Metro evenings drew 150 to 300 guests; the tier-2 cities drew fewer, down to around 80, from a distributor's list of local hospital administrators, radiology and pathology heads and purchasing decision makers.

Work began about three months before the first evening. ICE India identified hotel ballrooms in each city, built relationships with the hotels, scouted comedians and classical performers in each region, and agreed guest lists with Transasia's distributors.

Every city got a written run sheet: expected numbers, venue logistics, entertainment timings and a contingency plan. Each hotel was visited or briefed beforehand to confirm ballroom availability, the AV requirement for the split-LED display, catering, and parking for 100 to 300 guests. Room blocks were arranged for the Transasia leadership team travelling between cities.

Moving one set of equipment across India's distances would have meant long transits, damage risk and a full day of setup at every stop. ICE India instead built several complete kits, each with the split-LED screens, the automated trolley, audio-visual equipment, branded backdrops and the '40' gateway, and assigned each kit to a regional cluster.

Cities in a cluster were typically three to four hours apart, so a kit could be struck after one evening and rebuilt for the next. Setup came down to two to three hours rather than the eight to ten a single touring set would have needed. Regional technical teams were placed in each zone to maintain the equipment and repair it on the spot.

The product was a set of haematology analysers, which do not demonstrate themselves. ICE India designed a split-LED display synchronised with an automated trolley. As the emcee introduced each feature, lighting changed, the left screen showed the feature and the trolley brought the machine forward on the right, so guests saw the claim and the instrument together.

The LED content was programmed for each city, with local messaging and regional-language options. The crew tested the trolley mechanics daily and ran two or three demonstrations before each evening, with backup LED equipment and a manual fallback for the trolley. The forward movement of the trolley also carried the anniversary line, '40 years of moving forward'.

Each city followed the same format, so that a guest in Jodhpur and a guest in Mumbai saw the same evening. Guests of honour were the senior practitioners of each city, and the dinner was built around giving Transasia's leadership time with them.

Entertainment broke up the technical content. A Ganesh Vandana performance of 8 to 10 minutes opened every evening, and a stand-up comedian performed for 15 to 20 minutes after the demonstration and before dinner. Comedians were booked through agencies in each state: South Indian comedians in the south, Hindi in the north, Marathi in Maharashtra.

The anniversary was carried by one object. At every venue a numeral-shaped gateway, built in red with the words Celebrating Excellence, stood at the entrance, and the same image appeared on the stage backdrop and signage. Guests and Transasia staff photographed themselves at it, which gave the company a set of images from all 40 cities for its own communications.

A central control room tracked all 40 cities for the full 64 days. Daily calls with the regional teams covered setup progress, last-minute venue changes, performer arrivals and technical issues, so that problems were dealt with before an evening rather than during it.

Standard run sheets and the identical kits held the experience steady. Regional choices, such as the comedian, the language on the screen and the menu, were the only things allowed to vary.

Kits matched to geography

Clustering equipment regionally removed the long haul that would have caused delays and damage.

Fixed format, local flavour

The demonstration, venue standard and dinner never changed. The comedian, language and menu did.

Hosting, not selling

Guests of honour at a dinner with the leadership team, with the product shown mid-evening, rather than a presentation with food.

One symbol, 40 times

A single anniversary installation gave the campaign a recognisable face in every city.

ICE India plans product launches in one city or in many, and the travel and movement across 40 cities fall under event logistics.