RWA Activation: The concept and its benefits

RWA stands for residential welfare association. It is an independent organization that handles events and activities related to residential societies in metro and suburban cities in India. The organization handles all the activities related to the residential societies that fall under RWA. It a group of members that work in the interest of people living in housing societies and colonies. The aim of RWA is to resolve any problems and to provide better facilities to the residents. RWA also organizes social events, festival gatherings and sports activities etc. to entertain residents.

What is RWA activation and why it is important?

If we look around all we would see is numerous sky-high and fully accommodated building. The rising popularity of housing societies and residential building have increased the need of RWA bodies everywhere. Through RWA the management of housing societies becomes easier.

RWA activation refers to exploring branding and advertising opportunities at residential societies. Through events organized by RWA the brands can explore the potential of residential society branding. Moreover, through activation the brands gets to put their ad material in the society premises with the permission granted by RWA. The aim of RWA activation is to let the brand interact with its target audience directly.

Benefits of RWA activation:

• Through RWA activation the brands can advertise themselves in a conducive and clutter –free environment.
• RWA activation works best for brands that have families, salaried individuals and kids as their prime audience.
• The residential societies let the customer and business engage with each other directly rather than through an intermediate channel.
• The brands receives quick feedback and hence can improve effectively. The feedback helps in brand improvisation, brand building and positive brand reinforcement.
• Brand can build a customer data base that it can utilize to build new products, improvise existing product and to formulate new marketing strategies.
• RWA activation is a way of getting brands and customer closer through a single platform.

Advertising formats that can be used after RWA activation:

• Live Demos: The brands can demonstrate their utility by conducting live demos in society. For instance, a hair straightener brands can give free hair straightening service for volunteers. This way they can show the utility the product and its results to the target customer then and there itself.

• Kiosks and canopies: Through kiosks the brands can distribute free samples of products and can encourage the target audience by informing the audience about the qualities of the product or service. For instance, a car brand can park a car beside the kiosk or under the canopy and ask the visiting customers to take a test drive. During the test drive the brand representative can talk about exclusive features of the car.

• Programmatic ads: Brands can display programmatic ads on LED screens in the residential premises to make sure that ad is received by the target audience at the right place and at right time. For instance, a food delivery app can intentionally play ads on the LED screens placed outside the lift lobby, prior to dinner time, to provoke customers to order food instead of cooking after they come tired from office. A hungry and tired audience will easily accept the ad and act on it instantly.

• Knocking the door: The brands can reach the customers directly by reaching their homes and talking about the brands in complete detail through RWA activation. For instance, an educational institute can ask for permission to personally meet the students and parents at their homes and provide them with the details about the courses, scholarship programs, fees structure or any discount on fee through personal interaction.

• Festive formula: The brands can introduce new product, offer heavy discount or provide freebies during special occasions and festivals to stimulate an already excited audience. ‘Diwali Melas’, ‘ New Year Celebrations, ‘cultural events’, ‘RWA Inter-society competitions and sports events’ are few important occasions where the full potential of RWA activation cab be explored.

Brands than can benefit from RWA activation include:

• FMCG brands
• Healthcare brands
• Educational brands
• Financial and banking brands
• Automotive brands

Today, the customer is over-loaded with advertising messages from both traditional and digital media. RWA activation helps in breaking this pattern by engaging the audience on one-on-one basis and by providing authentic information about a product or service.