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Think outside the box” is a line every marketing student hears. This group decided to actually do it. 

Samaraa Khan, Saanvi Rane, Adya Ravindran, Hitarthi Savla, Maishaa Mukherjee, and Ayaan Abbagani are first-year students at NMIMS, studying branding and advertising, recently put their heads to together to create a delectable online campaign to boost the business of Borun Saha, who runs Manisha vada pav stall opposite DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering in Vile Parle.

Borun Saha, who runs the vada pav stall right outside the Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering in Vile Parle. Pic/Instagram @vadawaov

The brief

As part of a class assignment, the students were asked to carry out a complete brand revamp for a local business. The group set 
out to find one.

The idea

Every college has a go-to snack spot. For them, it was a vada pav stall. That’s when it clicked: why not rebrand the stall they already loved? They approached Saha, and he said yes.

Meet the vendor

When we met Saha, he was busy with his son, serving a rush of students after classes. “I’ve been here for 32 years,” he said.

At a glance

Location: Vile Parle
Business: Manisha vada pav stall
Years in operation: 32
Project by: NMIMS first-year students
Rebrand name: Vadawaov
Social media reach: 2 million+ views
Outcome: Increased customer footfall

The rebrand

Samaraa Khan

The students decided to target college-goers from nearby SVKM institutions.

“We wanted to keep the Gen Z audience in mind,” said 18-year-old Samaraa Khan. “We came up with a logo and a name — Vadawaov.”

The content play

Then, it was time to make reels. “Everyone around us keeps talking about ‘Splitsvilla’, but I have never seen it,” Khan said, “It was Adya’s [Ravindran] idea to make a Reel about it.”

In one video, the stall becomes a watch party for the show. Customers and Saha are seen rooting for contestant Akanksha Choudhary and claiming #TeamAkanksha while vada pavs keep coming.

Another video shows Saha telling customers, “Your ex blocked you? Come buy a vada pav, and I will let you stalk them on my phone.”

“We just recreated the kind of content we like to watch,” Khan said. The Reels have crossed two million views.

Real-world impact

The online buzz translated into footfall. “Sometimes, my son handles the stall. Kids come up and ask to see ‘bhaiya from Reels’,” Saha said with a laugh.

Beyond the classroom

“It started out as an assignment, but it became bigger than that,” said Khan. The project also stood out academically. “She’s a hard-to-please teacher, but we did the best in our entire batch. So I think she really liked it,” she added.

What’s next

Saha said his family plans to expand. “My son is starting a new food joint soon. It will serve Chinese food,” he stated. “My favourite is Chinese, but vada pav is Mumbai’s favourite.”