Kumar Bahukhandi
In a bold leap toward inclusive innovation, Centerfruit from the house of Perfetti Van Melle India, in collaboration with WPP and BharatGPT.ai and Google Cloud, launched the ‘Centerfruit Tongue Twister Challenge‘-a first-of-its-kind voice based GenAI campaign aimed at engaging audiences in rural regions of Uttar Pradesh, where limited access to data, let alone television and digital, has long posed a challenge. By eliminating the need for the internet, apps, or even smartphones, the campaign brought fun, flavor, and technology to communities that are often left out of mainstream brand conversations.
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Centerfruit comes out with an industry-first digital interaction with its no-internet, voice-AI innovation
As part of its ongoing Kaisi Jeebh Laplapayee campaign, Centerfruit introduced a hyper-local Voice AI that directly called users on their feature phones. With a simple call back, users engaged in tongue- twister challenges all the while chatting in their own dialects-transforming a basic phone call into a gamified brand experience full of laughter, linguistic flair, and regional pride.
YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watchv=X6-dYmD8o9w
At the core of the activation was a highly scalable voice infrastructure, allowing millions even those with basic, non-internet-enabled phones, to interact with the brand in real time. No app, no internet, no data, just a phone call to access an AI-powered entertainment experience.
Sharing his thoughts on the campaign, Gunjan Khetan, Marketing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India, said, “Rural Bharat is an important market for Centerfruit, and while we have been able to reach millions through Television, there are still pockets where narrating our brand story has been a challenge. However, the latest Voice AI tech activation is a game-changer, it allows us to not just reach but have conversations with people outside of the traditional digital ecosystem. By using AI and creative storytelling, we bring the Kaisi Jeebh Laplapayee spirit to life in a way that feels local, effortless, and deeply inclusive. We believe this is a powerful step toward ensuring that no consumer is left out of the conversation, no matter where they are or what technology they have access to.”
The solution is deployed on Google Cloud, leveraging high-performance compute instances with GPU acceleration, advanced networking, and scalable storage. A containerized orchestration layer ensures low-latency inference and high availability under concurrent user loads. User voice input is captured via a real-time audio stream and processed using BharatGPT, CoRovers proprietary multimodal large language model. Optimized for Indian languages and dialects, BharatGPT performs speech-to-text conversion and context-aware response using proprietary speech generation model, aligning outputs with Center Fruits brand personality through witty, generative dialogue.
The system also integrates Gemini, Googles state-of-the-art multimodal AI model, to evaluate user attempts at tongue twisters. It provides live scoring based on pronunciation accuracy, Classification: Internal speech pace, and clarity. GCPs high-speed networking fabric enables near-instant feedback and responsiveness.
Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President and Country MD, Google Cloud India added, “Google Cloud’s scalable cloud infrastructure will enable brands like Center Fruit to reach consumers in their native language and Gemini’s capabilities will enable real time scoring which will make the whole user journey exciting while creating more brand recognition. This is a testament to how technology can truly empower businesses and consumers around the globe.”
Beyond the tongue twister challenge, users could also ask questions through BharatGPT.ai’s Ask Engine, receiving instant responses in their regional dialects, making the overall experience interactive, and conversational.
Ajay Gupte, CEO – South Asia, Wavemaker, said, “We believe technology should be an equalizer, not a barrier. Our collaboration on the campaign along with BharatGPT.ai and Google Cloud is a powerful example of how voice-based GenAI can bridge the digital divide and bring playful, immersive brand experiences to audiences often overlooked by mainstream media. By combining creativity with scalable tech infrastructure, we’re proud to help create a campaign that’s as inclusive as it is innovative-one that speaks directly to people, in their language, on the devices they already use. This initiative is a step forward in redefining how brands connect with rural India-not just by reaching them, but by truly engaging them in ways that are local, personal, and deeply human.”
Karthik Nagarajan, Chief Executive Officer – Hogarth India, said, “This partnership between Perfetti Van Melle, WPP, Google Cloud, and BharatGPT wasn’t about tech deployment – it was about cultural engineering. We built AI not just to answer questions, but to reflect the wit, rhythm, and warmth of everyday Bharat. When creativity meets technology, you don’t just reach people – you resonate. As a content experience company, we specialize in delivering engaging, enriching brand experiences irrespective of the medium. In this case, we are very grateful to Perfetti Van Melle for providing a platform that enabled us to create such an experience at scale for its audience.”
“This collaboration with Perfetti Van Melle India, WPP, and Google Cloud is a testament to how tech can truly empower. By combining our BharatGPT stack with robust telephony and scalable voice infra, we brought AI to the heart of rural India-without internet, without screens. It’s innovation with purpose, built for Bharat,” said Ankush Sabharwal Founder BharatGPT.ai.
This initiative represents a pivotal moment in our rural marketing journey in India, demonstrating how AI, voice technology, and culturally rooted storytelling can converge to deliver joyful, impactful, and genuinely inclusive experiences for Bharat.
About Centerfruit
Centerfruit liquid filled chewing gum, launched in 2003, is Perfetti Van Melle India’s largest brand and one of the most widely distributed confectionery products in India.
About Perfetti Van Melle India Private Limited
Having started India operations in 1994, Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt. Ltd. (PVMI) today enjoys the reputation of being market leaders in the confectionary space with a diverse portfolio of brands across segments (i.e. candies, jellies, gums & chewies) which provide differentiated consumer experiences across age groups. PVMI’s extensive distribution footprint spans 6 million outlets across India and the manufacturing facilities are located in Manesar (Haryana), Rudrapur (Uttarakhand) and Karanaipuducherry (Chennai). 31 years since its inception, Perfetti Van Melle’s power brands like Center fresh, Centerfruit, Alpenliebe, Happydent, Mentos, Alpenliebe Juzt Jelly, Chupa Chups continue to both delight and engage with the consumer with innovations across category expansion, variants, flavours, promotions, and clutter breaking advertising campaigns. Regarded as a ‘Great Place to Work’ owing to its strong people culture, PVMI drives continuous improvement by way of external benchmarking and exposure to global best practices and building a sense of pride amongst its employees. As a responsible corporate brand, Perfetti Van Melle is committed to bringing about a positive influence in the community it operates in and adheres to its four pivot areas of sustainability – education, skilling, water conservation and environment. PVMI is a fully owned subsidiary of the global confectionary conglomerate Perfetti Van Melle, headquartered in Amsterdam.
For more information, please visit: www.perfettivanmelle.in
About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities.
For more information, visit www.wpp.com.
