Category: Ad Campaigns

Mumbai: With the rise of social media platforms and overall content consumption by people, brands are exploring new ways to attract their target audiences. One such method that advertisers are opting for to entice their target audience is ‘woke advertising’, which involves producing original content that resonates with the thoughts and opinions of their potential consumers. It is crucial to understand what woke advertising is all about.

The term ‘woke’ refers to people who are aware of political and social issues, whereas ‘woke advertising’ describes the methods which companies use in advertising campaigns to draw customers’ attention to issues of social relevance such as gender inequality, prejudice, discrimination etc. If executed properly, woke advertising can help organisations to create a lasting global impact, especially when it comes to building a reputation with the world’s growing liberal population.

For instance, the recent #FaithnotForce campaign initiated by Cadbury Bournvita captured the attention of society. The brand’s ‘Forced Pack’ campaign was aimed to disseminate the message of general freedom and liberty for the young generation to select their academics and professions eventually. The primary idea behind the mentioned campaign was to educate parents against forcing kids into contemporary career moulds. To accentuate the campaign’s core message, Cadbury showcased the proposed product in containers suitable for other items such as tissue holders, disinfectants, ketchup bottles etc. instead of regular Bournvita packaging. The mentioned effort of incorporating ‘Woke Advertising’ in the campaign by Cadbury Bournvita strategically drew the attention of targeted audiences towards the concept of liberty and a childhood free of societal pressures.

Saffola’s recent ‘Rakhna Heart ka Khayal’ is another good example of ‘woke advertising’ where the brand promotes the idea of gender equality. The brand’s mentioned advertisement campaign flipped the gender roles and showcased a contemporary couple where the husband takes care of his family’s health rather than portraying the conventional role of a woman taking care of her husband’s and the family’s health.

Being Woke: What Does It Take for Brands?

While planning a campaign on woke advertising, brands must consider their target audience and how their opinions may vary towards socio-political issues like diversity, climate change, gender bias etc. Brands can create effective campaigns if they have a better insight into their targeted public. The major constituents of any successful woke campaign are authenticity, analogies drawn with the actual enterprise, and constant mention of inspirational stories. The amount of response received would be higher if the campaign subject holds a greater social significance. Consequently, companies should be ready to shoulder the obligation of making a sustainable and constructive contribution to society.

Brands can build deeper ties with their audience and attract the attention of younger generations by successfully promoting social responsibility in today’s competitive society. It is crucial for brands to analyse the market environment diligently so that they can be prepared to tackle any potential reaction to the campaign effectively. It is worth releasing the advertising campaign if the targeted audience is inclined positively towards it or finds the campaign purposeful. Simply expressed, the term ‘woke’, when used to describe advertising and marketing content, refers to techniques brands employ to highlight particular social or political issues, such as injustice or prejudice.

From a global perspective, launching a woke campaign is always a good idea. These campaigns, if executed right, can utilise their potential to promote beneficial societal change. However, companies must carefully consider their target markets to determine whether a campaign would be effective there. More than just a bold campaign is required when it comes to woke marketing for a brand. For brands to be valued by consumers and to be seen as global game-changers, they must integrate wholesome ideas into every aspect of their businesses.

The author of this article is Hashtag Orange founder Mukesh Vij.

Mumbai: It’s common knowledge that January is the make-or-break month for health and fitness institutions. A global study says more than 90 per cent of resolutions made are related to hitting the gym and eating healthy. Sadly about 50 per cent of those sustain less than 90 days.

While picking up a gym membership is a good start to living a physically fit life, DaMENSCH hopes to inspire men to also think about their mental and emotional health.

Through its new campaign “#ComfortInAPurpose,” DaMENSCH asks men a fundamental question for 2023 -“What’s Your Purpose?”

Men, as a gender, are seldom encouraged to portray their vulnerable emotions, especially care. Following the success of its men’s day campaign, DaMENSCH is yet again breaking stereotypes through three inspiring stories of men, aged 19 to 40, who now join WeDaMEN – a community by DaMENSCH on a mission to make mankind comfortable.

The three men, who are a part of DaMENSCH’s “Comfort in a Purpose” are headlined by Shantanu Naidu, the man who created waves by becoming the millennial friend and assistant to Ratan Tata. His purpose to care and protect those who are struggling in life has helped him overcome any and every roadblock. After starting an initiative to protect the stray animals on streets through neon-collar tags, he started his own initiative called GoodFellows to take care of grandparents and bridge the “intergenerational gap”. He’s found purpose in encouraging more men to come forward and be empathetic towards the elderly.

Aman Sharma, a 19-year-old man who struggled with climate anxiety after growing up in Delhi, realises that he was not the only one facing this. He began gardening, and bird-watching to feel one with nature, which later became his solace. Today he’s found purpose in pursuing climate activism to raise awareness among his generation to do better for nature.

Chow Sureng, a man who was battling social anxiety and emotional trauma, found comfort in being a guardian to a rescued stray dog. Today, he is inspiring travel communities to be pet-friendly. He believes that more people can grow emotionally stronger and confident simply by living for a voiceless creature that loves them back unconditionally. Providing for his dog Bella, and exploring new places with her on his bike, is his purpose.

DaMENSCH since its inception has always been a community-first brand driven by consciousness. DaMENSCH is known for creating ripples with its impact-led vision evident through its each step- be it through their eco-friendly production processes of its apparel, inclusive and fair policies, or purpose-driven campaigns that advocate for men and their rights.

Beyond building a brand, DaMENSCH is bringing in a transformation, which is why it is chosen by leaders of today to accelerate the mutual mission of treading with purpose.

The campaign is kindling the inner drive among everyone to take out time to find his or her purpose, lead with ambition and make a difference in their own lives.

Commenting on the campaign, DaMENSCH senior vice president of marketing Deepti Karthik said, “Once we knew our brand truth (comfort) we set out to define our role in our consumers’ lives. We identified our archetype as Creator with our core DNA being “Innovation” which naturally aligns us with those who don’t walk the trodden path. As a brand, we want to be that person our customers are the most comfortable with, someone with whom one has meaningful discussions. We don’t think of ourselves as mentors or guides nah.. more like that chill friend who one feels like talking to when you need to declutter your head and a personification of this Brand Role is our community -WeDaMen. WeDaMen is a community for men who subscribe to alternative masculinity, it stands for what we as a brand believe in, and what a privilege it is to welcome Naidu, Sharma, and Sureng  to it.”

Mumbai: Future Generali India Life Insurance has unveiled its first product campaign for long term income plan on 6 January. The campaign focuses on the top three key USPs of the product – benefits that can go up to six times of total annualised premiums paid, the option of getting immediate income from the first month of policy purchase and increasing survival benefits through income loyalty additions from the eleventh policy year. For guaranteed financial security, the product offers increasing income along with much-needed life protection, for the insured and his family.

The 360-degree marketing campaign comes with a message to remind all customers that it is important to make smart investments in life, which are both long-term and secure. Life is unpredictable, but it could still be a pleasant journey with the right savings product like Future Generali Long Term Income Plan. The campaign has been launched digitally on various digital mediums and will appear in eight languages being – Hindi, Marathi, Gujarat, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. The campaign will be ramped up with 20 and six seconds films via social media and through mailer campaigns.

The campaign film starts with two friends chatting. One is a father who believes in a secured financial future, while the other is a bachelor who looks for quick, short-term, investment returns. Due to the current volatile nature of the equity markets, he seems unhappy. This is when our main protagonist – the father, advises him to not take undue risks and insure in secured plans with regular, planned returns like Future Generali India Life Insurance’s Long Term Income Plan. The peace and stability that comes with a guaranteed income is unmatched in contrast to the risk and unpredictability of the stock markets. And this plan helps you lead a secured, peaceful, and stress-free life.

Talking about the campaign, Future Generali India Life Insurance managing director & CEO Bruce de Broize said, “Enabling the family to have financial security in the form of regular income in case of any uncertainties is an important task that many fathers miss planning for. At Future Generali India Life Insurance, we understand our customers’ needs carefully and craft products that will set us closer to fulfilling their requirements. Financial savings are a necessity, we want to encourage our customers to build the habit of financial planning and secure their future. Our plans are designed to help enable families to continue leading the same lifestyle even after an unfortunate loss of a breadwinner. Uncertainties in life cannot be planned, but finances can and, we are here to help you with that.”

Mumbai: The brand has always believed in a world without biases and promoted inclusivity and diversity, which lie at the core of its principles. As a testament to its philosophy, the brand has supported the LGBTQIA+ community for over 40 years, encouraging individuals to express themselves freely. This pride month, Absolut Glassware launches its first ever Pride campaign in India – ‘Be an #AbsolutAlly’.

The campaign was developed following in-depth interactions with diverse people from within the LGBTQIA+ community in India to understand their lived experiences, stories and perspectives. This was further aligned with a deeper cultural and digital scan. The big learning from the research was that despite progress being made on the legal front, little has changed at the societal and familial level for the community. Even though there is some representation in pop culture, there is still a fair bit of ignorance towards the realities of queer people in India. Hence, the need to sensitise cis-het people and enable them to be stronger and more trustworthy allies of the LGBTQIA+ community became the need of the hour. Therein, the idea of being an #AbsolutAlly was born.

The campaign has been co-created with 10 voices chosen from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum including names such as Dutee Chand, Durga Gawde, Patruni Sastry, Jay Anand, Alex Matthew, Aniruddha Mahale, Maitrayanee Mahanta, Anwesh Sahoo and Anjali Lama. It features their own real-life stories narrated by them in a candid fashion, covering topics such as family acceptance, the usage of pronouns and other assumptions and stereotypes that the community often faces. Additionally, the campaign features personal anecdotes to highlight instances where they felt a lack of support and the absence of a strong ally in their life.

An important aspect of the #AbsolutAlly campaign is to walk the talk and create a meaningful impact for the community in the club and bar ecosystem that the brand inhabits. To manifest this, Absolut Glassware has collaborated with Mr Bartender & The Crew, India’s first bar academy for women (especially those from less privileged backgrounds, victims of human trafficking, and ex-prison inmates) and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, to create safe spaces through sensitization workshops across the country. This initiative kicks off in January 2023 and aims to be an on-going program targeting 100 bars in its first leg.

Absolut Glassware is also conducting Pride nights in key metros Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. The intent is to celebrate members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies. The brand aims to make the nights memorable and celebratory with drag performances and artists from the community.

Mumbai: As per the recently introduced TAM AdEx report – ‘Rewinding 2022 for Advertising in News Genre,’ the ad volume of the news genre rose by eight per cent in 2022 as compared to 2018. In 2022, a slight drop of two per cent in ad volumes was seen over 2021, and a growth of 14 per cent compared to 2019. The highest growth was observed in 2021 since 2018. The first quarter of 2022 witnessed the highest ad volumes (on a per-day basis).

The monthly share of ad volumes had the highest share in Mar’22. The lowest share in the news genre was during Jun’22 and Jul’22. The ad volumes started peaking up again post Jun-Jul’22 i.e. during the festive period.

There was a slight decline in the last couple of years in the news genre share in overall TV advertising. In 2018, the news genre reached its peak (at 30 per cent). It increased again in 2020 as a result of covid, then started to dip. Due to a combined three per cent boost in ad volumes across other genres, the news genre saw a two per cent decline in 2022 compared to 2021.

Amongst the top five sub-genres of news, Hindi news topped the list with more than 30 per cent share of the genre’s ad volumes in 2022 and 2021. The share of Hindi news ad volumes increased by two per cent in 2022 compared to 2021. Three out of the top five sub-genres retained their ranks in 2022; Tamil and Telugu news swapped their positions. The top five sub-genres accounted for around 65 per cent share of ad volumes during both periods.

As per the quarter-wise tally of categories, advertisers and brands, Q3’22 saw the highest number of advertisers and brands. Out of the leading sectors in the news genre: the services sector topped with a 17 per cent share; food & beverages dropped to the second position (with 13 per cent). Building, industrial & land materials/equipment and household products saw a positive rank shift. The top 10 sectors added up to 79 per cent share in the news genre.

Talking about the leading categories, the retail outlets—jewellers category topped the news genre in 2022; last year’s number one category, the cars category, fell to sixth place. Building materials/systems, vocational training institutes, corporate/brand image and two-wheelers were the new entrants among the top 10. The top four categories observed a positive rank shift.  The top 10 categories added up to 23 per cent share of the news genre’s ad volumes.

With regard to the top-growing categories, over 210 categories saw positive growth in the news genre. Vocational training institutes saw the highest rise of 6.4 times in ad seconds, followed by properties/real estate during 2022 compared to 2021. Five out of the top 10 categories belonged to the services sector.

Amongst the leading advertisers, Patanjali Ayurveda rose 13 positions to land among the top five. Reckitt Benckiser retained its top position; Hindustan Unilever slid to third place. Patanjali Ayurveda, Mahashiya Di Hatti, Ultratech Cement and Lalithaa Jewellery Mart were the new entrants among the top 10. The top 100 advertisers accounted for a 50 per cent share of overall news genre advertising.

With regard to exclusive advertisers in the news genre compared to other genres, the count was more than 5.4 K. Hari Bhoomi Communications was the top exclusive advertiser in the news genre followed by The Kute Group Dairy during 2022.

Amongst the exclusive advertisers in 2022, the top two exclusive advertisers were from the education sector. Over 4.3K advertisers exclusively advertised during 2022 over 2021 in the news genre. Creo Valley and NIMS University were the top two exclusive advertisers in 2022 compared to 2021.

From the list of the leading brands in 2022, Ultratech Cement topped the brands. The top 10 brands contributed a seven per cent share of the news ad volumes. 775 brands covered 70 per cent of the news genre ad volumes in 2022.

Discussing advertising on national and regional channels of the news genre, the former had 27 per cent and the latter had a 73 per cent share of ad volumes in the news genre during 2022. The share for national channels rose by one per cent in 2022.

In 2022, there were over 650+ exclusive advertisers on national and more than 5900 on regional channels of the news genre. Creo Valley and Lalithaa Jewellery Mart were the leading exclusive advertisers on national and regional news channels, respectively, in 2022.

As per ad share by time bands, prime time had more than one-fourth of the ad duration. Prime time, afternoon and morning time bands together added more than 60 per cent share of ad volumes. The share of the evening time band rose by six per cent in 2022 over 2021. The prime time share decreased by seven per cent.

In terms of the ad size in the news genre, 20-40 second ads were most preferred. 20-40 seconds ads had the highest share of 61 per cent in 2022 which was two per cent higher than in 2021.

When it comes to promo vs. commercial ads in the news genre, the share for promos rose by two per cent. Commercial advertising added a 69 per cent share of ad volumes whereas promos had a 31 per cent share in 2021. The ratio was 71:29 for commercial: promo in 2021.

Mumbai: Luggage brand Samsonite has made its mark in the last 112 years of its voyage. Over the years, Samsonite has emerged as one of the most preferred brands for travellers, being a part of countless lives and experiences. The communication of the brand has been curated over the years, keeping in mind these glorious aspects.

The new campaign “Tested like Samsonite” seeks to create common ground with individuals that have come face to face with the various adversities of life and is a testament to those who chose to rise back up and face the challenges with confidence and valour. The campaign also highlights the common characteristic, just like its range of products that undergo the toughest strength and durability tests before they are considered worthy for the end user, to ensure the highest quality standards.

Samsonite’s strategic consulting partner, Center of Gravity, conducted extensive research to identify its core consumers and gain insight into what these consumers truly care about.

The campaign was conceptualised by Lowe Lintas and includes a series of three TVCs featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Yuvraj Singh & Mithali Raj, who have powered through several adversities at different points in their respective journeys. The TVCs will be amplified through an integrated campaign spanning digital, outdoor, and social media.

Commenting on the campaign, Samsonite India CEO Jai Krishnan said, “Samsonite bags are made with the utmost care, to ensure they look the part! They are aesthetically engineered which makes them extremely durable and offer differentiated functionality. Every Samsonite goes through several rigorous stress tests and that is what truly sets us apart. The campaign brings alive this aspect of the brand in a beautiful manner.”

Samsonite executive director of marketing Anushree Tainwala shared, “The brand’s and the people’s truth had to be captured and who better than Amitabh Bachchan, Yuvraj Singh & Mithali Raj to help us bring this idea to life beautifully through the tests that they’ve been through that are well known to everyone.”

Lowe Lintas CCO Prateek Bhardwaj added, “The campaign cements Samsonite’s position as the ultimate benchmark when it comes to quality testing by drawing parallels with the challenges that each one of us, no matter how privileged, goes through in our journey.”

Mumbai: CaratLane, India’s leading omni-channel jewellery brand, launched its first dazzling collection for 2023, Blaze. This collection is specially launched for women who wish to pamper and gift themselves with designs as unique as their achievements. The brand, through customer testimonials, recognised that one of the reasons that women buy diamond jewellery is for “personal rewards,” to mark their achievements and milestones, whether personal, professional, or emotional.

CaratLane has always focused on crafting unique designs, and the Blaze collection with its modern and versatile designs, studded with gorgeous yellow citrines and black onyx is one of a kind. The collection features categories of rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets made in 14kt yellow gold and rose gold, studded with diamonds, yellow citrines, and black onyx gemstones. The designs are within the price range of Rs 9,000 to Rs 1,30,000, so every woman has something for every milestone.

Talking about the launch, CaratLane head of design Kinnari Shah said, “We’re very excited to launch Blaze, the first collection of CaratLane which uses the gemstones yellow citrine and black onyx in combination with gold and diamonds. It celebrates every little and big milestone including job promotions, first salary, learning to drive, 10th anniversary at work, starting a small business and so many more. The designs derive inspiration from the forms of seeds as they symbolise growth. These unique designs symbolise every little milestone in a woman’s life and are perfect to carry as a one-of-a-kind souvenir everywhere you go.”

The collection is available at all 170+ CaratLane stores across the country. You can also browse the entire collection online on www.caratlane.com.

Mumbai: Berger Paints India Ltd. joined hands with HIDCO to paint Kolkata in bright hues and prepped the city of joy for the G20 Summit. Headquartered in Kolkata, Berger Paints holds an age-old connect with the city and stands witness to its evergreen charisma. As a result of which, when the brand was approached by HIDCO to help them execute their idea of decorating certain parts of New Town, Rajarhat, with wall murals for the G20 Summit, the brand promptly agreed to be an active participant and contribute to the initiative at its best capacity.

Berger Paints as a brand has always encouraged innovative minds to paint their imaginations, and this activity gave them a shining opportunity to contribute to the purpose. While Kolkata was all set to welcome global delegates at this prestigious event, it became equally important to deck up the city in a way that reflects the charm which the city of joy has always been known for. Three well-known young artists were selected to paint the walls of some of the government properties in New Town, Rajarhat. With this activity, Berger Paints stepped into its hundredth year of operations, sprucing the city, from where they had started their journey back in 1923.

The graffities not only presented an unadulterated form of art to the viewers but also enriched them with various social messages. From the Royal Bengal Tiger to the charm of age-old trams, the murals encapsulated everything that spoke vividly about Kolkata in particular and West Bengal at large.

Berger Paints Ltd. managing director and CEO Abhijit Roy said, “We are happy to be able to collaborate with HIDCO for the prestigious occasion of G20 Summit 2023 which was held in our own city. Now that we are stepping into our hundredth year of operations, it fills us with immense joy that we could contribute to such a purpose where the sole intent is to beautify the city of joy. We believe it is our responsibility to constantly support the ongoing initiatives and introduce concepts which can leverage the whole process of making the city look beautiful as always.”

WBHIDCO Ltd. managing director Debashis Sen said, “Because of the G20, the whole of Kolkata is dressing itself up. That is why, as a part of the whole sprucing-up programme we have taken up HIDCO, a scheme of painting murals through well-known young artists. We are very happy to note that our appeal to Berger Paints to be a part of this dressing up scheme for India, for Bengal, for Calcutta, if they could join hands by giving some paints to the artists as they require. They have been very generous in this, and they have given it to us, and we have made use of it through our artists in making very brilliant wall murals, depicting various facets of Bengal. We are thankful to the artists and my team, to Berger Paints, and especially its MD, Abhijit Roy, who was very kind enough to react very quickly that yes, together we want to make India, international standard.”

Mumbai: Colors Kannada’s recently launched marketing campaign for the launch of its fantasy drama Tripura Sundari has become the talk of the town as the video has gone viral.

As part of the initiative and to create intrigue, Divya Suresh, the female protagonist of the show, was dressed as a celestial being wandering across the major hotspots in Bengaluru such as Metro stations, malls, shopping avenues, lakes, parks, and others, searching for her soulmate. This created curiosity in the minds of people. The two-day campaign was later revealed as a publicity stunt for the launch of their new show, Tripura Sundari.

News channels carried the story of a girl dressed up as a celestial being searching for her soulmate on the eve of the new year, when the whole city was just preparing to welcome the new year with all new excitement. The identity of the girl was revealed on the channel’s social media handles on 2 January, the launch day.

Tripura Sundari is a fantasy drama in which a celestial girl with magical powers lands on earth searching for her soulmate, who also hails from the celestial world but was separated from the same world decades ago.

Speaking about the on-ground campaign of Tripura Sundari, Colors Kannada director of marketing Shriram Ravishankar said, “As Tripura Sundari is all about creating an experience of its visual treat and a unique storyline of a celestial being landing in earth in search of her soulmate separated from her long ago, we wanted to let people experience all the surprise and fantasy elements of Tripura Sundari by taking her amongst public. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the kind of response that we have received from the public.”

Tripura Sundari was launched on January 2nd at 9.30 p.m. and has very popular faces from the film industry such as Sparsha Rekha, Ananya Kasaravalli, Abhinav Vishwanathan of Nannarasi Radhe, Rohit Shrinath of Malgudi Days, and others in lead roles.

Mumbai: KFC India is all set to return with its most famous crunchy, cheesy kick, cult favourite KFC Chizza. To announce the comeback, KFC India has rolled out a TVC featuring none other than the Colonel himself, starring in the biggest blockbuster of the year that promises sizzling action and cheesy romance. The TVC is conceptualised by Ogilvy India.

The film opens with the Colonel taking viewers into the KFC kitchen while he works on this fan fav creation. The crispy chicken fillets make an enticing appearance, leaving viewers wanting more. As the music builds, the Colonel is seen grooving, whilst sprinkling cheese on the fillet. Viewers are in for a delight as they witness the cheesy sizzle as the Chizza gets ready. The perfect scattering of onions and mixed peppers on top, along with the classic herb sprinkle, on the all chicken, no crust Chizza is what makes it a blockbuster hit amongst fans. The cheesy pull at first bite and the Colonel’s declaration “KFC Chizza…. the crunch begins. Let’s KFC!” is the perfect climax to the film. This superhit is now back at a KFC near you!

Commenting on the KFC Chizza TVC  launch, KFC India general manager Moksh Chopra says, “Fans have been waiting for the Chizza to come back, and the new year felt like the perfect time to announce the biggest blockbuster of the year. With all chicken and no crust, Chizza has the perfect balance of crunch and cheese. Fans love the combination of our crispy chicken, with the flavours of the sauce & veggies, topped with the classic herb sprinkle. Making it truly love at every bite!”

Talking about the TVC, Ogilvy India COO, North Ritu Sharda said, “Chizza has been the biggest blockbuster for KFC. So instead of writing an ad to announce its arrival, we wrote an epic movie trailer. With everything you would expect from a trailer – a suspenseful entry, dramatic typography, reviews, that quintessential clever cheeky line and of course, a blockbuster song to announce its entry in full swag, “Bachna ae haseeno, lo mein aa gaya.”