NEW DELHI: Countless cups of coffee and hours of brainstorming lead to that one great creative idea that justified the brief from the brand. This used to be the scenario at a creative agency prior to Covid2019. However, with the outbreak of the pandemic, this process moved online and the entire creative industry was working from home.

It took a while for admen (and women) across the world to adjust to the new normal, but soon they did and it was full steam ahead. Despite challenges and adjustments, the agencies continued to deliver cutting-edge work that impacted people and made them think about the product and service. The creative teams also steered through the production challenges. In the initial days of lockdown, they created several films from the confines of their homes. Once the lockdown was lifted, production resumed slowly. IPL 2020 definitely gave a huge fillip to the industry as multiple brands released fresh creatives across mediums.

There is no doubt that 2020 has been an extremely tough year for the advertising industry, but it has also made them rethink, realign and push themselves to think out of the box and deliver stellar creatives.

Here’s a rundown of some of the top ads of the year.

·        Burger King Moldy Whopper

Just before the pandemic struck the world and forced people to social distance, Burger King came up with an ad campaign that broke all rules of food and QSR promotions. The fast-food chain released a video of its flagship burger, the Whopper, decomposing and becoming covered in mold over the course of 34 days. The shock factor was to generate buzz about its new initiative to launch preservative free burgers in the US market. The film went viral and elicited an opinion from everyone.

·        HDFC Hum Haar Nahi Maanenge

In order to spread hope and positivity amid the nationwide lockdown imposed in the country, HDFC bank released a song #HumHaarNahiMaanenge to celebrate the resilient spirit of citizens who are standing strong while also following guidelines to fight the Coronavirus. Through the campaign, the bank also aimed to draw attention to the importance of coming together for a cause and supporting more people during these tough times through the PM Cares Fund.

·        Nike You Can’t Stop Us

The campaign gave hope to people in such trying times, especially with the cancellation and postponement of sporting events. The ad highlighted the power of sports and how it has the ability to bring us together and become agents of change. With a powerful narration and an equally stunning voiceover by Megan Rapinoe, the ad transcended all boundaries and became viral. It was touted as one of the finest pieces of editing.

·        Amul – Dragon

The cooperative brand which has been releasing interesting topicals for over 40 years came up with another interesting piece where the Amul Girl stops a dragon. The ad was a take on the Indian government’s crackdown on Chinese apps and companies in light of the Galwan valley standoff. The creative piece was widely circulated and liked by the people even though a section of social media objected to it.

#Amul Topical: About the boycott of Chinese products… pic.twitter.com/ZITa0tOb1h

— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) June 3, 2020

·        Cred – Auditions

Cred took IPL 2020 by storm with its six-film campaign featuring eminent Bollywood personalities like Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Govinda, Bappi Lahiri and others auditioning for a brand ad. The films started conversation and generated recall for the brand. Despite being not-so-humorous, the ads caught the public’s attention. The idea behind the campaign was to scale up the service and reach larger audiences.

·        Dream11 IPL

The fantasy sports app bagged the title sponsorship of IPL and launched a massive campaign on television with Indian cricketers like MS Dhoni, Jaspreet Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and others. The ads were funny and self-aware, as common people in the film took a dig at the brand ambassadors while playing gully cricket. For instance, one girl stopped Bumrah from bowling because he was too fast. The ads clicked and people signed up to sample the platform, hence, the campaign was successful.

·        Tide Ayushmann Khurrana

Tide introduced its latest brand ambassador Ayushman Khurana and launched a new campaign with him. The actor played the role of all the family members in the film and his part reminded audiences of his role in the Bollywood flick Dreamgirl. Of late, Khurrana has become extremely popular on the back of several hits, which has helped him secure several big brand endorsements.

·        PhonePe

The digital wallet brand embarked on a marketing blitz with new brand ambassadors Aamir Khan and Alia Bhatt. The campaign included a series of humourous ads that showcased different features of PhonePe. The film was staged in a police station set up and kept very simple for the users to understand and adapt PhonePe as the mode of payment in their daily lives. The brand has been active throughout the year and spent heavily on advertising. It has been working towards scaling the number of app users across the country.

·        Chotu

Children are god’s voice and a reflection of his greatness. However, if we look around a lot of children are called ‘Chotu’ and employed in menial, backbreaking and dangerous jobs. Dentsu Impact in association with My Choices Foundation and Saregama Caravan launched an eye-opening film on Children’s Day focusing on their struggles. The film showcased how children’s basic rights, education, dignity, hope and most of all, their childhood is snatched away from them, every single day. Currently, millions of child labourers are employed across the country in various segments like homes, factories, and construction sites. It evoked a sense of guilt and shame in many viewers, who’re familiar with these scenes but chose to ignore it.

·        Facebook – More Together – Pooja Didi

The social media giant has been focusing on small businesses and trying to bring them on the platform. This year on Diwali, it launched a seven-minute-long film which was the story of Pooja Didi, a milk centre owner, who employed those who had lost their jobs due to the Covid2019 pandemic. The film showcased how employees used Facebook to engage with and bring customers to the milk store. It reflected the power of connections and people coming together to help, support and celebrate with each other. 

·        Cadbury Celebrations Hyperlocal Ad

For Diwali 2020, Cadbury Celebrations launched a unique initiative that provided an advertising platform to local retailers whose businesses were impacted by the pandemic. It created a data-driven campaign platform ‘Not Just A Cadbury Ad’ that included 1,800+ local retailers across 260+ pin codes in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Indore and Pune. The chocolatier developed an algorithm that served an ad customised to the viewer based on his geo-location. The film displayed small stores that changed based on the location in which the ad was being viewed. Therefore, a person viewing the ad in Pune would be guided to small stores in Pune, in their vicinity. Cadbury custom-designed hundreds of versions of the same ad, with the relevant geo-targeting based on pin codes.

·        HS Kalekar Jewellers

Most jewellery brands accentuate a woman’s femininity by portraying her in the traditional roles of wife, mother or daughter. However, Kolhapur-based H S Kalekar Jewellers highlighted her strength and indomitable spirit. The ad titled Har Beetiyan Ko Ab Durga Banna Padega (Every daughter must become a Durga) sent a message that every woman should take her safety in her own hands. The commercial began with a young girl walking alone on a deserted street and stalked by a biker. The distressed girl changes her course, and spots an old lady sweeping on the road sides and takes her broomstick and proceeds to threaten the man in pursuit. The girl manoeuvres the broomstick at high speed in nunchuck-style, which is an advanced form of martial arts. Intimidated by her martial art skills, the eve-teaser runs away. The ad ends with the girl walking through the empty streets fearlessly and leaves a strong social message.

·        HUL Glow and Lovely Glow ko na roko

In the wake of the #BlackLivesMatter revolution, HUL was forced to change the name of its flagship product from Fair & Lovely to Glow & Lovely to avoid any controversy. It released a new campaign called Mere Glow ko Na Roko featuring popular hip hop and rap artist Dee MC who narrates her journey of overcoming obstacles and urges other women to not let anything stop them from pursuing their dreams. Through the inspiring lyrics of #GlowkonaRoko, Dee MC equates ‘glow’ with her identity, which comes from her work, her determination, and self-assurance. The campaign was more than necessary because a new brand name meant a slight change in positioning and it had to be immediately communicated to the audiences.

·        Tanishq Baby Shower

The jewellery brand launched a film around the baby shower ceremony in a Muslim family for a Hindu daughter-in-law. Though the film was simple and passed the message of peace and harmony, it was met with severe backlash. However, it did help the jeweller gain a lot of eyeballs on the back of controversy. Eventually, it was forced to pull the film down.

Tanishq has officially withdrawn their ad after being trolled viciously. Here's why this is a very sad state of affairs, and context from other such ads that were trolled (and some, withdrawn) https://t.co/Nb0cSiTPHX pic.twitter.com/sn3IMBqdmC

— Karthik (@beastoftraal) October 13, 2020

·        Wakefit Qawali Bhaad Mein Jaa

The sleep and home solutions company launched a witty and topical video that encapsulated the trials and tribulations of 2020. It came at an opportune time to wrap up the highs, the lows, the untoward surprises and the eventful twists of 2020 and resonated with what people went through during the year. 

The video was a raging success among netizens, as it struck an instant chord with people whose lives have been turned upside down due to the pandemic and being cooped up at home. Using the hashtag, #BhaadMeinJaa2020, some claimed that it captured the emotions of the year aptly while others declared it was the best video of 2020.