NEW DELHI: Ed-tech company upGrad has come up with a new campaign called #KaamKiDegree to promote its MBA vertical. Conceptualised by The Womb, the ad taps into the surging demand for online upskilling amid the pandemic, and seeks to spread awareness on the importance of getting a degree which will help execs climb the corporate ladder to a better position and role.
Shot remotely, the video reflects on the nostalgia of the quintessential childhood game of musical chairs. It highlights the dearth of seats for MBA degrees from ‘good’ universities, thereby reinforcing the brand positioning of Sirf Naam Ki Nahin, Kaam Ki Degree.
The company’s previous campaign featuring a donkey was a big hit and generated quite a buzz on social media. The ad showed employees coming to lick a donkey – or an ass in other words – in hopes of pleasing him. The donkey symbolises the boss, who gave priority to sycophancy over talent. At the end, the protagonist refuses to lick the donkey and ends the film by saying that he needs specialisation, not ass-licking, to get ahead in his career.
upGrad CEO – India Arjun Mohan said, “Our Donkey ad, owing to its bold messaging, was received well by our target audience and saw tremendous traction amongst users. We have also been able to translate the traffic into revenue, especially our management vertical which has seen an uptake for MBA programs.”
The Womb co-founder Navin Talreja said, “It is a poignant take on the education system and admissions infrastructure in the country which is enabling the growth of the ed-tech industry. We believe it will connect with students who despite being good do not get opportunities to pursue their dream education.”
Suyash Khabya, creative head at The Womb, added that the ad is rooted in culture and reality and offers one of the deepest insights to be seen in Indian advertising for a while.
MUMBAI: The Bombay Shaving Company has launched a first of its kind video campaign that is wowing social media with the use of visual effects.
The ad for the brand’s Defender for Her razor is about a frequent dilemma faced by women this year during the lockdown. During a video call, Four More Shots Please! star Bani J explains her need for a quick fix grooming solution to her co-star Manvi Gagroo. With salons closed and an impending shoot the next day, Bani’s at a loss what to do, when Manvi offers her the solution – the Defender for her razor. With some visual effects wizardry, she passes on the razor through the screen to her distraught friend and Bani thanks her for “Shaving my day.”
EiPi Media founder and CEO Rohit Reddy said the VFX aspect of the razor coming out the screen took hours of trial and error. "This being our first attempt meant putting in long hours to bridge the gap between concept and execution. Until now the VFX was limited to the movie screens and requires chroma key technology. In this video we did not use any green screen or chroma set up."
Mumbai: The Hathras incident has once again put the spotlight on women’s safety in the country. But with every passing day, we come across more reports of atrocities committed against women. With the authorities at a loss as to what measures to take, and society inclined to blame the survivor, it’s high time for women to take matters into their own hands. In this spirit, H S Kalekar jewellers from Kolhapur has come up with the campaign Har Beetiyan Ko Ab Durga Banna Padega (Every daughter must become a Durga).
The commercial begins with a young girl walking alone on a deserted street. A young man follows her on his bike and stares insolently at her. The biker keeps stalking her, then suddenly blocks her way. The distressed girl changes her course, and spots an old lady sweeping on the road sides. She runs up to the woman, 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:
Saans Saans Tufaan Bane
Jab Tinka Tinka Shashtra Bane
Khud Ka Sanmaan Khud Karna Padega
Har Beetiyan Ko Ab Durga Banna Padega
(Every breath turns into a typhoon
And even a twig becomes a weapon
One must first respect themselves
Every daughter must become a Durga)
Where most jewellery brands accentuate a woman’s femininity by portraying her in the traditional roles of wife, mother or daughter, H S Kalekar has highlighted her strength and indomitable spirit. In fact, they have completely omitted showcasing jewellery in the ad.
Through the campaign, the brand wants to encourage women to shed the role of victim and become a fighter. She is not the aggressor, but when it comes to defending what she values, she won’t back down. She must be her own guardian.
At a time when the matter of women's safety has become obfuscated by endless debates and politics, H S Kalekar jewellers’ championing of women empowerment is a much-needed and commendable move. The campaign was widely shared on social media and many lauded the brand for making a bold and progressive statement.
According to the National Crimes Records Bureau, India recorded 88 rape cases every day in 2019 and the rape vulnerability of a girl or woman has increased up to 44 per cent in the last 10 years.
NEW DELHI: Facebook has launched the next phase of its ‘More Together’ campaign in India ahead of the much-awaited cricket and festive season. The campaign underlines the brand belief that people can do more together than alone.
Facebook unveiled its first ‘More Together’ campaign in India earlier this year with an objective to showcase how people across the country can do more together by harnessing the power of their connections on the platform. The underlying theme of the campaign was further amplified by real stories about how people came together on Facebook during the lockdown to help and support one another which was reflected in the second phase of the campaign. As we move closer to the widely celebrated cricket and festive season in the country, the latest phase showcases the power of connections and people coming together to help, support and celebrate with each other.
Speaking about the campaign, Facebook India director-marketing Avinash Pant said, "Over the last few months we have witnessed really powerful stories of how people came together through our platforms to face and conquer challenges during these unprecedented times. Our last two phases of the More Together campaign were a testament to this collective power. As we head into the festive season that's set to be unique this year, we wanted to highlight how our collective actions can create beautiful outcomes. We hope people are inspired by these stories, and see a world made better when they come together".
The campaign will have four 30 second films over the course of the tournament and will be available in 6 languages. The first film showcases a girl making a post on Facebook expressing her desire to bring the cheerful atmosphere of a live cricket match into her house. This gets all her friends enthused and the excitement spreads. And just like that, we see a jersey manufacturer getting a big order.
The core campaign has been conceptualized and executed by Taproot Dentsu, the creative agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India.
Talking about the inspiration behind the campaign Taproot Dentsu senior creative director Neeraj Kanitkar explains, “Our previous campaign told stories of people using Facebook to really look after each other. The upcoming cricket season presented us an opportunity to tell new stories- of the profound power of small but collective actions on Facebook which could lead to a deep and meaningful change in the lives of so many. We will keep rolling out such stories through the duration of the tournament, serving as an inspiration to people to keep sharing their ideas on the platform. And hopefully set in motion the wonderful consequences of people coming together.”
NEW DELHI: Policybazaar.com has launched its new television campaign “AapKiSideHai”. The ad campaign features Policybazaar’s brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar, highlighting the brand's promise of embracing a holistic customer-centric approach while helping to bridge the insurance protection gap in India.
“While we continue to highlight the importance of Health & Term life Insurance through our marketing campaigns, with the brand promise of Policybazaar AapKiSideHai, we also intend to position Policybazaar as a customer-centric brand, that is committed to stand by its customers, both pre and post-purchase”, said Policybazaar.com. head of brand marketing Samir Sethi.
The new brand campaign reinforces Policybazaar’s core value of putting the customer first by delivering on its promise of providing a trusted platform for all types of insurance products. The brand is committed to guiding the customer throughout the insurance journey, starting from recommending the right products at affordable pricing, ensuring that the policy issuance process is smooth and fast, and, to providing services and claims assistance when needed.
The new ad series highlights Policybazaar's unparalleled support to customers while providing them with the ease of comparing and buying term and health plans online with guidance at each & every step.
Speaking about the TVC launch, Policybazaar.com COO Sharat Dhall said, “Our ultimate aim is to provide 360-degree assistance to customers that start from when the policy is bought, to provide assistance when the claim is paid out, should such a situation arise. Winning and maintaining customer trust is a strong ethos within the company and this campaign reflects that. At a time when the world is grappling with a crisis like no other, the brand intends to instill confidence in the customers’ buying decisions by assuring them the protection of their futures with the right insurance products & thorough assistance throughout the journey.”
The new brand campaign in its series displays moments of indecision that people may have while investing in protection products. It addresses these queries & emphasizes the importance of nurturing a bond with the consumers thereby creating customer delight.
NEW DELHI: Some call it the biggest advertising festival of the Asian subcontinent; others equate it with the Super Bowl of India. Amid the raining sixes, cartwheeling stumps and crowds cheering their respective teams, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the perfect platform that offers humungous reach, multiple brand integration opportunities and a billion plus attentive eyeballs. Which marketer would want to shy away from this offer if he has the budgets.
Initially, audiences were only watching the game in Hindi and English feeds but now the broadcaster is offering multiple feeds in different languages along with live streaming on Disney + Hotstar. The spectrum is wider than ever.
Despite Covid2019 pushing the the game to stadiums with no audiences in the UAE, the virus has not been able to deter the enthusiasm of audiences as well as marketers. This year multiple brands across categories have already signed on with team, broadcast rights owner, Star Sports and the BCCI to cash in on the pulsating excitement of sticky audiences, who will be witnessing a major live event after a hiatus of five to six months. The expectations in terms of viewership are huge as IPL will be a much-needed breather during these difficult times.
PhonePe, a popular fintech brand, has returned as the co-presenting broadcasting sponsor of IPL 2020, repeating the association it had with the league in 2019. With reason: director of brand marketing PhonePe Richa says it has sky high ambitions. Currently, 230 million consumers conduct transitions with the app; the goal is to take that to 500 million by 2022.
Says she: “The tournament helps to create visibility, reach, and high brand recall for PhonePe. It has also helped us create awareness around digital payments for different user segments in the country. Our IPL sponsorship will help us reach both urban and rural audiences alike.”
In addition to IPL, the digital wallet brand has plans to digitise 25 million offline merchants across all 5,500 talukas of the country in the next 12 months with the mission to make PhonePe a household name across the country.
The digital-first brand shared a piece of insight from its IPL 2019 data and indicated that the reach and viewership of the tournament have increased significantly with each season. During IPL 2019, the app platform launched the #DadduGublucampaign featuring Aamir Khan in an avatar not seen before; that of a doting but confident grandfather. Each TVC concentrated on a single feature of the app. For instance, one of the TVCs talked about how it serves all the payment needs of an individual. Another spot talked about the high level of protection and security that PhonePe transactions are armed with. With its smart marketing tactics, the app also took a dig at its rival brand.
PhonePe competes with Paytm, Google Pay, and several other players in the market. Media reports suggest that it has set aside a hefty ad war chest of Rs 800 crore to make its presence felt through a push both above the line and below the line. This will include a big advertising splash for television and digital outlets.
The over-arching theme that PhonePe has adopted for its advertising campaign for this season’s IPL is 'KarteJaBadteJa.’It includes four TVCs shot in different states and languages earlier this year, featuring Alia Bhatt and Aamir Khan. The ads educate users about the various services availableoin the app be it booking a hotel, recharging bills or transferring money to a friend.
Sharma asserts that in addition to the PhonePe TV commercials, the brand will also be on other media – social and digital, which she believes is essential to help build brand recall and reach.
“This year our campaign focuses on tapping into the large base of Indians who are all digital-savvy but for various reasons have not taken to digital payments yet. Being the category leader, it's our endeavour to handhold each and every Indian and get them to experience safe, fast and convenient digital payments through PhonePe,” she explains. “With that in mind, we launched our campaign almost a month back (18 August) with a series of messages around safety, trust, convenience to help our audiences understand the ease and security PhonePe provides for digital payments. We will continue to break new messages and going into IPL you'll see more new ads on the same creative theme. Alongside IPL on TV, we will also be utilising various social and digital platforms and the varied ad formats they offer to create a more holistic audience outreach.”
Sharma elaborates that customer acquisition and brand recall among the target audience are a few of the metrics that the PhonePe team looks at while measuring the effectiveness any brand association. “We aim to grow the pie of digital transactors in the country, especially from tier 2, 3 markets and beyond. We aim to drive greater awareness and preference for PhonePe's features and services. The key theme will be to catalyse progress for everyone through our brand platform of ‘KarteJa. BadhteJa,” she says. .
Last month, the brand rolled out a film titled ‘Unstoppable India’ sensitively conceptualized by Leo Burnett. The film portrays the despondency amongst all of us as we battle with the ennui and frustration of the covid2019 prompted change inour lives. But it also highlights the indefatigable, never-say-die spirit of Indians who are finding ways to get back to near normal in the new normal. And of course helping them in the journey back is the contactless payment app PhonePe which like Indians does not how to stop (Ruknatohhumeinaatanahin), which is the tagline of the brand in the film.
According to an ASSOCHAM-PwC India study, the Indian digital payments market is currently valued at $64.8 billion. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.2 per cent to reach $135.2 billion in 2023.
Post demonetisaton, in 2016, and the government’s drive towards cash-less India, digital transactions have grown exponentially in the country. The pandemic has further accelerated contactless transactions, across income levels and geographies and amongst all age groups, but more so amongst millennials, for whom it has become a habit.
“We hit a record high in June 2020 in terms of our daily user activity as well as the total payment volume processed through PhonePe. Our transaction volume for July 2020 was at 620 million transactions that surpassed the February 2020 levels (pre-lockdown),” explains Sharma. “This was driven by continued user adoption of PhonePe across core use cases such as P2P payments recharges, and bill payments as well as the opening up of offline and online merchants across the country.”
The good thing is that Sharma is already seeing the signs of revival across industries. She acknowledges, “We are back to our pre-lockdown numbers. June and July have been our biggest month so far in terms of transactions.”
However, she acknowledges that the last quarter of the calendar year is very crucial for every brand due to the commencement of the festive season. “Luckily this year IPL is being held amid the festive season, creating a feel good factor and brands are hoping to get on the path of recovery very soon. IPL is the biggest sporting event in the country and has a lot of mass appeal. We are sure it will help lead to a revival in overall consumer sentiment who will go out and shop,” she concludes.
That would be good news for the economy. And more so for PhonePe if a large part of that consumer shopping is paid for by the digital payment app.
MUMBAI: Inner spring mattress company Peps Industries has launched its latest digital campaign BEDTalks. Inspired by TED Talks, but infinitely more boring, Peps BEDTalks is a curated series of incredibly boring topics aimed at putting people to sleep.
It features incredibly boring topics ranging from “The accounting history of debt contracting” to “Biodiversity of snails in forest ecosystems in Brazil”. Peps BEDTalks is designed to be the most boring ad campaign ever, on purpose!
Conceptualized with Phantom ideas Pvt. Ltd, the campaign is Peps’ unique take on engaging with its audience. Most brands try to entertain audiences. Peps Industries, which has always disrupted norms in the mattress business, takes the opposite path by creating some of the most boring communication pieces ever published.
Peps Industries managing director Madhavan says, “The lockdown has been quite stressful for people because anxiety is the enemy of sleep. So, as the leaders of the Spring mattress category, we at Peps wanted to do something to alleviate the stress. BedTalks seemed like a very disruptive way of bringing that goal to life.”
According to Phantom founder and chief creative officer, the idea was to do something a little different from the usual barrage of ‘stay home, stay safe’ campaigns from brands during this period. “That’s when we stumbled upon the idea of the BedTalks, as a devious little spin on that famous speaking platform. It is a hugely extendable idea, and we had quite a challenge to execute it, given that the voiceover delivery had to be supervised over video-conferencing, and the whole spot produced despite all the hurdles of the lockdown.”
MUMBAI: upGrad, India’s leading online education venture focused on building careers of working professionals, unveiled its first ad-campaign. Featuring actor Vicky Kaushal, the film introduces consumers to upGrad and brings the brand idea alive. The film breaks the myth of online education being ineffective by showcasing how impactful the online education space is today and how it is as good as traditional offline education.
The second part of the TVC campaign is based on the insight that the Indian working professionals are in a state of inertia where they feel that they do not need to go back to learning once they have a job. These films are set to make the customers realize that to remain relevant in today’s day and time, one has no choice but to learn and upskill.
The campaign sheds light upon upGrad’s unique online power learning approach to learners and demonstrates the influence of upGrad and the role it can play in the learner’s life by giving them the opportunity to transform their careers. It further intends to establish the fact that in this fast changing world of technology, there’s a massive demand for new age skills at the workplace and you need to upskill yourself for a better career.
Created by Lowe Lintas, the ad campaign showcases upGrad as a brand which plays an important role in learner’s life by acting as an engine of transformation which gives them the ability to put their careers on a high growth trajectory.
Announcing the launch of the new ad-campaign, Mr. Ronnie Screwvala & Mr. Mayank Kumar, co-founders, upGrad said, “Through this campaign we are trying to create awareness on how upGrad can help learners prepare for the future of work and help them thrive in their career. Online education for professionals is still at a nascent stage in India and to create awareness at a category level, we felt the necessity of a commercial that will change the consumer mindset and is relatable. Our association with Vicky Kaushal and the new TVC will help us increase our reach & create deeper connect across geographies”.
Sagar Kapoor, Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas added, “It was an excellent briefing session by the founders that led our creative thinking at upGrad. The vibe was positive and the brief actually spoke about what upGrad can do to lives rather than just what upGrad is and how continuous learning can make sure one keeps navigating his or her career forward. Inspiring stories of how lakhs have already done this successfully spurred us further. All that said the team believed in keeping the message and tone of the communication sprightly and involving. Hence the idea of “life ko karo lift”!
Bangalore, September 26, 2018: Britannia is marking its centenary year with a truly multi media campaign aimed to connect with the very heterogeneous set of audiences that its brands cater to. The campaign consists of a 10 film TVC series, a long format film for digital and social media, print, Radio and OOH.
TV Campaign
100 years is a glorious and a big milestone – one that Britannia has reached because of the trust, love and blessings of its consumers. And the campaign is Britannia’s thank you to a heterogeneous country like India with a concept based on the thought that when you think of someone/something and if it arrives, the instant reaction you have is ‘Tu sau saal jiyega' (You are going to live to 100 years!), an idiom which is a part of every Indian language. The stories in the TV Campaign are about how Britannia has turned 100 only because they’ve always been there for their consumers, just when they were needed most.
Each clip takes a simple situation and highlights the bond between customer and product. The campaign also builds the symphony of Britannia through its product brands and the various roles that the brand plays in its consumers’ lives.
Speaking about the TV Campaign Ali Harris Shere, VP Marketing said “Being part of every Indian household is an honor and this multimedia campaign illustrates our gratitude to the millions of Indians who wake up every day to dip a Britannia biscuit into their chai, and reach out for our products through various parts of the day. The 100-year campaign is our way of acknowledging the secret ingredient of our success – our consumers.”
Speaking about the campaign, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at Lowe Lintas Arun Iyer, said “The brief was to thank the entire country with a simple idea that would seem relatable no matter where you are from. All 10 films are slices of life that have been picked from Britannia’s world. The challenge was to tell a brand’s story of completing 100 years and finding powerful emotions to connect with the consumers. But given how long Britannia has been a part of our lives, we found so many heartfelt moments to tell the story of a brand that has turned 100 because it’s always been there for its consumers. And the huge range of products that Britannia has gave us the room to tell stories across all age groups to make sure that campaign would resonate strongly with everyone.”
The digital film is knitted with old-world charm, adding flavors of the past, present and future while capturing a mélange of occasions across the century where a Britannia product has been integral to friendships, celebrations and togetherness.
From sharing biscuits in the classroom and cheering for a World Cup win to connecting in the selfie era and looking 10 years into the future, the film pays a warm tribute to the journey thus far and looks ahead. Speaking about the digital film Ali Harris Shere, VP Marketing said, “We wanted to create a film that would evoke strong emotion around the bonds of friendship and how these relationships evolve just as India is evolving. You see this through the parent, child relationships where we showcase how the current generation has a relationship that is a bit more playful and friend-like than previous generations. The film seeks to illustrate how Britannia has, is and will be part of all friendships, whether starting at school or looking into the future where we are sharing snacks with our robot pals.”
“Friendship seemed like a theme worthy of a hundred years and Britannia’s role in fueling those precious moments was a great story to tell. We travelled through time in the film, with the set design and camera movement designed to feel like the viewer was journeying through 100 years, revisiting one iconic friendship moment from each decade, until friendship comes back full circle with an interesting futuristic twist. From the parapet wall that fostered close friendships to the social wall that multiplied them, to walls breaking down at home, along with barriers, to make friends of family, this film is an endearing and insightful commentary on friendship even as it’s a journey through its timeline.” said Priya Shivakumar, Creative Head, JWT Bangalore.
Campaign Credits: Chairman & Chief Creative Officer: Senthil Kumar, Executive Creative Director: Priya Shivakumar, Production house: Small Fry, Director: Senthil Kumar, Music Director(Optional): Dhruv Ghanekar
Other elements of Britannia’s #100 year celebration campaign
Britannia’s Centenary year campaign also consists of high visibility OOH, Print and Radio set to roll out soon across the country.
MUMBAI: Nestlé India has announced that it will partner with Flipkart to launch MAGGI Special Masala Noodles, that epitomises the flavours of India and brings with it the goodness of 20 finely ground and whole spices, roasted to perfection.
As a part of the partnership, from 21 August, consumers can pre-book MAGGI Special Masala Noodles on Flipkart. This product will also be available exclusively on Flipkart from 25-20 August, following which it will be available nationwide through Nestlé’s strong distribution reach.
Nestlé India general manager for foods business Maarten Geraets says, “We are excited about our partnership with Flipkart as it will give a chance to MAGGI lovers to try this innovation from the convenience of their home. The product uses spices and condiments present in Indian kitchens. We are confident that this product with its special taste from 20 finely ground and whole spices and specially created bouncier non sticky noodles would be appreciated by our consumers.”
Flipkart senior director Nishit Garg adds, “Nestlé and Flipkart’s association to launch the upcoming MAGGI flavour exclusively on Flipkart cements the transition of FMCG’s physical goods into the digital space. Having traveled through several generations, MAGGI proudly enjoys an enduring relationship with its customers. And, we are very excited to partner through this journey of delighting our customers, now online.”
In line with its new thinking, Kuchh achha pak raha hai, MAGGI Special Masala noodles, uses ingredients right out of kitchen cupboards and is inspired by India’s rich and diverse culinary tradition.
