MUMBAI: Ogilvy India won the prestigious business of this new brand Bajaj Auto’s Dominar 400 after a rigorous pitch process lasting over two months.
The size of the account is yet to be ascertained, but going by the market anticipation of this bike, this is surely going to be one of the most talked about launches of this year.
Bajaj Auto VP Marketing Sumeet Narang: Dominar has been one of the most awaited launches. It will be the biggest and most technologically advanced bike from our stable and we expect it to take motorcycling in India to a next new level. We therefore wanted a concept that was unusual yet something that bikers could connect well with.
Ogilvy Mumbai EVP Abhik Santara: Sumeet gave us a very clear brief on this and the chances of misinterpreting it were practically zero. Our strategy and creative had to be sharp like a razor to stand out. The Ogilvy team working on Bajaj across planning, servicing and creative (quite a few of them are avid bikers) had the most satisfying time working on this pitch and are now fully gearing up to manage the launch.
Ogilvy Mumbai ECD Sukesh Nayak believes that this was one of the sharpest and yet toughest briefs to crack, said: We knew the feeling it is needed to evoke with the rider and yet find a cut which is never done in the biking world. But once we had cracked the idea, we knew it.
Ogilvy India also manages the Pulsar and Platina brands.
MUMBAI: Be proud to be Indian, every day. Bajaj Auto has released a new brand film for V – the bike that contains the metal of the legendary warship INS Vikrant. The film raises an important question about why national pride is restricted to select occasions of national significance such as the Independence Day or Republic Day, and forgotten the next morning. Also, the new film features the fresh navy blue color of Bajaj V recently introduced through the new campaign.
The film aims to inspire people to cherish India’s rich and glorious history and feel a sense of pride every single day of the year. In what is probably the first time ever in Indian advertising, the story is narrated from the point of view of a real life war hero. Rear Admiral S. K. Gupta, a Mahavir Chakra awardee who served aboard the INS Vikrant in the 1971 war, features in the film and talks about how the Bajaj V now allows us to experience our pride every day.
Bajaj V, launched on the Republic Day earlier this year, created quite a stir in the market, with its first campaign – clearly establishing their distinct positioning of being made of pride.
Bajaj Auto motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “With the V, we are not just selling motorcycles but celebrating the pride of the nation. Consumers are also playing back this feeling of pride. The new campaign takes the proposition forward and talks about how the V helps you experience pride every day, and not just on select occasions of national significance.”
Leo Burnett CCO Rajdeepak Das said, “This is the harsh reality of our country. While we all see ourselves as proud Indians, we are quite happy just expressing them in occasions. Like beating a key rival in cricket, winning the World Cup, medals at Olympic games, and the two national days.” The film has been directed by Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films.
MUMBAI: Be proud to be Indian, every day. Bajaj Auto has released a new brand film for V – the bike that contains the metal of the legendary warship INS Vikrant. The film raises an important question about why national pride is restricted to select occasions of national significance such as the Independence Day or Republic Day, and forgotten the next morning. Also, the new film features the fresh navy blue color of Bajaj V recently introduced through the new campaign.
The film aims to inspire people to cherish India’s rich and glorious history and feel a sense of pride every single day of the year. In what is probably the first time ever in Indian advertising, the story is narrated from the point of view of a real life war hero. Rear Admiral S. K. Gupta, a Mahavir Chakra awardee who served aboard the INS Vikrant in the 1971 war, features in the film and talks about how the Bajaj V now allows us to experience our pride every day.
Bajaj V, launched on the Republic Day earlier this year, created quite a stir in the market, with its first campaign – clearly establishing their distinct positioning of being made of pride.
Bajaj Auto motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “With the V, we are not just selling motorcycles but celebrating the pride of the nation. Consumers are also playing back this feeling of pride. The new campaign takes the proposition forward and talks about how the V helps you experience pride every day, and not just on select occasions of national significance.”
Leo Burnett CCO Rajdeepak Das said, “This is the harsh reality of our country. While we all see ourselves as proud Indians, we are quite happy just expressing them in occasions. Like beating a key rival in cricket, winning the World Cup, medals at Olympic games, and the two national days.” The film has been directed by Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films.
MUMBAI: In the current state of disruption in the media and entertainment industry, two things have come forth as absolute truths — firstly, the need for brands to adapt and explore non-traditional marketing; and secondly the power of pure undiluted content.
Be it GroupM’s This Year Next Year report or the KPMG – FICCI 2016 report, pick up any recognisable marketing study, and one can tell where the M and E industry is headed with double figure digital growth rates.
Going with that idea, several brands and marketers are toeing the lines of content marketing. But few have gone ahead and taken a leap of faith with content and storytelling being the main focus.
“We are used to seeing brands sponsoring television programs. ‘Buniyaad brought to you by Colgate’ is an example. But there is nothing ‘Colgate’ in Buniyaad. Whereas in the case of long format digital videos, the kind of content brands would go for is somewhere related to the concept of the brand. The format of digital allows you to experiment a lot more at a far lesser cost,” shared MullenLowe Lintas chairman and CCO R. Balki, on why it is viable for brands to produce their own content on digital.
When asked, Balki named Leo Burnett’s campaign for Bajaj V as his favourite in the last year. At the same time, he referred to ‘Sons of Vikrant’ as a campaign, not a documentary. “Anything which is released around the bike is all part of building the brand. And that is why I say it is one of the most beautiful works I have seen recently.”
When Bajaj released its new model for the commuter segment backed by the inspiring story of INS Vikrant, the power of weaving a story as the two wheeler’s brand identity was instantly revealed when record breaking units of the bike were sold on the very first day.
But it didn’t end at that. Soon the brand launched a 16 minute video titled ‘Sons Of Vikrant’, conceptualised by its creative agency Leo Burnett, documenting the lives of the war veterans who were once aboard the warship.
Bajaj Motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “As we delved deeper into Vikrant and started talking to people who worked on it, we realised that there are many untold stories and memories behind the naval battleship INS Vikrant and its heroes. Since we had brought back the essence of Vikrant in the form of V, we realised that the onus was also on us to bring these stories together and share them with the nation.”
The video was launched through a gala event where the who’s who of the media and entertainment industry were invited. Amidst the glitz and glory, the anecdotes of life on INS Vikrant and war stories successfully created awe and inspired attachment around the warship. Suddenly Bajaj V wasn’t a two wheeler anymore, it was a story everyone wanted to own.
“With Sons of Vikrant, our idea was to bring out the untold stories of INS Vikrant and the war veterans and share the feeling of pride with millions,” quipped Leo Burnett south Asia CEO Saurabh Varma when asked about the concept of releasing a documentary as part of the awareness building for a product.
“To create this documentary, we met many people who were part of the war to learn their stories. The footage ran into hours, which we had to bring down to 16 minutes,” Varma added.
Though the digital platform, without the time constraint, does lend itself for more creative exploration, it isn’t necessarily the long format that is working for the brands. As per Balki, digital audience is far more ADHD than a television viewer, with little patience for the content to take shape. “If the story is very well integrated with what the brand stands for, the content will bring benefits for the brand hugely, irrespective of the length of the video.
“Fundamentally if you have a terrific piece of communication, the brand will benefit from it irrespective of the length of the video. Unless the film is very riveting people lose patience quickly. Some creatives grab on to the digital media thinking and finally they don’t have to fight with the client for the extra five seconds. I don’t think so. I feel a lot of the long forms we see are boring and could have been done shorter. If one wants to go beyond 60 secs they better have something compelling,” Balki simply stated.
While Bajaj went the non-fiction way to bring out the real emotions people had for the warship and subsequently the bike, Hector Beverages’ flagship brand Paper Boat drinks, dabbled in non-fiction recently to achieve the same.
The three and half minute video called Rizwan: The Keeper of the Gates of Heaven instantly transports the viewer into an incredible fairy tale of superhero saving the day that evokes all senses.
“Paper Boat as a brand often speaks of different tastes and smells that can trigger memories, it is an important part of our brand communication. I realised that short films and features are a great way to tell such stories,” shared Paper Boat marketing head Parvesh Debuka.
Soon Paper Boat’s agency Humour Me came up with Rizwan, written by Dhruv Sachdeva, which strongly resonated with the brand’s identity and therefore the brand went ahead with it.
It has only been five days since the film has been put up on the brand’s YouTube channel and there are already 7,00,000 plus views, with positive comments like i forgot i was watching something else and this popped up” following the video.
When asked how effective this brand communication has been compared to the traditional marketing tools, Debuka said, “It is hard to compare as the metrics are different. A brand communication is supposed to deliver a certain thing. Our 20 second spot for the Chilli Guava flavour did extremely well as well. It served the purpose of spreading awareness that we have that flavour. On the contrary Rizwan has taken our storytelling a notch higher, in terms of screenplay, the cinematic experience, in terms of animation. It is no longer creating awareness but building a bond.”
Debuka is not opposed to the idea of brands producing their own content and exploring further visibility options with it. “For starters, a video such as this when released on the digital platform, garners way more eyeballs organically than what it would take to be visible on television. But as a piece of content it can be shown on television, and even cinema theatres for that matter, but then we will have calculate distribution cost, etc.”
Going by the cost as well, a brand might come out with more in their pockets when making a video for the digital audience as opposed to putting up an ad spot on television. This window for a more ROI centric marketing is driving brands to go the content way. “Obviously when you end up making a TV commercial, you spend a little more than you would spend to make a film like Rizwan,” Debuka shared.
Given the fanfare these brand produced contents have created, more brands are likely to explore the area more extensively and start producing their own content. One can’t help but ask if that will affect the way advertising industry works.
“Agencies have to reorient themselves for the digital era. We are going to see more and more digital thinking in the works. It is no longer about marketing in digital platform but it is digital in marcom thinking. That’s a fundamental shift, and those that make this quick shift quickly and swiftly will survive. I wouldn’t say that agencies and other stakeholders in the system need to feel completely threatened by this new trend of brands making their videos. But since the industry is at a cusp of disruption now, some casualties are expected,” pointed out Vizeum India MD Shripad Kulkarni.
While there is growing enthusiasm to see more work like Paper Boat’s Rizwan and Bajaj’s Sons Of Vikrant, industry veterans are also cautioning brands against jumping the content marketing bandwagon simply out of the herd mentality. “Often we see that people absorb good content for its own sake and completely forget the brand. Therefore the story needs to be well integrated with what the brand stands for, therein the content will benefit the brand hugely,” shared Balki.
Echoing similar sentiments, Debuka added, “The primary requirement is how strongly enmeshed is your brand in the story. Whether it is told on television or digital or radio or even on the print platform. One has to ask if the brand can own that story. The content that a brand produces should be a natural extension of the brand communication. If that is not to be, then none of the mediums will work for the brand.”
MUMBAI: In the current state of disruption in the media and entertainment industry, two things have come forth as absolute truths — firstly, the need for brands to adapt and explore non-traditional marketing; and secondly the power of pure undiluted content.
Be it GroupM’s This Year Next Year report or the KPMG – FICCI 2016 report, pick up any recognisable marketing study, and one can tell where the M and E industry is headed with double figure digital growth rates.
Going with that idea, several brands and marketers are toeing the lines of content marketing. But few have gone ahead and taken a leap of faith with content and storytelling being the main focus.
“We are used to seeing brands sponsoring television programs. ‘Buniyaad brought to you by Colgate’ is an example. But there is nothing ‘Colgate’ in Buniyaad. Whereas in the case of long format digital videos, the kind of content brands would go for is somewhere related to the concept of the brand. The format of digital allows you to experiment a lot more at a far lesser cost,” shared MullenLowe Lintas chairman and CCO R. Balki, on why it is viable for brands to produce their own content on digital.
When asked, Balki named Leo Burnett’s campaign for Bajaj V as his favourite in the last year. At the same time, he referred to ‘Sons of Vikrant’ as a campaign, not a documentary. “Anything which is released around the bike is all part of building the brand. And that is why I say it is one of the most beautiful works I have seen recently.”
When Bajaj released its new model for the commuter segment backed by the inspiring story of INS Vikrant, the power of weaving a story as the two wheeler’s brand identity was instantly revealed when record breaking units of the bike were sold on the very first day.
But it didn’t end at that. Soon the brand launched a 16 minute video titled ‘Sons Of Vikrant’, conceptualised by its creative agency Leo Burnett, documenting the lives of the war veterans who were once aboard the warship.
Bajaj Motorcycles marketing VP Sumeet Narang said, “As we delved deeper into Vikrant and started talking to people who worked on it, we realised that there are many untold stories and memories behind the naval battleship INS Vikrant and its heroes. Since we had brought back the essence of Vikrant in the form of V, we realised that the onus was also on us to bring these stories together and share them with the nation.”
The video was launched through a gala event where the who’s who of the media and entertainment industry were invited. Amidst the glitz and glory, the anecdotes of life on INS Vikrant and war stories successfully created awe and inspired attachment around the warship. Suddenly Bajaj V wasn’t a two wheeler anymore, it was a story everyone wanted to own.
“With Sons of Vikrant, our idea was to bring out the untold stories of INS Vikrant and the war veterans and share the feeling of pride with millions,” quipped Leo Burnett south Asia CEO Saurabh Varma when asked about the concept of releasing a documentary as part of the awareness building for a product.
“To create this documentary, we met many people who were part of the war to learn their stories. The footage ran into hours, which we had to bring down to 16 minutes,” Varma added.
Though the digital platform, without the time constraint, does lend itself for more creative exploration, it isn’t necessarily the long format that is working for the brands. As per Balki, digital audience is far more ADHD than a television viewer, with little patience for the content to take shape. “If the story is very well integrated with what the brand stands for, the content will bring benefits for the brand hugely, irrespective of the length of the video.
“Fundamentally if you have a terrific piece of communication, the brand will benefit from it irrespective of the length of the video. Unless the film is very riveting people lose patience quickly. Some creatives grab on to the digital media thinking and finally they don’t have to fight with the client for the extra five seconds. I don’t think so. I feel a lot of the long forms we see are boring and could have been done shorter. If one wants to go beyond 60 secs they better have something compelling,” Balki simply stated.
While Bajaj went the non-fiction way to bring out the real emotions people had for the warship and subsequently the bike, Hector Beverages’ flagship brand Paper Boat drinks, dabbled in non-fiction recently to achieve the same.
The three and half minute video called Rizwan: The Keeper of the Gates of Heaven instantly transports the viewer into an incredible fairy tale of superhero saving the day that evokes all senses.
“Paper Boat as a brand often speaks of different tastes and smells that can trigger memories, it is an important part of our brand communication. I realised that short films and features are a great way to tell such stories,” shared Paper Boat marketing head Parvesh Debuka.
Soon Paper Boat’s agency Humour Me came up with Rizwan, written by Dhruv Sachdeva, which strongly resonated with the brand’s identity and therefore the brand went ahead with it.
It has only been five days since the film has been put up on the brand’s YouTube channel and there are already 7,00,000 plus views, with positive comments like i forgot i was watching something else and this popped up” following the video.
When asked how effective this brand communication has been compared to the traditional marketing tools, Debuka said, “It is hard to compare as the metrics are different. A brand communication is supposed to deliver a certain thing. Our 20 second spot for the Chilli Guava flavour did extremely well as well. It served the purpose of spreading awareness that we have that flavour. On the contrary Rizwan has taken our storytelling a notch higher, in terms of screenplay, the cinematic experience, in terms of animation. It is no longer creating awareness but building a bond.”
Debuka is not opposed to the idea of brands producing their own content and exploring further visibility options with it. “For starters, a video such as this when released on the digital platform, garners way more eyeballs organically than what it would take to be visible on television. But as a piece of content it can be shown on television, and even cinema theatres for that matter, but then we will have calculate distribution cost, etc.”
Going by the cost as well, a brand might come out with more in their pockets when making a video for the digital audience as opposed to putting up an ad spot on television. This window for a more ROI centric marketing is driving brands to go the content way. “Obviously when you end up making a TV commercial, you spend a little more than you would spend to make a film like Rizwan,” Debuka shared.
Given the fanfare these brand produced contents have created, more brands are likely to explore the area more extensively and start producing their own content. One can’t help but ask if that will affect the way advertising industry works.
“Agencies have to reorient themselves for the digital era. We are going to see more and more digital thinking in the works. It is no longer about marketing in digital platform but it is digital in marcom thinking. That’s a fundamental shift, and those that make this quick shift quickly and swiftly will survive. I wouldn’t say that agencies and other stakeholders in the system need to feel completely threatened by this new trend of brands making their videos. But since the industry is at a cusp of disruption now, some casualties are expected,” pointed out Vizeum India MD Shripad Kulkarni.
While there is growing enthusiasm to see more work like Paper Boat’s Rizwan and Bajaj’s Sons Of Vikrant, industry veterans are also cautioning brands against jumping the content marketing bandwagon simply out of the herd mentality. “Often we see that people absorb good content for its own sake and completely forget the brand. Therefore the story needs to be well integrated with what the brand stands for, therein the content will benefit the brand hugely,” shared Balki.
Echoing similar sentiments, Debuka added, “The primary requirement is how strongly enmeshed is your brand in the story. Whether it is told on television or digital or radio or even on the print platform. One has to ask if the brand can own that story. The content that a brand produces should be a natural extension of the brand communication. If that is not to be, then none of the mediums will work for the brand.”
MUMBAI: Bajaj Auto has appointed Mullen Lintas as the creative agency for its Bajaj Avenger range of bikes.
Mullen Lintas has been given the mandate for integrated campaigns for Bajaj Avenger and would collaborate with group company LinTeractive, to create a seamless brand experience across the entire eco system including television, print, OOH, web and mobile (including social media).
Bajaj Automobiles head of marketing Sumeet Narang said, “We welcome Mullen Lintas as our brand partners for Bajaj Avenger. We were really impressed with their holistic thinking on Avenger that went beyond the conventional approach. We look forward to an infusion of their thinking for developing the next phase of brand Avenger and strengthening our position as the pioneers of the leisure biking category.”
Mullen Lintas chairman and CCO Amer Jaleel added, “It’s a lovely feeling for us to work with a great brand like Bajaj. Avenger is one bike that clearly stands apart in the sea of sameness. It is an important and premium brand for Bajaj and we are delighted to have been entrusted with the task of growing it to even higher levels. It’s a big high for us at Mullen Lintas.”
Bajaj Auto recently launched its new Avenger range – The Avenger Cruise 220, Street 220 and Street 150. The new Avenger series redefines the cruiser bike segment to offer unmatched international styling and cruising comfort.
On the brief received from the client for Avenger, Mullen Lintas CEO Virat Tandon said, “Bajaj’s brief to us was to show them how we would relaunch the new Avenger bikes and grow the franchise significantly in numbers. We believe we’ve managed to display to the client how we will not just launch the new bikes, but also create a following for this new tribe of Avenger riders.”
MUMBAI: Bajaj Auto has appointed Mullen Lintas as the creative agency for its Bajaj Avenger range of bikes.
Mullen Lintas has been given the mandate for integrated campaigns for Bajaj Avenger and would collaborate with group company LinTeractive, to create a seamless brand experience across the entire eco system including television, print, OOH, web and mobile (including social media).
Bajaj Automobiles head of marketing Sumeet Narang said, “We welcome Mullen Lintas as our brand partners for Bajaj Avenger. We were really impressed with their holistic thinking on Avenger that went beyond the conventional approach. We look forward to an infusion of their thinking for developing the next phase of brand Avenger and strengthening our position as the pioneers of the leisure biking category.”
Mullen Lintas chairman and CCO Amer Jaleel added, “It’s a lovely feeling for us to work with a great brand like Bajaj. Avenger is one bike that clearly stands apart in the sea of sameness. It is an important and premium brand for Bajaj and we are delighted to have been entrusted with the task of growing it to even higher levels. It’s a big high for us at Mullen Lintas.”
Bajaj Auto recently launched its new Avenger range – The Avenger Cruise 220, Street 220 and Street 150. The new Avenger series redefines the cruiser bike segment to offer unmatched international styling and cruising comfort.
On the brief received from the client for Avenger, Mullen Lintas CEO Virat Tandon said, “Bajaj’s brief to us was to show them how we would relaunch the new Avenger bikes and grow the franchise significantly in numbers. We believe we’ve managed to display to the client how we will not just launch the new bikes, but also create a following for this new tribe of Avenger riders.”
MUMBAI: On ground activity around cricket is set to increase as brands go all out to cash in on the cricket World Cup frenzy. Radio Mirchi and Gillette Vector Plus decided to do things differently when they came together to provide a platform for local talent to be recognized in Gully Gully Mein Cricket Ka Jashn.
The gully cricket tournament saw hundreds of entries with the final 8 teams battling it out for a cash purse of ten thousand rupees for each team member. The matches will be played at Azad Maidan starting on 3 March 3. The finals of the tournament will be held on 10 March. All matches will be played in true gully cricket fashion.
Radio Mirchi vice-president and station director Hitesh Sharma said, “Radio Mirchi has always strived to connect with listeners through out-of-the-box content and on-ground promotions. Gully Gully mein Cricket ja Jashn is yet another way through which we not only connect with out listeners, but also recognize the immense talent in the city.”
Gillette brand manager Sumeet Narang said “We understand the passion Indian men have for the game of Cricket. It is to celebrate this Cricket spirit that Gillette is launching the New Vector Plus Winner pack and Announcing the nationwide Galli Cricket tournament!”
Cricketer Irfan Pathan who is also endorses Gillette Vector Plus said, “I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all my fans to join me in spirit this Cricket Season by participating in the Gillette Vector Plus Galli Cricket Tournament. While my eyes are set on the World Cup trophy, I wish luck to all my fans to bring home their very own Vector Plus Galli Cricket trophy, and truly experience the winning spirit.”
Played with typical gully cricket rules, each team would consist of six players plus one substitute. The 10 over match will have each side bat for 5 overs. Each member of the team is required to bowl one over in the match.
Mirchi will also have a range of ‘expert’ commentators such as Manjeev Kumar, Sendulkar, Mr. Piddhu who will help Radio Mirchi RJ’s in commentary during the matches. The station aims bring to its listeners a flavour of street cricket.
