MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • The agency created an integrated campaign consisting of film, outdoor and radio with integrated messaging that speaks to men as well as women

    O&M creates women’s safety campaign for Mum cops

    By A Correspondent

     

    With growing incidences of attacks on women and drop in safety in public places, the Mumbai Police have reached out to the citizens of Mumbai to reassure them that they are doing their best to keep girls and women safe. This is being done in a campaign created by Ogilvy Mumbai. The agency created an integrated campaign consisting of film, outdoor and radio with integrated messaging that speaks to men as well as women.

     

    Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Group Creative Director Ogilvy Mumbai, says, “The two-pronged approach is we believe what makes this campaign different and it will also be the reason why it will work. The same ad encourages the women to come forward and not tolerate abuse in any form, and the same ad firmly warns the men that abuse will not be tolerated in any form.”

     

    The Mumbai police spokesperson in each film first addresses women and then in the second message addresses men. The messaging comprises two parts – an internal as well as in external communiqué. The internal films aim to sensitize the police to everyday incidents/fears faced by women and will be run at all Police Stations in Mumbai; the external films encourage women to report these cases and will be run on media channels. This will make sure the citizens and the force are on the same page.

     

    Abhijit Avasthi

    Abhijit Avasthi, National Creative Director Ogilvy India adds, “The most important decision was using real police officers, both men and women from within the Mumbai Police Force. The reason for this was that we wanted the campaign to be an honest conversation between the police and the city.”

     

    In each film the police officer talks candidly to the women and when we think the commercial has ended, the officer returns and talks to the men. Though the words largely remain the same for the two genders, the method of delivery ensures that the message is different for women and men.

     

    Kainaz Karmakar, Group Creative Director Ogilvy Mumbai points out, “If the message did not sound true it would not work. That was why we discarded many ideas before deciding on this. Every piece is simple and tackles a real fear in the silent victim’s mind. For a variety of reasons, the police station just around the corner is often the longest walk for a victim.”

     

    Code Red Films and Avadhut Hembade were involved in the process to shape the TV and print campaign, respectively. It was Gajraj’s idea to hold a series of workshops to help the Police Officers get comfortable in front of the camera.

     

    Gajraj Rao, Code Red Films says, “Team Code Red is proud to be associated with this Mumbai Police and Ogilvy Initiative. This campaign has the promise to bring to the fore the human face of our fellow citizens in khaki. As part of this great city, we felt we had to contribute to an environment where women feel free to reach out to the police for help.”

     

    Navin Talreja, President Ogilvy Mumbai & Kolkata says, “How can we be in the communication business and not use our talent for a cause like this? What do we expect from this campaign? Nothing will change overnight and it is reasonable to expect that. The journey from fear to faith cannot be completed in one day or with one campaign. However, with this effort we will hopefully move one step closer to making women feel like there is someone watching out for them.”

     

    Credits

    National Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi

    Group Creative Directors: Harshad Rajadhyaksha and Kainaz Karmakar

    Creative Team: Rajeshwari Rao, Sagar Parab, Gaurav Kumar and Vishakha Modak

    President Mumbai and Kolkatta: Navin Talreja

    Account Management: Hirol Gandhi, Nikhil Mohan, Sudarshan Srinivasan and Avtar Singh Negi

    Account Planning: Prem Narayan

    Agency film production executive: Vikrant Mishra

    Photographer: Avadhut Hembade

    Production House: Code Red Films

    Producer: Subrat Ray

    Director: Gajraj Rao

     

  • Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that the ongoing digitization process would help in building transparency in the system

    Digitization to facilitate transparency: Manish Tewari

    Manish Tewari

    By A Correspondent

     

    Minister for Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that the ongoing digitization process would help in building transparency in the system. As a mechanism it would also enable the growth of revenue models in the Broadcasting industry leading to the overall growth of the media and entertainment industry in the country. The process would also help broadcasters in identifying a balanced growth model through the increased share from the subscription revenues. 

     

    The minister stated this while delivering the keynote address at the Seema Nazareth Award function for excellence in print media.

     

    Elaborating further, the minister said that there was an urgent need for key stakeholders within the media to introspect in view of the trends that had emerged as a result of corrosive discourse on one side and responsible discourse on the other. Referring to the challenges that have emerged due to the social media, the minister said these tools had created an unprecedented potential to connect with target audience for the dissemination of news and information. The impact of this medium was so profound that it had also integrated with the print media in the dissemination mechanism. The changing paradigm in the media landscape had resulted in creating opportunities for the journalistic fraternity.

     

    Referring to the Seema Nazareth Award, Mr Tewari said that the institution of the award had provided an ideal platform to encourage and inspire young journalists in the print media. The minister conferred the award on Sushmi Dey and also gave two awards as a special mention to Shelly Walia and Debolina Sengupta. The Seema Nazareth Award has been instituted by Business Standard.

     

  • JWT India has launched a new campaign with cricketer Virat Kohli as brand ambassador for Nestle Munch 4X4

    JWT makes Virat don boring avatar to sell Nestle Munch

    By A Correspondent

     

    JWT India has launched a new campaign with cricketer Virat Kohli as brand ambassador for Nestle Munch 4X4.

     

    “The foundation of the campaign is the idea that the crunch of Nestle Munch 4×4 is so exciting that it makes everything else exciting as well. After some vigorous head-banging we hit upon the idea of having Virat Kohli playing a very unexciting look-alike of his, named Balakrishnan Vaali. In the commercial, Vaali eventually turns out to become the unlikely hero in the end, all thanks to the crunch of the Nestle Munch 4X4,” said Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer JWT on the new campaign.

     

    The launch of the new Munch campaign in leading dailies coincided with the day Virat Kohli scored a century in the first cricket test match of the India- Australia series. The roll-out was very well supported by innovative activity on digital media.

     

    Nitin Pradhan, Executive Creative Director, JWT commented, “Our main challenge was to use the celebrity in a way that was never done before yet had mass appeal. We were clear that it’ll be fun to bring out Nestle Munch 4×4’s proposition of the crunchiest excitement ever in a way that’s unique and innovative. The idea of a celebrity playing his own look-alike was fresh for anyone to discover. And Virat did full justice to the part. Without speaking a word in the story, he did everything to make Balakrishnan Vaali look convincingly real, innocent and an enjoyable character.”

     

     

  • The TVC urges consumers to slow down and catch up over an Amul Ice Cream tub

    Draftfcb Ulka creates new TVC for Amul Ice Cream

    By A Correspondent

     

    Life is increasingly hectic and people have less time to spend with family and friends. Amul Ice Cream’s new TVC urges people to squeeze out time for their family and friends, and celebrate the simple joys of life with ice cream in the new range of take-home tubs. The TVC, created by Draftfcb Ulka, urges consumers to slow down and catch up over an Amul Ice Cream tub.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFnm970P_iU[/youtube]

    Haresh Moorjani, Group Creative Director, DraftfcbUlka, said, “Amul encourages you to step out and re-connect with people over a tub of ice cream. The film says that though life is fast paced but there’s no reason why we cannot slow down for a moment and catch up to share good times, memories over, of course, a tub of Amul Ice Cream.”

     

    “The new Amul range is a great opportunity to encourage consumers to connect over a tub of ice cream,” said Nitin Karkare, Chief Operating Officer, Draftfcb Ulka, Mumbai.

     

    R S Sodhi, Managing Director, GCMMF Ltd. said, “With a strong network across more than 800 cities in India Amul Ice Cream reaches every Indian. It also ensures that we cater to the varied preferences of consumers through the country. The take-home ice cream segment is the fastest growing as the consumer is no longer having ice creams just for special occasions. Ice creams are a great way to catch up, connect and enjoy the small moments of joy. The new Tub TVC captures just that.”

     

    CREDITS

    Brand: Amul Ice Cream

    Agency: Draftfcb Ulka (Mumbai)

    National Creative Director: K S Chakravarthy

    Group Creative Director: Haresh Moorjani

    Creative team: Bhushan Pandit, Jitesh Ramakrishnan, Samiksha Saxena

    Account Management: Ruta Patel, Pranay Merchant, Shweta Tiwari, Tejashree Savant

    Agency Producers: Alpa Jobalia, Stanley Christian, Sukirth Rao

    Production House: Blue God Films

    Director: Vivek Chauhan

    Producer: Ravneet Mahajan

    Account Planning: Mubina Quraisshi

     

  • Excellent work, and it must have taken Cobrapost months (and a lot of leg work) to execute this story. Full marks to the team. We need more stories like this

    Anil Thakraney: Dirty laundry: Cobra’s shocking expose

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I was not very impressed with Aniruddha Bahal’s literary efforts, but am a huge fan of his stinging journalistic skills. Along with Tarun Tejpal (Tehelka), and now at his own venture (Cobrapost), Bahal has planned and executed some fantastic exposes. The most memorable being the one on match-fixing in cricket, and the other one on Indian parliamentarians accepting cash to ask questions. Both shook the nation.

     

    Cobrapost’s latest sting operation is equally shocking and depressing. Even as the government finds new ways to burden the aam aadmi with more taxes, it appears the rich have been happily legalizing their ill-gotten wealth, not by flying to Switzerland, but by paying a visit to the friendly neighbourhood desi bank. Cobrapost’s investigation reveals how, across the length and breadth of the country, well-known banks like HDFC, ICICI and Axis, coolly and helpfully help you launder your dirty money.

     

    What’s totally staggering about the story is this: The laundering process operates as a very well oiled machine, with staffers down the line aware of its existence, some even adept at handling it. This means the racket has been going on for a long time. And two, the innovative options these banks provide to wash your funds. These include offering insurance policies for cash, opening benami accounts, using accounts of their other customers to channelize the monies, offering lockers for safe keep, and so on. It’s in fact, well, a laundry list! Every single method totally illegal, and in brazen contravention of the RBI guidelines.

     

    Excellent work, and it must have taken Cobrapost months (and a lot of leg work) to execute this story. Full marks to the team. We need more stories like this because money laundering directly hits the financial health of the nation. Of course, the key question is: Will anything come out of this story? Perhaps not. Obviously many netas have been washing their dirty linen at these laundries, so you can well imagine the outcome. But, a journalist must do his/her job, and that’s what the Cobrapost team has done.

     

    I must add here that two years ago I had a very nasty experience with my bank. Not only were they mishandling my account, they were always rude, and were very thrilled to see me go. I was surprised at the time, but it all seems to add up now. Why bother about genuine customers when the real moolah lies with the fake ones?

     

    ***

     

    PS: Haha. Brilliant commercial by Volkswagen Beetle. Simple and highly entertaining. The power of lateral thinking at work.
  • GroupM the country's leading media agency network has announced the launch of a unique initiative aimed at leveraging the talent of its younger executives

    GroupM India launches Y-Co to leverage talent of youth

    By A Correspondent

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Media agency network GroupM has announced the launch of a unique initiative aimed at leveraging the talent of its younger executives. Last week it nominated a committee of 14 individuals from across all its agencies and specialist units to a youth executive committee called Y-Co. All the individuals nominated to Y-Co are star performers in their 20s. They are social actors with skills and capacities to bring about constructive resolutions to their own problems. The Y-Co will help GroupM India drive its strategic agenda forward with creative, youthful ideas and initiatives; it will complement the Executive Committee (Senior Leadership team) and work like a mini EXCO.

     

    Sonali Vaidya

    GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “In a dynamic and digitally charged industry like ours, the youngsters have a much better grip of whats going on. We felt it was time we gave them a platform for full and effective participation in decision making. Implicit in this commitment is an acknowledgement that young people are part of the solution and catalysts of change.”

     

    Talent Head of GroupM Sonali Vaidya said, “We have a great talent pool of high performers amongst our younger staff. We plan to give them all a chance to be a part of Y-Co by rotating membership. We hope to build a better connect between the seniors and juniors of the organisation through this initiative.”

     

    Naina Shewakramani

    Naina Shewakramani one of the Y-Co members said after being nominated, “I feel empowered that my ideas for making GroupM a better place might now be actualized. I feel fortunate that I was nominated amongst all others. This opportunity also gives me assurance that I am on the right path of choosing a career with GroupM.”

     

    Y-Co was formally launched by Dominic Proctor, President, GroupM Global during his recent visit to India. GroupM has launched several innovative initiatives in the Talent space in the past. GroupM’s training program Aspire launched many years ago has evolved into a best in class product. GroupM India was awarded the 2nd Best Employer Brand of India for 2012 at Employer Branding Awards.

     

  • It's now a given; the moment a cricketer retires, by default he walks into the commentary box. The latest entrant, VVS Laxman, is painful to hear. He speaks poorly, provides zero insights, and has a voice that makes a sixer sound like a boring thingy

    Anil Thakraney: VVS: Very Very Sad

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    It’s now a given; the moment a cricketer retires, by default he walks into the commentary box. When, ideally, his first priority ought to be coaching young teams and/or joining/starting a sports academy. This is because commentating is far more lucrative, and it carries zero responsibilities and headaches. I am quite certain Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sachin Tendulkar has already begun work on his diction.

     

    But this instant migration from the pitch to the box isn’t easy, and most of the cricketers struggle very badly, at the cost of the viewers. The latest entrant, VVS Laxman, is painful to hear. He speaks poorly, provides zero insights, and has a voice that makes a sixer sound like a boring thingy. Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has been tormenting us with his clichés for years, and the less said about motor mouth Sidhu the better. Sanjay Manjrekar communicates like a novice, and Ravi Shastri has been hired purely to generate senseless hysteria. Sunil Gavaskar and Saurav Ganguly are the notable exceptions, the saving grace. I am also reminded of Lala Amarnath from back in the seventies. He used to come up with sharp observations; we would, as kids, eagerly await his gems at the end of each match day.

     

    And of course, Imran Khan, the late Tony Grieg, Richie Benaud and Ian Chappell have always been a delight to listen to. What this tells you is that having been a cricketer may help to commentate better, but it does not necessarily make you an interesting communicator. Either you have the gift of the gab or you don’t. Therefore, the sports networks have to exercise quality control, they simply can’t hire every cricketer who calls it a day. And I haven’t even begun speaking about the nonsense that goes on inside the Hindi commentary box. These days I mostly watch the Indian cricket telecast minus the sound.

     

    Just as a good movie director won’t necessarily make a good film critic, just as a great painter won’t necessarily become a reliable curator, just as a kickass CEO won’t necessarily be a good dad, the same theory applies to sports commentary. I am quite certain there is enough talent out there for cricket commentary (after all, this nation is flushed with ‘experts’), and all that the television networks have to do is to find them. It’s their laziness to conduct this search that has ended up saddling us viewers with rank bad commentators.

     

    Get some fresh blood in the box, dear Sony Max, ESPN/Star Sports, Neo, etc. In fact, the IPL is a good place to start, unless you’ve already signed up Sidhu, VVS and Sivaramakrishnan. In which case it’s now left to the sexy cheerleaders to save the day.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Nice IKEA commercial. Notice how the inter-play of need for storage room and need for room in relationships lifts an otherwise ordinary promise: Total furniture solutions. Wonderful!

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWJImv6ci9I[/youtube]

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    AdStrat: Polycab’s first ad

    R Ramakrishnan, Vice Chairman, Joint MD & Group CEO, Polycab Wires Pvt. Ltd

     

    Name of the campaign/ad Safe raho. Save karo

     

    The Brief Polycab is a household name within the B2B circle. However, there is lack of awareness of the brand in the B2C space. Hence, we needed to strike an effective communication that would reach out to our end consumers. So our brief to the agency was simple – Create awareness in peoples mind about Polycab wires; the fact of getting people thinking about what really lies concealed behind their walls. Besides that, the end consumers need to be aware that Polycab happens to be the no1 cables n wires company that also provides 25 percent saving on electricity consumption. Our new identity was also to be announced and hence it was a formidable task.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0XnDtwLGaI[/youtube]

    Research insights Everyone expects their household wires to be safe, but nobody really cares about which wires they use. Out of sight generally becomes out of mind. Before the TVC was created, the agency conducted extensive research on various aspects of the brand like the product promises, the brand’s role, consumer insights, etc. Polycab uses wires that are made of extremely pure copper. This gives excellent conductivity and low conductor resistance which is the main property that helps is saving electricity. The criteria responsible for safety and savings together upholds the promise extended by the brand which is aptly described in its tag line – Safe raho, Save karo. With the findings of the research we were certain that our core communication would need to be about safety and savings together.

     

    The thought process behind the creative The key thought was to spread impactful awareness of the brand Polycab and impress upon the fact that there are potential dangers in our house with possible faulty wiring. We wanted to be the torchbearers of ‘Safety’ as well as ‘Savings’. By portraying familiar cinematic characteristics, we ensure that the consumer has an instant and enjoyable connect with the TVC and eventually, the brand.

     

    Media vehicles chosen Since this is our first ad campaign, we decided to choose the medium that reaches out directly to our consumers in the most impactful manner. Hence the choice was clearly to go with Television.

     

    Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad Everybody is talking safety and technological superiority. The concept of Savings is not being actively communicated for household wires. We explored this critical gap and combined them into one core hard-hitting message.

     

    What is the differentiating factor about the ad? The launch of our very first ad campaign marks a new milestone for us in many ways. With this TVC, we also unveil our new corporate identity which will help our consumers understand and identify us better. While we are amongst the leading players in the industry, as a brand we evangelize the proposition of ‘safety’ and all our communication reinforces our message. We are very excited to present our new proposition and are confident this will only propel our brand to new heights. The TVC has creatively transformed a regular breakfast meal within the family, into an exciting battle zone. This creativity is not only visually different, but it also catches the attention of the viewer instantly. The subtle messages of ‘safety’ and ‘savings’ that the brand wants to deliver, is brilliantly captured in this 40 second TVC.

     

    Client comment. Agnello Dias, Chairman & Co-Founder Taproot India, says, “Working so closely with the Polycab marketing team was a stimulating experience and the film does a strategically precise balancing act of driving home the dangerous folly of treating wires like a blind spot that does not matter. To do this in a charming tone of voice that couches a serious warning along with strong product benefits is the fruit of true collaboration between the marketing team and the agency’s brand team.”

     

  • For the national marketing campaign of Appy Fizz, Creativeland Asia has used brand ambassador Saif Ali Khan's dream as the new hangout spot for the drink

    CLA creates dream sequence for Appy Fizz with Saif

    By A Correspondent

     

    For the national marketing campaign of Appy Fizz, Creativeland Asia has used brand ambassador Saif Ali Khan’s dream as the new hangout spot for the drink.

     

    In the TVC, which released on the official brand YouTube channel, Appy Fizz walks into Saif’s dream of a dance sequence on the hit number ‘Mein Khiladi, tu Anadi’. Midway through the dream when Saif realizes Appy Fizz is in his dream, he is miffed at him. Nonetheless, they continue to enjoy the limelight together, jumping around doing funky dance moves to the peppy Bollywood track.

     

    The campaign opened on social media platforms; Twitter and Facebook. #SaifNFizzhangout trended constantly on Twitter both in, India and worldwide. Thus, increasing the base of consumers for engagement in real-time for remainder of the year.

     

    This year, Creativeland has redesigned the packaging of the can variant of Appy Fizz to provide fresh content for its young and loyalist consumers. The can highlights the witty and fun ‘can’ jokes in a graffiti-inspired font.

     

    Says Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director & CMO, Parle Agro, “Since the launch of Appy fizz, we have year after year launched highly differentiated creative and marketing strategies. While we launched the sparkling fruit based beverage category in India, many brands soon followed.” Speaking on the brand, she further added, “Our unique approach towards the brand is what has resulted in us having a 99.9% market share and has resulted in the brand growing by a triple digit growth rate year on year. Our 2013 campaign is particularly very exciting because our own Appy Fizz does a Bollywood number. And this has already shown us huge results in creating scale and cut-through, making the brand larger than ever before.”

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, and who is also the director of the film, said, “Appy Fizz films are always delightful to do. They are funny, crazy, and very Appy Fizz. I particularly enjoyed this one since this is the closest I have got to do a Bollywood item number. It was great fun working with Appy Fizz and Saif Ali Khan. They both behaved well on the sets.”

     

    The campaign has been conceptualized by Creativeland Asia. The film has been directed by Sajan RaJ Kurup himself and has been produced by ESTD (Easier Said Than Done) films. The visual effects and the animations are created by MFX in Kuala Lumpur.

     

    On this continuing association, Actor Saif Ali Khan says, “I’ve been hanging out with Appy Fizz for two years now and this is our fourth cool commercial. I can’t put in words how much I enjoyed shooting with my buddy. So I danced. Ok, we danced. But really, working with Appy Fizz and Parle Agro has been awesome. The premise of this new TVC is the coolest by far. (It’s like my dream come true!) The music is something I’ve been a part of before. Reliving something like that after almost 19 yrs was really special.”

     

    This campaign also marks the addition of new content on the brand microsite www.appyfizz.com. The new content involves a fresh website design including witty one-liners, a cool new interactive chat window, where consumers can talk and ask as many questions to Appy Fizz online. There will be two new digital elements that include a blog ‘Fizzy logic’ and a ‘Fizz’ video channel.

     

    This year, the campaign activities also include making available to consumers Appy Fizz branded merchandise and accessories. These branded products can be bought on the brand microsite.

     

  • The 45-year-old National Award-winner is director and associate profession at the School of Literature at the Mahatma Gandhi University, based in Kottayam in Kerala

    Malayalam academic PS Radhakrishnan wins Nat Award for film criticism

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Forty-five-year-old Dr PS Radhakrishnan was evaluating a PhD when his students told him he had won the National Award as Best Film Critic. The Director and Associate Professor for Literature and Arts, School of Literature at Mahatma Gandhi University has been writing about films and on films since 1995. His film writings have won Kerala State Awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

     

    Ecstatic, Dr Radhakrishnan told MxMIndia, “I have always written in Malayalam. So when my students told me I have won the National Award, I asked them to check their facts. I never thought that someone who has been writing in Malayalam would win the coveted National Award. I feel privileged to be a part of it.” Though he felt overwhelmed for the first few minutes, the feeling sunk in with the deluge of congratulatory messages.

     

    Dr Radhakrishnan’s essays have centered around ‘Nationalism and Cinema’. His writings appear in the Malayalam dailies and weeklies. He has written on stars such as Rajnikath, Dev Anand among many others. An avid fan of films, he vouches for movies such as ‘Bicycle Thief’ and ‘Aparajito’, which is a sequel to ‘Pather Panchali’. “When you start watching a lot of movies, you get to know what is missing or what could have been added to make a film more perfect,” he said.

     

    The academician did his postgraduation in Malayalam Language and Literature and PhD from Mahatma Gandhi University in Indian aesthetics and Malayalam Criticism. Dr Radhakrishnan has written five books till now, with only one being centred around movies: History and Film, which also won the State Award.

     

  • Is it entertaining/engaging, will people enjoy repeat exposures? If you are doubtful of this, trash the idea. The Frooti ad, after the first exposure, is very painful to watch

    Debrief: Frooti: Simple. But boring.

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    To Frooti’s credit, at least they haven’t put out a typical lifestyle ad. At least there’s an idea, which is the ‘drool’ factor. As in, when you are really hot and thirsty, you would stare longingly at the sod who’s gulping down a cold drink. But apart from that, the TVC goes downhill.

     

    So, SRK downs the drink, as some footballers and kids continuously stare at him. That’s pretty much all that happens. For some strange reason (perhaps because it’s a football field), they’ve used what sounds like a Spanish track, which is Greek to most of us, so it adds no value to the commercial. But the bigger mistake is that of using Khan. Because he’s over used and over abused in advertising (and media), the moment the film opens with him, you switch off mechanically. Given that the idea is so simple, they definitely needed a rarely used celeb, if at all.

     

    There’s another problem: When you decide to keep things simple, which is a good thing in advertising, the first question you need to ask yourself is this: But is it entertaining/engaging, will people enjoy repeat exposures? If you are doubtful of this, trash the idea. The Frooti ad, after the first exposure, is very painful to watch. Even you are a diehard SRK fan, which I am not. I think this very critical factor was overlooked at the storyboard stage, when it should have been on top of the agenda for a cold drink ad.

     

    Net net: Shah Rukh Khan just bagged another load of big moolah. And Frooti got forgotten in the bargain. Waste of money.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”220″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hn6EzpB9KA[/youtube]

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 1. Yawn.

     

  • Bharti AXA Life Insurance CMO Saujanya Shrivastava on the latest campaign, and more

    Strategy of Proof is our mantra: Bharti AXA CMO

    By A Correspondent

     

    The latest campaign by Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company with its sister concern, Bharti AXA General Insurance on “The Dedicated Claims Handler”, claims to redefine service standards in the Insurance category.

     

    The TV ad has used a ’70s Bollywood song to fit an insurance situation and to bring in satirical humour. The TVC showcases the hapless customer running from pillar to post to complete Insurance paperwork. But the Hindi Song “Aap Yahaan Aaye” in this context makes the whole film entertaining whilst still conveying the angst of running after a claim. The Bharti AXA Life Solution comes in the form of the Dedicated Claims Handler who proactively contacts the customer and handles his claims process end to end.

     

    The TVC has been directed by Rajesh Krishnan of Soda Films, and conceptualized by Publicis.The campaign went on air on 8th Feb and has run nationally across all major channels.

     

    MxMIndia spoke to the company’s CMO, Saujanya Shrivastava, to know more about the campaign and in the competitive world insurance, what is the biggest challenge.

     

    Creative Agency: PublicisNational Creative Director: Ashish Khazanchi

    Client servicing: Paritosh Srivastava,Chandan Jha, Dharal Goshalia, Sherley Lavingia

    Production House: Soda Films

    Director: Rajesh Krishnan

    Spends / Budget – Rs. 12cr

    What are the marketing activities that you undertake to build your brand?

    We leverage the global AXA framework of Strategy of Proof to continuously prove that as a financial protection brand, we are trustworthy and safeguarding customer’s interests are at the heart of what we do. Our brand marketing initiatives are centered around high decibel national mass media campaigns as well as on ground customer activation.

     

    These could be specific proof points related campaigns or tactical ones driven by the need to build awareness around our winning product propositions. eg. we are present on the India Australia series with ESPN Star Sports as an Associate Sponsor to build awareness around the Bharti AXA Life Monthly Income Plan that is ideally suited to meet the lifestage related needs of customers such as retirement & child education expenses.

     

    To drive the sales of our hugely successful online term plan, we have a robust internet marketing plan that includes Search & Display programs. We are also the presenting sponsor for Budget 2013 on Moneycontrol.com

     

    What are the key insights behind your marketing activities?

    Our differentiation strategy is predicated upon the Strategy of Proof framework that involves providing customers with tangible evidence by way of “proofs” of having answered key expectations that they have of the category. This powerful framework allows us to look at every aspect of the customer journey and to unearth insights that are relevant, incisive and meaningful.

     

    What is the thought process behind the joint nationwide TV campaign by Bharti AXA Life Insurance with its sister concern, Bharti AXA General Insurance?

    – The Insight

    Claim settlement is a key moment of truth for our customers. The family of the policy holder is in turmoil due to an unfortunate incident in their lives. At times of distress, a claimant should not be made to run from pillar to post to get what may be rightfully theirs and he expects promptness and care from the insurance company.

     

    – The Creative Concept / Idea

    The film questions this thought process, i.e., why run after your insurance company to get your own claim settled? The background score of a yesteryear Bollywood song compliments the visuals and adds a humorous flavor to a serious subject. The solution to this problem appears in the form of a Bharti AXA Dedicated Claims Handler who assists the claimant with paper work and query resolution.

     

    What makes this campaign unique?

    The TV ad itself is path breaking as it has been amongst the 1st to juxtapose a 70’s Bollywood song to fit an insurance situation, bringing in satirical humour. ‘Claims’ is the moment of truth and raison de tre of the category. The Bharti AXA Life Solution comes in the form of the Dedicated Claims Handler who proactively contacts the customer and handles his claims process end to end.

     

    What is your biggest challenge today?

    Bharti AXA Life has been able to build strong brand recall in the consumers’ mind and we are now amongst the top life insurance brands in the country. The challenge going forward is to exceed customer expectations by unearthing powerful “proofs” that can truly redefine the category.

     

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