SG Mart Ltd., the building materials brand, has signed Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador. SG Mart aims to expand its brand presence across the nation post this.
Said Shiv Bansal, Joint Managing Director of SG Mart Ltd: “We are delighted to announce Akshay Kumar as the esteemed brand ambassador of SG Mart. Akshay’s versatility and dedication to excellence match the core values of the platform as it features cutting-edge building materials from industry-leading Indian brands. Through this alliance, we aim to establish a connection with our valued customers, ensuring that our exceptional marketplace becomes the preferred choice in the infrastructure market as construction projects rise in the country.”
By Our Staff
Berger Paints has launched a TVC to introduce its range of waterproofing products – Dampstop. The campaign features Akshay Kumar and Gulshan Grover. With Dampstop, Berger Paints introduces a complete product range in the waterproofing segment.
Said Abhijit Roy, Managing Director & CEO, Berger Paints India Limited: “We strongly believe that the waterproofing market has a lot of potential in India and the demand for waterproofing products are increasing sharply day by day. Earlier painters used to shy away from performing the tedious task of waterproofing as the process was very complicated. However, with the introduction of our product range, Berger DAMPSTOP, we intend to make the entire process simpler and hassle-free. The nano-silicon technology enables the product to waterproof the wall without having to break it open. As we launch this range of innovative waterproofing products, we aim to make consumers aware of the benefits of the same through multiple avenues including TVCs and digital media to highlight the importance of waterproofing and how easy the process has become, in current times.”
By Our Staff
Welspun, the flagship brand from Welspun India, has unveiled its new ad campaign “Life Se Maango More”, featuring Akshay Kumar as its new brand ambassador.
Sharing her thoughts on the campaign Manjari Upadhye, CEO – Domestic Business, Welspun Global Brands, said: “Welspun is already India’s No.1 distributed brand in towels category, but we strive for more – we are on a mission to make #HarGharWelspun. This requires a deep understanding of the aspirations and ever-evolving lifestyles of the new-age Indian consumers. Today’s consumers refuse to accept status quo and demand innovative solutions to their needs. Our QuikDry Towels and Reversible Bedsheets leverage Welspun’s technological prowess and address real problems faced by our consumers. Our brief for the campaign was simple – to bring out the real benefits of our products in an impactful and fun manner.”
Added Gaurav Sarda, VP & Head of Marketing – Domestic Business, Welspun Global Brands: “In our consumer’s homes, their bedrooms reflect the multiple roles our consumer’s themselves don – from being the extension of the living space as they host guests to becoming their WFH office space to being an online classroom for their kids. This is in addition to being the regular rest space! Akshay Kumar with his multi-faceted persona – action hero, masterchef and father fits seamlessly in personifying brand Welspun for its consumers. The TVCs – conceptualised by Shreyansh Innovations – bring out our product’s USPs in real life situations with a dash of Akshay Kumar’s signature humour, and also encourage them to ask for more.”
Picture caption: Image shows car crash test at 40km/h with crash test dummies with different safety measures: safety belt and airbag (front), safety belt only (back, right) and no safety measure (back, left). Source: Wikimedia
By Avik Chattopadhyay
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has released a piece of advertising on social media and television promoting the need of six airbags in a car. Take a look at the same before I carry on…
akshaykumar latest advertisement on airbag – YouTube
The piece of communication has been well-timed, just after the shocking death of Cyrus Mistry in a horrific road accident. Therefore, with the grapevine abuzz with talks of seatbelts and airbags, a piece of consumer awareness advertising with mascot Akshay Kumar is bound to get the eyeballs and… hopefully create a groundswell of customers walking up to showrooms wanting cars only with six airbags!
This would have been the logic that would have been played out in the Ministry and the Minister would have been pleased as plum. For long has he been leading the mission of having all cars with six airbags as that will make the Indian roads safer. The timing, the brand ambassador, the message, and the context were all perfect.
Lo and behold, within just three odd days of its amplification across all media, the backlash has been unprecedented and I daresay, egg on the face!
As you would have observed in the film, a car is being given as dowry. Also, the policeman seems a bit of a bully, gatecrashing into a private event without being invited, not painting the desired picture of the police, especially in the north. Lastly, the communication is all about having airbags and not about wearing seatbelts, which is actually more important for an occupant to be saved in an accident.
Three cardinal mistakes. Basic things but totally overlooked. If one were to pardon the policeman as he is Akshay Kumar and therefore allowed his usual bullying, what about the seatbelt bit? If one were to ignore the seatbelts as the narrative is all about bulldozing the automakers into providing six airbags in every four-wheeler, what about the dowry? Even of one clarifies it as a ‘gift’ from a loving father to his daughter, why allow such discussions in the first place? How could this pass the keen eyes and sensibilities of the advertising agency, the ministry officials and finally the minister? Social media is busy discussing these aspects of the communication rather than the desired central message. And the minister is receiving substantial flak for the same. Unmitigated disaster!
This, dear readers, is yet another example of what I call ‘marketing myopia’ where one tends to go to the jungle to fell trees to build a sustainable condominium! In the sheer obsession to get the core message across at any cost, the overall aspects of the communication are overlooked. They become blind spots, to use a motoring term.
Mr Mistry was unfortunately killed in the rear seat as he was not wearing the seatbelt as per initial reports, not because the car did not have enough number of airbags. The airbags will get activated only when the occupants are wearing their seatbelts. Providing twelve airbags in a car will also not solve matters if the seatbelts are not worn. There is a cause and effect that comes into play here. Artificial intelligence is applied, algorithms get into action and there is a lot of science at play to keep you safe. Not just the airbags!
In automotive parlance, safety systems are of two types – active and passive. Active systems assist in avoiding accidents, examples being the brakes, traction control, stability control, heads-up display, low cabin noise, driver assist systems and road quality. Passive systems get into action once an accident occurs to minimise the impact and injury. Both the seatbelt and the airbag are examples of such systems.
One has to ensure the active systems are first in place, to ensure minimal use of the passive systems. The location where the accident happened that killed Mr Mistry is known as an accident spot as the road design is faulty, according to many experts. Better road design could have avoided it in the first place, coupled with safer driving of course.
The same applies to brand communication. The active narrative has to be clear before one gets into the passive props. Here, the simple message should have been about safe driving, instead of pointing the finger only at the car. Being clearly led by the agenda to mould consumer thought and opinion into asking for more airbags, the core message has been lost. The passive props of the wedding and policeman are just not required as they take attention away from the elusive core message.
Then again, if the active narrative were in place, the smoke and shadows need not have been created. These make the weak attempt at diverting the consumer’s attention from the core to the periphery, just like many films with weak storylines add songs to merely fill up time. or like at the Ramlila where a lot of paraphernalia is created whereas the core task is to burn the effigies. And people end up discussing the quality of the acting and the hairstyles rather than the need to ensure the victory of good over evil.
Just like a lot of hot air about airbags without getting the seatbelts buckled!
By Our Staff
Actor Akshay Kumar continues as the brand ambassador of CarDekho, the leading auto-tech company in India. He features in the company’s latest TVC. With the tagline Bharosa Kar Ke Dekho, the TVC highlights the importance of trust and convenience of selling one’s car from the comfort of one’s home for the best price.
Said Charu Kishnani, Senior VP-Marketing, CarDekho: “It’s great to have collaborated with Akshay Kumar again after our first outing in 2020, which was a massive success. The objective of our campaign is to showcase how CarDekho brings convenience by helping people sell their cars from the comfort of their homes. Akshay’s charisma is a good fit for CarDekho, a company that strives to make life easier and better. Ad is featuring a unique bond between father and daughter and highlighting a true experience of selling a car with CarDekho. This is the first of many more to come. With this new TVC, we are looking to replicate the success story we scripted earlier and hope customers will reinstate their trust in us.”
By Our Staff
Dollar Bigboss, the men’s innerwear, has launched a new commercial to further boost the brand popularity. It features actor Akshay Kumar and has the tagline “Dollar Upar Gaya”. The film is set against the backdrop of a stock market.
Said Vinod Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, Dollar Industries Limited: “With our decade long association with Akshay Kumar, our brand has witnessed a 5x times growth. The concept of the commercial clearly speaks how Dollar has lived upto the expectations of its consumers and thus maintaining its position as one of the three major players in the hosiery industry with 15 % market share. Our new tagline ‘Dollar Upar Gaya’ explains the brand’s soaring market acceptability. We also wanted our long-time payoff to have a new meaning, a different take for the brand.”
Speaking on the idea behind the campaigns, Sagar Kapoor, Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas, said: “Fit hai Boss as a payoff has always worked wonders for Dollar Bigboss. This time we used the phrase to develop a witty plot which establishes the growing value of the brand. Akshay is a brilliant actor who pulls off the film with flying colours.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXdHe6RbF14