Ambuja Cements of the Adani Group has unveiled its latest ad film, ‘Mazbooti Ki Misaal’. The film focuses on the significance of forging strong bonds as the core value of Ambuja Cements – ‘Strength’.
Said Ajay Kapur, CEO, Cement Business: “At the heart of Ambuja Cements lies an unwavering commitment to the strength, both in our products and in the relationships, we foster with our customers. Our ‘Giant Compressive Strength’ is a testament to this commitment. It beautifully combines the tangible strength of our cement with intangible strength of familial bonds, resonating with our core values and touching the hearts of our audience.”
ACC and Ambuja Cements, the cement and building material companies of the Adani Group, are back with multimedia campaigns featuring their ACC Suraksha Cement and featuring the wrestling superstar – the Great Khali, respectively.
Said Ajay Kapur, CEO, Cement Business, said: “We are thrilled to launch these campaigns which embody the spirit and promise of ACC and Ambuja Cement Brands. As we move forward, we remain committed to delivering on our brand promise of strength, durability, and trust, all of which are integral to the construction of homes and infrastructure that stand the test of time.”
Havas Media Group India’s Mumbai office has reported a growth of 150% in 2020-2021, on the back of more than 15 new account wins.
This includes ACC Cement, Ambuja Cement, ICICI Securities, De Beers Forevermark, Wai Wai, Gitam University, Dr Reddy’s, OZiva, and several others. In addition, the agency reports “tremendous growth” on the back of key clients like Tata Motors and TVS Eurogrip and their increased media spends even in 2020. In total, Havas Media Mumbai has added a total billing of Rs 500+ crore in 2020-2021.
Rana Barua
Said Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India: “Despite the market challenges, in the last 15 months we stuck to our task, defined our vision and kept investing in both our talent and product. In 2020, Havas Media Group India has garnered a growth rate of 35% (RECMA June 2020) – the highest among all media agency networks in India. From the group perspective, I am delighted as the overall results are a testimony of the leadership of Mohit, Uday, Venkat and the entire Havas Media team, which has been working relentlessly on both existing clients and also winning many new ones.”
Mohit Joshi
Added Mohit Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media Group India: “Our North operations have always been extremely strong, and now it’s heartening to see the same being replicated in other markets. We have seen both organic growth and won some fabulous new client wins in the West in the last 15 months resulting in an unprecedented growth. The wide range of new businesses that we have added in our portfolio across industries and sectors demonstrates our talent and prowess as a media conglomerate.”
Uday Mohan
Said Uday Mohan, President & Head – North & West India: “We are firmly aligned to the network’s global philosophy of creating Meaningful Media and Brands. Havas Media Group is growing the business on 4 pillars – product, people, pitches, and partnerships. Built on the Media Experience [Mx] operating structure, each phase of the Mx process is powered by Converged, an identity–based planning platform, which places the audience including data, convergence, automation and AI, strategy, e-comm and marketplace, and so on, at the heart of the media planning process and capitalizes on media that matters.”
The Nation was celebrating its 72nd Republic day. Dressed in a kesariakurta, I had returned from a drive to Bandra Band Stand. The taste of Jalebi-Dhokla-Vada Pav from Punjab Sweets at Pali Hill was still fresh. It was slowly getting subdued with the fresh cup of Society Masala chai. A heavy dose of customary patriotic songs over the radio stations during the drive had charged me. On return to my society, I had even stopped and shot the typical picture, saluting the National Flag. And I had just watched the Republic Day communication developed by Manish Bhatt and the team at Scarecrow M&C Saatchi for the client Ambuja Cement.
For a change, the TV set tuned to NDTV I was watching the live parade telecast. In such a pleasant situation, dulled with everything will be right. The NCC cadets marching on Rajpath, the helicopters flying over the parade.
I was jolted to reality.
In between the parade coverage, the channel kept the viewers updated with visuals from the three alternate parades happening in the capital—the tractor rally of so-called protesting farmers.
What one saw was disappointing. One felt ashamed for the fellow countrymen taking this solemn moment to act in the way they did. They have been playing cat and mouse game with the government for long. January 26 was just a culmination of ill intension most likely supported by outsiders. This time it was not as bad as the riots of 2020.
One wished we were not a democracy. That the protesters had some fear of the law-and-order machinery. That the machinery was allowed a free hand to do what they are meant to do- maintain law and order. Hoped that they were amply supported with right weapons and intelligence. And when one saw the visuals from Lal Qila, one wished they allowed to shoot at sight, instead of allowing the hooligans to keep the city terrorised.
The law-and-order machinery was never in the game. The Government was put into catch 22 situations. The Government was anyway getting called for not acting. And would be called if they did act. Charged with this confidence, the patriotic farmers were busy challenging the Government.
The WhatsApp groups were full of typical armchair analyses if the situation. I was one of the vociferous participants. Whatever may be the Rajneeti, the politics of protest. Whoever may be supporting such a protest and gundagardi. If they were Nihangs or Jats. If they were on tractors or on foot. If they agreed or were protesting against a law that the elected representatives have crafted. And one that a large part if the country finds no problem with. None had the right to act the way they did. I go a step ahead; none should dare to act the way they did.
There is an urgent need in this country to bring new laws and take hard actions. Bring the destructors and penalise them. And if that calls for an emergency type of situation, so be it. The Nation has a responsibility. The Government has responsibility and accountability. What about the citizens of the country? What should the country expect from them?
I don’t know how, but we cannot afford such destructive protests. The Nation cannot be held to ransom. The laws are enacted by the elected representatives, and any question must be raised in the parliament. In my view, they should not even be challenged in the supreme court. At the worst case just like the president, the court can ask the Government to reconsider – but not force to amend a law duly enacted by an elected government. The battle has to be fought inside the parliament. If the regulations are anti-people, the people have the opportunity in the next election to reject the appeal.
When one sees the Rajpath Parade, and the Protestors violent parade side by side on the TV screen one gets disoriented. When one views a highly emotive campaign by brands on such occasions, one tends to get disoriented. When one listens to those songs that charge you up, one is unsure which country they refer to.
I know advertising cannot reflect this violent mood of the Nation. It will still continue to play on the emotions that you hold so dear. The campaigns will remain idealistic and the brands purpose-led. I am sure no brand will comment on what happened on January 26, 2021. Not sure, if they should. The taste has soured. The Ambuja Cement commercial was no longer making sense. What made sense is the MTV and GoldMedal electricals ad.
https://youtu.be/yMd29gMcJXQ
What I am sure is that we, hopefully, feel the need to wake up and take a stance. Tell the government we are with them. The citizens do not need to be threatened and terrorized of such gundas. We have elected a Government to keep order. As citizens, we just want to go about our business in peace and have a good night sleep. The citizen wants no more such incidents.
That the citizens feel about the Nation. They are patriotic enough not to raise questions if the Government acts decisively. The citizens feel charged when they see the patriotic campaigns not because it is not real-life. But because it is the Nation, they want to live in. And for it to happen, the citizens look at their elected government and the whole opposition to be constructive and decisive in action. Otherwise, none will be spared, and that is not being said figuratively.
So, if you are still not up. Here is another to close the argument- this time from Adani. And I am happy to note that instead of mussy-mussy all for the Nation- Tera Hai Par Mera Hai feeling- some are raising the questions.
Ambuja Cements has rolled out its latest campaign that imbibes its underlying message of unbreakable strength. The latest film by Triton Communications takes the proposition forward with a new twist while reiterating its core message of strength.
Said Ambuja Cement MD & CEO Ajay Kapur: “So far, all our advertisements have had a positive impact on our audience which is why they are relevant even today. The commercial has been executed flawlessly and it perfectly reflects our brand building strategy. 2018 will be a promising year for the cement industry and this advertisement will further help us strengthen our position in the market.â€
Ambuja Cement and its creative partner Publicis Ambience have decided to mutually part ways. This mutual decision marks the end of relationship of almost four years in July this year between Publicis Ambience and Ambuja Cement.
“When we started our journey together – the goal was to set stage for Ambuja to be counted among India’s Top 10 brands. We all knew that this task can only be accomplished over many years. Nonetheless our Khali campaign did go a considerable way to move us towards the goal. Together we have celebrated that fact that this campaign won accolades from every national and international award – be it for creativity or effectiveness. However, as we assessed the way forward, we understood that we have differences in our vision for the brand and the category and agreed that it would be best if we parted ways at this point in time,†said Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director, Publicis India.
“It was a fruitful partnership. Khali certainly was a new high in our brand building process. Not only that it locked strength with Ambuja inseparably, but also took the brand to a new level,†said Vivek Deshpande, head of Brand and Marketing Strategy, Ambuja Cement. “However”, he added, “going forward, we have mutually agreed to part ways to explore a different approach to branding. My best wishes will always be with Publicis. I am sure, they will continue to turn out great work for their clients.”
The brand’s been away from media limelight for a while but Ambuja Cement is back with a new TV campaign after four years that focuses on social awareness. The principal concept of the campaign captureshow there are many walls around us and not all of them are made of cement and concrete. There are walls of the metaphysical kind, the kind that infuse disrespect and disharmony among people.
This is the first time that Ambuja Cement has brought an exciting campaign on social awareness. The commercial subtly focuses on strength to break the walls of disparity and disharmony. Strength is one of the key elements of the Ambuja brand.
Speaking about the campaign, Ajay Kapur, Dy MD & CEO of Ambuja Cement said, “Strength is the key aspect of Ambuja Cement and hence the TVC gels very well with our tag line ‘Giant Compressive Strength’. It is the responsibility of the good people to break the barrier of all such social stigma,” he reiterated.
The 60 second campaign is already doing the rounds on television channels to coincide with the run-up to the general elections due later this month and next month and the recently concluded T20 Cricket World Cup. The approximate total spends of the campaign is pegged in the region of Rs 60 crores.
Ambuja Cement has announced that they have entrusted the creative duties for brand Ambuja to Publicis.
Vivek Deshpande- Head Branding, Ambuja Cements said, “We have very ambitious plans for our brand – we wanted an agency who would partner us at every step of the way forward. In Publicis we found both the strategic and creative quality that gives us confidence. We look forward to this partnership.”
Nakul Chopra
Nakul Chopra, CEO Publicis South Asia added, “Ambuja is an iconic brand; we feel privileged to partner them in taking their brand to the next level. That this opportunity will allow for media neutral ideas which could straddle traditional and non-traditional media – makes it even more exciting.”
Partha SinhaBobby Pawar
In a joint statement, Partha Sinha and Bobby Pawar, Directors Publicis South Asia said, “We are delighted with this opportunity – we have some ambitious ideas for the brand and are currently in the middle of executing them. It’s a fantastic brand team to work with and we are confident of delivering big on this brand.”
Ambuja Cements has entrusted Ketchum Sampark with its PR mandate following a closely contested multi-agency pitch. Ketchum Sampark will be responsible for implementing Ambuja Cement’s integrated public relations campaign which includes brand communication, sustainability communication and corporate social image build-up, whilst supporting company’s marketing promotional activities in key metros and tier 2/3 towns in India.
Ajay Sharma, Managing Partner, Ketchum Sampark, said, “Ambuja Cements is a classic example of a successful commodity branding. We are truly excited at the opportunity to create breakthrough communication for Ambuja Cement. With the added advantage of our team’s expertise in the cement industry, we are confident to support their business objectives with our insight-driven strategies.”
Bibek Chattopadhyay, Head, Corporate Communications at Ambuja Cement, remarked, “We are pleased to have Ketchum Sampark as our public relations partner.”
The Nation was celebrating its 72nd Republic day. Dressed in a kesaria kurta, I had returned from a drive to Bandra Band Stand. The taste of Jalebi-Dhokla-Vada Pav from Punjab Sweets at Pali Hill was still fresh. It was slowly getting subdued with the fresh cup of Society Masala chai. A heavy dose of customary patriotic songs over the radio stations during the drive had charged me. On return to my society, I had even stopped and shot the typical picture, saluting the National Flag. And I had just watched the Republic Day communication developed by Manish Bhatt and the team at Scarecrow M&C Saatchi for the client Ambuja Cement.
