By Tuhina Anand
Dhara, which has in the past come up with successful taglines including ‘Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’, has now after a gap of almost six years come out with a new campaign.
India Ka Tadka is how Dhara has positioned itself in its current communication, which is about celebrating the fondness of food that Indians are known for and various emotions that come with food. Â It also talks of the role that edible oil plays in daily Indian cooking, which also involve frying. Hence, Dhara offering guilt-free consumption of all things that are seen as sinful by switching to the brand that offers healthy variants of oil to choose from, thus also championing the rotating of different oils which is seen as a healthy choice.
Offering an insight into the reason for the six-year gap before this campaign, Amit Kumar Taneja, Senior Brand Manager, Dhara, Mother Dairy, said, “In the year 2009, we revamped the entire packaging for the brand and then post that we have been doing a lot of work like creating a new brand identity based on its equity and heritage, introducing new variants and simultaneously focusing on distribution in regions with tactical media exposure. Taking a step ahead we thought that it is the right time to also introduce a national campaign now. Incidentally, Dhara has just entered its 25th year too.”
The campaign tries to bring about an emotional connect, along with being relevant, to the consumers. Mr Taneja explained, “Edible oil is like salt which is a necessary ingredient for the everyday kitchen. Now there are certain reserves regarding consuming oil. So what we are essentially saying that research recommends changing oil variants frequently for healthy lifestyle, and we have taken the responsible route and provide those variants under the Dhara umbrella thus providing consumers reassurance that we are taking care of their health needs.”
He added, “The message is being reinforced on Dhara packaging as well, which reads as ‘For optimum health benefits Dhara recommends consumption of more than one variant to get balanced quantity of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) along with a variety of micro nutrients present in different oils’. ”
India ka Tadka essentially means that we have grown up hearing the crackling sound of tadka, and whenever we hear it, subconsciously we know that food is going to be served. Tadka is that wafting aroma of spices in oil which turns an ordinary meal into the most exquisite treat. It’s also a metaphor for the joie de vivre, the spice of life. The positioning tries to capture the significance of food even in our smallest of celebrations.
The campaign is developed by DDB Mudra and shot by Thumbnail Pictures. It’s been launched pan-India with Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali edits. The OOH too is being tapped in different cities across India.
Commenting on the TVC, Vandana Das, President, DDB Mudra, said, “We take a lot of pride in this campaign and our association with Dhara for so many years. With past campaigns like ‘Jalebi’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’ done for Dhara, the benchmark was already set very high. What’s great and delights us is that we managed to partner the client in creating yet another campaign that not just breaks the category clutter but also captures a strong insight. India ka Tadka for sure depicts each one of us in some way or the other.”