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Tag: George Koshy

  • Hindustan Unilever picks ad created by Lowe to relaunch its soap brand Liril

    La la la la, la la la la. HUL brings back bikini-clad girl under a waterfall for Liril

    By Sagar Malviya

     

    A bikini-clad girl dancing under a waterfall in the middle of a secluded, lush green valley, frolicking to a catchy tune would surely evoke nostalgia for most folks, except maybe those born in the 21st century.

     

    Now, Hindustan Unilever has gone down memory lane to choose one of the hottest Indian ads ever to relaunch its soap brand Liril – more than a decade after it went off-air but perhaps, never forgotten. The Liril girl is back!

     

    “These are the roots of Liril. They don’t change. And what we’re doing is paying homage to the Liril that we all know, bringing alive the very same elements that have been part of our popular culture through time,” said George Koshy, general manager for personal wash category at HUL.

     

    The marble green soap brand made waves 40 years ago when model and Air India air-hostess Karen Lunel wore a swimsuit and danced under a cascade to the catchy jingle.

     

    “It is an iconic ad in Indian memory and even newer people are interested in history if there is a back story as interesting as that of Liril. In a low-involvement category like soaps, Liril will stand out and surely gain share now,” said Alpana Parida, president at brand consultancy firm DY Works.

     

    After 1985, the brand was defined by models Pooja Batra, Preity Zinta and Deepika Padukone — each seen playing in the water and swimming under the waterfall. But they were merely shadows of the original ad.

     

    Also, it wasn’t the same after the 90s, when the lemon product was diluted with variants such as orange and icy blue, followed by a name change to Liril 2000 a decade ago.

     

    So what does Alyque Padamsee, former CEO of Lintas and the creator of the ‘Liril girl’ have to say about the modern rendition of the ad?

     

    “I feel vindicated because there are some appeals that are timeless. Freshness in a tropical country has an eternal appeal which is now being revived,” said Padamsee, adding that Liril promised a few minutes of freedom from the daily grind of the Indian housewife.

     

    The new campaign, featuring Brazilian model Anabelle and created by Lowe, was launched on social media last week.

     

    “‘Must have taken a lot of guts to go back’, was one particular response and that sums up our approach – stick to the core,” said Koshy.

     

    While the image of the lime and lemony zest soap brand and its ad may not have faded away, its market share did — falling from a high of over 14 per cent three decades ago to less than 2 per cent now — in the Rs 16,000-crore soap category.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The simple act has the potential to save millions of lives

    Lifebuoy’s ‘Jump Pump’ activity casts positive impact on schoolkids

    By a correspondent

     

    It is a startling fact, that more than 2 million children lose their lives to diarrhoea every year. It is even more alarming, that a major contributor to this number is India. Washing hands with soap at key occasions during the day has been proven to be the most cost-effective and scalable solution to prevent the spread of deadly infections likes pneumonia and diarrhoea. This simple act has the potential to save millions of lives.

     

    Over the years, Lifebuoy has implemented several innovative programs to create habit change for hand washing amongst children as well as to raise awareness about the five critical hand washing occasions in a day. Of these five, one of the most important is washing hands with soap before eating.

     

    In April 2014, Lifebuoy chose the occasion of the mid-day meal to convey this message. India’s mid-day meal scheme feeds over 120 million children a day, making it the perfect opportunity to address the maximum number of children across schools, at the actual moment of truth.

     

    Across many rural schools, it was found that children were not washing hands before having lunch, despite the availability of soap. The fact was that the old and heavy hand-operated pumps are the only way to access water in these schools. Young children find it difficult and tiresome to operate these pumps and hence would simply not bother coming near them. The focus was thus shortlisted towards this key barrier.

     

    Vipul Salvi, National Creative Director / Geometry Global India said: “We need to keep pushing the limits of creativity to help solve basic problems like poor hygiene… the great thing about the Jump Pump is that it worked like a charm with kids while being cost-effective and easy to implement.”

     

    Rahul Saigal, President / Geometry Global, India added: “Sometimes the best way to teach kids an important lesson is to distract them into learning. You can’t engage children by mere preaching; you need to talk to them in a language they understand: the language of play!”

     

    What Lifebuoy did was install a specially crafted rocking horse, made from a combination of wood and metal with a simple screw-on mechanism, on to the handles of these hand pumps in schools – transforming them into “Jump-Pumps”.

     

    At lunchtime, when children headed out of class for their meal, they were taken by surprise by this colourful addition to their school premises. Promoters explained the concept and the proper technique of washing hands with soap along with putting up posters at prominent spots in the school to explain the “Jump Pump” game. Apart from this, Lifebuoy soap was also provided to ensure soap availability throughout the activation period.

     

    Currently, about 1500 rural schools across UP and Maharashtra are being impacted with this activity between April-May 2014.

     

    George Koshy, General Manager (Skin Cleansing), HUL said:” Lifebuoy has a proud history of being a brand that stands for saving lives. It is indeed our mission to ensure that hand washing with soap becomes a habit for children, as a step to reducing diarrheal mortality. The ‘Jump Pump’ activation is an innovative approach, appealing to children in a manner that is fun and enjoyable.”

     

  • HUL's Domex ran a campaign on Big FM, with characters Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea spreading the message of toilet hygiene and sanitization

    Germs personified on radio for HUL’s Domex

    By A Correspondent

     

    While most toilet cleaner campaigns focus on TVCs and print, HUL’s Domex has taken to the radio waves in an innovative bid to target the markets of Maharashtra and South India.

     

    Big FM has carried out an innovative and engaging campaign on the pegs of toilet hygiene and sanitization, called ‘Germs Ka The End’, with characters Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea spreading the message of toilet hygiene and sanitization.

     

    Led by National Solutions Head Dheeraj Kumar along with his team comprising Zara Zaki, Sreejith Vijayan and Usha Malasi, the campaign also saw a song rendition by music director and singer Bappi Lahiri, titled The End.

     

    Created against the backdrop of ‘shaayri’, the characterized germs poetically profess the ill-effects of unhygienic and unsanitized toilets through an imaginative exchange of dialogues.

     

    Ashwin Padmanabhan

    Ashwin Padmanabhan, Business Head – 92.7 Big FM said, “We are happy with the success of the campaign. To be able to tailor solutions to meet client requirements, while also keeping listener sensibilities in mind has been our strength which has been showcased once again with this campaign with Domex. The team has done an excellent job and we look forward to continuing to serve audiences and marketers alike, with innovative and highly engaging offerings.”

     

    George Koshy, Category Head (Household Care), Hindustan Unilever Ltd said, “Toilet cleaners category cues are such that consumers cringe on seeing any form of advertising. Our germ world campaign is our attempt at making this category easier on the eye. In order to make the germ world and its characters popular, we decided to use music as the medium. Mindshare created a unique tie-up with 92.7 Big FM and Bappi Lahiri to create a fun jingle around Domex’s characters – Jaggu Jaundice, Tatya Typhoid and Danny Diarrhea. Radio is a key medium with our audience residing in our key markets. The song enabled us to enter the realm of radio content and away from the by now done-to-death RJ integrations and station roadblocks.”