Know Thy Breaks
Posts tagged Lowe Lintas
Experience An Afterlife In The Same Birth
Jun 2nd
Tag line: Retirement Matlab World’s Best Job
Client: ICICI Prudential life
Brand: ICICI Prulife Retirement Solutions
Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas
Exec Creative Director: Ameer Jaleel
Director: Shivendra Dungarpur
Production House: Dungarpur Films
Duration: 50 secs
Year: 2009
Story: ICICI Prudential has been at retirement solutions since 2002, the first in the category. Similar to its previous campaigns, this one also aims at building a positive outlook towards retirement. But this is the first change in tag line since the maiden ad, when the tag line was ‘Retire from work, not life’, though the brand idea was the same.
Message: The life insurance advert works on to change perceptions of retirement & help consumers to see that there is an upside to retirement. The aim is to go beyond stirring the consumer, & get him to start seriously investing in his future. It aims to make retirement aspirational for the hesitant Indian consumer. Hence, the route of pulling out one’s secret desires that have taken a backseat somewhere in the course of life. (***)
Insight: The insight is that of looking at the dreams that people stash away at the back of their minds, due to the daily grind of a job and other responsibilities. Also, the fact that it isn’t part of the Indian culture to invest for their own future. They’d rather plan for a house, children’s education & even marriage, but only a few will plan for life after retirement. (***)
Freshness: It’s an off beat idea to relate to the younger working man, who could then wisely save for his future, instead of portraying his harsh future, if he doesn’t invest. A fresh perspective to retirement & that too so very positive, in this aspirational era, where everyone wants everything & more. The greenery & sunny ambience in the film add to the positivity. Altogether it really gels with urban young audience. (***)
Verdict: There’s a concept in the tag line that can grow into much more. But The proposition with this category is the same, which doesn’t make the ad stand out very prominently. The execution of the ad is such that it sticks in the mind. If ever evolved into a campaign, it might possess the ability to dent this Indian truth (or perception)that the retirement is a compromised state in life.
On The Discovery Trail
May 7th
Tag line: Discover India With The Power of 1 Litre
Client: Bajaj Auto
Brand: Discover DTS-Si
Creative agency: Lowe Lintas
Chief Creative Officer: R Balki
Exec Creative Director: Amer Jaleel, Anaam Mishra
Copywriter: Manoj Bhavnani
Director: Amit Sharma
Production House: Chrome Pictures
Duration: 50 secs
Year: 2009 & 2010
The earlier TVCs, produced by Nirvana Films, were about Magnetic Hill in Ladakh (where magnetic forces naturally help vehicles go uphill), Mattur near Mangalore a Vedic village where everyone speaks in Sanskrit & Jamboor near Junagadh a village where an African tribe resides since the last five centuries.
Story: Bajaj Discover was back with its fourth campaign on the same line and this time it showed a unique place 100 km away from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, named Shanishingnapur where houses do not have doors. Also known as a pilgrimage centre for devotees of Lord Shani, it is believed that the the Lord himself protects the residents from robberies and theft of any kind.
Idea & Message: India offers diverse range of locations which can be explored since they have such fascinating stories around them. Thus Bajaj Discover DTS-Si, using its heritage formula of its earlier campaigns, has come up but with a difference with this series called ‘Discover India’ which introduces us to an exceptionally unknown part of the country. The idea behind the campaign is to establish the new 100 cc Discover DTS-Si as the most fuel efficient bike in its class through the route of ‘Experiences Per Litre’ (epl) instead of Kilometres Per Litre (kmpl) which is the standard category norm. (****)
Target Audience Connect: It talks about Discover DTS-Si’s amazing mileage and long ride comfort– one major element which has a huge appeal and relevance for the value conscious customer. The Discover now has almost become the pivot in the commuting category. (****)
Freshness: Time and again advertisers have used India and its diverse culture to weave their promotional activities around it. Especially Bajaj Auto has the legacy of doing this, remember ‘Hamara Bajaj’ ad campaign which took the nation by storm. So as a brand, Discover fits in beautifully with the ‘Ek Litre mein Bharat ki Khoj‘ thought. And it will definitely be recalled for its freshness. (***)
Verdict: Brilliant concept… excellently communicated ‘fuel economy’ point. Part infomercial, part commercial, the series of ads has delved into hidden, but fascinating parts of India which, going by the campaign’s thought, can be discovered with ease. The bike’s fuel efficiency & the ad’s allure will enable the audience to explore little known places in India which awe us.
Jewellery That Makes You Want To Marry
May 1st
Tag line: The Wedding Jeweler
Client: Tanishq
Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas
Creative Team: NA
Duration: 60 secs
Year: 2010
Story: In India, it is during marriages that people buy jewellery for the bride or for gifting. So, the whole idea behind the campaign is to associate brand Tanishq with marriages. The new campaign for Tanishq’s wedding jewellery shows a father asking his daughter to consider a match. The daughter isn’t interested– that is, till she follows her mother into a Tanishq store and tries out some wedding jewellery.
Idea & Execution: To start with, there’s an idea. And unlike most of its competition, the idea is not a “Let’s use a celebrity”. This film is a great example of the fact that if you start from a lovely insight in the first place and then build on it, you can be pretty sure that it will touch people. And then, of course, it has been handled with a lot of maturity. It’s beautifully scripted. The screenplay is measured and precise. The cast has been carefully chosen and very honestly directed. And the music bathes the moments in the film and doesn’t just sit behind it. (*****)
Emotional Appeal: I loved the ad for its simplistic and realistic portrayal. The casting is very sweet too with Arundhati Nag as the smart I-know-what-can-get-her-to-say-yes mother stands out. And instead of nagging her, she chose a very novel technique to convince her to enter into wedlock. I like this ad for its non-randomness in demonstrating benefits and creating an aspirational value. The staged transformation from a look with no jewellery to one that enhances her looks with every ornament is what comes through as most convincing. Charmed! You might wonder is it jewellery that gets a girl to consider a proposal, I think it’s the promise of that special moment, a moment where she is the bestest. (****)
Freshness: What makes this piece stand apart from other rivals? The idea. It has a soul. Most jewellery adverts I have seen get carried away by the look, feel, the glamour and, of course, Bollywood actresses. Think about the Asmi’s; the Nakshatra’s; the Gitanjali’s; the Gili’s; etc. You don’t even remember in which commercial Sush, Aish, Kat, or Bips starred. It was all about looking as stunning as the star on screen and never about ‘you’ or how ‘you looked’. I don’t remember all the ads currently but most of them never went into the persona of the woman, as this ad did. (*****)
Verdict: It is really tough for a woman to say no to accessories (here jewels) that make her look/feel good! And the makers of this ad have used this idea to market their product effectively. What a beautiful break from the regular, ridiculous jeweller adverts! Also, there was a sense of conspicuousness about the theme of a neo- woman whose family guide them for their personal decisions but give them her own space to decide. This is the first entry to our category of ‘Amazing ads‘.
Saving Power with Havells Guarantees a Halo too
Apr 3rd
Assuage your guilt by saving electricity
Client: Havells
Agency: Lowe Lintas
Creative Director: Uday Shankar
Copywriter: R Balakrishnan (Balki)
Director: Gauri Shinde
Production House: Red Ice Productions
Year: 2010
Background: The ad shows a hangman feeling guilty after executing a death sentence. He comes home with a heavy heart. However, switching on the CFL at his home makes him feel better. He realizes that he is at least doing some good by saving the environment and saving electricity. The VO runs ‘Zindagi main hum sabko paap karna padta hai, kuchh to punya kama sakte hai, bijli bachake’. (We all have to commit so many sins in our lives; we can earn some blessings by at least saving electricity). The ad then upholds the energy saving proposition of the brand’s CFLs. More >
‘The Speaking Tree’ of Idea With Its Satya Bachchan
Apr 3rd
Tag line: Use Mobile. Save Paper
Agency: Lowe Lintas
Director: Amit Sharma
Production House: Chrome Pictures
Year: 2010
Background: In this TVC, the protagonist, Idea Cellular’s brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan, personifies the lone surviving tree in a forest cut down to feed the paper mills. He falls upon the idea of how the mobile phone could be used as a replacement for paper thus negating the need to indiscriminately fell trees and consequently save the environment. A montage that follows shows a consumer reading the newspaper on his cellphone (m-paper), a waiter in a hotel noting down his customer’s order on his cellphone, an airline boarding pass being checked on the mobile phone itself and so on and so forth. A lady is seen giggling when a flea market salesman asks her if she has any old newspapers to give away. More >
