One thing Ranbir Kapoor has always had is his unmistakable swag. Despite his many flops in recent times, and now his thundering success with the movie Sanju, Ranbir’s confident swag has always been his signature. And this swag comes through in full in the new Flipkart campaign for fashion. Ranveer Singh features this fortnight in Kotak Bank’s campaign for its 811 account. He plays a sutradhar who anchors the bank’s message of inclusive banking. The normally effervescent Ranveer is far more toned down in his performance for Kotak, coming across as sober and sincere.
Flipkart recently rolled out a series of ad films featuring Bollywood actors Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor. Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the films show the duo giving Flipkart’s ‘kidults’ fashion advice. Kidults (kids behaving as adults) is a concept Flipkart first introduced in 2012. Since then, these kidults have been selling a host of products for the e-commerce giant. But it is for the first time that the kidults idea has been cross-pollinated with celebrities. Kapoor and Kapoor introduce Flipkart as the Fashion Capital of the World to a whole cast of kidults celeb-struck by the presence of the two famous actors in their midst.
But what strikes you about the Flipkart films is as much the sunny disposition of Ranbir Kapoor, as the technicality involved in creating sets proportionate to the size of the kids, and also resizing the celebrities and placing them flawlessly alongside the kidults. The kids must have been cast keeping in mind the heights of the film stars. Both Ranbir and Shraddha were presumably shot against Chroma, talking to actors in Chroma suits and dancing/talking at the exact mark where their kid double would have danced or stood.
It is quite commendable to pull off a shoot where one has to be wary of the camera angles, positioning of the actors, the set, props etc., considering their vertical difference in height. But in all of this, what stands out is not the technology of the shoot, but the ease and self confidence of Ranbir Kapoor. His mischievous smile. His easy amiability. As I said before, he has a natural swag. That swag gives brand Flipkart the confidence to brag.
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s new campaign #IndiaInvited features Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh along with people from all walks of life, across age, gender, profession, religion, physical appearance, including an acid attack survivor, among others. The campaign is shot at the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (earlier known as Victoria Terminus). The protagonist of the story is ‘the bench at the railway station’ and Ranveer Singh dons the role of the bard (sutradhar). The story voices similarities between 811, the all ‘inclusive’ bank account from Kotak, and a bench at the railway station.
Ranveer therefore becomes the protagonist for making banking more accessible and widespread: he draws attention to how 811 does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of personal or physical characteristics. So much so that this commercial is more about Ranveer and less about Kotak or 811. A lot of footage is devoted to Ranveer building up the philosophy and the proposition of 811 through meeting and introducing a wide spectrum of possible and potential 811 customers.
Ranbir is class. Ranveer is mass. In their own way, Flipkart and Kotak needed to communicate just that. Hence, the choice of respective celebrities has been pretty appropriate. Personally, I would rate Ranbir a notch above Ranveer. I think it is the swag. Ranbir imbues every brand he endorses with his signature style: it is the swag that only pedigree and a pleasing persona can ensure. Ranbir goes through the motions with oodles of confidence and conviction. Flipkart could surely not ask for more.
(Sandeep Goyal is an advertising veteran. He has worked at leading ad agencies like JWT, Grey, DDB, Rediffusion and Dentsu for over 30 years)