New Year ushers in some nice ad campaigns
The New Year has kicked off on a good note, with many new campaigns getting launched in the dying days of year 2019, and picking up momentum in the first few days of 2020. The cutest of the new ones on air is the campaign for the upcoming India-Australia cricket series with a Star Sports commercial featuring actors Anil Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey. Kapoor plays his quintessential role of Mr India, while Jaffrey is shown to be an Australian supporter, an Indian who moved to that country many years ago. The light hearted banter goes something like this: Kapoor is in Bhopal, Jaffrey in Brisbane.
Kapoor calls his old pal and tells him, “Australia mein settle hoke tumne bahut sahi kiya. Tumhari Australia ki team bahut sahi hai”.Jaffrey agrees, “Woh to hai”. Kapoor continues, “Final over mein pachees run bhi chahiye hote hain na toh sirf tum log hi …” but Jaffrey interrupts, “Hum log hi le sakte hain”, to which Kapoor turns the tables saying, “Le sakte nahi, de sakte ho”. The commercial ends on a spicy invitation to the series … baatein chatpati hongi, Cricket aur bhi teekha … Good job done, Star Sports. Nice display of one-upmanship. Both of them play seasoned roles.Dialogues are sharp and witty. A good curtain raiser of the series.
I saw Vinay Pathak performing as King Lear last week. He was just electrifying. A 90-minute-long solo performance that left you spell-bound. Well, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance’s ‘complete’ life insurance too seeks to use Pathak’s histrionics to communicate its ‘Poora Plan’. The first film shows Pathak taking aashirwad from his mother before leaving home. He goes on to seek blessings for not only a long life but to be safe from accidents and critical illnesses too.
The voice over introduces Kotak Life’s full life plan, which gives complete protection from death, disability and more. In the second film, Pathak educates his neighbour about a full life insurance plan, and offers him a half-eaten sandwich to doubly drive home the point. Pathak is a genius. His acting abilities can give life and spirit to any script. Kotak have done well to choose him. He is not forbidding and distant like most celebrities are; and he is believable because there is an easy versatility about him that makes everything he says seem so much the truth.
The ‘Ghar ka khaana, saath mein thoda Swiggy’ campaign is what I call a ‘frenemy’ communication. Don’t order restaurant foods as a substitute to home-made food. Just order in to supplement what’s already made at home. So, you have the best of both worlds. The healthy goodness and familiar taste of the kitchen, and the variety of all that is available outside. It is a clever insight that seeks to expand the occasions and reasons to order more on Swiggy. I have always found Swiggy to be an intelligent marketer, propelled by sharp consumer insights. The creatives though do not this time quite match up to the goodness of the brief … wish the great creative timing and the razor-sharp creative execution of Swiggy’s ‘gulabjamun’ ad were in evidence once again.
Manyavar’s new ad campaign with Ranveer Singh shows him following an elderly man around, badgering him about a job opportunity, till the gentleman really gets irritated and points out to him that this is a wedding, not a job interview. Ranveer pipes in saying that is exactly the point: Western formal clothes may be acceptable in an interview, but if you are attending a wedding, you’re not really dressed for the occasion unless you wear traditional Indian dress. The ad is a bit exaggerated. Ranveer, to be honest, is a bit over-the-top. After Virat and Anushka, Manyavar ads just do not seem any longer in the same class. This one’s loud, and pointlessly so. Come on guys, get back the magic!
The Volkswagen ‘Little Burglar’ is the type of advertising I like. In fact, love. Warm, evocative, tug-at-the-heart. The little girl ‘steals’ her Papa’s favourite ‘toys’ and urges Santa to take them all away so Papa can spend more time with his little angel. The father realises his mistake; quietly scoops the little darling away on a ride in his Volkswagen and all is soon well in their little cuddly world.
The ad, yes, is similar to the Aamir Khan Vivo ad I mentioned last week in these columns. But the similarity is all but incidental because both ads dwell on the pain and perceived neglect of our little ones in the hurly-burly of life. I prefer the Volkswagen little girl over the Vivo little boy. She is more endearing. But, yes, both ads are good. Because they are real. Now the last one. ‘Kabhi kuch na karke bhi dekho’ 5-Star ad from Cadbury is not just quirky…it is what you will hear and see in 2020 : “woke”!
Manyavar’s new ad - a bit exaggerated
Ranveer says in the ad, western formal clothes may be acceptable in an interview, but if you are attending a wedding, you’re not dressed for it, unless you wear a traditional dress
(The author is an advertising veteran)