I love the new ad for Uber Auto showing a young girl who gets her first job, and the interaction she has with her mother. Of course she gets through with flying colours in her interview but knows full well that the success in the job search has a serious impediment ahead: the worries of the family related to her safety and daily passage to work and back. And this is where Uber Auto steps in — affordable, comfortable, convenient, safe and good option for a doorstep pick-up from home and a doorstep drop back in the evening. A simple solution to a worrying, and often, vexing problem.
It is the simplicity of the ad that I love the most. It is what good advertising has always been about. Problem solution. Consumer focus. Consumer benefit. Brand plusses. Brand promise. Brand assurance. Product window reiterating the promise and underlining the benefits. Happy and satisfied customer. No celebrity. No hype. No overpromise. Just a simple, solid, hardworking ad. I am sure it will do well for Uber Auto.
I can’t say the same about past Uber Auto advertising though. I distinctly remember an Uber Auto ad from about a year ago, I guess for the launch of the service in Chennai. Set against the backdrop of a dramatic courtroom scene, much like in some Tamil movies, the commercial narrated the story of an accused waiting for his witness to arrive to be examined. The protagonist (witness), if memory serves me right, was called ‘Selvam’. His name dramatically echoed around the city.
As different characters ranging from policemen to politicians screamed Selvam’s name, it kind of went viral around Chennai, till we finally saw Selvam haggling with a rickshaw driver for his ride. The voice over resolved Selvam’s problem by introducing him to Uber Auto, and we finally saw him happily arriving in court, much to everyone’s relief. The film ends with the accused looking most relieved, and thankful that his witness has arrived on time to rescue him. The Selvam ad was creatively a much more dramatic effort than the current ad with the girl. But the creative hype and the shouting kind of drowned out the brand and its offering. As I said, I prefer clean and clear messaging to unnecessary hype and histrionics.
The coming of age of the Bajaj Pulsar — it was launched 18 years ago — is the other big advertising campaign seen in the past few days in the media. The Pulsar was launched with the tagline ‘definitely male’, way back in 2001. This has remained unchanged for 18 consecutive years, almost something unique in Indian advertising as brand custodians invariably tend to tweak brand positioning with the passage of time. Nevertheless, the ‘definitely male’ positioning has been zealously preserved by Bajaj over the years, and is in some ways testimony to the enduring nature of Pulsar’s definitive macho appeal across generations of bike riders. The new ad is actually along the expected lines: a boy growing up, doing all kinds of mischievous acts, jumping off trees and into pools, with the mom screaming his name out in distress and in warning — till he turns 18, obtains a licence, and goes delirious cavorting and stunt-riding, on his Pulsar.
Actually, the stunts remind me of the Pulsar’s 15-years celebration when the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) pulled up Bajaj for misleading consumers. In the then ad, the rider was shown performing stunts in normal streets, crowded markets, and varying traffic conditions; the wheelie being shown in multiple locations, including right amongst a group of people dancing. This was noted by ASCI to be contradictory to the disclaimer made in the advertisement: “These stunts have been performed under controlled environment at an isolated location”.
It was concluded that regardless of the disclaimer, the specific visuals shown in the stunts performed by the rider in normal traffic and/or in the presence of bystanders and public encouraged dangerous practices, manifesting a disregard for safety and encouraging negligence and contravening the ASCI Code. Well, in the current rendition, Bajaj has stayed away from the crowds. It is a solo performance, though again a somewhat dangerous rendition of what bike-riding should be for any young rider. But then I suppose the 18- years-olds’ adrenalin pumps to levels only the Pulsar resonates with! I normally do not cover political narratives in these columns. But I just can’t resist talking about the incredibly funny AAP Kejri-wall ad, which has just been released in the media, and is a big hit on digital. The ad is a remix of an old Ambuja Cement ad featuring Boman Irani in a dual role of twin brothers. And how the two brothers want to bring down the wall that separates them. The spoof is hilarious with well targeted digs at political rivals and even the Lieutenant Governor! A cute idea, a good lift and some very clever tweaking of content: cheap and cheerful, light-hearted yet impactful. Great!
(The author is an advertisement veteran)