Brands that cut through: Tanishq, Savlon, Dalmia Cement, Tata Motors, Jio Cinema, JioMart, Swiggy, Mumbai Indians, HDFC Life.
Tanishq | Before Superwoman, She’s Human
At some point in this seemingly indefatigable superwoman show, the viewer was bound to pose the question. But before the viewer could, the brand brought it up. That she can be tired, that she can fail, that she can feel sad. That before superwoman, she is human. A critical question is asked of society: Is ‘superwoman’ a compliment or an expectation? The compliment more often than not leads to expectations. Normalising ‘superwoman’ behaviour is grossly unfair. Kudos to Tanishq for speaking up for women and spotlighting a societal blind spot sensitively, yet again.
Savlon Swasth India Mission | Hand Ambassador
Something had to give. The sheer number of brand ambassadors and endorsements means that even with popular faces, brands need cut through ideas. This one cuts out the endorser’s face to cut through! This is a winner for more reasons than one. The hand – even if Sachin’s – is the hero. For a mission urging people to wash hands, nothing could be better. While ‘Hand Ambassador’ rhymes with ‘Brand Ambassador’, it is arguably likely to find more resonance with the brand frat than the aam junta. That said, the spots are so catchy that the aam junta is likely to get familiarised with ‘Brand Ambassador’ after this campaign. Mission accomplished.
Dalmia Cement | Homemaker
When the roles have changed, why haven’t the definitions? A pertinent question in the context of ‘Homemaker’. Dalmia is viewing this in the context of women in its industry and celebrating a few of them here. The transition to reveal the professional avatars of the homemakers is nicely done to retain interest.
Tata Motors | #RedHotDark
The product proposition of a ‘Red, Hot, Dark’ edition, stands out. This communication will certainly help it stand out better. It’s high on style, slick and produced without compromise, with a soundtrack that gets our pulse racing and visuals that car lovers say are making them swoon. I am usually not swayed by car advertising sans insight and idea. Here the objective is to communicate the new design-led differentiation. That becomes the idea and it has been picturised to enthral.
Jio Cinema | Viacom 18 | Yeh Hai Shuruaat Teri, Ab Har Zubaan Par Baat Teri
Evocative and pulsating at the same time, this edgy anthem underlines the arrival of the Women’s Premier League. This is no less than the beginning of a new era for women’s cricket, not just in India but across the world. The spot does justice to the importance of this development, while being entertaining and youthful. It is befitting that the first edition of the league started four days ahead of International Women’s Day. It is a giant stride towards gender equality, through the popular game that was once the exclusive bastion of ‘gentlemen’. Well played, Viacom 18.
JioMart | Bura Na Mano, Holi Hai
JioMart has made its presence felt with some clutter-breaking work ahead of its Holi sale. The spots take the humour route and the effort in execution shows in the results. Written to get your attention, the films are produced to ensure it is retained.
Swiggy | Weekend Vettu (Tamil)
I have often wondered, as have many others before and after me, why some brands that come up with advertising that wows us don’t manage to do so in regional languages. Swiggy corrects that notion with these Tamil spots that play on the word ‘Vettu’ which is used in two contexts. One is the literal meaning ‘cut’ and the scenes build up like film situations where you expect violence. The other is ‘Oru vettu vettu’ used in the context of food to mean ‘gorge’. A play on words and the local idiom that could only be done by those who speak the tongue.
Mumbai Indians | Mumbai Ki Ladki Aali Re
Another premier league anthem that raises the excitement, this one is for the Mumbai Indians women’s team. What the WPL is expected to do to young women comes alive in this film. We are seeing young women in the stadium following the game with fervour. Not just Mumbai ki ladki, the Indian woman cricketer has arrived. The WPL is testimony to that.
HDFC Life | Dulha Bhaag Gaya
This one had a fantastic premise and a great start. I was beginning to wonder after a couple of ‘episodes’ though, whether it had enough steam to last the long playlist that presented itself on YouTube. This should count as a great content idea that did not go the distance, possibly because the follow-up episodes were not as arresting as the first or the serendipity progressively died. The subsequent ‘episodes’ seemed written for the brand messages rather than for the storyline, which should have been the prerogative. At the time of writing this, the first part on YouTube (in the playlist) had 4.8 mn views, the second 2.2 mn, third 1.7 mn, fourth 323,000, fifth 2,100 and all the others below 2k. Maybe the campaign found its audience elsewhere, but it lost me for sure before the halfway mark for sure. I ended up watching it till the end for the wonderful idea and the hope that the sparkling start offered, for the purpose of this review.
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