For work-life balance
Campaign: Flip with Dell
Brand: Dell Inspiron 2-in-1
Company: Dell
Agency: Grey Group
Our Take
Come festive season, and a slew of product launch ads for electronics fill our TV screens. But what sets this year’s Dell festive campaign apart is its subtlety and how it weaves the product in the story by cleverly cashing in on all major advertising trends this year — start-up (check), husband and wife collaborating in the kitchen (check) and breaking stereotypes (check).
The ad portrays a young entrepreneur who has to work on a new project while her husband is getting impatient and wants her to join him in the festivities. Enter Dell laptop, that helps her flip effortlessly between ‘office mode’ and ‘tyohar mode’ as she finishes sending a project proposal to her client and converts her laptop into a tablet for the ease of reading festive season recipes. The narrative highlights modern day, nuclear families and how new-age working couples collaborate and share responsibilities.
Also, by showing a husband waiting for his wife to join him as he is making sweets in the kitchen, the ad not only showcases gender neutrality but also cleverly shows how the brand fits into the lives of today’s multitasking generation juggling between home and work. Overall, a nice attempt.
The do-gooder commercial
Campaign: Iss Diwali, Kuch Badalke
Dekhiye (Army)
Brand: Pepperfry
Company: Pepperfry
Agency: Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi
Our Take
Pepperfry had kept its advertising seat warm with the Don’t wait for Diwali campaign that was launched in August this year. The random acts of kindness trope repeats itself in Pepperfry’s festive campaign titled Iss Diwali, Kuch Badalke Dekhiye. The film in question has a feel good attribute to it, probably because of weaving the Indian army into the storyline and marrying it with Diwali.
This style of communication was first adopted by the brand for the festive season communication last year. This year’s Army ad sees a junior captain moving into his quarters with a senior who used to be his instructor back at the academy. The junior finds himself lacking a space in the quarter to store his things in.
The kindness peg kicks in as the junior finds, on Diwali eve, an almirah in his room gifted by the senior. The film looks clean in execution and is subtle in messaging. It does the intended job but also risks being overshadowed in the pile of much louder and much exposed festive ads doing the rounds.
A predictable feast
Campaign: This Diwali,
Say it with Cadbury
Brand: Cadbury
Company: Mondelez India
Agency: Contract Advertising
Our Take
Festivals are all about family reunions and Mondelez doesn’t shy away from playing this up yet again. In its latest TVC, Cadbury celebrates Diwali by taking a cue from its previous campaigns of a family reunion, Cadbury chocolates being passed around as the relatives get nostalgic over Diwali celebrations when they were children, with the tagline, “Iss Diwali, khushiyan le chalo.”
It seems the brand is still trying to establish that chocolates can replace traditional sweets in the festive season, and as a result, its previous festive campaigns have followed a basic outline that leaves little room for creativity. Getting a little repetitive is the subtle brand representation through the purple rangoli and overall lighting, and given the fact that Cadbury has launched Dairy Milk Silk Miniature and Silk Pralines especially for gifting with two exclusive flavours, the ad fails in drawing attention to these aspects. Although the brand’s campaigns have always revolved around the theme of spreading happiness during the festive season, it has executed these creatively in the past and this ad only takes the company back a few years, making the TVC too predictable.
Yet another gold rush
Campaign: #TanishqWaliDiwali
Brand: Tanishq
Company: Titan Company
Agency: Lowe Lintas
Our Take
This ad is quite clearly all about its target audience. And about the gold, of course. What Tanishq advertising has consistently been aiming to do over the last couple of years is have gold consumption percolate down from just the top elite to the middle-class affluent.
So this commercial sells the dream too. Vignettes showing men delighting women by surprising them with gold jewellery — the Shubham range by Tanishq — and lighting up their Diwali make up this ad, but one wonders where is the diversity of Tanishq’s recent ads in this one where only men shower women with gold, or even in the assumption that jewellery is unquestionably desirable to all women. On the plus side, this #TanishqwaliDiwali tugs at the heartstrings in places, especially the terrace sequence with a Sardar boy surprising his beloved with a gift which clearly looks like something he likely saved up for or aspired to give. But category — and festive — clichés adorn this commercial. Last Diwali, we had the Padukone family TVC which established Diwali traditions done the Tanishq way. This one takes the legacy forward but with far less panache and much more category-related din. Here’s hoping next year’s Diwali brings with it a nicer creative proposition for this brand because “Let’s surprise her with gold jewellery” is not surprising the viewer anymore.
A food trail
Campaign: Tyohaaron ki Dhara
Brand: Dhara
Company: Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable
Agency: DDB Mudra North
Our Take
In a country where gastronomy and festivals go hand in hand, the festive months bring in a huge opportunity for numerous categories to reach out to their consumer in innovative ways. Traditionally, edible oils have always focussed on family, health benefits and emotional chords relating the two in its communication. The category advertises throughout the year and hence usually doesn’t treat festive months as a separate category like many others who launch new campaigns during these months.
However, the new digital film by Dhara has tried to bring in a new twist. Of course, it captures the diversity of India and how the celebration of each festivity brings out the love for food. But what makes it stand out is its execution — it is an animation film, a simple yet effective route. The film highlights the various dishes related to different festivals and parts of the country.
The well-executed film tries to encapsulate the whole country’s love for food in a few minutes. From earlier campaigns like India ka Tadka to this, the brand has been playing on the fact that food is the common binding factor in our country, irrespective of age, religion or economic backgrounds.
Nothing festive about it
Campaign: Coke Nawaazi
Brand: Coca-Cola
Company: Coca-Cola India
Agency: McCann Erickson
Our Take
Trust F&B brands to keep viewers entertained with their festive campaigns. Coca-Cola’s take on the social occasion, however, simply falls flat this time. Keeping with the Indian ethos of mehmaan nawaazi, the ad featuring Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Renuka Shahane takes the route of Coke Nawaazi to highlight its positioning of entertaining guests by serving them chilled Coca-Cola. Last year’s campaign Coca-Cola pilao, mehmano ko kareeb lao, featuring Alia Bhatt as a young bride also played on the same theme, but did manage higher recall value while driving home the message.
Even though the ad does fine strategically as Shahane serves Coca-Cola to the ‘wrong’ guests, it does not evoke emotions like its previous ads. The ad does not spell out ‘celebrations’ clearly either. Since the festive vibe is missing, the campaign could have launched at any other time of the year.
Even the actors, including the veteran Shahane whom Hindi viewers see after a long time, do not have recall value. Since the category does not depend on festive launches or product launches like electronics or furnishing, it could have dialled up the emotions to create a better connect and a lasting impact.
-Compiled by Team BrandWagon
