Get your own bisleri, you #@
Advertiser: Bisleri
Baseline: “Kiss To Drink”
Agency: Soho Square
4Ps B&M Take: The big idea is simply too close to heart i.e. buy your own bottle of Bisleri if you want to quench your thirst. Having already established itself as a pure drinking water brand among Indian consumers, now Bisleri is busy building resonance with its target audience. It is conducting market research for keen consumer insights and reaching out to people through nuggets gleaned therein. This latest ‘kiss to drink’ campaign showcases different instances where consumers urge others to buy their own bottle rather than drink out of their bottle of Bisleri. Now while the insight was good, translating it into a creative television spot must not have been easy. But Soho Square does it with aplomb (relax guys, we’ve taken your happiness in the next section). So they build a superhero into the TVC and even have him slapped by an old lady – for the seemingly innocent crime of drinking out of her bottle of Bisleri. And that too soon after the superhero dude has helped rescue her purse that a thief was making off with. The best part about this one is the fact that it makes you smile. Especially the stunned look on the firangi superhero’s (complete with a fake accent) face at being slapped by a desi old lady. Why we like this ad is simple. When brands cannot be differentiated on quality – packaged water is packaged water, by any name – then one can either differentiate on quantity (Sahara is trying that), or on levity, which brings brand recall. Drink that for logic.
For the nation, dammit
Advertiser: Tetra Pak
Baseline: “Your Cartons-My Classroom Initiative”
Agency: Dentsu Creative
4Ps B&M Take: Protecting what is good has been the hallmark of Tetra Pack advertising for long. And Dentsu has effectively taken it forward by seamlessly building in the social responsibility angle in this latest advert. The highlight here is easily the appeal to children for helping the less fortunate. One would normally expect mothers to be target of Tetra Pack advertising – and that was indeed the case till last year when the brand’s TVCs were still targeting mothers with the carton’s health equity. It talked of how milk is best protected in Tetra Pak cartons and drove home the promise of safety of its temperature treated milk in six-layer packages. But this latest TVC is targeted to tug at the impressionable hearts of young school going children, to appeal to them emotionally to drink out of tetra packs so that the less fortunate kids may have a chance to educate themselves for a better future. The first TVC opens with a visual of an open classroom where girls (clearly belonging to the poorer sections) are attempting to study. It suddenly starts raining and they are forced to call it a day. The TVC then cuts across to a student in a respectable school – explaining how consuming from a Tetra Pack not only keeps her healthy, but also can provide a roof for schools meant for poorer kids. The voiceover at the end explains how Tetra Packs can be recycled into roofs, tables and benches… and links it to the brand’s ‘your cartons – my classroom’ initiative. Killing two birds.
Of hot aunties and cold drinks
Advertiser: Sprite
Baseline: “Chalo Apni Chaal”
Agency: Ogilvy India
4Ps B&M Take: It’s certainly not easy to keep coming up with fresh and innovative ideas for soft drink campaigns every summer. And for that reason, normally you do not see many fizzy drinks’ TVCs feature in this space. But every once in a while, in the flood of more-of-the-same ad spots, there comes an advert that catches attention. And Sprite usually gets it right – perhaps something to do with the fact that it boasts of itself as a drink with an attitude. Small surprise, the drink’s advertisements also come with wallops of attitude. Sometimes that attitude knocks you with its knack for stretching boundaries; and at others makes you laugh out loud at its cunning. This ad stands out for the latter. Though nicely crafted and well-executed, it stands out more for the story it tells. A teenage boy is half-heartedly accompanying his mom to a grownups party when his friend calls and says he is coming over to watch some match on the telly. At first the boy refuses, sorrowfully telling him that he is going out with his parents. But then he opens the refrigerator and takes a swig of Sprite. Immediately his mind starts working overtime and he cooks up a scheme. Talking loudly on the phone, so that his mom overhears, he tells his friend that he must go to this party – so that he may meet with the ‘hot’ Rekha aunty. The kid’s mom is horrified. The parents go to the party without him, leaving the scheming kid to his own devices. The TVC ends with the line ‘Chalo Apni Chaal’ (plan your own move). A wily kid and a cool drink do sometimes make for an effective advert.
