Cadbury's Perk - The energy run gone wrong?

Cadbury’s India(Mondelez International) recently aired its latest commercial on perk which is being called – ‘ Bhag ke shadi’. The ad is in continuation with the other ads offering the same brand promise. The ad is supposed to reinforce the benefit of high energy as is showcased by its previous commercials and how it makes life fun. But have they been able to do that successfully this time around?

No doubt that this ad is probably the most interesting, funny and eye-catching among the series of ads aired with the same brand promise of perk being a quick source of glucose energy and creating fun moments. This has made the ‘shadi’ ad one of the more talked about ads in the industry circles and has also generated quite a few positive responses on the theme and execution of the ad and how it has attracted and made its audience laugh.

My personal take is that the ‘shadi’ ad is a diversion in the theme from its earlier ads, doesn’t manifest the brand promise as succinctly and most importantly, which we fail to recognize – is too funny for a message to piggyback.

The two most significant reasons why emotions like humour and fear are incorporated in an advertisement are –

• Get the audience’s attention on the go
• Allow the brand message/communication/promise to piggyback on this emotion

Unfortunately, the ‘Shadi’ ad does a wonderful job on the first point but fails miserably on the second account. This is because the ad is too funny for the audience to give notice to the message tried to be communicated by the brand and a surprising irrelevance between the message and the theme chosen.

Some might argue that the idea of running while getting married reinforces the idea of high energy due to consumption of glucose rich perk and well, it’s a fun way of living life. Really?  

The other ads on the ‘glucose energy’ platform were interesting as well as funny and did demonstrate the ‘energy’ and ‘fun’ aspect quite clearly.

Jogging Ad (Click to watch video)– Very clearly the ad shows that the man is up for another set of workout (jogging) after having the glucose rich perk and the lighter moment of daughter tricking her father to meet her friend makes the ad naughty and funny.

Chase Ad (Click to watch video) – A college chase of a boy by three girls to tie rakhi on his hand and how he outruns them easily, thanks to the glucose rich perk, puts the message in broad daylight for its audience. The theme of the advertisement also emphasize on the “life ke mazey lo” aspect.

Doors Ad (Click to watch video)- A boy who is too tired to fight a burglar in his building due to a tiring 'collection day', finds the energy to fight him with the help of perk. The ad clearly shows how perk with its rich glucose ingredients makes it a quick and effective source of energy.

 Shadi Ad (Click to watch video) - This ad is all about a fun theme but with no relevant context. How could a running-wedding ever be fun to anyone? The idea of characters in the ad to think of having a running-wedding because they just ate perk is even more absurd. Unlike the other two ads, this ad through its execution doesn’t tell its audience that perk is a rich of glucose and there can be real-life fun moments by consuming it.

To add, the advertisement without a strong and clear message is too funny for people to remember if it was an ad for perk or jogging shoes or a matrimony site.

In the opening scene, the female actor says that her father started crying on hearing about wedding and the next thing she come up with is to run away and get married. A little insensitive, isn’t it?

This ad sure must have given laughs to its audience but I’m not sure if perk can expect any perks from this one.

Cheers,

Want to open a joint account like the Gandhi couple?

I came across an interesting ad that was created by Mudra communications for Union bank of India a couple of years ago. The ad shows Kasturba Gandhi's image next to Mahatma Gandhi's picture on a 100 Rs note. The ad ofcourse can irk a few who might find the use of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife's images and a photo-shopped currency note unacceptable to accomplish a commercial objective.

Nevertheless, the ad does the job brilliantly.

• The ad builds an imaginary story for the promotional piece. It subtly shows arguably the most revered couple of the country on a currency note which for sure catches the eye-balls due to its peculiarity.

• It also does well to piggyback its message on a light humor.

• It also educates the prospective customers on the idea of a husband and wife sharing a joint account, hence accentuating the service penetration by educating the customer of potential use of this service

• It may also lead to give an emotional platform for a couple to share something as confidential as a bank account

• Another aspect that is worth a mention is that the ad does not rely on any functional attribute of the service(joint account in this case) since it is not trying to build the category(which it assumes is already known to its prospective customers)

• It was especially interesting to see the ad 'pick' someone as venerable as Mahatma Gandhi as the brand's "virtual-celebrity endorser". Some might find it strange but what the ad has been able to do is - use a trusted prop(a currency note), trusted virtual-brand ambassadors' pictures together(Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi) and put across the message in a very simple and plain tone. (No mention of the message anywhere except in the corner along with the Union Bank logo)

It is worthwhile to mention that such an ad coming out from a public sector bank with Indian government having a majority stake in it, is especially perplexing.

Cheers,

Cheers