Why India's ads don't travel

Five years ago, the heroes of Indian advertising were suits; now they are creatives. Creativity is taking the fore in Indian advertising. Clients want it and are loosening rigid effectiveness measures to get it — and agencies are delivering it in the form of compelling stories to bring brands closer to audiences than ever before.

This is being driven by a number of factors — economic growth has seeded new opportunities and new attitudes, principally a renewed confidence in Indian culture. The most important change, however, is the movement to centre stage of visual entertainment, displacing India's print traditions, the former foundation for much of Indian creativity.
Cable TV in general, and Star in particular, have energised home entertainment with hugely successful localised dramas, triggering a sea-change in Indian TV, while Bollywood has begun to deviate from its tried-and-tested formulae of blockbusters based on Hindu myth to explore family-based drama.

Paradoxically, while creatives' interest in awards is at a peak, their ability to win them may have declined, by moving away from often-cerebral English-language print ads, which may have had more to say to international than local audiences, to follow the path of Bollywood, whose massive popularity at home is often a source of puzzlement abroad.

"It is almost as if, after years of living in splendid, English-speaking isolation, the advertising industry has learnt to communicate to heartland India, but in doing so, as in Bollywood, has had to speak in a voice that is so culture-specific that it fails to make any connection outside," says Santosh Desai, president of McCann India.
At the same time, while brand-owners have one eye on a local audience with quintessentially Indian advertising, urbanisation and a developing middle class are fostering attitudes and beliefs that have more in common with cities worldwide. In light of these changes, Media has invited some of India's leading agencies to present a piece of work that reflects these new attitudes, representing both the complexities and the challenges of Indian advertising today.

Four breakthrough campaigns that reflect a new mood in India and have captured the     attention of a new generation of consumers living through change:

1
Client Perfetti Van Melle
Agency Ogilvy & Mather India
Campaign Mentos Dimaag ki batti jala de ('The freshmaker')
Media used TV, press, point-of-sale
Media budget US$1million
Would this be possible five years ago?
Not so easily. While humour has been a part of Indian literature as one of nine emotions used by writers to connect with audiences (hasya ras —  'laughter emotion'), it has always bordered on physical and slapstick comedy, where the buffoon does stupid things to evoke laughter. This kind of wild-yet-real-life-humour-with-irreverence is in keeping with the new, emerging India.
The 'Classroom' spot, for example, shows a late student being reprimanded by the teacher. The smarter, 'Mentos way' would be to walk in backwards, so the teacher thinks he is walking out and orders him to sit back down. In the 'Salon' commercial, a barber botches a haircut, but fools the customer by getting another client to sit behind him and showing his reflection in the mirror.
People are able to see the lighter side of life and don't take everything too seriously. In both the TV ads, there is a distinct sense of 'indiscipline' that evokes a laugh which is reflective of how viewers are willing to make moral allowances in stories told to them.

How does it help the client's goals?
The challenge in the confectionery category is to create salience at low budgets as well as quick affinity with the audience in mass media. This then provides support to ground visibility to drive sales. The humour with attitude helps both to connect memorably with the younger audience and give the brand a distinctive edge. In both the situations, there is the one-upmanship of the student over the teacher and the barber over the customer, providing the Indian youth a vicarious sense of accomplishment in a non-traditional way.
Not surprisingly, the campaign helped Mentos grow by more than 50 per cent over the previous year.

Where did the idea come from?
The ideas come from simple observations of life and giving them an interesting twist — using our mind to 'twist' another person's perception. The innovative use of the mind can salvage a tough situation. So, like most good ideas, ours came from making unusual connections with everyday life situations.

Will it win any international awards?
'Salon' was a finalist at Cannes this year. The ideas are universal, so there are no reasons not to resonate with global audiences. 'Classroom' was reshot with local talent for Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia; proof of its universality and the fact that Indian mindsets are coming closer to global ones.

2
Client Air Deccan
Agency Orchard Advertising 
Campaign 'The Old Man and the Sky'
Media used TV, print, online, outdoor and point-of-sale
Media budget US$32,500

Would this be possible five years ago?
Ten years ago it would have seemed unthinkable. Even five years back, it would have seemed far-fetched. Today, this communication resonates with the emotions and aspirations of millions of Indians. This is a result of two recent developments. Firstly, liberalisation has created a socio-economic boom for a large number of Indians who were still outside the ring of prosperity. Secondly, the explosion of media in the last few years has created a distinct shift towards 'Indian-ness'. There is a newfound confidence in our heritage, our values and beliefs, from religion to popular culture, etc. This allowed us to look at our world in a more pragmatic way.

How does it help the client's goal?
The key message of the campaign was 'Now everyone can fly'. As a low-fare airline, the aim was to find ways to achieve the greatest impact at the lowest cost.
The communication had to achieve in one viewing what other brands achieve through repeated exposure. Against the conventional wisdom of making a shorter commercial for a smaller budget, we made India's longest television commercial — a whopping 150 seconds — but launched it only on niche channels. The spot was aired on just seven channels for four days, within a single recurring timeslot.
Syndicated data reports an increase in the TRP of the chosen channels by nearly 87 per cent during the release of the spot. The net reach, given the choice of channels, should have been 4.5 million people. The 'viewing by appointment' activity resulted in 7.8 million viewers.

Where did the idea come from?
One of the biggest mirrors of popular culture, Hindi cinema. The youth wanted a bite of reality, however, with the message of anticipation and hope. This is where we found our opportunity.
The film was a story of a common man who embarks on the first-ever flight of his life. In the words of the Financial Times, "it reminds you of a Satyajit Ray film" — which would have been considered inappropriate for a commercial, a few years back.
With a finger on the pulse of the nation, it left a lasting impression on all who viewed it. India today is pregnant with hope, excitement and energy. That's why its portrayal is positively infectious. Five years ago, you had to be a dream merchant. Today, you can be real to inspire.

Will it win any international awards?
The spot has won metal at every Indian awards show, and was nominated as one of the 30 most powerful campaigns in the last 50 years of Indian advertising in India Today's 30th anniversary issue (3 July). Good advertising is created in the context of and relevant to culture. Without the knowledge of that culture, there is no way to judge the communication.
The Air Deccan film is too rooted in the reality for the superficially aware to understand. It would probably be overlooked at the international awards.

3
Client Greenply Industries
Agency Lowe India
Campaign 'With you lifetime after lifetime'
Media used TV, print
Media budget US$1 million
Would this be possible five years ago?
Clutter-breaking work was happening five years ago, but in more competitive, mature categories, like FMCG, soft drinks and mobile telephony.
The plywood business in India is 90 per cent unbranded and fragmented, with strong regional players. Feature-based advertising was the order of the day five years ago — termite-proof, waterproof, borer-proof; the more features the merrier. But businesses are now being run by young bloods who can be persuaded to buy without a feature-based sell.

How does it help the client's goals?
In this relatively unbranded, low involvement category with a host of regional players, the task was to create brand-pull for Greenply by making it top-of-mind. Durability was the single most important benefit sought by the consumer in wood/furniture. A popular adage that explains the sentiment is Dada laye, pota bartein — 'what the grandfather gets, the grandson uses'. The brief was to 'own' durability in the most unique manner closest to consumers' belief systems. The advertising grew the client's business by 84 per cent, expanded the branded plywood market and widened the client's customer base. The client was flooded with requests for dealerships and had to commission additional capacity to satisfy ramped-up demand.

Where did the idea come from?
We came up with pan-India insight: the belief in the premise of rebirth or reincarnation. This is a phenomenon which is ingrained into every Indian's psyche, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or part of the country they are from. The creative springboarded from it to contextualise durability that lasts beyond generations.
The spot shows a young north Indian boy travelling by bus in south India, when he suddenly starts to speak the local dialect. He enters a house which he has not seen in his present lifetime, and discovers not just his desk and his favourite armchair, but also his beloved (from a previous lifetime), who is now in her 80s. The story touches the extremes of pathos and satire in true Indian story-telling style.
The timelessness of the commercial comes from the fact that neither belief in re-incarnation nor India's cultural diversity have undergone significant change over recent years, nor are they likely to. 

Will it win international awards?
Indian ads have had a successful run at both local and international awards — India had a very successful run at the Cannes 2006. Ads in an Indian setting but with a strong visual idea have won more awards than the Indian ethos, story-telling narrative-based creative. This ad has already won a gold Abby, India's most prestigious advertising awards, earlier this year. Many cultures across the world believe in rebirth and this quintessentially Indian tale, with an ethno-cultural twist, is definitely unique. It endears, amuses, bonds and sells more plywood.

4
Client Perfetti Van Melle
Agency McCann Erickson India
Campaign Chlormint
Media used TV
Media budget Undisclosed

Would this be possible five years ago?
When the campaign was launched in 2002, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable. It represents a big departure from the usual benefit-laden, blow-dried-people-having-fun campaigns of an earlier era. It is steeped in the absurd, and has highly layered and nuanced characterisation.
One ad shows a typical betel leaf seller from eastern Uttar Pradesh, a state in north India, who speaks in a distinct dialect, with a song from the folk tradition of that region. It treats the product, and the consumer, with some irreverence. The biggest change was the willingness of the client to back a campaign that was so 'out there' in terms of language and tonality. It took real courage and risk-taking ability.
The consumer was always willing, thanks to Bollywood; the barriers existed on the marketing and advertising side. It is part of a trend, albeit a slow-moving one.

How does it help the client's goals?
This has been a highly successful campaign; the brand started out as a 'me too' to the previous leader and now is the clear market leader. The campaign has won both creative and effectiveness awards locally, and in the recent issue of India Today, India's leading news magazine, was selected as one of the top 50 campaigns of the last 30 years. The tagline, Doobara mat poochhna ('don't ask again'), has become part of everyday language. It helped establish Chlormint as a mint that was not locked into functionality; the earlier market leader was a conventional after-mint. Chlormint was positioned as the 'no-reason' mint, a strategy that helped broaden its appeal considerably in a market where consciousness about breath freshness is limited. It also allowed us to ask a question like 'Why must things make sense' as a starting point for this campaign, which led to developing a new idiom for the communication.

Where did the idea come from?
From the proliferation of inspired nonsense that abounds in Indian everyday life, particularly in Bollywood. The Indian ability to nonchalantly accept and enjoy the absurd is spoken to in this campaign.
The campaign depicts the extreme response of anyone when asked why they eat Chlormint. People get dunked in water, slapped, and flattened by lifts when they dare ask this question.
The humour is broad, but the characterisation is fine; the characters are familiar but act in surprising ways. The narrative has depth and texture allowing it to be rooted in real life even as the content borders on the bizarre.
This is a campaign that borrows from the language of Bollywood and represents a sea-change in advertising codes prevalent in India at that time.

Will it win any international awards?
It hasn't so far — and may not in the future. The language, the characters, the references are far too local for international audiences, however culturally broad-minded they might think they are.