The Hindu Business Line : It's the feel good factor

THE complete man is also one who comes home to play with his pups. Taking the theme of this strong yet sensitive man forward, Raymond of late has been trying to communicate with the youth. Its latest ad is a reflection of the `soft' side of the brand. The puppies rushing towards the Raymond man and nestling in the crook of his arm is yet another reinforcement of its statement, `Feels like Heaven', which conveys the softness of the fabric that has been compared with the cuddly puppies.

When RK Swamy BBDO took up the Rs 20 crore Raymond account a couple of years ago from Enterprise Nexus, it was thrust with the responsibility of reviving sales for the brand through new communication.

Says Sangeetha Shetty, Executive Vice-President, RK Swamy BBDO, "When we got the business there was already a platform for the brand in terms of the `Complete Man'. But sales had reached a plateau, so it was important for us to understand as to what was not happening with the brand. We went back to the basics of the brand and found that looking good was equally important. So we came up with this additional line (Feels Like Heaven) which supported the `Complete Man' tagline.''

The latest ad shot in Sydney has a model demonstrating the strength of character of the Raymond man, who also displays sensitivity when it comes to playing with the puppies.

Directed by film-maker Rajiv Menon, this time the `Complete Man' is portrayed in a different setting compared to the time he played with a baby or when he was remembering his old school teacher.

"Basically we are demonstrating small moments in people's lives which they actually feel. Taking common experiences and feelings that we all have, the purpose is to show that the Raymond man is just like you and me. That is how we get that empathy with the consumer," says Shetty.

In future, however, the manner of execution of the Raymond ads is expected to be slightly different. Addressing the youth in terms of the different types of fabrics Raymond offers to suit every occasion, the image of the `Complete Man' will get reinforced with the youth who aspire to be like him.

Explaining the communication strategy for the brand in future, Shetty says, "While there will be some new execution for the brand, we will continue to use the theme of the complete man to address the youth. After all today's youth thinks he knows everything and aspires to be the complete man.''

Looking for new yet common experiences to depict the brand values of Raymond, RK Swamy BBDO hopes to make the target audience for the brand `Feels like heaven' through its communication.

Model pups

FILM-MAKER Rajiv Menon, who has worked on several ads in the past where the "emotional tug" comes through, says the idea behind the Raymond's ad was to capture the compassionate side of a macho man. The initial part of the ad shows the model leaping out of an SUV and then running up the stairs in a purposeful way and he then looks for something outside a door. The next shot shows the pups running up to him, giving the ad a new dimension altogether. "The pups have been shown running towards him as they would to a mother," he says, and this shows a softer side of a macho male.

The ad, shot over two days, used six-week-old Golden Retriever pups. The shooting could take place only over a couple of hours a day as only in that time band would all eight pups be awake at the same time. The pups are able to open their eyes only after four weeks, after which they are "trained" to respond to calls, as they do when they run to the model. The other problem with the pups, Menon points out, is that not all pups would look somebody in the eye; they would look away when held. So, only a couple of pups, which looked the model in the eye and licked him all over and nestled in his arm, were selected for the more emotional moments.

The same emotional theme continues in the next ad, which would be aired during the Indo-Pak Test series, where a father-daughter pair, playfully act out the `feels like heaven' theme.

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