Bolder attempts

First the disclaimer. I like most Volkswagen offerings. They look and feel solid and retain a classy air about them even as they age.

The Polo has been a well-loved car the world over. So it’s hardly surprising that it should do well in India too.

But VW doesn’t seem to be the type of manufacturer to let complacency creep in, so it has launched the Cross Polo. And they feel the car looks very bold. It is supposed to have bold new additions like a new grille, black cladding, silver-coloured mirrors and sporty roof rails. Well, I am not going to get into an argument about what is bold and what isn’t, and if VW feels these additions are bold, who am I to argue?

Given that brief, Sonal Dabral and his merry team at DDB Mudra along with Magic Hour Films had their job cut out for them. And they decided to get bold as well. So they boldly made three 15-second TVCs with interesting situations. One has a young lady firmly putting her male colleague down for calling her “sweetie”. Nice.

The second has a young man boldly giving his mobile number to a pretty young thing in an elevator when she asks him which floor he wanted to go to. Nicely made.

The third had a young lady telling the nosey elderly lady next door that she wasn’t married to the man she was moving in with, just living with him. I loved the expression on Aunty’s face. All three bold statements, surprisingly packed into tight 15-second TVCs in a manner where none of the effect is lost. Three bold films, that much I will agree. The punch line is ‘Get Bolder’. The Cross Polo just got bolder. That is very debatable.

Cutting Edge

Madir Eugster, a world-renowned master of balance, is seen doing what he does best in the Titan TVC. With a feather and bunch of palm fronds he proceeds to build a wonderful structure before your unbelieving eyes. And simply said, that is the entire TVC made for Titan Edge the slimmest watch in the world (as per the company) by Ogilvy. A refreshingly different approach showing that the award-winning Edge watch is a glorious fusion of art and cutting-edge technology. No frills, no unnecessary verbiage. Very effective.

A secure proposition

The creative team within O&M who have been working on the Max Life Insurance work have consistently come up with enjoyable ads. Personally, I loved the ones where a “devil” kept urging the honest insurance agent to conceal some information in order to close a deal. And now there is this gem for the retirement benefit scheme. Actually, the director and the male lead carry the film on their shoulders. A nice, easy-to-understand script and superb acting by the gentleman who plays the role of the retired happy-go-lucky soul give the TVC immense repeat value and never fails to make me smile. The situation has the husband explaining that even after his death the benefits of the retirement plan would accrue to his wife. And I love the ending.

What a scream!

The idea of continuing with one element that sets your communication apart and ensures great recall value is well tested and tried. In the case of Jabong.com, it is a scream. Literally. The firm has gamely persisted with the element where the entry of the delivery person is greeted with a loud scream of excitement and delight by the customer and replied with what looks like a frightened scream from the delivery person. Bizarre? Maybe, but it works. In the new TVC, there is a bank heist going on and all the young ladies who have been ordered to hit the floor are exchanging notes about handbags, shoes and dresses. You thought that was stretching credibility too far. There’s more to come. Suddenly the Jabong delivery man walks into the bank. Now please don’t ask me if he was making a delivery to the bank manager, or how he just ambled in to a bank that is taken over by robbers. Short point is, the ladies see him, forget the fear of the robbers and make a determined dash towards the packages with the customary scream echoing all around.

The response is predictable. The delivery man, and maybe the robbers as well, scream as they see this screaming horde of women charging toward them. End of TVC. Suspend disbelief, ignore the corny script and does it still work? Actually it does. Better believe it.

Vox Pop: Reader Geeta Keshavan from Bangalore loves the Max Life retirement benefit ad. Yes, Geeta, we love it too. And she likes the current Bournvita ad where a mother and child race, and the mother says the day she loses is actually the day she wins. Haven’t seen it Geeta, but I’ll take your word for it.

Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. Addendum is a fortnightly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent, yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.

addendum.brandline@gmail.com

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