Telecom service provider Idea Cellular has launched a campaign featuring brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan to highlight its pan India mobile internet services. The two-film campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas and Partners went on air on 20 February.
The TVCs show various instances where people try to lie or conceal facts to mislead others for personal gains. However, consumers armed with Idea internet services verify the facts online and do not get fooled by such people. The films feature a jingle 'No ullu banaoing' (Don't try to fool people).
A TVC titled ‘politician’ opens with a political candidate addressing a rally and making a promise of providing water to the electoral base once elected. Bachchan meanwhile is putting up a hoarding of the brand close to the rally’s site. His accomplice looks at the rally and states that in India “koi bhi kisi ko ullu bana sakta hai. Bechaaron ko koi idea hi nahi hai” (In India, anyone can make anyone else a fool. The fools have no idea.) Bachchan rebuts this and points to the rally.
His statement is validated soon enough as a young boy shows a mobile phone video of the politician making the same promise during the previous elections, much to the embarrassment of the politician. The voice over sings, “No ullu banaoing…” as the film moves to a person seated in an auto rickshaw with the driver saying that he is taking a shorter route. The passenger using his phone internet to access a map points out that the route is a ‘long cut’ instead. Similarly, a music studio boss asks a musician not to ’ullu banao' him as what he is performing is already a hit in Africa. He shows the video of the African musician on his phone to validate his point.
Likewise, other situations are showcased - like a young man trying to woo his lady with a joke (that’s been circulating on Whatsapp); a godman prophesising that it will rain (a child shows the weather update on his cell phone forecasting rains in any case). People from different walks of life are shown rejoicing and the film ends with Bachchan’s accomplice saying, “Har mobile par internet, what an India sirji!” He is corrected by Bachchan who says, “What an idea! Ullu!”
The super reads, “Idea internet all India. What an idea!”
Another film titled ‘guide’ features a tourist guide providing misleading information regarding a monument to a set of tourists. A tour operator in Kashmir claims to be the best in the area to a group of visiting tourists, but they discover that he is accused of cheating people. A man claiming to have produced five super hit movies to an aspiring actress, is exposed, as a web search reveals that he hasn’t produced a single movie. More such instances complete the film.”
Arun Iyer, NCD, Lowe Lintas, said, “Our creative task was to make mobile internet relevant to masses in a manner that will urge them to embrace it. So the benefit had to be something that would help them on an everyday basis than one-off the situation and would help idea propagate mobile internet. This led us to the idea ‘No ullu banoing’ as mobile internet primarily empowers people to access information and eradicate ignorance.”
Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, added, “Idea has been at the forefront of spreading awareness about 3G and mobile internet services in India, for the last three years. We are the only mobile operator to offer a wide range of self-branded, affordable 3G smartphones to upgrade 2G users to 3G. Our new campaign, aims to further build on Idea’s strong mobile internet service network, on a pan-India basis, and get non-users to enter the category by making them understand the utility and benefits of using internet on mobile. We have tried to demystify mobile internet services to the larger Indian population by giving our own unique cut of 'A telephony idea that can change your life', and in a lingo that would connect with our TG, almost instantly.”
Along with the TVCs, the campaign's jingle has been released on social media.
Credits:
Client Idea Cellular
Creative agency Lowe Lintas and Partners
Creative team : Arun Iyer, Ashwin Varkey, Jaywant Dhabholkar, Carlos Pereira, Subodh Menon, Sanjay Ramanathan, Sebastian Gonsalves, Vivek Buchude, Rohan Wakkar, Prasanna Bhave
Account Management team: Raj Gupta, Satish Ramanathan, Sachin Pandirkar, Murali krishnan, Sneha Saha
Planning: S Subramanyeswar
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