Orient urges India to ‘Switch to Smart’, with ‘Dhoni and niece’ stories

CK Birla Group company Orient Electricals, the maker of Orient fans, has ventured into ‘lifestyle home solutions’ (lighting products and home appliances) with a new positioning ‘Switch to Smart’. The company’s name has also been changed to Orient Electric. Announcing the new positioning is ad campaign conceptualised by McCann Erickson.

 

The TVCs started airing in mid-April, and feature brand ambassador MS Dhoni. A young girl playing his niece is the protagonist, underlining the theme ‘The next generation is smarter’.

 

One of the films (above) has Dhoni trying to figure out how to activate the child lock feature on the TV. His niece comes to him asking if he has had any luck with locking channels. Not paying heed to Dhoni who says that he will figure it out, she takes the remote and locks the channel, showing him how in the process. When she leaves, Dhoni discovers that she has locked the cricket channel. When he asks her, she retorts if he expected her to lock the cartoon channel. The film’s message ‘The next generation is smarter’ and showcases the range of home appliances from Orient.

 

 

Another film on air shows the niece getting Dhoni to part with money for ice cream, for her to leave him and his wife to some privacy. He’s amazed that she noticed them while appearing to be engrossed in colouring a book, and discovers that she did so from a reflective wall fixture.

 

One of the films takes the animation route to showcase the brand’s new logo and expanded product portfolio. The visualisation is in orange in keeping with the new brand identity. Outlines of a bulb, a lamp, a kettle, an iron and fans follow one after the other. The film ends with the logo featuring the new company name ‘Orient Electric’ and its positioning statement ‘Switch to Smart’.

 

Manoj Verma, CEO, Orient Electric, said the campaign stays ‘true to today’s smart consumers’ seeking lifestyle and convenient solutions.

 

He added, “It’s a 360-degree integrated communications campaign, launched to create a strong recall of our company’s new brand identity called Orient Electric. Our marketing campaigns are designed to inspire, excite and reinforcing our commitment as an integrated life-style home solution provider, with an objective to eventually make Orient Electric, a preferred choice for the consumer. A series of activities are being rolled out in mass media, retail points, outdoor and in digital mediums. In order to have a pan India reach our TVCs and the print campaign have already been rolled out and the initial response it has generated has been very good.”

 

Jitender Dabas, EVP and head of planning, McCann Delhi, said, “Today’s India is changing. More and more people are now spending a disproportionate amount of time towards improving their homes. Today’s trend is all about the consumer’s projection of his smarter side when it comes to home electrical solutions. Optimising space and cost, seeking more efficiency and comfort are becoming a way of living for many, and these will continue to hold true for the smarter set of next generation consumers.”

 

Kapil Batra, executive creative director, McCann, added, “Orient’s new range of lifestyle solutions is almost like the brand’s new avatar. And so it made perfect sense to portray Orient Electric as the next generation of Orient. A next generation that is more intuitive, intelligent and smarter. This became the perfect launch pad for the campaign.”

 

Credits

 

Client: Orient Electric

Creative agency: McCann Erickson

Chief creative officer: Prasoon Joshi

Creative team: Kapil Batra, Utsav Khare, Suparv, Prateek Suri, Prashant Sharma, GouravVerma, Jeet Kalra

Account management team: Alok Lall

Strategic planning: Jitender Dabas, Tathagata Chatterjee

Production house: Keroscene Films

Director (film): Rajesh Saathi