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Tiny egghead creatures, with balloon-sized bodies and thin limbs, are queuing up before a xerox machine. With one egghead creature guiding each person, they are seen xeroxing their faces, with a message ‘backup your phonebook’ flashing.

This is just one. There were various such ads showcasing the creatures speaking in gibberish language, conveying the benefits of Vodafone’s value-added services (VAS) through their amusing and humorous actions.

When telecommunications company Vodafone Essar (now Vodafone) rolled out these services in 2008, the options included caller tunes, short codes, and special characters. 

More than the telecom brand’s unique offering, the brief was to conceptualise a campaign that could position itself or help it stand out in the clutter of IPL advertising, since IPL was the most-watched spectacle across the country. Also, Vodafone Essar was one of the primary sponsors of the cricketing spectacle.

To achieve the objective, Harit Nagpal, marketing director, Vodafone Essar India, and Kavita Nair, associate vice president - marketing communication, approached Ogilvy & Mather once again after the profound success of the ‘Cheeka the pug’ campaign in 2003.


<strong>Genesis</strong>


Since IPL runs for more than a month, Hephzibah Pathak, who looked after the client servicing responsibilities of O&M, suggested: “What if we do one film every day?” This got the entire team’s excitement peak up, as in those days, three films, or max five films, constituted a campaign. 


Subsequently, the team decided to come up with endless stories and produce a series of films. 


As a few campaign ideas were presented, the idea to create characters who are very similar to humans but have a different form, and are lovable, funny and adorable, was discussed. 


Though Rao only had a vague idea that time, the creative team started to get a better understanding as more and more scripts were discussed.


The sketches of the egghead characters were presented to the client. In Rao’s words, the client was brave enough to approve an idea which no one was sure about initially. 


After the idea was approved, Rao reached out to Nirvana Films’ Prakash Varma and Sneha Varma, who were the director and producer, respectively. Varma had previously worked on the Cheeka campaign.


Varma instantly fell in love with the plan. As the process of rolling out the campaign began, one thing was very clear: no 3D animation or CGI (computer-generated imagery). 


There was a fear that the idea would be leaked out. Hence, to maintain confidentiality, it was decided to shoot the films in South Africa’s Cape Town.


Varma and Sneha decided to shoot with a certain team in Cape Town, where they also worked together in developing the costumes, etc.


It was decided that the characters would be in black and white. Since the egghead characters had no dialogues, and they were mostly exhibiting expressions, the creative team came up with emoji-like faces. 


Then came the costume designing part. According to Rao, it was a new experience for the entire team -- checking the material, its fitting, and also going through multiple changes, in order to give the characters an animated look.


Three weeks went into the pre-production to understand the aspects of costume designing and artwork, according to a 2019 media article. 


The article further said that, after the suit was divided into two parts, the body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places. The head was attached separately. If one pays close attention, the creatures’ limbs are thinner, compared to the size of their heads and bodies. 


To suit the bill, women, and, sometimes children, were cast as the egghead characters, the article said. 


The former national creative director (NCD) of Ogilvy had also mentioned that the props were kept way large to make the creatures appear small. “For example, we made the park bench look bigger than a normal bench which made these egghead creatures (enacted by theatre actors) look very tiny.”


The ad films were shot over 10 days in Cape Town. Every day, three films were shot. Over 10 days, 30 ad films were rolled out. 


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The second season of IPL was held in Cape Town. Ogilvy’s chief advisor now, Piyush Pandey, too, was present in the city. After viewing the films, he broke into peals of laughter. Nagpal and Nair, too, appreciated the creativity that was reflected in the campaign. 


But what was missing was a suitable name for the characters. Tremendous brainstorming followed and around 100 names were scribbled. What stood out was ZooZoo.


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“Though there is no specific meaning behind the word, the idea was to come up with a name which sounded cute, lovable and funny,” explained Rao.


When the ad films were released, the response was phenomenal. Vodafone, as further explained in the article, saw an increase in customer base by 3.8 percent in Q1 of 2010.


Vodafone ZooZoos went on to win PETA India's GlitterBox awards where they used humane alternatives to real animals in their ads. Ogilvy India also won an Integrated Grand Prix and a Film Craft award at Goafest 2010.


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Neo@Ogilvy, which is the digital arm of Ogilvy & Mather, and managed ZooZoo’s Facebook fan page, as stated by a 2012 Zenith report, highlighted that the page had clocked around 2.6 million views. This surpassed expectations, compared to IPL T20.com’s 0.5 million views.


The report also stated that the FB fans of the egghead-like characters touched the 3,07,072 mark as of June 17, 2009. 


“I don't know what we were thinking at that time, but how do we make the creatures to look like they aren’t people who are wearing costumes? A lot of people, after watching the films, felt that this was a work of animation. This indeed was a great compliment for us,” said Rao.


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-marketing/bow-wow-how-cheeka-the-pug-made-hutch-a-household-name-42291.htm">Bow, Wow: How Cheeka the pug made Hutch a household name</a> 




Remember the times when ZooZoos were all the rage?

It was the year 2013. The Google India team was led by Sandeep Menon, who was the marketing director then. When the brand team approached Ogilvy India, their brief was simple: “Everybody uses me every single day. I am a great technology brand but nobody uses me for anything more than just hunting for information,” said Sukesh Nayak, Ogilvy’s Chief Creative Officer (the then executive creative director).

At that time, Google was used for just basic search despite the tech giant being capable of much more, which people in India were not aware of then, remembered Abhijit Avasthi, the then National Creative Director, Ogilvy India. 


A lot of new apps were being launched those days with specific use-cases. “Google felt the need to release a campaign which informed people that besides finding out basic information on chemistry or history or economics, there were a lot of other things that Google could do,” added Avasthi. 


<strong>Genesis</strong>

 
During a conversation with Storyboard18, Nayak recollected that during his boarding school days, his friend had narrated the story of his grandfather who had shifted to Delhi from Pakistan during partition. 

 
Nayak did not know then that decades later this would inspire him to script a  reunion story against the backdrop of partition for Google’s campaign.

 
The story revolved around two friends, Baldev and Yousuf, who were separated due to partition, and who reconnected decades later, all thanks to Google.

 
The script got a thumbs up from the agency as well as the brand. Once everything was in place, the question arose as to who would direct the film. Avasthi suggested the name of Amit Ravindernath Sharma. 

 
Sharma was captivated by the storyline. It took him back to his childhood days when his grandmother narrated tales of her friendship back in the neighbouring country. 

 
He said, “My grandmother used to tell me the story of her friend Rajjo, in Jhelum, Pakistan. When I was reading the script, I could see these two characters who were separated during partition. If they meet, what would happen? What will be their expressions? What will be their feelings? I tried to recreate that.”

 
However, Sharma decided to back off from the project owing to his tight schedule. But destiny had something else in store. The ad, which was slated to be released on August 15, got pushed to September, when Sharma was available. 


Then came the casting.

 
Auditions were held across the country, but what caught Sharma’s attention was the performance of the veteran actor, the late Vishwa Mohan Badola. It was something he could relate to. What further worked in Badola’s favour was the fact that he too was from Pakistan and had witnessed the partition, added Avasthi.

 
He was finalised to play the role of the Indian grandfather. 

 
Well-known director MS Sathyu, who had directed the 1974 partition film ‘Garam Hawa,’ was roped in to enact the role of the Pakistani grandfather. Badola and Sathyu were big names in the theatre fraternity, and were familiar with each other, said Sharma.

 
Tassaduq Hussain was the DOP (Director of Photography), and the music was done by Clinton Cerejo. The lyrics were written by an Ogilvy veteran, Neelesh Jain. 

 
New Delhi was chosen as the location chosen for the shoot. But Sharma was clear that he did not want any place in India to be passed off as Pakistan as he wanted the film to be as authentic as possible.  In the ad, we see the wide shot of a locality when Badola’s on-screen grand-daughter phones Fazal Sweets in the neighbouring country. That place is in Lahore, Pakistan.

 
“We got in touch with a photographer there and requested him to send photographs of some monuments in Lahore. I requested him to shoot one of them, since I could not go to Pakistan and do the same,” he explained. 


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The initial edit of the ad film was about five minutes long. After a lot of conversations, three minutes thirty seconds was deemed the ideal length.  However, when Avasthi showed the ad to the client, they  loved it but advised that it be trimmed as films longer than two minutes don’t do well on YouTube. But Avasthi stuck to his ground, and after a lot of debate, the film’s length was retained. On seeing the ad, then Ogilvy executive chairman Piyush Pandey was moved to tears, said Nayak. 


The film was part of a digital-first campaign. There were about three to four shorter films highlighting eight to nine use cases. Google wanted to showcase people looking up weather conditions, flight arrivals, visas, etc, which people hardly used it for then, narrated Avasthi.


Nayak added that the story needed to be authentic, where everything shown in it had to be available on Google. “Hence, information on the embassy, the sweet shop, the weather, etc, was all real. The story had to match the data that came from Google,” Nayak added. 

 
On going live, the response turned out to be phenomenal. The ad, which was meant to be YouTube-led, became such a success that it was eventually released on television as well. 

 
People across the world responded positively, which led the Ogilvy team to subtitle in multiple languages. Among those who appreciated the film were Google’s founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, revealed Nayak. 


<strong>Behind the scenes</strong>


Sharma remembers the fun they had while shooting. 


There is a scene where the friends meet each other and Sathyu tells his friend, <strong><em>‘Happy birthday yaara’</em></strong>, after which they warmly embrace each other. 


During the shooting, Sharma had told Badola not to hug immediately, and to take some time and respond. This was to indicate that the meetup was happening after decades, and though one’s appearance may have changed, feelings haven’t.  


Sharma said that when he was taking Badola’s close-up, Sathyu would not react. Badola requested Sharma to ask him to react so he could perform better. When Sathyu reacted, Badola hugged Sathyu so hard that the latter’s back hurt.


Nayak recalled that a year or two after the film’s release, Ogilvy Pakistan invited Pandey as the Chief Guest for an event. At that time, Fazal Sweets, the establishment featured in the film, also invited him, and welcomed Pandey with drums. They  also gifted him four tins of <strong><em>jhajhariya</em></strong> (a type of sweet), which Pandey distributed among some of the cast and crew along with a handwritten note.
 

Avasthi said that various storylines were considered, but the one around the partition caught everybody's attention immediately. “This is because it had a canvas, it was an emotional topic, which people would love to see as a story retold well. It beautifully incorporated all the use cases which we had to demonstrate,” he said. 


“The story of two people did not just connect with people in that part of the world, but the world over. Not just the ad film, but a piece of India went global,” Nayak said. 


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/how-tata-tea-premiums-jaago-re-campaign-champions-social-causes-48329.htm">How Tata Tea Premium’s Jaago Re campaign champions social causes</a> 



Google’s Reunion Ad: A heartwarming tale that moved many

Carpenters are working in a shop, which looks like a makeshift human settlement. A chicken is clucking, a radio is playing songs on request and one of the workers is engrossed in preparing <em>“anda bhurji”</em> (egg burji). 


As he picks one egg after the other and keeps pouring the yolk in the cooking pan, he faces a sudden challenge. He can’t break another egg that he lays his hand on. He tries every possible means to break it, including using a utensil and a hammer. Ultimately, the egg slips from his hand and punctures a hole in the earthen pot being used for preparing “anda bhurji”. Amid the unfolding mess, he spots the chicken eating its feed from a Fevicol pack. It’s an epiphanic moment for the bewildered carpenter. 


The ad film, which was released in 1996, created a splash. Veteran adman and Ogilvy’s chief advisor Piyush Pandey told Storyboard18 how this film gave the freedom to Fevicol to chart into diverse territories as Pidilite Industries, the parent company of the adhesive brand, mounted aggressive campaigns.


<strong>Genesis of the big idea</strong>


Madhukar Parekh, chairman, Pidilite Industries, was the client, and Pidilite Industries, parent company of Fevicol, has been a long standing client of Ogilvy India since 1989. 


Prasoon Pandey, ad filmmaker, told Storyboard18 that Piyush wanted to bring lateral thinking —  solving problems through indirect and creative approach — and move away from hackneyed brand positioning on the lines of “two blocks of wood stuck by Fevicol."


So, what was the creative spark?


Piyush came up with the big idea.


“What if we show a chicken eating its feed from a Fevicol pack where the egg laid is so solid that it is unbreakable?” Prasoon gleefully lapped up Piyush’s idea. It was Prasoon, who suggested the scenario revolving around carpenters in a human settlement where they eat, sleep and cook there. 


Prasoon threw the radio in the mix. Those were the days — Piyush and Prasoon recalled — how radio would play songs on listeners’ request and their names would be broadcast before the numbers would go on air. Here, Prasoon decided to put the name of his director friends’ which included Prahlad Kakkar, Kailash Surendranath, Ram Madhvani and Sumantra Ghosal, where their initial names were interchanged. 


Prasoon remembered that Indian advertising in the mid-1990s was steeped in Western creative mould, when this concept was finding its way to the drawing board. Models had their task cut out: to get into the skin of carpenters and plumbers. But their looks belied them. Soon, the filmmaker made up his mind. He cast a character to look the part of a carpenter and lend authenticity to the ad film, whose target audience were housekeepers.  


The thought was conveyed to Parekh, and he was instantly sold out on the idea. Sitaram, a junior artist supplier was cast in the role of the carpenter, who is seen preparing “anda bhurji” in the ad film, which was shot by cinematographer R.M. Rao. 


As the carpenter goes on breaking one agg after the other, the audience, as Prasoon put it, was agog with excitement. It waited for the rest of the eggs to break with unflinching monotony. But Prasoon had other ideas: of an egg breaking the earthen pot. 


But how does one execute such a concept, when special effects were in their infancy in India. Fortunately, Prasoon got around the technological constraint. A solid acrylic egg was created, and 20 pots were brought in as a contingency measure: if the target could not be accomplished in one take.


But, to everyone’s amazement, the target was achieved in the first take, and the egg punctured a hole instead, which Prasoon termed as “beautiful”.


The ad film had consciously avoided driving home the over-the-top message: Fevicol has the strongest bond. Prasoon had left it to the imagination of the public to fill in the blanks and endorse its “strong bond” image.


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Upon its release, the ad film was run for up to 12 times a year in line with Parekh’s suggestion in a bid to improve the brand’s total recall. 


The reception of the ad film was exceptional, and resonated well amongst carpenters as well, Prasoon fondly signed off.


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/fish-fevikwik-why-this-iconic-ad-is-still-stuck-in-our-heads-40521.htm">Fish & Fevikwik: Why this iconic ad is still stuck in our heads</a> 

How Fevicol egg advertisement was a ‘turning point’ in the brand’s creative journey

“Officially, cricket is played in whites at a leisurely pace. The official players are gentlemen of restraint who have to drink the official drink.” The ad, which opens with this statement, highlights cricketers at play displaying various emotions. It features Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Mohammed Azharuddin, etc. Towards the end, Tendulkar is seen inserting a stump into the ground, drinking Pepsi, and saying, “Nothing Official About It.’’


That was in 1996. The campaign helped Pepsi grab eyeballs even though it lost the official drinks sponsorship rights to Coca-Cola, aka Coke.


<strong>Genesis</strong>


PepsiCo, the American multinational which had left India in 1962 due to slow sales, found its way back in 1989.


Four years later, in 1993, Coke also re-entered India after exiting in 1977 following its refusal to comply with regulatory requirements, which mandated that it on-board an Indian partner and share its secret formula with it.


With the arrival of its international rival, the stage was set for intense competition between the two giants in their marketing and much else.


In 1996, India was hosting the cricket World Cup and there was a tough fight between Pepsi and Coke over the official drinks sponsorship rights, which the latter took away with a bid of Rs 10 crore.


At the time, JWT was Pepsi’s ad agency. Anuja Chauhan, former junior writer, JWT, in a conversation with Storyboard18, said that losing the bid was a bit of a setback for  Pepsi, which had spent a lot  on branding around cricket.

 
But Pepsi turned this ‘loss’ in its favour with its winning ‘Nothing Official About It’ campaign.


Chauhan recollects that team members were banging their heads trying to think of what to do, now that they’d lost the sponsorship rights. Soon, the team got a brief from Pepsi. Vibha Paul Rishi then led marketing at Pepsi India. Storyboard18 has reached out to Rishi but she remained unavailable.


Chauhan remembers that a lot of brands had jumped on to the bandwagon of being the `official’ sponsor of different things pertaining to the game. 


This led her to come up with the tagline ‘Nothing Official About It.’ She showed that to then Creative Director Sabyasachi Sengupta and the (late) Shankar Rajan, who was the Servicing Head. They immediately gave it a thumbs up, as did Rishi.


Veteran ad film director Prahlad Kakkar was roped in to produce seven TVCs, most of which were shot in Trinidad, and some in Mumbai. The tagline was used as is, no translations were done for any regional language versions.

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On roping in cricketers for the campaign, Chauhan said that there were no team sponsorships.  Tendulkar and Kambli were already on contract with the brand, and individual agreements were signed with each cricketer, including international players like Courtney Walsh.


“In the 1996 World Cup, for the first time, we had blue jerseys. It was a big deal, because till then, officially, cricket was played in white. So when you see players in their coloured jerseys for the first time, and they’re saying 'Nothing Official About It', it kind of clicks."

 
The television commercials were a huge success.


The campaign is an example of ambush marketing, i.e., a marketing strategy where a brand associates with an event without being the official sponsor. Post its release, changes were made to the laws related to this. “For example, if a particular brand was sponsoring the World Cup, then the player couldn't do an ad for another brand. They tightened a lot of such loopholes in the law,” said Chauhan. 


<strong>What were the challenges?</strong>


Chauhan said the biggest challenge was that there was no surety that Coca-Cola would say that they were the official soft drink. The brand and the agency felt that Coke might use something like, ‘Refreshing the World Cup,’ or ‘Refreshing the Thirst,’ instead of saying ‘Official Soft Drink of the World Cup’. Because  Coke was using 'refresh' a lot those days.

 
Nonetheless, Rishi gave the go-ahead for ‘Nothing Official About It.’ “Vibha felt  that even if Coca-Cola said ‘Refreshing the World Cup’ or ‘The Joy of Cricket,’ etc., the point was that every brand was highlighting how they were the ‘official’ ones for the category they belonged to. Hence, she was confident that the campaign would work even though it was a big risk to take,” explained Chauhan.


But Coke spoke about being the ‘Official soft drink’,  and the brand and the agency heaved a sigh of relief. The next day, Pepsi released the ‘Nothing Official About It’ campaign.


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/when-cherry-chaplin-made-a-brand-blossom-50466.htm">When Cherry Chaplin made a brand blossom</a> 


How Pepsi’s ‘Nothing Official About It’ campaign stole the 'thanda' from Coca-Cola

The occasion is a wedding. Veteran actor Ashok Kumar is playing the bride’s father, who’s just been informed by his wife that the groom’s family has arrived. As both parties settle down with refreshments, Shammi Kapoor, the boy's father says, “<em>Par hum aapse ek baat kehna bhool hi gaye</em> (We missed mentioning one thing to you),” immediately filling the air with tension.


As Kumar and wife look at each other, tense, Kapoor explains that all he wants is that guests are served Pan Parag, putting everyone at ease.


<strong>The genesis</strong>


Dipak Sharma, the former Film Head of Everest Advertising, the agency tasked with making the film, said the TVC was a success.


Former film actor and director Jalal Agha had starred in various ads of the brand. But the company wanted to change the brand’s perception, and create a family-oriented image, stated Sharma.


In 1986, Mansukhbhai Kothari, the former Chairman of Kothari Products, approached Everest Advertising. The agency’s canteen was on the floor below, and Kothari told Sharma when he met him, “<em>Neeche chalte hain. Chai peete hain, sandwich khate hain. Batata hoon kya chahiye</em> (let’s discuss over tea and sandwiches).’’

 
As they conversed, Kothari narrated the story about the wedding and Pan Parag being served on the occasion. He also discussed using film actors for the ad. “Kothari was very grounded. He understood his customers, and knew who was buying Pan Parag,” said Sharma.


Sulekha Bajpai Karkare was a trainee writer at Everest at the time. She was tasked with developing the idea into a script.


Karkare stated that the dialogues flew very naturally while writing the script as such discussions before a marriage are very common.


With the script in place, Sharma approached Prem Krishen and Sunil Mehta of Cinevistaas, a production house, to cast for and make the ad.


Krishen, son of veteran actor Prem Nath, was a film actor in the mid-1970s, after which he ventured into producing ads and television shows. He is also related to the Kapoor family via his aunt Krishna, who had married the famous actor-director Raj Kapoor, which made Shammi Kapoor his uncle.


Kumar was also a close family friend of Krishen’s, who said that in those days the film fraternity used to look down on the ad industry, and hardly any actor signed up for commercials.


As Krishen loved the concept of the Pan Parag ad, he approached the senior actors. They too found the idea interesting and agreed to be part of the film. Krishen produced and directed the ad, with the famous Ashok Mehta as his cameraman.


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The TVC featuring the stalwarts was well received. Also, with this, more actors warmed up to the idea of working in ad films, endorsing products. “I used to get a lot of phone calls from film stars, who said that they too wanted to act in commercials,” said Krishen.


In the TVC, when Kapoor tells Ganguly ‘<em>Par hum aapse ek baat kehna bhool hi gaye</em>,’ tense music strikes up in the background. Karkare says this was done on purpose. “Due to the prevalence of dowry, the bride’s side is usually nervous thinking of what demands the groom’s side might make. When the bride’s mother says ‘<em>Ladke ke maa baap aaye hain,</em> (The bridegroom's parents have come)’,  the father looks worried. This is typically how it is during a wedding,” explained Karkare.


<strong>Challenges</strong>


When senior actors are cast, there is a fear that they would make changes to the script and the journey wouldn’t be a cakewalk. Sharma too feared this.


“We were expecting the legends to say, ‘Let’s do it like this. We'll teach you. We'll tell you,’ But, nothing like that happened. It all worked out very well,” he said. Krishen said that he too found the whole process very smooth.


After more than 35 years, we still remember this ad as it dealt with a grave matter like dowry with a light touch and catalysed the trend of film stars starring in ads.

 
<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/har-ghar-redux-that-homes-reflect-ones-personality-still-rings-true-46513.htm">Har Ghar Redux: That homes reflect one’s personality still rings true</a> 



How Pan Parag’s ‘Baraati’ ad catalysed brand endorsements among film stars

It was the year 1951. Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman, popularly known as RK Laxman, had created the character the Common Man, which appeared in the  daily pocket cartoon ‘You Said It’ in the Times of India. Clad in a dhoti and plaid jacket, the Common Man represented the hopes and aspirations of millions, and was a sharp observer of events happening in the country.


The character tasted immediate success and caught the attention of executives at the Asian Oil and Paint Company. 


[caption id="attachment_44790" align="aligncenter" width="1312"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/WhatsApp-Image-2024-10-13-at-08.36.30-2024-10-d86a5e9a7c00829b44c69b2c52727e26.jpeg" alt="Late cartoonist cum humorist RK Laxman. (Image source: Timeless Laxman book)" width="1312" height="1600" class="size-full wp-image-44790" /> Late cartoonist cum humorist RK Laxman. (Image source: Timeless Laxman book)[/caption]


Amit Syngle, the company’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, in a conversation with Storyboard18, said that a team from Asian Paints approached Laxman to create a mascot that would bring the brand alive while putting a smile on people’s faces.


The cartoonist took up the task and was engaged for hours in imagining, creating, and then rejecting what he had painstakingly created. Laxman was tired of his imagination not matching his expectations and was all set to give up. But then,  over cigarettes and cups of coffee, he saw a small boy take shape. This was in the year 1954.


<strong>Gattu</strong>


The mascot, whose black hair dangled over his right eye, was dressed in half-sleeved shirts, half pants, had braces on his teeth, and carried a paint brush along with a dripping can of Asian Paints. Syngle said the mascot had a lopsided grin, and was mischievous, converting mundane objects and places into things of joy and fantasy with the many colours of Asian Paints. Now came the time to give it a name.


Asian Paints released print ads announcing a Give Me a Name contest, where the person who suggested the best name would win Rs 250. The amount was later increased to Rs 500.


According to the book A History of Indian Advertising, thousands of entries  came in, but one stood out — Gattu. This was suggested by two men, Rele and Aras, who hailed from Mumbai. 


The mascot was named Gattu, said Syngle, and the little boy epitomised the brand’s tagline, ‘Any surface that needs painting needs Asian Paints.’ According to the book, following the introduction of Gattu, the sales of the brand went up 10 times in four years.


Syngle said that in the early 1950s, the brand worked around the theme of innovation. This included innovation in colours, the introduction of small packs, extending its distribution to  small upcountry areas, etc.


A series of print ads featuring Gattu which highlighted the message of innovation expanded the reach of Asian Paints to the nooks and crannies of the country.


[caption id="attachment_44789" align="aligncenter" width="1116"]<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/10/asian-gattu-2024-10-ee28d74dc132ad33f5a515483c69d946.jpg" alt="(Image source: Asian Paints)" width="1116" height="2064" class="size-full wp-image-44789" /> (Image source: Asian Paints)[/caption]


Gattu was seen on all cans of Asian Paints, and people began to identify the mascot with the brand.

 
There were also a series of print ads which portrayed him with a paint brush painting objects and surfaces, with the tagline, Any surface that needs painting needs Asian Paints. From the ‘50s till the ‘70s, Gattu was mostly seen in print ads.

 
But some people objected that Gattu represented child labour. Explaining this, Usha Srinivas Laxman, daughter-in-law of the late cartoonist has said, “If you see, Gattu is just playing with colours. He is not actually painting the walls of a house. He's only playing and painting things around him.”


<strong>Gattu lives on</strong>


In the early 1990s, Asian Paints began to use Gattu as a sign-off in TVCs, which helped increase the mindshare of the brand in rural markets, said Syngle.


Due to the emotion of celebration and joy attached to festivals, the brand launched the campaign ‘Celebrate with Asian Paints,’ followed by the concept of ‘Merawala’ which highlighted the importance of colours, added Syngle.


In the late 1990s, Asian Paints launched the Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai campaign, which signified the brand’s shift from Festivals to Homes,  given the emotions that people invest in making a home, which is a reflection of one’s personality. Through all this, Gattu continued to adorn the cans of Asian Paints.


Around the same time, when the brand was working on a new visual identity, Asian Paints realised that a lot of people still connected with Gattu, and decided to retain the little boy, who continues to adorn its cans till date, according to Syngle. 



<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/the-butter-half-how-the-amul-girl-became-the-toast-of-india-41677.htm">The Butter Half: How the Amul girl became the toast of India</a> 




Why Asian Paints’ Gattu continues to strike an emotional chord with the masses

A thin, bespectacled man named ‘Chintamani’ with a receding hairline and slight paunch has a cooker’s whistle planted on his head, where the vapour is being discharged from his ears, thus signifying the release of his tension. 


As the commercial towards its end highlights ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s benefits of pension and tax benefits, it ends with <em>‘No Chinta, Only Money’</em>.


The character, which came to life in 2005, served as a messenger through the ads easing the tension of most of the country’s taxpayers.


<strong>Birth of ‘Chintamani’</strong>


In 2005, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, a leading life insurance player, approached Lowe Lintas (formerly Lintas), with the intention of creating buzz around ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plans). This was initially for a radio spot.


As the brief came Delna Patel’s way, a ‘creative’, she took up the mandate and treated it like her ‘passion project’.


On being asked about her designation, Patel recalled in a conversation with Storyboard18 that in those days, there were no designations at Lintas, and it was either a ‘creative head’ or a ‘creative’. 


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Coming back to the creation of the radio spot, Patel wrote the script, a jingle, where towards the end of it, <em>‘No Chinta, Only Money’</em> was heard. The radio spot went on to become a rage. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance attracted success and their budgets increased, which paved the way for television advertising.


Narendra Yadav, former creative head, Lowe Lintas, said, “The target audience was always the tax-saving people, who were sensitive to tax brackets and wanted to save tax.”


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The subject ULIP, as Patel labels it, is dry and difficult to explain in layman’s language. Here, Patel derived inspiration from late cartoonist RK Laxman’s creation ‘The Common Man’, where they could create a relatable everyday character who would appeal to the society.


As the concept was presented to the client, Patel highlighted that if they could make it in Rs seven lakh—which was the budget—they could proceed ahead. Patel said, “We were told that they need X number of callbacks on the back of this campaign. We exceeded their expectations within the first week as the campaign did really well.”


Patel roped in a freelancing animator Nand Kishore and they worked together to bring the character to life. She said, “We started with his face, and then we went into what he would look like physically. If you notice, the character has a slightly receding hairline and a little bit of a pot belly, he would put on short-sleeved shirts, and trousers, and was just your regular average Indian man.”


Interestingly, there was a production manager named Chintamani Agashe at Lowe Lintas when Chintamani was being conceptualised. There was a talk that the mascot was named after him. However, Patel said the character was named Chintamani after the line <em>‘No Chinta, Only Money’</em>. 


Chintamani happened to be the first claymation character (As per Adobe, an animation technique using movable clay characters and stop-motion recording) in India.


Patel explained, “The idea was to try something completely brand new to get people's attention. It was India's first claymation spot. We did not have budgets to do 3D animation and 3D animation in those days was not as advanced as it is today. So, the idea was to make him look and feel real, and get away with being entertaining but educational at the same time.” 


<strong>Tasting success</strong>


The first television commercial, whose script was written by Patel, featured Chintamani with wrinkles on his forehead which he irons out. The ad saw success. Patel highlighted, “The project grew from ‘Let's disrupt it' to ‘it becoming Chintamani’.”


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Post Nand Kishore, Suresh Eriyat of Famous House of Animation was roped in, as the budget tremendously improved post the ad’s release.


Eriyat revealed, “They used to release these films in the month of January. I directed four to five films which became very popular at that time. And from the film, the still images were taken for outdoor advertising.” This was followed by print advertising too.


One of the films was done in 2D owing to a lower budget, recalled Eriyat.


Patel worked on Chintamani for three years where the scripts were penned by her. Post her departure, a new team came into the picture. The character was last seen on television screens in 2016.


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/the-butter-half-how-the-amul-girl-became-the-toast-of-india-41677.htm">The Butter Half: How the Amul girl became the toast of India</a> 



When ICICI Prudential’s Chintamani eased the burden of taxpayers

The biscuit brand Parle-G is seen to have high nostalgia value. One of the reasons for this is its iconic mascot, the Parle-G baby.


For quite some time, it was speculated that the mascot was a picture of Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy, as a baby. But it is actually a painting. 


In the ’60s, the Parle marketing team reached out to Everest Advertising, then led by Adi Patel.


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Parle, the agency’s first client, wanted an illustration and colourful packaging for their biscuit brand Parle Gluco (introduced in 1939) that was primarily targeted at children. Before the introduction of the mascot, the packet only had Parle Gluco written on it in red and blue letters. 


<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/09/1950-2024-09-9503eb28b14bbe9c743d29db70feb9f4.png" alt="" width="2000" height="1108" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-42844" />



Maganlal Dahiya headed the creative department at Everest, and directed the illustrators in his team to paint different versions of the mascot, one of which eventually became the Parle-G baby.



“In those days, biscuits were largely consumed by children. Hence, we explained to Everest that that was a key audience,” said Mayank Shah, Vice President, Parle Products.



But over time, the biscuit’s consumer base expanded to include a significant number of adults. According to the book 'A History of Indian Advertising', the brand also wanted to cater to Indians generally as foreign brands like Glaxo biscuits, Huntly & Palmers, Jacob’s Cream Crackers, etc., were very costly and out of reach of most Indians.


The campaign  launched on print and radio. Today, Shah says the digital medium is extremely crucial since consumers in every nook and corner are hooked onto it, and it has helped popularise the brand across the length and breadth of the country.


<strong>Challenge from imitations</strong>


With the introduction of the baby on the biscuit packet, the brand gained immense recognition and popularity. But this also paved the way for  the proliferation of biscuits that mimicked the storied brand in every way, right down to the packaging, the colours, and the baby.


<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/2024/09/Parle-G-Era-Post-Creative-1-2024-09-d95f19810b1c2620749bdd1474d8f53d.jpg" alt="" width="2161" height="2161" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-42845" />


Hence, in 1982, the company rebranded Parle Gluco biscuits as Parle-G and enhanced its legal team. But nonetheless, the menace continued till the ‘90s.


In 2007, a study was conducted on the most recognised logos of India. The Parle-G baby was the third most recognised, after the hand of the Indian National Congress, and  the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) mark. Which is one of the reasons why Parle has refrained from changing the mascot or giving a contemporary touch to the baby that has dominated the biscuit world for well over six decades.


<em><strong>(Image source: Parle Products)</strong></em>


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Parle-G & the baby face that launched a billion biscuits

A middle-aged man arrives at a posh restaurant. He spots a gorgeous woman seated nearby, looking at him, and speaking to him. 

He responds to her welcoming ‘Hello,’ and approaches her. She pulls an Ericsson mobile phone from under her hair (on which, we realise, she was speaking to someone else), and mistaking him to be the waiter, orders, “One black coffee, please.”

It was the year 1996. Piyush Pandey, now Chief Advisor, Ogilvy, rang up his ad film director brother Prasoon Pandey at 2:30 am. “Congrats, dude! Your commercial won a Silver Lion,” he said.

The film was  India’s first win from the film category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Prasoon told Storyboard18.


<strong>One black coffee: The genesis</strong>

Rajeev Agarwal was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nexus Equity, the advertising agency. The agency handled the creative mandate of Ericsson, a telecom multinational.


One day, he sent three scripts to Prasoon. The first script highlighted how sturdy Ericsson was as a phone. The second spoke about how the phone could be operated using a single hand, unlike other phones available at the time, where you had to pull out an antenna, requiring the use of both hands.


The third script touched upon how small the phone  was. Prasoon found the scripts to be all over the place and conveyed the same to Agarwal, and asked him to choose one. But Agarwal, in turn, asked him: which one would he choose?


Regarding the sturdiness of the phone, in 1995, Motorola had already released a ‘Motorola cell bowling’ commercial that showed how tough the phone was. Hence, that aspect had been explored.


Prasoon explained to  Agarwal that people would realise the value of single-hand use only once they've used a cell phone.  Hence, he would not go there.


As he chose the script for the small phone, he found it to not be in very good taste. That was when Agarwal suggested that he write one.


At that time, Prasoon was vacationing in Jaipur with Piyush. Over several glasses of beer, they cracked the idea and co-wrote the script.

 
Even though Piyush was working for Ogilvy, and Ericsson was Nexus Equity's client, as Prasoon explained, “We saw creative problems as great fun problems to crack, where we were working for a large company called 'Creativity,' and all agencies were only branch offices of it.


"As men, we have always imagined sitting across a gorgeous woman and striking up a conversation. So we came up with this fun story about a middle aged man who thinks that a beautiful woman is talking to him, when she’s actually talking to someone else on her compact mobile phone, which is hidden by her hair.”


Agarwal presented the script to the client, who loved it, and gave it the go-ahead.


<strong>The making of the ad</strong>


Prasoon screen-tested actor Kamal Chopra for the middle-aged man’s role, and for the woman’s role, who had to be between 30 and 35, he tested Kavita Kapoor. Kapoor was recommended by Mahesh Mathai, Founder, Highlight Films, who had produced a De Beers campaign starring Kapoor.


The shooting commenced at Mukesh Mills, in Mumbai. The film was shot by Barun Mukherjee, and the music was by Louis Banks. 


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The restaurant, where the story was set, was given a Mediterranean touch by the film’s producer, Srila Chatterjee. 


As one can see in the film, Chopra’s face falls when Kapoor mistakes him to be the waiter and places her order, but he manages to beat a dignified retreat. The shot lasted seven seconds, which, as per Prasoon Pandey, is very long. To highlight that Chopra’s heart broke, a glass was shattered in the background.


<strong>High recall</strong>


Doordarshan won the Indian telecast rights for the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The commercial aired just once every day during the World Cup. The film was well-received, critically acclaimed, and helped grow the sales of Ericsson mobile phones.

 
Like others, the Cannes jury too found the ending unexpected, and enjoyed the ad, recalled Prasoon.


One of the media portals had conducted a survey on the ads with the highest recall among those telecast during the 1996  World Cup. Ericsson topped the list.


 “It goes to show that if you invest in a good idea, one doesn’t have to telecast it 35 times. One can telecast just 10 times and come out stronger than going with a commercial with a half-baked idea, and then just plastering it,” said Prasoon Pandey


Praising the performances, Prasoon said, “Kapoor was brilliant and natural. One does not suspect that she's talking on the phone till she pulls it out. But when she does pull it out, it does not look like she was deliberately fooling us. It all sits very naturally. She was brilliant.”


<strong>How did it change fortune?</strong>


As the commercial was receiving love and recognition for its storyline and stupendous cast performance, post the release, Kapoor sat at home for eight and a half months.


In a conversation with Storyboard18, Kapoor said, “A lot were unaware that I was an Indian model. I think it was a time when there was a transition where people were not too sure if they wanted an Indian look or a Western look. I was getting work in the advertising field, but there was not that much work coming from the industry because that's where I really wanted to get a foothold.”


"Since the commercial tasted popularity from all the fronts, everybody thought that I started working the next day post its release, which is not true," added Kapoor.


Post the Ericsson commercial, Kapoor was seen in Daewoo Cielo car ad. She was also seen in Kinetic Honda, Asian Paints, Dhara, Kelvinator refrigerator ads, and did a lot of other international work too.


<strong>Why did the ad stand out?</strong>


Even though more than two decades have passed since it was released, the ad is still fresh in people’s minds. Why?


“I think it stood out for its cleverness. It was unexpected, it was surprising, and it was endearing. That is what we should always do with our advertising. We need to respect our audience, that we are interrupting their entertainment time with our product message. If we respect them, then we need to deliver it, not as a product message, but in a surprising and an endearing way,’’ said the ad filmmaker.


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One black coffee, please: The ad that won India her first Lion at Cannes

It was the 1940s. Late Sorab Kaikushroo Kooka who was known as Bobby Kooka, the commercial director of Air India, was in deep imagination. A personality with a royal image, who had a round face with a long and sharp nose, outsized moustache, and striped turban was taking shape.


He did not wait too long. He reached out to Umesh Rao, who worked at JWT as an artist. Together, they breathe ‘Air India’s Maharajah’ to life. It was the year 1946. The Maharajah—which was born on an in-flight memo pad—in the 1950s became the ‘bowing’ face of Air India, previously Tata Airlines. 


What remains a rarely known fact is that, the Maharajah’s famous moustache was designed after Kooka’s dear friend late Syed Wajid Ali, a Pakistan based industrialist, states Air-India collector, a website solely dedicated to understanding Air India, its history, the Maharajah and its journey in advertising and marketing themselves. 


After Amul's' ‘Girl’, Air India’s Maharajah stands as the most successful mascot of the Indian advertising for having entertained India with its cheeky one-liners. 


Last year, the airline brand, whose operations were taken care of by the government, came under the wings of the Tata Group. But, in a few months, the airline will bid a permanent goodbye to the mascot which once represented royalty and hospitality.


But, this is not the first time decisions surrounding the mascot’s retirement and rebranding are being undertaken. In the 1980s, San Francisco based Landor Associates was appointed for the rebranding exercise of the airline brand.



Right from the redesigning of all aspects of the airline followed by the introduction of the sun logo on the aeroplane’s tail which was a golden sun with 24 spokes embellished on a deep red sash, the rebranding exercise cost $35 million, an attempt to save the dwindling fortunes of the airline brand. 


However, the aura and charm of the mascot could never be forgotten. Hence, in the early 1990s, Madhavrao Scindia, former minister of civil aviation, paved the way for Maharajah who reprised its role once again. 


Let us dive into understanding some more of the lesser-known facts about the mascot.  


<strong>Nandita Chalam, former senior vice president and executive creative director, JWT, shared...</strong>


According to former national creative director of HTA, Ivan Arthur, who has worked extensively on Air India ads, there were some unwritten rules to drawing the Maharajah, “He cannot open his eyes; he cannot open his mouth, and he cannot be shown with a bare head—the turban or some headgear must always be there.”


Come to think of it, have we ever seen the Maharajah’s bare head? Mercifully not. But in the later years—when the Tatas were no longer a part of Air India and HTA no longer handled the business—some artists did draw the Maharajah with his eyes open. And a change of personality was evident! Instead of a suave and regal Maharajah, he looked more like a fat, sleazy, old uncle. Those unwritten rules sure needed to be followed. Ivan also said that though it was never put down formally anywhere, every person working on the business knew instinctively that everything done for Air India “had to carry its DNA—a double helix of exotica and charm”.


<strong>Prabhakar Mundkur, former senior vice president at Hindustan Thompson Associates, shared...</strong>


Arthur recalls, “He was no commercial mascot. He became a national figure, much loved and respected”. There was a time when every middle-class home in India proudly displayed a little toy Air India Maharajah in their living room showcases along with other curios.


“We call him a Maharaja for the want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He may look like royalty, but he isn’t royal. He is capable of entertaining the Queen of England and splitting a beer with her butler. He is a man of many parts: lover boy, sumo wrestler, pavement artist, vendor of naughty postcards, Capuchin monk, Arab merchant….,” is what SK ‘Bobby’ Kooka the commercial director of Air India is once known to have said. (Kooka was later chairman of HTA).


And most of all, he was an entertainer. He made people smile with his inimitable wit and humour. The magic behind the Maharajah was that his commentary would always have something to do with the current topics, touching a nerve with his audience. He had a different take on every event that made the news. And that is what kept him and brand Air India current in everyone’s minds.



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