Mumbai: The festive spirit has gripped consumers and it’s that time of the year when cultures & traditions take centre-stage across households in India. It is also the time when happy moments come alive within families where everyone gets to be themselves without being challenged by any stereotypes.
Celebrating this integral thought, Citibank has launched its latest brand campaign that encourages and enables everyone to rise above societal beliefs stereotypes and festival conventions to celebrate Diwali in their own unique way. In doing so, Citibank seeks to establish itself as the enabler of purchases across multiple categories during the festival.
The campaign #MyKindOfDiwali, has been conceptualized and executed by Publicis India and will be rolled out across popular offline and online mediums including TVC, print, digital, outdoor and radio.
Commenting on the campaign, Nikhil Rastogi, Director – Marketing & Digital Sales, Citibank said: “We decided to partner with our creative agency, Publicis to challenge a cultural norm and encourage consumers to celebrate Diwali in their own unique way.”
Speaking on how the campaign came about, Nikhil says, “Understanding and interpreting the cultural nuances of young people was key to our campaign. The film revolves around identifying real-life insights that questions traditional thinking in a memorable manner, and examines existing beliefs without losing the essence of our cultural values”.
The genesis of the ad film is a simple life insight – everybody has their own ways of celebrating Diwali. While adhering to the overall cultural context, people have their own interpretations and increasing blend tradition with modern day practices & this is what makes the festival unique and memorable to them. This forms the core of the new Citi Diwali film.”
Adding her views, Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide, India said: “India is a land of festivals and nothing beats the celebratory fervour more than Diwali, which is amongst the most popular and widely celebrated ones. It is a time when family and & friends come together and prefer celebrating as one cohesive unit. By way of this campaign, we urge people to celebrate Diwali in their own unique manner which makes the celebration more special.”
The campaign comprises a 45-second film and features a young protagonist who hastily joins her family for prayers. Oblivious to the large tattoo that she displays on her arm, she tries to focus on the prayer ceremony only to be prodded by her family around her to cover up her tattoo. This is when her mother-in-law comes to her rescue and uncovers the tattoo insisting that it is one’s intentions that matter and not one’s choices. This thought is seconded by Citibank that urges consumers to celebrate the festival the way they prefer and not be bound by any hindrances.
Commenting on the creative insight and thought-process behind the campaign, Bobby Pawar, MD & CCO, Publicis Worldwide, India said: “We are living in an age of personalization and self-expression. The Citi campaign aims to shine a light on those who want to enhance the Diwali experience by going beyond the norms, and celebrating the festival in their own way.”
The ad film is currently on air and is being played across media channels including Hotstar, FB, Youtube and Google.
Link to the film:
Team Credits:
Client: Citibank
Team: Nikhil Rastogi, Abhilasha Nagpal
Agency: Publicis India
Creative: Bobby Pawar, Ramakrishnan Hariharan
Account Management: Paritosh Srivastava, Sirish Suveer, Madhavi Chinnabhandar, Akshaya Gangan
Planning: Abhinit Agarwal, Kanupriya Mahajan
Production House:OffRoad Films
Director: Rhea Lawyer
