Mumbai : When the entire nation and the world will be hooked to the television sets following US President Barack Obama on Republic Day, Gujarat-based tea major Wagh Bakri will attempt to capture viewer attention, albeit briefly, during the ad breaks.
The tea major, which controls 80% of the Gujarat tea market and has a presence in ten more states, will run a four-minute ad film during commercial breaks between 10 am and 11 pm on 15 channels on Republic Day. The channels will include Hindi and regional news channels besides high definition or HD feeds of Hindi general entertainment channels.
The interesting part is that a four-minute ad film by one brand will effectively become a roadblock to others as most news channels will not have ad breaks of more than four minutes that day.
“This is one way of doing a roadblock,” says Manish Bhatt, founder-director of Mumbai-based ad agency Scarecrow Communications. “You either outrightly tell the channel or channels not to carry ads of other companies or you book advertising time in such a way that others are effectively kept out. We opted for the latter,” he says.
The ad will be produced by Chrome Pictures, which also executed the Google reunion campaign.
While a roadblock as a concept is not new in television advertising, this is the first time that something like this has been attempted during the visit of a major head of state to India and that too on Republic Day.
This is is also the first time Wagh Bakri as an advertiser has attempted a roadblock. Includings teasers on January 24 and 25 and the actual ad rollout on January 26, the spend for the airing is Rs 2 crore.
“We are launching a new campaign with a new tagline (Rishton Mein Garmahat) and we felt a roadblock was a good way to make a start. We spoke to various media owners and found them receptive to the idea,” says Parag Desai, executive director, Wagh Bakri Tea Group.
The film speaks of rejuvenating personal relationships with a cup of tea, tapping into the revival of India-US ties.
“January 26 is when India and America will rejuvenate their relationship. We felt the timing was just right for us to rejuvenate our relationship with our current and potential consumers with an ad that tugs at the heart. It compels viewers to take a long hard look at how they treat their near and dear ones and exhorts them to take time out for each other,” says Desai.
Ad experts say Wagh Bakri’s rendition is another way of interpreting the rejuvenation theme that runs prominently through most tea advertising in India. Rival Tata Tea, for instance, speaks of a social awakening with a cup of tea in Jaago Re, while Hindustan Unilever’s Brooke Bond has explored individual rejuvenation with its Taaza brand.
