Ad jingles sing Bollywood tunes
Advertising is increasingly using popular Bollywood film songs to attract consumer attention
MUMBAI: Hearing her son, Pranav, 11, laugh, Anu Shah checked to see what he was watching on TV. An ad for Alpenliebe Creamfills had this bald, French-bearded boss in a fitting full red dress with frills, chasing an executive while singing and dancing to “Yeh mera dil pyaar ka deewana…” from the Bollywood film, Don.“The ad is audacious, delicious. It leaves us laughing every time,” Shah said.
For Philips LED lighting, Ranbir Kapoor dances in a lighted-up suit to “Saara zamana…”. In the original song in the 1981 film, Yaarana, Amitabh Bachchan wore a lighted suit.
Sumit Joshi, head – lighting, Philips India, said, “Our leaked online ad video had a million hits; the 30-second online teaser 6,00,000 hits; and the two-minute ad 1.7 million hits. We are looking at converting consumers from conventional to LED lighting in their homes.”
Television advertising is increasingly using popular Bollywood film songs from the 1980s or earlier.
Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands, said, “Advertising is storytelling that combines familiarity with newness. In India where film music is powerful, advertising would be foolish not to use it. Instead of a new jingle, you use a popular film song. Even if people don’t know it, a good song – often contemporised – will still appeal.”
Added KV Sridhar, chief creative officer, Leo Burnett India, which
created the Alpenliebe ad: “It takes years for a song to sink in.
Advertising goes back by at least 10 years for songs. If the target
audience is universal, film songs work but they need to be contextually
relevant.”
A senior marketing professional (not from the automobile industry) wondered about the relevance of using “Pag ghungroo baandh Meera naachi thi…” from Namak Halal (1982), in a Skoda Octavia ad in which a little boy tells his father that it was the teddy bear – who partied in the night with toy friends – who left the sun roof open. The partying toys showcase Octavia’s new features, while the song plays on.
“The song should be central to your message. The visual hook is the teddy bear, which has nothing to do with the song,” the marketer said.
Russell Barrett, chief creative officer and managing partner, BBH India, which created the Octavia ad, said, “In the movie, ‘Pag ghungroo’ is about a public gathering. In the ad too, there is a party.”
Kamal Basu, associate director marketing, Skoda India, said, “The ad announces the return of a legend, Skoda Octavia, which was originally launched in 2003 and is back with new features. This song is popular in perpetuity. Within three weeks of the ad’s launch, we had 15,000 enquiries. YouTube delivered 3,00,000 views in two weeks.”
“Any ad using a film song must create a contextual connect for those who know it and those who don’t,” said Sridhar. He pointed to a Britannia cheese ad which used “Tu cheez badi hai mast mast”, from Mohra (1994). “Since kids consume cheese and mothers would register the ad, the song was not contextually suitable.”
A senior marketing professional (not from the automobile industry) wondered about the relevance of using “Pag ghungroo baandh Meera naachi thi…” from Namak Halal (1982), in a Skoda Octavia ad in which a little boy tells his father that it was the teddy bear – who partied in the night with toy friends – who left the sun roof open. The partying toys showcase Octavia’s new features, while the song plays on.
“The song should be central to your message. The visual hook is the teddy bear, which has nothing to do with the song,” the marketer said.
Russell Barrett, chief creative officer and managing partner, BBH India, which created the Octavia ad, said, “In the movie, ‘Pag ghungroo’ is about a public gathering. In the ad too, there is a party.”
Kamal Basu, associate director marketing, Skoda India, said, “The ad announces the return of a legend, Skoda Octavia, which was originally launched in 2003 and is back with new features. This song is popular in perpetuity. Within three weeks of the ad’s launch, we had 15,000 enquiries. YouTube delivered 3,00,000 views in two weeks.”
“Any ad using a film song must create a contextual connect for those who know it and those who don’t,” said Sridhar. He pointed to a Britannia cheese ad which used “Tu cheez badi hai mast mast”, from Mohra (1994). “Since kids consume cheese and mothers would register the ad, the song was not contextually suitable.”
NAME RAHUL SINGH 2PGDM 1SEM
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