We are like that only

Indian advertising is in the family way, with an almost audible message, “No cleavage and skin show, please… We are Indians…”
The key players in every other ad content today is the homely Dada, Dadi, Nana, Nani, mummy, daddy, daughter, son, grandchildren, et al.
Take, for instance, the Adani Wilmar ad, where an old lady brings dal for her ailing son daily to the hospital, resolute in the belief that two spoons of it would revitalise him more than the medication because she draws strength from the fact that Ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai.

Tanishq, in its latest ad offering a discount on its diamond jewellery range, is taking ahead its family theme where a father and daughter bond over the tagline, Lekin pyar me koi kami nahi. In its recent wedding season film, the granny plays a more prominent role than the bride-to-be. This  Diwali, Tanishq had upped the emotional quotient with Sunehri Diwali, where the son wants to wish his mother with a modest pendant and is apprehensive of being overshadowed by his father’s gift of heavy jewellery. However, the sensitive mother salvages the situation.

In Airtel’s One-Touch Internet ad, a soporific, fond grandfather is woken up by his daughter to be taught how to use a smartphone and enjoy his grandchild’s antics.

The OLX ad focuses on the snoring husband and a naughty kid who plunders around the house but both are treated with understated humour.

Why the Great Indian Family?

No matter what research says about the evolving consumer, no country is perhaps as family-centric as India. Parents, siblings, the longing for home within an increasingly migrant population, are becoming great figures for marketers to reach out to consumers across categories ranging from cooking oils and automobiles to mobile phones and telecom services despite the fact that India can boast of the largest youth population in the world.
Is this advertising’s way of making amends? Harish Bijoor, Brand Expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, says consumers in India are family-bound in more ways than one and no brand can really afford to move too far away from this fact.

“Brands today are part of the family. Many objects become almost family members -  someone you trust, look forward to and think affectionately of,” he says.

Explains Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas & Partners, the person behind the Tanishq and OLX ads: “Family values are part of our culture. With the current trend of families becoming nuclear, we are learning to value bonding a lot more though we may not necessarily express those emotions. So, in our ads, we are trying to communicate these great unspoken relations and equations.”

On the other hand, Elvis Sequeira, chief operating officer, Hakuhodo India, reasons that this trend is a reaction to viewer fatigue. “It’s a return to strong emotional connects and real life stories that consumers are currently reacting strongly to. It could be the next cycle after seeing years of brands trying to desperately act young, cool and edgy,” he observes.

Bijoor echoes, “After having got lost (with very correct reason, of course) in the world of glamour, pizzaz and even ridiculous statements of brand intent and action, advertising is getting back to the fact that the consumer is a truth-seeking animal.”

To tell a story and how

Ironically, these ads do not train the spotlight on the target segment associated with the product and yet manages to communicate. The latest Nissan ad does not focus on a couple or “youngistan India” but more on the little boy who falls asleep on the front seat.

The son, father or the granny in Tanishq zoom into focus rather than women who are habitual consumers of gold. Similar with the frail old mother in the Adani Wilmar edible oil ad who has, more or less, retired from the kitchen.

These characters are being integrated with the ad story in such a way that some intangible attributes of the product are communicated. We can identify with them because these are all a slice of our own lives, somewhere, sometime.

Iyer reiterates: “We are at a juncture where we have to tell human stories. We can no longer have brands that scream ‘buy me, buy me’. We have to connect with the consumers in a way that they feel the brand is really human. It’s very important for a consumer to realise that the brand understands the world he/she inhabits.”

Hakuhodo India’s recent campaign, Sony Handycam commercial, is another example. Sequeira recalls that the team knew that there were only a few life stages when a video recording device would figure in the households – during a family wedding, a child-birth, or a family vacation. Afterwards the video camera is likely to be consigned to the cupboard.

“Faced with a product with features that included not just recording but the ability to project recordings directly on to any surface, we realised there was an opportunity to expand usage beyond these occasions to moments that are precious as a child grows out the toddler years. With this insight we could position the product not merely as a capture device but one that could also entertain and it formed the basis of our communication ‘shoot. project. smile’,” he reveals.

Considering that consumers are today exposed to hours of infomercials and commercials that feature end-users and stereotypes, one way to grab attention is to cut through with unexpected imagery and casting choices, unusual stories or strong emotions that connect.
Raj Nair, chief creative officer, Madison BMB, recalls brands like HSBC, Cadbury Celebrations, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Surf Excel, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Asian Paints, etc. which have all utilised the family motif, and adds: “Depending on the strength of the social insight that one is using as a trigger to create the campaign, it can help the brand create long-lasting value propositions that forge deep bonds with the consumer. That, eventually, will last for long periods of time. The power of these connections determines the level of the emotional investment a consumer is willing to make on the brand.”

Social banter

The proof of the creative lies in its talk-point quotient and Iyer makes a vital point in saying that the social media is playing a key role in evolving ad content today.

“The emphasis today is on creating content that consumers want to talk about. For the content of a brand to become part of social media chatter, it has to seem like a slice of life. The father daughter context in Tanishq is something we were hoping would move people enough to share with each other,” he informs.

Indeed, several ads have become talk points on social media platforms and the office cafeteria. Tanishq’s Sunehri Diwali received more positive feedback than negative with people using words like “touching” and “heart-warming.”

Many say they at first thought the Adani Wilmar ad in the edible oil to be a film promo, perhaps, because of the realism!

“If a brand has great features, alright, go tell the consumer, but if you try hard-selling, they will switch off,” Iyer believes.

Selling point

When a few brands start showing positive results by breaking a mould, the rest of the herd follows, thinking that's the way to quick success, feel most brand experts.

“Marketers start reading this as a trend until the viewer gets sick of it and starts applauding newer stuff. Then another new trend is born. So, suddenly it’s the long-format 'straight to youtube first' films for a while or viral videos or family-oriented stories the next day!” avers Sequeira, talking of the present scenario.

Nair feels that the strength of every piece of ad finally boils down to the quality of the insight the work is based upon. “When you are absolutely positive you have a winner, you must milk it to the fullest and build connections around the idea using every possible medium. When brands do this well, we will remember it and perhaps even create a more lasting relationship with it,” he offers.

But, at present, the ad world is beaming quality family time into India’s drawing rooms.