Hit or Miss: The week in ads

The festive season in India is the grand stage where brands vie for consumer attention with their most creative, emotional, and eye-catching campaigns. From glittering lights to vibrant colors, these ads aim to weave themselves into the fabric of our celebrations. But with the bar set so high, not every campaign strikes gold. Some become iconic, while others fall flat, lost in the noise of the season's celebrations. In this week’s roundup, we take a closer look at the standout festive ads and the ones that may have missed the mark. Did your favorite brand hit or miss?

Birla Opus Paints

Birla came out with this old-ways-versus-new-ways ad with the tagline “It’s time to update to the Naya Zamana! Don’t be stuck with the old and choose the next generation of paints - Birla Opus Paints” and hashtag #NayeZamaneKaNayaPaint​. The ad starring Vicky Kaushal and Saurabh Shukla is a fun piece of comedy with the right amount of information about the product. The communication and visual appeal are great. It's a hit. Spaces into a reflection of tomorrow!

Cadbury Celebrations 

Cadbury Celebrations came with this heartwarming ad with the tagline “Iss Diwali, milkar muh meetha karo!” And their solid hashtag #KuchAcchaHoJayeKuchMeethaHoJaye​ as their constant message. The ad symbolizes a lot about the importance of physical closeness, which somehow did go derailed in the post covid arena and the boom of social media. The ad has the perfect blend of emotional and social quotient in just 45 seconds making it a hit.

Tanishq Jewellers 

Tanishq is launching their new ‘Nav-raani’ collection this Diwali, they came out with the tagline “Diwali is a celebration of her—of the queen she has always been, inside and out” and hashtags #Navraani​ #Modernqueen.

Their Nav-raani collection for Diwali ad campaign is directed by Mira Nair and when you choose such a great direction and Jewelers collection, it is quite disheartening to see that the concept didn't shine through. The campaign idea and the clip had no alignment whatsoever. This Ad movie was beautifully made and did sit well for the Jewellery brand but there was nothing ‘Nav-raani’ about it. It's a big miss.

Orient Electric Lights 

With their tagline "Thoughtfully curated Lights for you” and their messaging “Every corner tells a story, We help you tell yours with the perfect lighting” Orient Electric, set a strong base for family setting. The ad has phenomenal product placement and shows its multiple usage USP quite clearly and effectively. The BGM could be improved a bit, but still a hit.

Crocs India Festive

The ad titled Share the Joy, used Vedang Raina and Rashi Thadani with various influencers from the #crocsSquad for their playful festive ad. Though the product is kinda bizzare for festivities like Diwali, that is apparently all the rage now. The ad definitely works well for its target audience that is the GenZ and is quite vibrant and creative, so it's a hit. But the product might still be a risky one in terms of visual appeal for the other demographics.

Bisleri Pop 

With their, ‘Pop-The Flavour of Love’, campaign they tried to showcase and ad about the 1950s when Love was simple. With the hashtags #BisleriPop​ #FlavourOfLove​, the ad features Palak Tiwari and Ishaan Khatter  lacks a lot in terms of concept, connect and appeal. The ad seemed off with just the product thrown in the face randomly without any storyline. Definitely missed the mark.

Colgate Strong Teeth

The Daily Grind ad with Colgate India is one of the 2 best ads of the week. The ad is based in an urban setting and promotes calcium restoration with Arginine technology. The shows a dad eating all kinds of food throughout the day and the child voice singing in the background gives off a great vibe. The music, product placement, engagement everything is solid. Big hit!

IGP.com Festive  

With Diwali season and corporate bonus incoming IGP released this video ad with the hashtag #AmazingGiftsSamayPar​. The relatability factor of using an old Mahabharat intro to start a festive ad is such a great idea in terms of video campaigns. The ad sits very very well in the office environment during Diwali bonus conversations and is also filled with humor and it's a small ad with good communication. All round a great example of short ads that prove to be a hit.

Hero Xtreme

The ad called #Viratsextremechallenge unvield with the cricket's Goat- Virat kohli and is very sporty and good in terms of product feel. The ad is fine in terms of product communication and use of memes, and would work if your target audience is from Great Britain. But when your target audience is Indian, the ad doesn't sit well with the kind of roads India has. Other than that the ad is very stereotypical and offers nothing new. Suddenly made us miss the old Hero ads, when they actually connected well with the audience. They missed the mark with this one.

OPPO India

OPPO released their new video ad campaign with the hashtag #VishwasKaDeep for Diwali 2024. Competing neck to neck to be the best ad with Colgate this week is this visual treat ad by OPPO. Highlighting the different ways Diwali is celebrated in different part of India and the culture diversity that is represented in video, all while showcasing the qualities of the product, be it water resistance, connectivity, fall proof etc is phenomenal advertising. This gets a hit from us.