Hit or Miss: Week in Ads

As brands across sectors embrace the vibrant energy of Diwali and other celebrations, it’s common to see advertisements drenched in festive themes, filled with sparkling lights, cultural motifs, and heartwarming stories. But not every brand aligns with the festive tide; some choose to go against the flow with non-festive campaigns, bringing a refreshing contrast to the season’s ad landscape. These ads often shift focus to product innovation, real-life issues, or playful narratives, tapping into the festive crowd while maintaining their unique identity. 

Today, we look at some non-festive and some festive ads that were aired during this bustling season.

Manappuram Finance Limited 

With their ‘Spread Happiness with Manappuram’ tagline, the finance company released a diwali bonus ad, which is much more than that. The ad celebrates a father being elated for her daughter's success and creating family history. The portrayal of the company as the helper of Dreams and support sheds a very positive light on the overall brand image. The ad is a hit.

https://youtu.be/fpHN_Mo1HEs?si=86BkUwg194pchiPK 

Zomato Nasa Diwali

Zomato Released their 'Mission Diwali’ short ad film, starring Piyush Mishra. The ad has a simple message of “Mithai Zomato karo, aur desh ko roshan karo”. The ad might be the most creative Diwali ad in 2024. The ad has elements of various ways people light up their Diwali and how mithai shine brings the real glow. Zomato has done a great job with highlighting Kaju Katli and other silver leaf-covered sweets. Admit the Zepto Soan Papdi Comeback, it's a good standout and definitely a hit, plus full marks for creativity and Piyush Mishra.

https://youtu.be/Cq5IK0RQI10?si=cZnrko5nsz0ixHn- 

WokTok Fusion Fun

Veeba released their WokTok boodles in new flavours with the tagline, “Chinese, but apne style se.” The ad is a fun fusion of Chinese people dancing on Indian tunes, much like their product that combines the two perfectly. A pan Asian noodle with a twist of Indian flavours. The ad is vibrant and very fun to watch. It also has great geopolitical significance too. It's definitely a hit.

https://youtu.be/Ktsgtrok1kc?si=rc9IvmYjFvhfuU3S 

PayU Ad

PayU has released their resilience and Innovation ad. This ad is a great example for another information driven ad about different ways payment can be done conveniently and efficiently. The ad is creative and not very aggressive with its campaign communication making it a subtle hit.

https://youtu.be/g0NtztLj-R0?si=VpdcspO3UIe3nE_- 

Wellbeing Nutrition with Soha and Kunal

The ad title “How well do you know me with Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu?”, was released 2 days ago. The ad doesn't feel like an ad at all. It feels like a Youtube fun quiz between a couple that they might post on their personal channel. The video is in 2 parts, where the second is yet to be released. The first part has no mention of the product or about why they are in the video except for talking about their workouts. The video is very long and misses the whole idea of what a TVC is. A big miss for us.

https://youtu.be/d5sZfFeCN5k?si=hLHM4S4TXtIo2UTl 

Senco Gold and Diamonds' Dhani Gyani

With their message of “This Dhanteras, be like Dhani Gyani, buy gold and light up with Everlite!” and hashtag #GrowKaroGlowKaro Senco released an investment ad campaign. The ad has beautiful visuals of the product with an informative approach towards investing in gold. The ad is Dhanteras based and is on point with the occasion. It's a hit.

https://youtu.be/UzmCs-Zr0lM?si=4G_s8QQt7kk2gy8x 

Standard Electrical Ad

Standard Electrical came out with their latest ad to show how their products are superior. The ad has a hashtag and message of  #performanceKaHigherStandard. This ad has all elements of a good ad including messaging, creativity, information, product placement and the use of human touch with good visuals. It's an all-rounder hit for us.

https://youtu.be/dyTxM5ZtOCI?si=Aqtp8RGomdpjvLa1 

Car truth with Cars24 

Cars24 made an ad for their Car truth feature, with the tagline “Revealing Secrets, Ensuring Transparency.” The ad may have a good scheme at the end, it's really frustrating to watch as it gets painfully slow with the same laugh and not finding the reason, much like how ‘hidden car surprises’ work. It might have been an attempt to convey that frustration to viewers of a buyer, but it didn't sit well, making it unsustainable and a miss.

https://youtu.be/F62aLjNp1C4?si=YhzxJXlRI-aptkqy 

Sunfeast Mom's Magic Ad

Sunfeast Mom's Magic came out with their Will to change ad, which promotes Mom's speaking up for daughters. The ad taps on the serious issue of Women’s right to inheritance of assets and the way Shefali explains the issue over a cup of tea and the heart lined biscuit places a strong message into the minds of the viewers. It actually resonates really well with their brand name and value. A beautiful hit.

https://youtu.be/_UP6j8iSo3E?si=ZTvjkKlrVrEwbD66 

Flipkart ‘Minutes’ Ad

Flipkart Minutes, the new app by flipkart that does quick commerce came out with their ad “Thank yoi competitors”, which has a fun wordplay. The ad with it's dig on almost all competitive companies including Blinkit, Zepto and Big Basket, targeted the audience with a fun play with the word minutes and Vishwanathan Anand is just cherry on top. It's a smart ad in terms of creativity and knowing the market, a total hit.

https://youtu.be/Upb95yGDspI?si=EEfNWde_duW0reT5 

Jockey ‘Knows Me’

Jockey came out with their “Bras: As versatile as I am” ad for women. The ad has the message of showing that their brand really knows women's needs and the tagline “For every kind of me, there's a perfect fit!” This ad has the products and the central theme of women empowerment right at its centre making it more effective. The ad is vibrant, pacy and fun, definitely a hit.

https://youtu.be/-uAHaqdh8Rs?si=cyYeFARZ0rGL2S6k