DDB has introduced a new visual identity that captures the essence of the agency and is an outward symbol of their thinking, their work and their people.

The evolution of DDB’s visual identity is a timeless and timely update for one of advertising’s most enduring and celebrated brands. The new mark celebrates DDB’s heritage and legacy, reflects the contemporary thinking and work that they are known for, positioning them for the exciting future they intend to claim.

Using the agency’s full name, Doyle Dane Bernbach, within the mark, was a deliberate decision. As other agencies are commoditising their agency names and turning away from their founding principles and visions, DDB is doubling down on the values that Doyle Dane and Bernbach founded the agency on – creativity and humanity. To this day, Bill Bernbach remains one of the most creative and impactful people ever to work in the advertising industry. His thinking, his ideas, and his words colour the agency’s presentations, halls and most importantly, the work that DDB produces. 

Highlighting the creativity and interconnectivity of the worldwide DDB team, the evolved logo was created internally by the DDB North America design team - serving as a great example of the agency’s design capabilities.

Quoting on the new visual identity, Wendy Clark, CEO, DDB Worldwide said, “Great brands have a foot in their past and a foot in the future. This visual identity perfectly captures our heritage and legacy, the contemporary thinking and work we’re known for now, and positions us for the future we intend to claim.” 

Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB North America quoted, “Bernbach was the founder of the creative revolution and this mark puts creativity right back at the center of our organization. As many other global networks are doubling down on technology and efficiency we wanted to double down on humanity and creativity.”

Barry Quinn, Chief Design Officer, DDB North America added, “Our new visual identity is contemporary and strategically designed for today’s needs. But it purposely retains a strong link to our visual history. It’s much more than a symbol, it’s a canvas for the creativity of the network. We can’t wait to see how that evolves over time.”

Women are known for their mental/emotional strength for being the backbone of the family but rarely for their physical strength. Women’s Horlicks wanted to break this very notion through its latest campaign, ‘Stories of Strength’. The campaign celebrates women who dared to follow their unconventional dreams and showed the world that they are not just mentally but physically strong too. 

The campaign also urges strong women to take care the very thing that makes them strong from within: their bones. The brand firmly believes that if women become as strong in body as they are in mind, they can go out and conquer whatever they set their eyes on. Bone health is extremely important, as every 1 out of 2 Indian women are at a risk of low bone mineral density (BMD) which can lead to osteoporosis. 
Adding more depth to the ‘Stand Strong’ narrative and to celebrate and support physical strength amongst women, Women’s Horlicks collaborated with Dr Seema Rao – India’s first women commando trainer, Ratna Singh – India’s first female naturalist, Uma Das – India’s first woman Dhaki player  

These women explain the challenges and difficulties they faced in their unique career choices along with the physical and mental strength it required to fulfil their dreams.  

With this campaign, Women’s Horlicks empowers women to breakdown the misconception that women can’t be not physically strong. It also aims to engage, encourage and equip women with the physical strength that is needed to follow their passions.  

Women’s Horlicks encouraged women to write their own stories of strength and share them at #StandStrong. Physical strength is displayed by women in various facets of life. But it is not talked about, not encouraged or celebrated. Now it is time we celebrate their stories of physical strength too. 

Vikram Bahl, Executive Vice President Marketing, GSK Consumer Healthcare India said, “Women in India are often celebrated for their emotional solidarity and not physical strength. With Stories of Strength, we wanted to break this misconception and enable women to be physically, emotionally and mentally strong. As a brand that challenges stereotypes, we believe that for this it is our responsibility to encourage women to invest in strengthening their body and mind, so that they can pursue their dreams and aspirations.” 

Swati Bhattacharya, CCO, FCB Ulka, said, “Every story of bravery, every story of strength and every story of courage, is often a man’s story, we don’t hear a woman’s stories of courage. Women stories are about sacrifice, being vulnerable or being rescued. So, with ‘Stories of Strength’ we thought of changing the narrative, so that when we think of strength, we don’t just think of men.” 

The film is the latest product from FCB FuelContent. Speaking on the occasion, Debarpita Banerjee, President- North and East, FCB Ulka and Head FuelContent India said, “Each of these women have stories with plenty of strength and equal proportions of soul in it. And balancing the two visually was an interesting challenge. At Fuel Content we feel lucky to partner brave brands such as Women’s Horlicks, that ware wanting to connect and create conversations differently.” 

Credits:
Creative Agency: FCB India 
CCO: Swati Bhattacharya   
Creative Team: Anusheela Saha, Gayatri Sriram, Sumitra Sengupta, Amna Rahman, Anamika Kumari, Sreya Basu, Swati Singh, Ushna Chowdhuri, Tushar Singh   
Account Management: Debarpita Banerjee, Sareesh James Kutty, Swati Mongia, Abhijeet Nagar 
Planning: John Thangaraj, Tanvi Arora, Archita Ghosh   
Director (of the TVC): Surjo Dutt   
Executive Producer: Mayuk Hazarika   
Production House: FuelContent 

The Himalaya Drug Company has unveiled its latest campaign “Reveal your best skin” for Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack. The thought-provoking commercial focuses on how consumers can reveal the best version of their skin with the regular use of Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack. In an attempt to look our best, we often tend to hide our skin imperfections. However, the root cause behind it often goes unaddressed.

Speaking on the campaign Rahul Panchal, General Manager Marketing - Face Care, The Himalaya Drug Company said, “We all aspire to have skin which is devoid of imperfections, and hence, we end up trying various options to look better. The latest commercial aims to create awareness about how one can focus on revealing the best version of their skin. And, that is where our product comes in. Instead of masking the imperfections, Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack helps you discover your best skin with the goodness of natural ingredients like Neem and Turmeric.”

Team Eighty Two Point Five Communications conceptualised the commercial to highlight and bring alive the product benefit to consumers.

Commenting on the campaign, Naveen Raman, Sr. Vice President & Branch Head, Eighty Two Point Five Communications, said, “We keep the consumer first in our thinking and all our campaigns are looking through their lens. Natural, flawless skin is what every young girl desires. However, given the stressful lifestyle and uncontrollable external conditions in her life, she ends up trying multiple hacks and quick fixes to hide the imperfections of her skin. Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack addresses this problem and provides an effective solution."

Apart from the face wash, there are various other face care products from Himalaya, offering targeted solutions for common skin care concerns. Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack is infused with the natural goodness of Neem and Turmeric that work together to cleanse the skin and remove deep-rooted skin impurities. Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack is available at https://www.himalayawellness.in/.

The face pack is also available on leading e-commerce stores like Nykaa, Amazon, and Flipkart.

Himalaya Purifying Neem Pack: #RevealYourBestSkin

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s second largest car manufacturer, and largest exporter since inception, has announced the Great India Journey of the upcoming SUV under Project: #WhenYouLoveToExplore. In a series of dynamic videos, Hyundai will underline the SUV’s drivability in enduring high latitudes and extreme weather conditions showcasing the character, strengths, and capabilities.

Embarking on its Great India Journey from Hyundai Motor India’s State-of-The-Art Plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, the SUV is being driven across different geographies and weather conditions testing its mettle. The Great India Journey highlights the bespoke aspects of driving a powerful yet sophisticated machine to explore performance, drivability, and comfort - Connecting people and places for a Happy Life.

The Project #WhenYouLoveToExplore is an amalgamation of extensive R&D, Customer Clinics and Marketing Labs focused on chiseling the upcoming SUV to resonate with the dynamic and passionate demands of new millennial and iGeneration. The Great India Journey is conceptualised to make this SUV a convention-shattering product suitable for the diverse Indian condition fulfilling every customer’s needs.

Hyundai | #WhenYouLoveToExplore

Holi is a joyous festival where bright colours are smeared on faces, and both the young and old celebrate with enthusiasm. It is an opportunity for brands to capitalise and create ad films that not only convey wishes to its consumers but also puts forth hard-hitting messages for them to treasure. This Holi 2019, brands have leveraged by capturing the true essence of the festival and tried to spark conversations that will continue long after the festival of colours is over. exchange4media takes you through some of them. 

We are all Kings x Budweiser 
Budweiser launched a digital film that celebrates diversity through the lens of Holi. Showcasing the colourful festival as the ultimate celebration of inclusion that transcends cultures and boundaries. The ad film is set in an urban Indian locale which depicts an energetic Holi celebration. Showcasing a group of people seen happily clad in colour. A sudden downpour of rain slowly unmasks their faces, which reveals to everyone’s surprise that the people celebrating are not the usual suspects but are diverse individuals who have come together to celebrate Holi. 
 
Talking about the insight of this campaign, Kartikeya Sharma, VP Marketing - South Asia, AB InBev opined, “At Budweiser, we have been constantly striving to inspire people to own their lives and be freedom energisers, not only for themselves but also for others. Holi is a global gathering that disregards stereotypical notions and supersedes prejudice with a feeling of absolute togetherness. With this film, we aim to debunk the divide and unite people through the shades of the festival”. 

#RangLaayeSang x Sur Excel 
Surf Excel adds a hue of goodness to the colours of Holi with their new ad campaign created by ad agency Lowe Lintas, Mumbai. The ad film appeals to the festive mood of the country, titled #RangLaayeSang, the campaign intends to stay true to the essence of Holi by sending out a message of bringing people together. Showcasing how colours can be an equalizer in our society. The ad campaign which brings alive Surf Excel's Daag Achhe Hain philosophy is set amidst the Holi celebrations where a young girl chooses to get stained in Holi colours in order to protect her young friend. It ultimately suggests, ‘Agar Kuch achha karne mein daag lag jaaye toh daag achhe hain’. The ad campaign has been integrated across media platforms like TV, outdoor and digital.

Commenting on the ad campaign, Carlos Pereira, Regional Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas, said, "We felt the festival of Holi gave us the opportunity to highlight the true spirit of togetherness. By making colour the medium of oneness, we could seamlessly bring forth the larger thought of Rang Laaye Sang - a sentiment that kids truly believe in.” 
 

#RangDeBluedSe x Blued India 
Uniting colours with love, Blued launched #RangDeBluedSe campaign. The video showcases the essence of the love spread by the festival of colours. Beautifully decorated and filled with colours, Blued is organising a Holi party wherein men are celebrating Holi in the pool area with their loved ones. A guy who is looking for love ends up using the Blued app as it allows him to find his match in a nearby location. His mobile pops up with a new notification and he is excited to find him, he glances everyone at the party. The video ends showing two men finding a perfect match between each other. 

Speaking about the ad campaign, Sanyam Sharma, Marketing Director, Blued India stated, “Showcasing love only for heterosexual is no more a choice, people from LGBTQ community are also looking to have a love in their life. Our focus to launch this campaign during Holi is to showcase that love is bound with diverse and beautiful colours. The gay community or LGBTQ community is represented by rainbow colours and showing the same in Holi will strengthen the community. Blued has always been keen to spread awareness about LGBTQI rights at large and we aim to continue doing so through this video to the community and more importantly educate the masses. It also brings our app USP in the limelight of finding a perfect match in the nearby area. Things are improving but we are happy to always be supportive and allowing people to live freely and celebrate their sexuality”.

#BuraNaManoDiscountHai x Brand Factory

Brand Factory launches its #BuraNaManoDiscountHai campaign, challenges the norm with their Holi special offers. The new campaign, created by Publicis, aims at changing stereotypes and encouraging one to wear new clothes and look their best for Holi by offering heavy discounts on top-notch retail brands. It also banks on social media and how people want to look good on their post. 

Ramakrishnan Hariharan, Head of Creative, Publicis Ambience commented, “At the onset, we knew there would be a barrage of colourful ads during Holi, so we decided to make something that stands out. Much needed in this age of mega-clutter. Also, Holi is revealed only much later in the film, in a thoughtfully crafted suspense narrative, so the audience remains intrigued throughout. It was pure fun working on this one. Grateful to all who made this happen."

In India on September 8, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled out section 377 the archaic Victorian rule that had criminalised homosexuality. Since then brands have made impactful ad campaigns to spread awareness. We witnessed some of these hard-hitting ad films this Valentine’s Day 2019 by brands like Borosil and The Man Company where it was the first year in India where the LGBTQ+ community got to celebrate the day with their partners without any fear. This Holi, the Blued App launched an ad campaign #RangDeBluedSe campaign. The aim of the campaign is to showcase the wave of the joy of the gay community with diverse colours. 

Speaking about the ad campaign, Sanyam Sharma, Marketing Director, Blued India stated, “Showcasing love only for heterosexual is no more a choice, people from LGBTQ community are also looking to have a love in their life. Our focus to launch this campaign during Holi is to showcase that love is bound with diverse and beautiful colours. The gay community or LGBTQ community is represented by rainbow colours and showing the same in Holi will strengthen the community. Blued has always been keen to spread awareness about LGBTQI rights at large and we aim to continue doing so through this video to the community and more importantly educate the masses. It also brings our app USP in the limelight of finding a perfect match in the nearby area. Things are improving but we are happy to always be supportive and allowing people to live freely and celebrate their sexuality.”

Blued India unveiled the ad campaign on YouTube and the Blued app. The aim of the campaign is to showcase the wave of joy of the gay community with diverse colours. The recent verdict of the Supreme Court of India has spread happiness among the LGBTQ+ community. Embarked with a rainbow flag, it is represented as a symbol of peace showing diversity and love.

The short ad film represents the essence of love spread by the festival of colours. It showcased Blued organising a Holi party wherein men are celebrating Holi in the pool area with their loved ones. A guy who is looking for love ends up using the Blued app as it allows him to find his match in a nearby location. His mobile pops up with a new match notification and he is excited to find him. The video ends showing two men finding a perfect match between each other and wishing each other ‘Happy Holi’. The ad film showcases love that every community tends to enjoy and aim. With various colours showing diversity, the ad film also emphasises on the same line- ‘Uniting Colours’. 

The video campaign has been produced by Dancing Shiva Productions and Directed by Amit Khanna (Photography). 

exchange4media chatted with Sharma on the creative vision of the ad campaign #RangDeBluedSe and how they produced the ad film. 

Edited excerpts below:

Brief and Insight 
The concept of the campaign was around Holi, a festival celebrated across the country and how it transpires in the gay community. As the LGBTQIA community is vibrant, we wanted to create a special music video for the community to sing and remember.

Creative Vision of the campaign
Amit Khanna, Director of ‘Still About Section 377’ and I discussed the creative vision of the campaign. The vision is around finding the Mr Right in a group of people playing Holi and how the quest ends with the representation of Holi as a theme of this timid guy who has entered the Holi party by Blued.

Integration of the ad campaign 
We have integrated this music video with a share and win the contest, where users will land to an in-app activity in the app, which they can share among their friends and earn cash prizes.

Consumers nowadays support a brand that takes a social stand on an issue. Do you think a social approach works better than a functional approach? 
Social issues are quite complex, if dealt with sensibility and the right approach, it can create a strong brand presence in the society or it can backfire as well. Understanding the nuances of such issues is a must before you approach such a strategy for the brand building.

The message you wanted the consumers to take away 
The message behind this campaign is the colourful aspect of the LGBTQ+ community which is a perfect match for Holi, a festival of colour which is celebrated among India, regardless of religion, caste, sexuality etc.

Perfetti Van Melle India has entered the tangy (Chatpata) fruit candy segment with the launch of ‘Alpenliebe Chatpata’. The launch of Alpenliebe Chatpata marks yet another innovation by Perfetti Van Melle, the market leader in the Indian confectionary market. Available at Re 1, the new variant has a slurpy chatpata mango shell and liquid filled core leading to a burst of tangy flavour. The new campaign for Alpenliebe Chatpata is being aired across leading TV and digital channels.  

The communication idea for Alpenliebe Chatpata builds on Alpenliebe’s strategy of communicating to the entire family, in line with the brand’s purpose of bringing hearts closer. Light-hearted banter, wit and a ‘chatpata’ twist add moments of laughter to the great Indian family’s everyday moments!

Actor Boman Irani reprises his role as the family patriarch. In this story, he pops an Alpenliebe Chatpata, and then proceeds to nonchalantly pull his son’s leg after the latter tries to take credit for the granddaughter’s good grades. 

Speaking about the new launch, Rajesh Ramakrishnan – Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle India said, “Perfetti Van Melle has always been about innovating in the confectionery category. I am excited that we are entering a large & growing market segment with our power brand Alpenliebe. We believe we have a winning proposition and we are backing it with a powerful 360-degree campaign.”
Speaking about the new product and TVC, Rohit Kapoor - Director Marketing of Perfetti Van Melle India said, “As we celebrate our 25th year in India, we are proud to welcome the newest member, ‘Chatpata’, to the Alpenliebe family. The Alpenliebe Chatpata product and the new communication have received extremely positive reaction so far, and we’re looking forward to a successful addition to our portfolio. The new communication plays up the typical chatt sound, which highlights the consumption ritual associated with tangy flavour and triggers a chatpata spin to the story.”

Commenting on the campaign, Kapil Batra, Creative head, McCann Delhi, said, “The name is Chatpata, the taste is Chatpata. It called for an idea that’s Chatpata too. That’s how ‘Chatpata Khol Chatpata Bol’ was born. To bring this idea alive, the Alpenliebe family is back. And so is the banter between Boman and his son. In sync with the previous Alpenliebe campaigns, this one too has the family sharing a light moment together with Alpenliebe at the centre of it.”

Credits:
Agency: McCann Worldgroup
Creative team: Prasoon Joshi, Kapil Batra, Gourav Verma, Jeet Kalra
Account Management team: Richa Bhatia
PH Credits
Production house - Early Man Film Pvt Ltd
Director - Abhinav Pratiman
EP - Anand Menon
Producer - Amarjeet Phukan
DOP - Tanay Satam
Music Director - Abhishek Arora

Footwear brand Bata has come a long way since its inception. From being the ‘most comfortable’ footwear brand, it's now giving people the best of both worlds in terms of style and comfort. In line with the same philosophy, Bata has now launched its recent campaign for the new 9 to 9 collection which has a complete package, offering both style and comfort.

“Bata’s new ‘9 to 9’ campaign is aimed at India’s young, working women who don't want to compromise on looking chic and stylish yet are practical enough to look at the comfort factor when they buy shoes. In our consumer research, we heard how non-stop comfort from morning to evening was important for them. Our new 9 to 9 collection consisting of Bata Comfit, Naturalizer, Hush Puppies and Bata contemporary styles offers non-stop comfort from 9 am to 9 pm. For all those early morning meetings to post-work dinner dates with friends, Bata’s new collection makes sure no woman has to compromise on style or comfort now,” said Anand Narang, Vice President – Marketing, Bata India, on the launch of the new campaign.

Vineet Mahajan, Head of Art, Contract India, added, “When we started working on Bata, we created the platform of ‘Surprisingly Bata’. The idea was to communicate Bata’s range of stylish merchandise that people were unaware of. This time, Bata wanted to launch a range of comfortable shoes. Now ‘comfort’ is a quality that is already associated with Bata. So, the challenge was to communicate comfort as a benefit within the ‘Surprisingly Bata’ platform. Kriti Sanon, the face of Bata’s women range wanted to solve her friend’s problem and surprised her with the new 9 to 9 collection.The idea of the film was to let people discover the delight of wearing something that’s comfortable and surprisingly stylish too.”

The campaign idea was to take the surprise thought further in this year's TVC where Kriti shows that style and comfort can surprisingly co-exist in the new range of Bata 9 to 9 collection. The campaign touchpoints include digital, website, social, influencers, retail, print, outdoor and Bata’s CRM channels.

Gits Food Products Pvt. Ltd, founded in 1963 a pioneer of convenience food in India, has unveiled their latest ‘Sawal hi nahi banta, yaha banta hai Gits!’ campaign. Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the new TVCs contain two delectable stories centered on their Breakfast and Snack Mixes. 

The TVCs emphasise on the day-to-day problems faced by families and Gits mixes make life stress free. Authentic recipes are one of Gits’s strongest pillars, thus the TVC showcases regional ethnicities to establish this. 

Commenting on unveiling the new TVCs, Sahil Gilani, Director – Sales and Marketing, Gits Food said, “We launched our new packaging and communication tagline – Sawal hi nahi banta, yaha banta hai Gits, during Diwali 2018 with our Dessert Mix TVC. We are carrying forward this communication and tagline to our other two mixes categories – Breakfast and Snacks. The TVCs are very relatable and highlight the humorous frustrations life throws at us, the films will certainly leave a smile on viewers faces!”

Gits Food mixes are available across India in retail outlets, supermarkets and e-commerce platforms. 

Agency credits: Team Lowe Lintas

Van Heusen, the power dressing brand from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. has upped its marketing plan with a host of initiatives to build a strong connect with its consumers. The brand has launched a comprehensive `Carry your World’ campaign featuring India’s leading Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez across 60 cities for two months. The campaign will be featured in multiple mediums such as television, print and online as well. A 40-second video will be launched across digital channels and movie screens and will be supported through diverse print and TV promotions in the coming months.

The commercial symbolically puts the spotlight on the Van Heusen Woman who is an independent and a modern woman, willing to define life on her own unique terms and make her mark on the world. Armed with a sprightly attitude and a fresh perspective, she uses fashion as a means to show her passion. Recently, Van Heusen announced actress Jacqueline Fernandez as the Face of Van Heusen’s handbag segment.
 
Speaking on the campaign Abhay Bahugune, COO, Van Heusen said, “The newest ‘Carry Your World’ campaign celebrates the effortless style that resonates the independent and empowered woman of today. The premise of the campaign seeks to explore the brand’s identity through language and emotion, to shine a spotlight on our newest handbag collection where fashion and functionality meet mobility in every piece. We are proud to associate with Jacqueline Fernandez as she personifies with the brand personality.”
 
Conceptualised by Famous Innovations, the TVC showcases the actress, who embodies the easy spirit, charm and elegance of the Van Heusen Woman. The TVC highlights how the Van Heusen bag remains her constant companion at different settings be it the workplace, at social meetings or for a fun night out. The frame opens with a vivacious Jacqueline donning multiple roles as she juggles many worlds and personas during the day. Her Van Heusen bag therefore compliments her different looks in which she literally carries her world. The shot closes with the actress looking gorgeous and vibrant as she straddles her handbag with enthusiasm, passion and liveliness expressing her free-spirited individuality. The stunning visuals in the video are accompanied by a catchy background score.
 
Commenting on the video launch Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO, Famous Innovations said, “A power figure, a fashion icon and a go-getter, Jacqueline Fernandez perfectly embodies the ethos of Van Heusen Woman. Our brief was to bring alive the functionality of Van Heusen's hero bag, which is designed keeping in mind the modern woman's lifestyle. We started with the insight that the ambitious woman of today is always on the go and the long, dynamic days mean that she needs to be prepared for anything. Therefore, she carries her world with her. We've portrayed the same in the film in a visually interesting manner.”