MUMBAI: The newly released video from Airtel titled Udaan is sure to take one down memory lane to childhood days which were full of ideas, however fantastic they were.
Created by J. Walter Thompson the three minute video featuring bestselling author Amish Tripathi plays on the ‘dreams come true’ theme, where these children bring their stories to the people through an unexpected platform.
Through the five kids -- Nisha, Arya, Anshu, Anjali and Eklvaya -- one is reminded how easy it is to be honest with our ideas without any fear of judgement. The viewers are won over by their innocent yet powerful imagination, which creates ample impact when we realise that these stories would have remained untold and the kids have would grow up eventually, shunning their unbashful creativity.
That is when Amish Tripathi came into the picture and urged the kids to finish a story with him, a story that was eventually showcased at the Jaipur Literature Festival, where the kids took to stage in front of a hall full of audience. The effectiveness of the ad comes to light as we find out that the kids never really met Amish Tripathi in person, and their presence at the literature festival was through 3D imaging and hologram, possible through Airtel’s strong connection. While the association with Jaipur Lit Fest came from Airtel, it was JWT Delhi team’s vice president and executive planning director Shujoy Dutta who conceptualised the ‘entire scheme of getting a writer to inspire the kids to write.’
When asked what the mandate from the client was, J. Walter Thompson Delhi managing partner and head Sanjeev Bharagava said, “The mandate really was what kind of presence that the brand should have at the Jaipur Literature Festival, so we had to devise something that could be associated with it and also create a positive awareness for the brand.”
Carried out through phases spanning across six weeks, JWT’s rural team scouted around gramin (rural) areas at several less privileged schools to identify these five bright minds.
“It was difficult because we required a different expertise to put everything together as wonderfully. There was an outreach team that worked rurally, there was a strategic team that thought of the idea, there was a digital team that carried out the campaign online -- four different disciplines that were really involved to bring this idea live. That we carry it out seamlessly was the real challenge,” Bhargava shared.
Justifying why Amish Tripathi was the best person to connect with the kids as well as be the spokesperson for the brand Bhargava said, “I feel Amish is a kind of author who has depth in his writing. We didn't want to go the populist way and chose just any bestselling author, we wanted someone who would resonate with the core thought of the campaign.”
With six weeks’ worth of content that culminated in the ultimate showcase of experiential marketing when the kids came alive through holographs that were powered by Airtel, the tough nut to crack was the content code for the video. The crux of the effort is the digital proliferation which the campaign brings to the fore cleverly and masterfully.
