Ad: The 5 Star campaign where people who eat the bar disappear magically into another realm.
Agency: Ogilvy and Mather India Ltd.
Reviewer:
Meera Sharath Chandra
Meera Sharath Chandra, national creative director,
Mudra Marketing Services and heads up
Tribal DDB India (interactive and new media),
Rapp Collins India (direct response and CRM),
Kidstuff (promotions and events),
Primesite (out-of-home and retail),
Mudra Health and Lifestyle (a specialist vertical), picks the ongoing commercial for 5 Star, the chocolate bar from Cadbury India Ltd.
Spot:
The ongoing 5 Star campaign, where people who eat the bar disappear magically into another realm. (People who eat half, get grossly dismembered and one half of their bodies disappear too!)
Agency:
Ogilvy and Mather India Ltd.
Why I don’t like it:Frankly, my favourite Indian chocolate is the 5 Star. It’s a known fact at work that I can be bribed into almost anything with a 5 Star bar! Which is why I’ve kept a close watch on the campaigns on this brand. Over ever so many attempts at positioning 5 Star, I have felt the disappointment of a loyal consumer.
Every time a new rendition goes on air, I watch in the hope that at least this time the communication will resonate with me. But nope. Sorry. Leaves me cold. Maybe I’m not the target profile. But it still doesn’t explain why the spot should be so ridiculous. Give the viewer a break! This looks like a gag that couldn’t be pulled off. Like a joke that went over everyone’s head. Crudely executed too. It seemed over-thought-through in its attempt to come across as super casual.
How I would have done it:
I would have gone back to the drawing board, not on the creative idea, but on the positioning platform. It’s a product that is established and is surviving on its inherent strengths. How else would we explain the brand’s staying power despite so many changes in communication over the years?
My personal belief is that the emotional connect is not happening because the role of the brand in the target group’s life is not clearly defined. Nor is its differential in the category.
I believe that any creative team will come up with such a flaky idea if this is not nailed down. This amounts to big marketing budgets going down the tube; budgets some other brands would die for.
As creative people, let’s use the money wisely, would be my advice. Plough it back into the thought process and the idea will automatically spring out.
As told to Gouri Shah
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