Bend it like Havells

In a new ad for Havells cables, Lowe has given a simple story a sentimental twist

Electrical equipment manufacturer Havells India is ready with a commercial for its range of cables/wires. The film, created by Lowe, revolves around the fire-proof proposition of the cables, but carries an emotional twist. It will be on air soon.

In an exclusive chat with agencyfaqs!, R Balakrishnan (Balki), chairman and chief creative officer, Lowe India, says, “Although the product is premium, we didn’t want the typical urban, affluent setting for the ad.” To help it break the clutter, Lowe has woven a simple story set in a lower class background – an emotional take that the agency hopes will appeal to all its viewers.

The ad opens on a shot of a poor woman preparing a meal for her two children in an open area on a lonely construction site. She has a small son and a howling baby in a makeshift cradle. The woman flips the chapattis with her bare fingers, burning her hand each time she does so.

Unable to see his mother in pain, the boy gets up and goes to the construction site nearby. He takes out a Havells cable from a box full of them. He bends the cable into the shape of a pair of tongs and gives them to his mother. She examines it and, touched by her son’s gesture, uses the wire tongs to flip the next chapatti. As she offers the food to her child, the voiceover concludes, “Havells. Wires that don’t catch fire.”

The challenge before Lowe was to frame a communication for a premium product in a not-so-premium setting. The idea, says Balki, was to make use of universal cues that would imprint the brand in the consumers’ minds. After all, a son’s instinct to protect his mother is a concept to which most people will relate.

According to Vijay Narayan, vice-president, marketing and communications, Havells India, the ad was inspired by an age old Indian story of a small boy spending the money given to him for treats at a mela to buy a pair of tongs for his grandmother, even though all his friends are busy buying toys for themselves.

This ad is also a shift for Havells from its humorous campaigns earlier in the year for various other electrical products to a more emotional premise. “This adds to its universality,” says Narayan.

The film was produced by Red Ice Films.