Onida Devil gives way to new age married couple

Onida announces its new campaign with a married couple as the protagonists; new TVCs to hit air on September 18

Bidding adieu to its decades old mascot – the Onida Devil – MIRC Electronics, promoters of Onida, announced its new campaign. A married couple, Siddharth and Ritu, played by actors Vipul Gupta and Manjari Fadnis, will be seen as the protagonists in the television commercials.

Four TVCs have been created by McCann Erickson for Onida's Black Beauty microwave, Thunder range of LCD and colour TVs, Atom DVD player and front loading washing machine.

Sriram Krishnamurthy, vice-president, sales, service and marketing, Onida says in a press statement, "India today is no longer concerned about 'neighbour's envy', especially when it comes to durables. The new Onida needs to fit into the consumers' lifestyles by understanding their latent needs better and delivering quality products with thoughtfully designed features."

The microwave oven ad has the protagonists, Siddharth and Ritu, hosting a get-together with friends, when Ritu suggests that Siddharth cook for the guests. He cooks the suggested dish in the Onida microwave, with the TVC highlighting the oven's 'one-touch auto cook menu' feature.

In the LCD TV ad, Siddharth is seen re-arranging family pictures on the wall to make way for a home theatre system for the new LCD TV, much to Ritu's dismay. The commercial then shows how, with an Onida LCD TV that comes with a home theatre bar, there is no need to install additional speakers.

The DVD player ad shows Siddharth pulling a fast one on Ritu, telling her that she is on air. Ritu, who excitedly calls up her mother, soon finds out that her husband has just inserted a SD card into the player. The player boasts of a USB port and SD card reader that allows users to play movies and music directly, without having to burn a disc.

In the fourth commercial, the couple is seen playing hosts once again to Siddharth's friends, who soil the pillow covers with food. Ritu then tells her friend how it is her husband's turn to wash. The washing machine features a wider and taller drum.

All the commercials end with the new tagline, Tumko dekha toh yeh design aaya.

Commenting on the new tagline, Krishnamurthy tells afaqs!, "New design has always been a part of Onida's scheme of things. Now, we are putting forward this idea to the consumer with a guarantee that there will be newer designs and ideas around our products."

Prasoon Joshi, regional executive creative director, Asia Pacific, McCann Erickson, says, "A brand has to be very, very relevant to its times. In Onida's case, the Devil was losing relevance in today's times. We are not taking a serious but a tongue-in-cheek and humorous approach in portraying a modern couple's life."

The creative team at McCann Erickson tells afaqs! that while other competing brands are bringing international products to India, the new Onida campaign pushes the idea that Onida is exclusively Indian and its products are developed with the consumer in mind.

The married couple in the commercials show how the gender bias, when it comes to household chores, is being blurred and both husband and wife share the work, while appliances become a part of their lives instead of just lying around.

The team behind the creative campaign consists of Joshi, PK Anil (creative director), Aman Mannan (creative director), Kapil Tammal (creative director, art), Prasad Venkatraman (copy head) and art directors Swati Goel, Manasi Sanke and Pramod Chauhan.

Satbir Singh, chief creative officer, Euro RSCG tells afaqs!, "One look at the cash and one can figure out that the attempt is to look younger."

He adds, "I am a tad disappointed that it is not better. It could have been for LG or Samsung as well. The biggest reason they will be watched and talked-about is because of the Devil's replacement – curiosity."

Like many others, he, too, has his take on the Devil being the corporate identity for Onida, referring to it as "one of Indian advertising's icons". However, he is quick to add that the Devil may not resonate much with the young population as they may have missed its early evolution.