"We don't have a fruit for a logo," shouts Micromax in a brand new spot

No points for guessing the brand being referenced in the copy.

If Micromax's new ad film were a person, we'd call him loud, audacious and aggressive.

The copy goes:

"Hey! We're paying a lot of money for this. So, you better pay attention. We are Micromax. May be you've heard of us. Now, some of you may have bought our phones. And, some of you may have not. But here's the thing about us. We're not made in California. And we don't have a fruit for a logo."

"You know what we are - one of the top 10 phone makers in the world! We're not exclusive. We're inclusive! We brought phones to every town. And built them to last an entire month on a single charge. We have phones that are bigger than your face and slimmer than your pinky finger."

"We make hardware. We make software. And we make it available everywhere. We've gone all in. We've gone all out. And you know what... We're only just getting started. 'Coz we're nuts. And we've got guts. So prepare for glory."

In this brand new ad film, homegrown handset brand Micromax unveils its new avatar. 'Micromax 3.0' is what the team's calling it. It includes a new logo - "a modernised version of the 'Micromax punch', keeping in mind global design language," as Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer, Micromax Informatics, puts it - and a new tagline, 'Nuts. Guts. Glory'. Previously, the tagline was 'Nothing Like Anything'.

Crafted to appeal to a global TG and take on the global smart devices market, the ad features
white models
who run amuck, championing the brand. The idea is to narrate the brand's journey from being a backend software company to becoming one of the top ten mobile phone makers in the world.

Creativeland Asia has worked on the ad campaign, logo and brand philosophy. Offroad Films is the production company. Shot in South Africa over four days, the film promotes the brand's Canvas 6 series. The crew includes director Mikon Van Gastel and cinematographer Dan Mindel of Star Wars, Star Trek and Mission Impossible III fame.

The campaign attempts to establish an emotional connect with the 15-25 year old from SEC A and looks to build aspirational value for those in the same age group from SEC B and C.

About the new logo Sajan Raj Kurup, founder and creative chairman, Creativeland Asia, says, "The new identity of Micromax is an evolution of the 'fist with the phone' logo." The brief, he says, was to "refine the logo, simplify it, make it more international and design it for the future."

Kurup adds, "We created a modular logo that can be used as a single line, a logo stack and as a crest as well." (see images)

Loud And Clear?

To Saad Khan, vice president, strategic planning, FCB Ulka, the campaign spells out a "classic David versus Goliath story." Ironically enough, it reminds him of
Apple's famous '1984' ad
that announced the launch of the Macintosh. (Psst... it reminds us of
Kurup's 2014 ad for Café Cuba
).

In the opinion of Joono Simon, CEO and chief creative officer, Brave new world, a Bengaluru-based integrated communications agency, it's a "good tactical move to play the "working class hero card against elitism and exclusivity in a market led by giants with huge credentials."

"It is a clarion call to unite all Apple antagonists," he says, adding, "The 'Lead. Don't follow' strategy works well."