Micromax: It's all about girl power

The new campaign from Micromax, which highlights the in-built voice feature of the new handset A50 Ninja, shows how a man falls in love with it and starts treating it like a living being, especially as his personal assistant or best friend.

Every man dreams of a companion who is ready to do anything and everything for him, at times even act as a girl friend or a secretary. Micromax turned this wish into reality with the launch of its new handset, the A50 Ninja, which has an in-built artificial intelligence speech handset assistant, also known as 'Aisha', with the voice of a girl.

Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas & Partners,
the television commercial (TVC)
, titled 'With Aisha', shows a young man discussing various feelings and problems about his life with a girl, under various circumstances. Interestingly, the girl seems to have an answer to all his problems. At the end, it is revealed that the 'girl' is actually the handset and is called 'Aisha'.

Speaking about the idea, Pratik Seal, head, marketing, Micromax Informatics, says, "The entire idea was to promote the fact that the phone has an in-built artificial intelligence speech handset assistant. With the campaign, we show that a person is so much in love with the handset that he starts thinking it to be a living being - his personal secretary or his best friend."

Amer Jaleel, national creative director, Lowe Lintas & Partners, explains, "Interestingly, here is a handset that talks back to you, and that too in the voice of a girl. So we thought of stretching everyone's imagination by adding a cheeky twist to it. We turned 'Aisha' into a girl who will help solve issues under any situation. The TVC is a bold experiment."

The TVC is currently being aired on various channels.

A good friend?

Industry professionals feel that while the concept of the TVC is good and it starts interestingly, towards the end it loses its grip.

Sambit Mohanty, executive creative director, Bates, remarks, "The TVC is sexy and edgy, and leaves you panting for more. By these parameters, I feel that the ad will appeal to a young, restless mobile audience that's always on the lookout for a 'sets-me-apart' feature. That said, the ad took a few viewings to get the message across. However, I think that the voice-application plug at the end could have been stronger."

Divyapratap Mehta, vice-president, planning, Grey, says, "The execution is definitely attention-grabbing. The parallel of a fantasy girl and connecting it to a voice command in your phone is a surprising end. They could have pushed the fantasy girl idea for Aisha a bit further to make it more interesting. Also, they could have linked the fantasy girl to real things the voice command could do for you. A little better integration with product applications or more weight on the phone would ensure stronger product connect."

"My only concern with the current execution is that people may remember the saucy conversation and may not register the phone or the brand," he adds.