Countdown to Cannes 2012: Grey's Killer entry

Grey's campaigns for Killer Jeans across media channels as well as its intelligent print and outdoor advertising for Fujifilm India keep the creative heads' hopes to win at Cannes 2012 flying high.

They can deny it all they want but pre-Cannes anticipation is making many a creative head feel jumpy, feisty and excitable, all at once. As this year's International Festival of Creativity draws closer, afaqs! speaks to Grey Worldwide and finds out that the creative team has pinned its hopes on its innovative work for Killer Jeans and Fujifilm India.

The agency's works on both these brands have been entered in more than one category. Upping Grey's odds at winning big at Cannes this year, the agency's work for Killer Jeans has been entered in several categories, namely, Press Lions, Outdoor Lions, Promo & Activation Lions, Titanium and Integrated Lions, Design Lions, Film Lions, and Film Craft Lions.

Amit Akali, national creative director, Grey Worldwide, says, "Predicting wins at Cannes is impossible; that's like shutting your eyes and throwing darts. While we're hopeful about all our entries, we're really excited about our work for Killer Jeans."

"It's not work that can be fitted into one media vehicle - it's a bit of a product design idea, partly a media innovation idea and also a 'promo-activation-direct' type of idea," he says, referring to the fact that a variety of different campaigns for a single brand was created and executed across media channels.

In a move to promote Killer Jeans' 'Truly Worn' collection of faded denims, Grey came up with the 'Proof in the Pocket' campaign. Based on the insight that people often forget things inside their jeans pockets, the campaign delighted unsuspecting shoppers by planting
carefully selected collectibles
inside the pockets of the jeans that they tried on. These objects ranged from retro lighters and old Bollywood film premier tickets to autographs of famous cricketers and pocket knives.
A poster campaign
launched across malls and shopping zones supported this effort by invoking curiosity and luring people to the racks bearing Killer Jeans in multi-brand outlets. This effort, that increased the number of footfalls and trials, is Grey's hope in the Promo & Activation category.

The brand also tried appealing to the eco-sensitive sentiments of youngsters by launching its 'Water Saver' jeans line, that is, a variant that saves 100 litres of water per pair at the manufacturing stage. The entire line of jeans was dyed green on the inside such that when users folded them up from the bottom, a green fold appeared instead of the usual blue (denim coloured) one. "Youngsters today love both, supporting causes as well as flaunting their support for causes," explains Malvika Mehra, national creative director, Grey Worldwide, adding that walking around with a symbolic green fold was akin to a live status update on a social networking site.

While this green fold idea is a potential winner in the Titanium and Integrated Lions and a couple of other categories that award such innovations, the same idea was also promoted through a regular television commercial titled 'Riot', which is Grey's hope for a metal in the Film Lions and Film Craft Lions categories.

Though Killer Jeans has presence in the Press Lions category too, it's Grey's print ad campaign for Fujifilm India that the team's hopes are pinned on for a metal in this area. This campaign cleverly plays on the two-faced nature of certain people by showing two face-detection indicators on their faces, when viewed through the Fujifilm lenses. Grey has also sent Outdoor entries for its ads for this brand.