Mother Dairy: Milk for the mother

Returning to television screens after a gap of five years, in its new campaign, the dairy brand pays tribute to all mothers and highlights the pivotal role mothers play in the lives of their children through the new positioning, 'Maa jaisa koi nahi'.

In 2007, Mother Dairy's campaign urged all children to drink milk everyday through the message which said, 'The country needs you to grow faster'. Returning to television screens after a gap of five years, the company, in its new campaign, pays tribute to all mothers and draws attention to the pivotal role mothers play in the lives of their children.

Through the new positioning, 'Maa jaisa koi nahi', the dairy brand emphasises how children take their mother's love for granted. The brand reminds kids of what mothers go through just to keep them happy, without ever expecting anything in return. It reiterates that the least the children can do in return is to drink a glass of milk today, so that tomorrow when they grow up they can take care of their mothers.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the television commercial shows a young man returning from college to his home in Kolkata. He calls his mother from the station to tell her that a few of his friends are also coming. To the mother's surprise, 12-15 people, apparently drawn by her great cooking, end up at the table sharing the meal. The TVC ends with a voiceover that says, "Only a mother is fine with all this, so every day we should drink a glass of milk and stay healthy to take care of her when we are grown up."

Amitava Mukherjee, business head, milk division, Mother Dairy, says, "Milk is a core consumption category consumed by all population and income strata. It arrives in a consumer's household each morning. Milk also helps create the strong bond between the mother and the child. All of us can fondly recall the morning glass of milk chase our mums used to have with us while waiting for the school bus. The new positioning is a tribute to motherhood."

"At Mother Dairy, we wanted to celebrate the bond of a mother and child. The new positioning encourages consumers to consume milk so that we can take care of our moms exactly the way they took care of us during our growing years. And, because we are now present outside Delhi as well, we wanted to take this thought across India in the form of a TVC and encourage drinking Mother Dairy milk, which has won the trust of millions of mothers since ages," adds Mukherjee.

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy was also involved with the campaign, apart from the Delhi team of the agency.

Ajay Gahlaut, group creative director, Ogilvy, explains, "While we won the business two-three years back, after a lot of debate, discussions and talks together, we finalised the new positioning. Milk plays a very important role while a child is growing up and it is only a mother who takes care of all the needs of her child. She knows exactly when he needs what. The idea stemmed from a simple thought of how we could thank the mother for her selfless dedication and love to her children, and the answer was simple - by drinking a glass of milk every day, so that we can take care of her after we grow up."

Additionally, print and digital campaigns have been launched by the brand.

Fresh steps

Advertising professionals feel that while the concept is good, in terms of execution, the TVC fails to surprise the consumers.

Arun Sharma, vice-president, strategic planning, Contract Advertising, remarks, "What I like is the sharp targeting of college going youth, the age where milk drinking is often compromised and de-prioritised. That's actually where strategy stops in this TVC. From Mother Dairy, I personally would expect an ad to beat 'Doodh doodh. Piyo glass full doodh'. The story of 'Mother Dairy' through a 'mother's' emotion is expected but one desired a bit more on the storytelling here. What I definitely miss in this ad is, 'Why is this a milk ad?' It could have been any instant food ad (many guests suddenly). Somewhere this answer is not integrated and has got relegated to one closing line, which though is a very good line, trying to explain it."

"The commercial leaves me with a feeling of 'I've seen this somewhere before'. Besides, I don't know if it's just me and Ma films that don't mix well on the freshness scale or that the milk connect was a bit incidental in the end, despite the amazing voiceover. Curiously, when I first saw the young son calling mom, I thought he was playing a cunning prank on her. But that's just the casting or my over active imagination, I guess. I'm sure the original intentions were to make a commercial that will touch a chord in us and make us think of how we should be good and strong, one day, to take care of our mums. But in the final execution, it just came across to me as another mother-son ad with no high point to hold on to," says Ferzad Variyava, executive creative director, Publicis Ambience.