ICICI Prudential's tribute to men

In its latest TV commercial, the insurance brand strings together various caring acts by men for which they rarely get credit.

It is rare to find a woman who doesn't have any complaints against her spouse. However, men do have a caring, tender side to them, which hardly ever comes to their partner's attention. ICICI Prudential has taken notice of this, with its latest campaign celebrating the "family man". The commercial stands apart from its earlier campaigns, which have essentially focused on ICICI Prudential's product features.

Titled 'Bande achhe hai', a colloquial term used to refer to good men, the four-week campaign has been created by Lowe Lintas and Partners. Inspired by real life incidents, the 30-, 60- and 90-second TVC shows everyday simple situations, where men in various stages of family life, perform small, caring acts that are taken for granted. Even the men do these without making a fuss.

For instance, an elderly husband adjusting his seat so that his wife is shaded from the sun or a young husband swapping places with the wife, while walking on the side of the road, in order to protect her from oncoming vehicles. In another situation, a father protects his little daughter, who has left a trail of muddy shoe prints in the principal's office, by making it seem as if he's responsible for the mess.

Manish Dubey, senior vice president and head marketing, ICICI Prudential, says that with the life insurance landscape in India undergoing a change in the last two-three years, there has been a need to reinforce the brand and what it stands for in the mind of the consumer. "The brief for the campaign was simple - celebrating the family man. The concept of protection is very important to the family man, shown through various small acts, but he hardly speaks about it. As a brand, we fully understand this and salute the family man's endeavour by helping him in protecting his family," he states.

The TVC sums it up, 'Jo zimmedari nibhate hai, jataate nahi' ('Those who are responsible don't exhibit it'). The campaign addresses all member of the Indian family in the 30-50-year age group.

Amer Jaleel, national creative director, Lowe Lintas and Partners, says, "These small acts are not chivalry; it's a case of understanding your role and not making a big deal of it. Men will relate to the situation and women will look at men in a new light and love them for it," he says. The creative team had come up with over a hundred such situations out of which a small number were chosen.

The lyrics are by Swanand Kirkere and music has been composed by Shantanu Moitra. The commercial has been directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures. The other mediums used to promote the campaign include radio, cinema halls, hoardings and digital.

Caring tribute?

Rajiv Sharma, national brand planning director, Leo Burnett, feels the key thought expressed in the background music was sensitive, which portrays how men, in spite of all their follies, are good- hearted, responsible creatures. "Unfortunately, only the taxi situation did justice to the insight expressed in the jingle. The rest were mere depictions of men shielding the women in their lives. I thought, it was an emotional opportunity missed; to depict both sides of the typical man," he says. He adds that it also failed to give a sense of what's next. Sharma also believes that ICICI Prudential has changed so many campaigns over the years that it has missed the opportunity to build a larger platform for itself. "Every campaign looks like a one -off idea, and in the larger scheme of things amounts to very little in the consumer's memory bank," he argues.

Swati Bhattacharya, national creative director, JWT India, believes that although the ad was very sweet, it could have been done better. "It seemed crammed with too many situations. But from a viewer's perspective, the creative definitely works," she says. Bhattacharya adds that while it's a feel-good commercial for the male provider, she is not sure that the viewer will be provoked to be insured at the end of the ad.