What's up with brands and Jugaad?

After Sulekha and Exide Life, Hamdard Joshina creates an ad film hinged on Jugaad. Except, they're calling it 'Samadhaan'.

Samadhaan or Jugaad? It sounds different, but if the solution is temporary or short-termed, then the meaning for both terms remains the same. Based on the concept of short-term or easy solutions, Hamdard has launched its new campaign for its natural herbal cough syrup Joshina.

In this ad, conceptualised by Rediffusion Y&R, the character #SrimaanSamadhaan, tries various shortcuts or jugaad/samadhaan -- take your pick -- and comes up with funny solutions for his day-to-day problems. When it comes to his cough, he tries allopathic medicines which don't agree with his health and finally consumes Joshina which helps him recuperate and remain healthy for longer periods.

The digital agency for Hamdard Joshina is Sterco Digitex and the target audience for the brand is 15+ AB Male and Female.

Speaking about how samadhaan is different from jugaad here, Nilotpal Singh, brand manager, Hamdard India, says, "In this case, it is nothing to do with Jugaad. The story is that the character Mr Samadhaan finds all kinds of funny samadhaan or solution, for different problems in his day-to-day life. It has nothing to do with jugaad. Jugaad has a different Connotation. Jugaad and samadhaan have two different meanings. Jugaad means to find temporary solutions to problems. His solutions are not temporary, but funny."

Talking further about the brief shared with the agency, Singh says, "If you look into the category, it is not only Joshina, but other products as well, which have natural herbal solutions. Differentiation in this category sometimes becomes difficult. The brief was very short and crisp -- to take allopathy head-on against natural solutions with Hamdard Joshina."

Speaking further about the humour content in the ad, he says, "The last campaign for Roghan Badam Shirin was very humorous. It's just the approach to how you want to build them. When it comes to the approach for various brands, we are innovating ourselves and finding new ways to convey that story in more engaging ways which connect better with the audience."

Interestingly, a few weeks ago,
Sulekha.com came up with the #Antijugaad campaign
. Sulekha offers more than 800 local services which include home care, computer training, serviced apartments, party catering, baby-sitting, yoga lessons, and auto repair.

The TVC created by Ogilvy & Mather, features television actor Nitin Ratnaparkhi as #Jugaadu. In the video, he is seen providing a quick fix for various domestic crises, with hilarious outcomes. The ad urges audiences to "Go Anti-Jugaad", and finds professional help using the Sulekha app for every home or local service need, however small it might seem.

On similar lines along with Sulekha,
Exide Life Insurance launched a campaign
titled #NoMoreShortcuts, created by Autumn Worldwide. The video campaign features a male protagonist called #Jugaadulal who uses numerous tricks and shortcuts to solve problems in his day-to-day life. The tale, which is quite humorous, takes the audience through Jugaadulal's experience of using shortcuts, the failures he encounters as a result of it and his final realisation that shortcuts aren't the best solution and cannot win over long-term planning.