"We design both, the plates and the communication": Abhijit Avasthi, Sideways, on client Borosil Larah

A look at his agency's funny new ad for Larah, tableware brand from Borosil.

Sideways, the agency started by Abhijit Avasthi, ex-national creative director, Ogilvy India, has come up with a new campaign for Borosil Glass Work's tableware brand Larah. The humorous ad highlights Larah's superior design while positioning it as a mass brand with premium cues.

The ad does so by depicting the predicament of a frugal man who goes out to experience a lavish dinner in a high-end restaurant. As he flips the menu, carefully considering the price of every dish, the smartly dressed waiter arrives to help him with the selection. The man finally orders, rather reluctantly, a dish with a tongue-twisting and fancy name. The waiter leaves saying he'll be back in a jiffy and escapes from the back door into a busy street market.

He returns with the order, which crudely interpreted, turns out to be the popular street food 'samosa and chutney', albeit, on a Larah plate. The man is so impressed with the food or rather, the presentation of it, that he expresses his wish to meet the chef! The ad ends with the tagline 'Larah, Khaane ko Banaaye Khaas' (Larah Makes Meals Special).

The brand's brief to Sideways was to highlight the 'beautiful design', thereby conveying the thought that Larah makes meals special. The ad has been directed by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films.

The Gujarat-based glassware company Borosil Glass Works, which has a bulk of its business in the industrial products division, has lately forayed into the consumer products segment. In order to build its tableware vertical, the company recently bought the brand Larah.

Interestingly, Sideways has also worked on the designs for the tableware brand. The agency partners Borosil across brand strategy, communications, product design, and other services. In fact, in an earlier interaction with afaqs!, Avasthi had defined Sideways as a "creative problem-solving outfit".

"We design both, the plates and the communication for Larah. The work involves combining aesthetics and market trends with the technicalities of production," he says.

The new campaign aims to make Borosil a 'woman's trusted partner in the kitchen'. However, the agency chose to avoid the family setting in order to stand out with its communication. The restaurant setting was used in the ad to bring a premium, fine-dining feel, shares Avasthi.

Commenting on the execution, he adds, "Larah operates in a category that's not top of the mind all the time. Moreover, most ads in this category are very generic and they fail to create excitement among consumers. So, our priority was that whatever we do to convey the 'Khaane ko Banaaye Khaas' proposition, it should create conversations. It should create a buzz. Hence, we decided to say it with humour."

Not touting the product's functional benefits was a calculated move as well. "Purchases in this category are made keeping in mind the aesthetics, so we made sure the ad flaunts the most important feature of the product -- the design," says Avasthi.

Served Well

According to Jagdish Acharya, founder and creative head, Cut The Crap, the ad is a take on the popular notion that five-star-hotel food is all about drama, not substance. Everyday stuff has exotic names and is sourced off a street behind the diner. Nevertheless, customers are delighted, and the brand becomes the hero of an anti-climax.

"The ad cuts through all expected mores of category advertising and lands the brand firmly. Humour in the idea is deep-throated as it comes from an insight and gets delivered with a last frame punch," says Acharya.

He further points out that even as Borosil makes its appearance in the film, its name does not, as there is no branding on the plate. That keeps one guessing until the very end. "The execution does not try hard - it's not goofy or over-the-top. It gives the film a rich look and feel, in tune with the product," he adds.

Acharya thinks that while premium serveware is a high involvement category, there is little to choose in terms of functional features or its user-friendly benefits. "The creative strategy, therefore, is to keep the brand on memory hook. A well-known brand name definitely helps in this case," he notes.

Shobhit Mathur, executive creative director, Hakuhodo India, finds the ad funny and quite unexpected. "The casting is good, and so is the setting. Overall, it works for me, but I am not very sure how strongly will it straddle to the 31st second," he remarks.

Mathur appreciates the ad for not taking the 'unbreakable, unchippable, and dishwasher-friendly' kind of approach. "Let's face it, everyone has that special cutlery for special occasions that needs to look good, right?" he quips.

Differing slightly with Acharya on the category behaviour, Mathur says, "The fact that in today's world everything sells if packaged well is quite interestingly depicted here. Borosil is a brand known to all, and since it's from a very low involvement category, I feel that humour will work well in the recall."