100 years, 10 ads: Does Britannia's centennial media burst cut it?

A look at Lowe Lintas' campaign on the occasion.

Last month, Britannia Industries marked 100 years in India. To celebrate the milestone, the company revealed a new brand logo and philosophy illustrating the company's vision to become the 'future of food' - a global, total foods company. Now, as part of the centenary celebrations, the confectionery brand has released a series of ad films to showcase its wide product portfolio which includes Milk Bikis, 50-50, Bourbon, Treat, Cake, Cheese, Good Day, Nutrichoice, Toastea, and Marie Gold to name a few.

The ad campaign, a set of 10 TVCs conceptualised by Lowe Lintas and produced by Radhika Produces Films, cover moments from daily life, celebrating daily wins we all experience and the bonds we share with one another. The new tagline "Sau saal jiyega" captures a series of situations - from two women gossiping at a kitty party over 50-50 to roommates enjoying the last piece of Bourbon and a father cooking while a mother is away; each commercial reaches a specific target audience via Britannia's beloved sub-brands.

The films try talking to different cohorts and the collective effort of the campaign is to establish the universal appeal of the brand portfolio and how it has products that straddle different life stages and demographic constructs. More importantly, the TVCs pay tribute to the love and trust India has bestowed on the brand for so many years.

(Displayed here are the 10 TVCs released as part of the 100th-anniversary celebrations).

Britannia 100 years - Marie Gold

Britannia 100 years – Toastea

Britannia 100 years – Nutrichoice

Britannia 100 years - Good Day

Speaking about the insight on which the campaign is based, Arun Iyer - chairman and chief creative officer, Lowe Lintas, says, "It was all about Britannia's 100-year celebration and in the entire re-branding exercise, one point that came out was - Britannia is all about 'Exciting Goodness'; how it has brought a lot of excitement and goodness into our lives in terms of its entire product portfolio. So, a lot of research was done to arrive at a simple proposition like this."

Britannia 100 years - Cheese

Britannia 100 years – Cake

Britannia 100 years - Treat

Of course, Britannia has never advertised its entire product portfolio in a campaign like this before. However, the brand felt that it's the right moment to showcase the diverse portfolio while stitching it together with one thought - something which is simple, yet connects every person in the country. "The entire concept is based on the thought that when you think of someone/something and if it arrives, the instant reaction you have is that - 'Tu sau saal jiyega' (you are going to live to 100 years). And I think Britannia is one company that truly believes that it wouldn't have come thus far without the good wishes of people/consumers. That's the crux of this campaign," explains Iyer.

Britannia 100 years – Bourbon

Britannia 100 years – 50-50

Britannia 100 years - Milk Bikis

The campaign targets a very diverse TG as it's not about one particular brand. That's because different products reach out to different sets of people. But on the other hand, there is one product which reaches out to multiple sets of people too.

Arun Iyer

Speaking about the challenges in executing a campaign of this magnitude, Iyer says, "The biggest challenge was to keep brand Britannia in mind and, at the same time, ensure that every individual sub-brand's identity stays intact since every brand has its own personality and a whole world to which it belongs. So, keeping a balance between these two worlds was a challenge."

Britannia has already announced that it will launch 50 new products in the next 12 months and enter new and exciting categories including croissants and cream wafers and while enhancing product offerings in existing categories. The company's play in value-added dairy will also receive a boost.

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Britannia is also going to launch a digital film. Conceptualised by JWT, the digital film looks to connect with the consumer audience by way of its power brands - from Good Day and Milk Bikis to Marie Gold. The decision to include a digital film in the 100-year campaign was clear as Britannia looks to keep its brands relevant and approachable to the new, younger Indian consumer. The film is knitted with old-world charm, adding flavours of the present and future while capturing Indian celebrations over the last century. From sharing biscuits in the classroom and cheering for a World Cup win, to connecting in the selfie era and looking 10 years into the future, the film pays a warm homage to the journey so far while optimistically looking forward.

But was it well executed?

Bikram Bindra, vice-president and strategic planning head, GREY group - Delhi, feels that the product integration in the campaign is done effectively and in a manner that reminds us how some of our most-loved Britannia products are always by our side to rescue us from a tough spot.

Bikram Bindra

Harish Bijoor

"Creating content for a heritage brand is always a challenge, but when the brand continues to live in the memory of the public through consistent advertising and an array of well-loved products, age just seems to be a number! More than anything else, this campaign reminds us about the transformative power of food and drink in making ordinary moments so magical and that, for me, is the greatest take away," Bindra says.

However, he does maintain, "I only wish they had a longer edit too; the 20-seconder doesn't do complete justice to the potential of this campaign."

According to Harish Bijoor - brand guru and founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc - the campaign succeeds in conveying the message to the consuming audience of India that Britannia is still a young, alive and kicking one hundred-year-old.

He says, "There are so many creatives, each focusing on a product category and brand. While it does little for the particular brand, it does a lot for the 'corporate-consumer' brand Britannia. It showcases the fact that Britannia has hit a hundred well and widely. To me, this is a 100-year celebration creative that tries to din in the fact well and truly across Britannia's consuming audience."

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Bijoor also adds, "When you have so many creatives and just one basic line and thought, it becomes difficult to sync product integration. To that extent, in some of the creatives, the product integration fits like a glove and in others, it falls off like a loose glove. In some of the options, the product fits snugly while in others it looks force-fitted."

Agency Credits

Account Management:

Hari Krishnan

Sonali Khanna

Smrithi Ramanujam

Prutha Nesargi

Creative:

Arun Iyer

Rimona Ganapathy

Lohith Chengappa

Indrasish Mukherjee

Pradhumn Acholia

Aditya Gouder

Planning:

Subramanyeswar. S

Padmapriya Muralidharan