"Dreams don't judge": Elizabeth Venkataraman, Kotak Mahindra Bank

In 2018, Kotak Mahindra Bank made a statement on inclusivity and equality in their ad campaign 811 #IndiaInvited.

Flash forward a year and a few months, the brand has unveiled a sequel ad campaign — #DreamsInvited, a 60-second film that commends people who dare to chase their dreams. The campaign positions the brand's 811 — digital banking— service, as a source of financial support for all dreamers.

Crafted by Cartwheel Creative Consultancy, the ad film presents a guest house setting featuring Ranveer Singh as the hotel manager. Singh delivers a monologue, much like he did in the prequel — this time in a Parsi accent.

Elizabeth Venkataraman, senior executive vice-president and marketing head, Kotak Mahindra Bank spoke to afaqs! about the latest campaign.

She says, “The new campaign revolves around the dreams of a billion Indians, who are making a mark in diverse areas globally, be it education, technology, arts, sports, etc. The central idea of the campaign is that dreams don’t judge the dreamer, no matter how big, small, crazy or unreasonable the dream is.”

Venkataraman adds, "The last campaign established 811 as a banking app that does not judge based on gender, salary, religion, caste, disabilities, etc. since it is a digital bank account. This campaign extends that thought to the world of dreams. Kotak plays a part in fueling those dreams (by helping you save, invest, pay, and borrow) with the open to all 811 account... as your Khwaabon Ka Khaata.”

Answering the question about the TG, she says, “The ad shows how people from small towns come to metro cities to pursue their dreams. For e.g. when we say 'gaon ka pehla MBA'.”

Kotak, she reminds us, has a physical network spanning 1,512 branches and 2,429 ATM's across India.

"With the exponential growth in digital consumption and proliferation of OTT content, we believe that a product such as 811 deserves a digitally skewed approach. We have started the campaign with a high-impact digital presence, which would give us the initial thrust and impact," Venkataraman says, "Post launch we will sustain the impact with presence on YouTube, Facebook, Hotstar and other high-reach OTT platforms." The ad will be played across 300-400 PVR cinema screens in eight metros, in multiple languages.

Ramki of Cartwheel, tells us the Guest House idea was inspired by an actual lodge in Bandra, Mumbai, where many a struggling film stars stayed. "... the guest house was actually designed after studying many boarding houses. A Parsi owner seemed an appropriate and credible choice. It also gave Ranveer the scope to flex his histrionic chops," he says, going on about the distinct ethnicity of each character in the film, "... we felt that the idea of India would get lost if the characters of the story were generalised or homogenised. The Bengali musician, the boxer from North East, the small town MBA, and of course P.T. Usha herself come alive only when their ethnicity is apparent.”

The ad film appears to be taken in one shot, like its prequel. "Doing a complex 60 second film in one take was a herculean challenge. Rajesh Saathi, the director, and his team, designed and constructed the entire set to make this possible. This required special rigs, skillful steadycam work, and clever set design…"

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Ricardo Vaz, associate creative director, Enormous, who loved the prequel (railway station film), says about the present film, "... it has its merits — loved that they showed the ballet boys, and the dialogue for the most part was funny. But the setting felt unfamiliar to me, and not as apt as the first ad. Also, because Ranveer has done his fair share of MMT ads, this seems like one of them. However, the benefit of using a celebrity like Ranveer is that he doesn't feel like one. He feels like that friend who is a little extra. Also, to be honest, a non-actor wouldn't be able to pull off the India-in-one-take ad, which has become the campaign's signature. The only grouse for me with Ranveer was the caricature vibe, which I feel belongs to MMT now."

Parikshit Vivekanand, creative lead, FoxyMoron, feels the train station ad about non-discrimination was good because a station is “probably the aptest location where you will come across people from all walks of life.” About the guest house ad, he adds, "... it has a significant number of references that shed light on the struggles of dreamers, which is quite useful as it resonates with the masses. Cinematically speaking, it's textbook 'Birdman', which in my opinion is a great treatment for the film's narrative... it's a well-shot film, but loses some points when it comes to brand messaging. The final product, however, indulged a little too much in the execution and less on delivery of the thought.”

Snehasis Bose, executive director – planning, L&K Saatchi and Saatchi, thinks the cast, characters, and plot points are designed to target, “a young 21-ish demographic.” Appreciating the entertainment value brought in by the one-shot treatment and PT Usha's surprise entry at the end, he cautions, “I doubt if it will increase relevance for the not-so-young adults. It will move the needle on awareness for other demographics, but unlikely that it will impact consideration, let alone trial.”

Though he appreciates the way Ranveer's presence and energy makes the idea of banking more easy, approachable and casual for the TG, Bose, like Vaz, points out, "The only flashback I had while seeing the ad was from his character in the Make My Trip work..."

For a campaign like this one, wouldn't a real life entrepreneur work better than a Bollywood star, we wondered. Bose answers, “Choosing a real life start up entrepreneur means the ad (from an execution perspective) will need a plot point, super voice over to establish who the person is and what he does. And hope that in combination with him, the story and the treatment will be able to break clutter... With a big celebrity, the breaking clutter part becomes relatively easier. Then the story and the product promise need to work in tandem for maximum bang for buck. With today’s 20 second average commercial duration and narrow audience attention spans, the faster you can get your hooks into his/her mind the better it is."

Some examples he cites in this regard are Aamir and Coke, Shah Rukh and Santro, Akshay and Kajaria, and Amitabh and Cadbury.