Ford's new ads bring back a touch of 'family wali feeling' campaign

The new ads by GTB portray people going the metaphorical 'extra mile' for the people they care about.

Many people have been undergoing varying levels of isolation since the Coronavirus pandemic began spreading. Some stayed alone, some quarantined with their spouses and others with their extended family. The common factor among all these is the fact that people found ways to stay connected with their loved ones, pandemic or not.

This is the theme of GTB's new ads for Ford India. In the first ad film, we see a mother drive across a state to her daughter's home to take care of her, while she is injured (accompanied by enough food to eat obviously.)

The second film celebrates friendship - narrating the story of two friends who haven't met in a while. In this context, the car acts as an ice-breaker, helping them reconnect.

Talking about the campaign, Ford India's general manager Kaushik Prasad says that the company wanted to build on the sense of optimism that consumers tend to have during the festive season.

"We wanted to use the idea of 'shubharambh' as a theme in our ads. Hence the messaging in the friends ad. The lockdown theme of people spending time apart is what we took on, in the first ad," he says.

He explains that in the mother's case, the new beginning is her driving alone on the highway to meet her daughter. In the friends ad, the new beginning is reconciliation - the chance to reconnect and overcome past differences. Prasad also mentioned that the company wanted to take the 'family wali feeling' tagline forward.

As India attempts to unlock, Prasad talks about the need to reach out to the consumers across mediums. He says that the attempt is to reach consumers where they're spending more time. "We used to spend every Re 1 out of Rs 3 on the digital medium, and that hasn't changed."

He agrees that consumption patterns have changed during COVID-induced lockdowns and claims to want to wait and watch how consumers react to the new ads. Apart from this ad, Ford has been advertising for its 'Flair' model and its service offering, including pick up and drop of the car.