Gautham Vasudev Menon brings romance to redBus' new ad series

Executed by Leo Burnett India, the ad campaign features Nirmal Pillai and Samyuktha Vishwanathan.

redBus, the online bus ticketing platform announces the launch of a new ad campaign, highlighting redBus app features which go beyond traditional bus bookings. Directed by one of Kollywood and India’s most celebrated filmmakers, Gautham Vasudev Menon—the man behind the magic of Minnale, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, and Mammootty’s upcoming detective flick Dominic and the Ladies' Purse—the campaign stars comedian and social media creator Nirmal Pillai alongside promising young actress Samyuktha Vishwanathan, known for her roles in Chari 111, Oh Manapenne and the music video Katchi Sera.

This campaign aims to highlight the advanced features that set redBus apart from conventional bus booking services. The festive TV and digital campaign will further reflect redBus’s drive for innovation and customer satisfaction.

Executed by Leo Burnett India, the ad series takes viewers on a journey with a young couple as they make their journey and time together even more seamless, memorable and enjoyable with the help of redBus’s diverse features. The ads highlight how the redBus app’s live tracking, free date changes, and other functionalities offer practical solutions and peace of mind for travelers. The ad has been released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and soon in Hindi.

The ad series features Nirmal Pillai and Samyuktha Vishwanathan as a young couple who use redBus’ features to make their journey more fun and memorable. This is the first in a series of films on this subject.

Film 1: Live Bus Tracking

In this film, viewers are introduced to a scene at a café; Samyuktha hears the bus approaching and expresses concern about missing it. Nirmal reassures her in a romantic gesture, revealing that he has tracked the bus using the redBus app. The ad highlights the live tracking feature, emphasizing how redBus ensures users are always informed and at ease.

Film 2: Ratings & Reviews

The ad opens with Samyuktha waiting by a bus stop with her suitcase. Nirmal eventually joins her and presents a brand-new cushion as a surprise for her. He suggests that while they might not find comfortable seats, this cushion will provide some relief. Samyuktha then reveals that by checking ratings and reviews on the redBus app, they can book a bus with clean and comfortable seats. The ad highlights the ratings and reviews feature of the redBus app.

Film 3: Price Benefit

The film opens at a bustling bus stand with Nirmal playfully massaging Samyuktha's shoulders. Nirmal jokes about the challenge of securing a last-minute discount to which Samyuktha points out that with redBus, discounts for last-minute bookings, new users, early birds, and return trips are readily available.

Creative Credits:

Agency: Leo Burnett

Creative Director: Pravin Sutar

Production House: Happy Unicorn

Director: Gautam Vasudhev Menon

DOP: Farook Basha

Director Gautham Vasudev Menon, said “Travel is an integral part of new-age relationships. Young couples discover a lot about each other when traveling together. That’s what makes the stories feel so real.”

On the occasion of the launch, Pallavi Chopra, CMO, redBus, said, “The ad series is strategically crafted to engage our southern Indian audiences, especially the youth. We see that a large chunk of redBus users are aged 25 years or younger and we want to inform these digital first youngsters that redBus offers multiple features beyond bus booking which can make their travel experience so easy and hassle-free. Also, casting both male and female leads reflects our demographics where women are making up a significant and growing segment of consumer base. Keeping this demographic in mind, we purposefully crafted a very fun and banter-filled script, which also showcased our superior products which differentiate redBus and have helped us become one of the largest players in this sector. This positioning reflected in the campaign tagline - ‘Bus yaane redBus’.”

Pravin Sutar, national creative director, Leo Burnett said of the campaign "The brand’s vision, our story, and GVM's unmatched ability to tell romantic tales have come together to tell a fuzzy, light-hearted, chuckle some journey of a couple and how our brand plays the catalyst in their love story."