VICCO Vajradanti embraces honesty in its latest campaign

Alia Bhatt makes an honest and upfront confession about the brand, something that is unheard of in the toothpaste category

Vicco Vajradanti has been a dental health brand since almost 70 years. The present toothpaste market is evaluated on the basis of minty taste and crystals. But the hard truth is that the focus needs to shift from these attributes to solving gum problems. So Vicco Vajradanti started an honest conversation that did not shy away from talking about what it lacks - its attributes may not give minty taste and excess foaming, but its concentration is effective in solving gum problems.

Translating this very essence of the brand into the campaign, the brand’s creative agency, The Womb, crafted a no-nonsense set of films that are as honest as the brand. The idea behind the campaign - "Mazedaar Nahi, Asardaar!"

Devesh Pendharkar, director of Vicco Laboratories said: “Vicco is known for its quality products. Consistently we have been delivering good quality products since 7 decades. With changing lifestyles and eating habits we cannot overlook oral hygiene. Also wrong perception about oral hygiene and to some extent wrong expectations from toothpastes have been established because of various reasons. It is a very straightforward message about the product and coming directly from Alia, so we are confident that it will make consumers think while choosing their oral hygiene brand.”

Shrirang Tembhekar, head of marketing, Vicco Laboratories said: “Since the campaign is very straightforward and thought provoking the objective of the campaign is to reach out to the relevant audiences at least once. In the first phase, we will break the campaign on television and all the video platforms. Also we will be leveraging all possible digital mediums that can help us get maximum and incremental reach.”

Excited about the campaign, The Womb said: Sneha Raina, strategy lead:

“The brief was simple - Take Vicco from being a brand that is fondly remembered, to a brand that is actively preferred. Our research with consumers revealed an interesting pattern - People who came into the brand seeking relief from gum issues stayed, whereas people who prioritized sensorials while brushing, dropped out. It was clear that the product was formulated to work, not to please.

And it was this sheer honesty of the product and intent that became the bedrock of our campaign. Through ‘Mazedaar Nahi, Asardaar’ we are openly and honestly admitting this product is not for those who seek the typical pleasurable sensorial of white toothpastes i.e. sweet taste & foamy texture...something they are used to. It is for people who seek relief from gum issues, and for those people it is the best solution out there.”

Akshat Trivedi, Creative Head: “With a legendary brand and one of the finest actors by your side, you have to create something really exciting! Our minds ran in all directions, as did our pens as we got into writing multiple creative pieces/campaigns on the mazedaar nahi asardaar brief.

And then, when we arrived on the ‘look into the eyes and just say the truth’ or rather ‘aakhon mein aankhein daalkar bas sach bolna’ execution style…We intuitively felt we have something very powerful on the table. Now we eagerly await to see how well honesty works, honestly.”

Directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures, the film is now Live across Vicco’s digital platforms.