Nivea teases you into watching this YouTube pre-roll ad...

The brand weaves the 'Skip Ad' button into the copy of its newly released digital film that's been appearing as a skippable YouTube pre-roll ad.

The recent Nivea Aloe Hydration Body Lotion ad, launched in the last leg of March and starring Anushka Sharma, rolls open on a rather predictable note with the Bollywood star talking about how the lotion hydrates your skin. However, things quickly take a detour from the mundane format when the actress says quite candidly, "Okay, you can skip the ad. I'm done. No, seriously, I'm done."

Nivea's latest Aloe Hydration Body Lotion campaign featuring Anushka Sharma

The conceptualisation of this digital ad campaign, sprinkled with a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek humour, has been executed by FCB Interface.

Anushka goes on, repeating the script in French all while still requesting the viewer to skip and as it continues, she proceeds to fill the space by singing about the product, articulating it the 'Bollywood 'way and finally, uses subtitles. Even Anushka seems bemused; "Khallas, Finito," she says, in a deliberate attempt to bring closure. She even tries to remind viewers that they actually came to watch a video, but are, instead, still watching the ad that could have been skipped. Conclusively, Anushka chooses to walk away, since according to the dialogue, the viewers (who reached this part of the video) didn't seem to want to.

Nivea Body Deodorizer ad released last year

Interestingly, Nivea released its Body Deodorizer campaign in June 2017 where that digital campaign also plays on the eccentricities of digital content and its consumption habits - the bona fide impulse of the viewer, in particular, to skip a film within the initial five seconds. The ad depicts Anushka, Nivea's brand ambassador for years, all geared up to talk about the product and its benefits, but before she can finish the script about its 'unique deodorizing formula' or talk about its three variants, the director calls it a wrap.

Although the new ad seems quite interesting, as more often than not, campaigns in this segment feel quite preachy and follow the usual scripted pattern, Nivea is not the first one to play around with the whole "skip the ad" concept.

Incidentally, the video also features an embedded purchase link during its run, allowing viewers to buy the lotion online, should they choose to.

For the record, the skincare brand has recently announced Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu as its new face for its shower gel category.

Experts Speak

Gerard Jayaranjan, national creative director, Social Kinnect, doesn't think the ad is effective enough to serve the purpose, "... not really. I don't think what they are saying is anything new. We have seen 'hydrating the skin in summer' ads before; this one is part of the clutter. Nothing stands out."

Gerard Jayaranjan

Bikram Bindra

And, will it help the sales grow? Will the consumer purchase the new product from the brand via an e-commerce platform? Jayaranjan answers, "Well, brand loyalists will go for it. And since it's the first time Nivea has an Aloe Vera body lotion, the loyalists will surely try it out. But honestly, I don't see fence-sitters or new converts appearing purely through this communication. As mentioned earlier, there is nothing new being said here or any good reason for anyone to switch, apart from Sharma, of course."

Bikram Bindra, vice-president and strategic planning head - Delhi, Grey Group, thinks the ad is certainly very single-minded. "It is a classic example of a problem definition and resolution through a strong ingredient story in the product. Having said that, I find it a bit unimaginative. Could it have highlighted the problem a bit more? Could it have played around with the ingredient story a bit more? Certainly! It isn't entertaining - there is some novelty in the skippable ad format, but this is heavily inspired from the work that has been done by a well-known international brand and consumers who know, will see the similarities.

"Though this isn't something particularly entertaining, the extreme angularity of the communication could help sales grow," opines Bindra. "There is certainly an effort to build an immediate connect to the condition with the brand - which has a certain stickiness to it. Purchase from e-commerce is a function of several things - for existing consumers of the brand, a purchase online might be a more linear move; for new recruits, there might need to be a greater sensorial play, which can happen only in the real world," he signs off.