Brooke Bond Red Label tells a father-son tale with a twist in its recent campaign...

A look at the recent campaign by the tea brand.

Kumbh Mela is known for crores of people coming together to take a bath in the holy river Ganga. Yet, every Kumbh thousands of old people are abandoned by their family. Red Label tea in association with “The Logical Indian”, an independent and public-spirited digital media platform tried to bring about some change to this mindset of people.

Propelled by a film on digital media on The Logical Indian’s social handles of Facebook, YouTube and twitter, the film depicts the social issue of abandonment of the elderly and ends the story in a high and in hope."

Ajay Mehta

Ajay Mehta, Vice President, Content+, Mindshare Fulcrum ,(a unit of Mindshare India, the agency behind the creative) informs,"The film was playing in screens at the Kumbh and it was also served on Kumbh app on Jio phone users visiting Kumbh."

Interestingly, Amar Ujala Foundation and the Allahabad Kumbh authority joined hands with Brooke Bond Red Label to give out identity cards to senior citizens at the Kumbh that had the name and address of the next of kin of the elderly. "The addresses shared were validated with government approved Identity cards. There was a special thrust on mentioning addresses since you can change your phone number but not the place you stay in. The free wifi download also integrated playing the film before each log in," shares Mehta.

In a massive crowd/gathering like the Kumbh mela, visitors often get separated from companions and this seems to be the insight that the brand has drawn inspiration from. If brand sources are to be believed, the brand spoke directly to people in UP, Allahabad and the people at Kumbh, through various initiatives and thereby, took a step forward to walk the talk of the brand's insight of making the world more inclusive. However, the issue of neglecting the elderly is the overarching thought that the film captures, with Kumbh as one of the backdrops.

Karthik Srinivasan

Communications consultant Karthik Srinivasan has been following Red Label's films based on 'Swad Apnepan Ka', for quite some time. He believes that most of the films hit the mark confidently, some, like the Ganesha one from mid-2018, seem laboured, but he finds this one a good attempt.

Interestingly, when we think of 'getting lost', the conventional thought is around children who get lost in Kumbh, since they are the ones assumed to be easily distracted.

Srinivasan shares, "The Red Label spot inverses that thinking beautifully and also, the relationship of that assumption - that is, this does feature a father and a son, but the ages are not what one usually thinks about when it comes to getting lost."

The way the film addresses human depravity, albeit for a few fleeting seconds before good sense prevails with the son, is nicely juxtaposed with the teeming crowds at Kumbh. Srinivasan does feel the product connect was a bit forced in the end, but even that squares off nicely with the father completely trusting the son and confidently ordering two cups. "It's a minor product connect nevertheless, but heart-warming too, like most of the other Swad Apnepan Ka scripts," he adds.

He explains, "The brand talks about a data-point in the end, about aged parents being left behind in Kumbh, which gives a different twist to the 'getting lost in Kumbh' theme". The "being lost" theme here, is done intentionally and not accidentally, that's the twist that Srinivasan feels makes the film interesting,

Tarun Singh Chauhan

Tarun Singh Chauhan, brand consultant from TSC consulting, has quite a different take as he is of the opinion that the character of the product and the film has to have some direct links.

Drawing a legitimate comparison with Tata Tea's 2008 released iconic 'Jaago Re' campaign, he elaborates, "Every time you do a piece of advertising, especially in the tea category,Jaaago re, for instance, it is pretty clearly linked to some attribute of the product. Tea is all about trust and transparency. If your whole brand philosophy is about building social awareness, then that should be part of your brand DNA. Brooke Bond is not a brand that stands for that," he adds.

Most of the Kumbh ads tend to tell a story that is linked back to the product; sometimes early, sometimes later in the story. Establishing the connect is a part that the brand just can't skip, is what Chauhan feels. ".... unless it's an ad made for the digital platform, only to win awards," he quips.

ALSO READ: "Our categories and the media habits of our TG make us a 'TV first' brand": HUL's Shiva Krishnamurthy