Samsung furthers #SapneHueBade campaign with new long-format video

Crafted by Cheil, the three-and-a-half-minute-long video promotes Samsung's Technical School, a CSR Initiative for the girl child.

Remember Samsung's last ad film that went with the hash tag, '#SamsungCares'? The ad which was released in December 2016 underscored Samsung's after-sale services by narrating the story of blind children who were yearning to hear their friend sing on TV. Cut to May 2017, Samsung has launched another ad film that makes a case for education of the girl child.

The ad film which is over three minutes long, is titled, 'We care for the girl child' and is a part of Samsung's CSR initiative. The initiative provides specialised classroom and on-the-job training at Samsung's Technical Schools and Service Centres respectively.
As per Samsung's website
, the multinational conglomerate has twenty technical schools across India, of which ten are in joint collaboration between Samsung India and the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. The other ten schools are at ITIs in partnership with the State Governments of Delhi, Bihar, Kerala, Rajasthan and Bengal. This initiative claims to be a contribution to the Indian government's 'Skill India' project.

The new ad is a part of the '#SapneHueBade' campaign. The film that has been crafted and conceptualised by Cheil Worldwide, portrays the life of a girl who fights negative gender stereotyping to fulfil her dream of pursuing higher studies at a Samsung Technical School. From the disappointment at the child's birth owing to her gender to accepting her like a 'beta', to finally standing up for his daughter's rights and acknowledging her as his 'pyari beti', the ad captures several moments of the father-daughter relationship spanning across many years. During the ad film, Samsung products make a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance.

The film is a dramatised representation of Rajasthan's Seema Nagar who despite facing bias from her relatives, managed to complete her education and now works at 'The Engineers', a Samsung Service Centre in Jaipur. Last year, Nagar was felicitated by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, for being a role model to several young Indian girls.

The ad film which was released this year by Samsung's YouTube channel on May 29, has managed to garner over 14 million views over a span of three days.

Hit or Miss?

The ad film brings back the focus to the need for girl child education. But was this topic ever out of focus? We asked the experts to share their thoughts on the new ad.

Sunila Karir, founder and creative partner, Boing!, a Mumbai based creative agency, tells afaqs!, "In the current ad, the back story is an overused formula. We have gone beyond 'we care for the girl child' long ago. Also, I didn't understand how the brand fits in here. It's not like they have set up a school or a programme/scholarship exclusively for girls. I didn't exactly get how 'Samsung cares for the dreams of girls in India', since even in the ad, the institute is filled with all boys and one girl."

Not too impressed by the idea, Karir adds, "The script fails to explain why the father suddenly changed his outlook. As a result, the message, while supposedly noble and timely (beti padhao, beti bachao), seems like a last minute thought and force fed. By staying true to the script, the director and production house could only put together a good looking but content deficient film."

Speaking about brand communication, Karir couldn't resist praising Samsung's previous (#SamsungCares) ad film. She says, "... the earlier ad spoke about the reach of the service and the extent to which the brand Samsung is willing to go for its customer. The communication was bang on!"

The ad boasts an endearing soundtrack, 'Jugni Ve' which has soothing tunes of the 'Sarangi' instrument. Execution plays a critical role when crafting communication around an often-repeated theme such as this one. We got in touch with Rahul V. Sirsikar, associate creative director, World Wide Open, a Mumbai based digital agency from the stable of Reliance Entertainment, to get his take on the new ad film.

He says, "It's actually a well-directed film and the music portrays the different emotions beautifully. I especially loved the final dialogue where the father recognises the girl by her own identity rather than comparing her with a boy. That being said, the storytelling is too linear. It lacks the surprise element of the previous Samsung film that featured a blind customer or the Vicks film. It doesn't make me watch the film again or share it with my friends and colleagues on social media, which I believe a film like this should do."

Agreeing with Karir, Sirsikar feels that the idea is overdone. He explains, "It's a relevant initiative taken by the brand and is a need of the day, especially in rural parts of India. But I'm not sure if it will really work for the brand because every third brand today is speaking about 'Women Empowerment and Gender Equality'. The space is already too cluttered and I'm afraid it will end up becoming yet another brand film in the area."

With inputs from Suraj Ramnath

AGENCY CREDITS

Creative Agency - Cheil SW Asia

Chief Creative Officer - Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar

Copywriter & Executive Creative Director - Tarvinderjit Singh

Production House - Good Morning Films

Director - Shashank Chaturvedi

Singers - Wadali Brothers