Bajaj V takes 'Invincible Indians' idea forward

A look at the brand's new 'Postcards of Pride' film that pays homage to soldiers on Martyrs' Day.

Do you remember the famous ad campaign released by Bajaj Auto on the Republic Day in 2016? Leo Burnett had created a minute-long ad film for Bajaj V, the motorbike that is built by using a partial amount of scrap metal from the decommissioned INS Vikrant warship.

Bajaj V's first ad that was released on Republic Day in 2016

In the second leg of the campaign, Bajaj V launched 'Invincible Indians: Stories that invoke pride every day' with an aim to uncover the stories of ordinary Indians who, by their sheer determination, perform extraordinary acts to serve society. Five digital films - 'Didi', 'The Iceman', 'Aagun Pakhi', 'Medicine Baba' and 'Ambulance Dada' - conceptualised and created by Leo Burnett, India, were released as part of the initiative. The films portrayed five 'Invincible Indian' awardees - Vijaylaxmi Sharma (who is leading a movement to eradicate child marriages in the villages of Rajasthan), Chewang Norphel (who created 15 artificial glaciers in Ladakh to solve the perennial water crisis and was also awarded the Padmashree in 2015), Bipin Ganatra (a man who rescued people from more than 100 fires in Kolkata and has been recognised as a volunteer fire-fighter by the Kolkata Fire Department), Omkar Nath Sharma (who travels across Delhi and NCR to collect medicines from people who no longer need them and distributes them to clinics and hospitals who serve the poor) and Karimul Haque (who converted his bike into an ambulance and offers a 24x7 ambulance service, free of cost.)

Invincible Indians - Postcards Of Pride

Now, the auto major has released its 'Postcards of Pride' film under the Invincible Indians series. Through this film the brand urges all Indians to spare a moment to remember over 22,000 brave Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in military actions since 1947 and display their respect through a small gesture of lighting a candle outside their home at 8.00 pm on Martyrs' Day, observed on March 23.

The film, 'Postcards of Pride', has been produced by the Publicis Groupe's in-house production division i.e. Prodigious. It captures the story of Jitendra Singh Gurjar, a Surat-based security guard, who has been writing postcards to martyrs' families for the past 19 years. So far, Jitendra has written letters to 4000 families. Through the film, Bajaj V attempts to convey a message to the citizens of India to come together on Martyrs' day to pay tribute to our fallen heroes.

Sumeet Narang

"We feel that like 'Medicine Baba', 'Ambulance dada' and others, Jitender Singh Gurjar is also a true Invincible Indian and hope that his story will inspire millions of Indians to do their bit to pay tribute to our Martyrs," says Sumeet Narang, vice-president, marketing (Motorcycles) at Bajaj Auto.

We asked Narang that once a campaign becomes a hit, how the brand decides the frequency of the creative rendition of it.

"We always try and go for campaign ideas that are deeply connected with the brand and customer insights. When we get that right, freshness does not become an issue. Stories of solidarity and pride have been relevant in our country for thousands of years. We look for topicality in our executions and not communication strategies," says Narang.

But finding/ identifying these unsung heroes is an uphill task and a very rigorous process as it's not something that can be googled. Hence, while some stories are crowdsourced, most are found through very tedious desk research that the brand and agency conduct.

"After generating a shortlist, we prune it further by evaluating stories on their uniqueness, impact on beneficiaries and ability to inspire others. We then contact the nominees to get a first-hand idea of the kind of work they are doing. We are very proud of the fact that two of our 'Invincible Indians' went on to be recognised through the Padmashri Awards. It's a great testimony to their work and our search process," informs Narang.

The brand has released over 10 films in the past 15 months and some have gone viral all across the globe. "Having launched the platform, we now develop a new film if either an extremely compelling story comes along or there is an occasion that demands national pride to be invoked," says Narang.

Credits

Bajaj Auto Team

Dy. General Manager, Marketing - Soumya Das

Manager Marketing- Ashish Ohlyan

Creative agency credits

Creative agency: Leo Burnett India

CEO, Publicis Communications and Leo Burnett, South Asia: Saurabh Varma

Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett South Asia: Rajdeepak Das

Executive Creative Directors: Prajato Guha Thakurta, Sachin Kamble

Senior Creative Director: Kevin Lobo, Vikrant Yadav

Art Director: Deepak Jage, Vikrant Wadkar

Copy Director: Vivek Unnikrishnan, Piyush Jaiswal

Executive Vice President: Sanju Menon

Vice President: Rajiv Wadhwa

Brand Associate:Shreya Bhalla, Amol Borkar

Digital agency credits

Digital Agency: Indigo Consulting

Client Servicing Director: Reuben Borah

Senior Account Director: Chaitanya Shah,

Associate Creative Director: Sacchidanand Chavan

Copy Supervisor: Ralston Dsouza

Production house credits

Production House: Prodigious

Head of Prodigious: Vandana Watsa

Senior Producer: Akshay Multani

Associate Producer: Brendon Benjamin

Post Producer: Sajid Shaikh

Directors: Kevin Lobo, Vikrant Yadav

Mediums: Digital