Campaign logic: Built to last

In its new advertising campaign, Ambuja Cement stays true to its core brand proposition of a product that offers unmatched strength, this time with a little help from a celebrity

Brand: Ambuja Cement
Budget: Rs 18 crore
Agency: Publicis Worldwide

For a low involvement category such as cement, it is a constant challenge for brands not to sound repetitive as they tout the strengths of their product. Ambuja Cement for one appears to have taken the challenge-of turning a staid advertising category into one that is high on humour while staying true to the brand's core proposition of offering strength and durability-head on.

Shot in the manner of a documentary, Ambuja Cement's new campaign features The Great Khali, an Indian semi-retired professional wrestler, actor and powerlifter, best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment. It chronicles the wrestler's struggles with his height and weight as he breaks the floor, the ceiling and the walls of his home while trying to go about his daily routine. A relative then comes to his rescue by suggesting that he rebuild the house using Ambuja Cement. Khali follows the advice to see his life change forever.

So in the television commercial (TVC) Khali professes the joy of living securely in a home that's strong enough to support his gigantic frame.

The campaign scores high on humour and successfully takes forward the communication pitch of the brand by bringing into focus its "unmatched strength". In the past too, the brand has used humour to drive home the point. For instance, a recent ad featuring Hindi film actor Boman Irani raised a laugh with his wailful cry, "Bhaiya ye deewar tut-ti kyu nahi hai"(why doesn't this wall break down)? Then there was a campaign that highlighted the ills of social disparities through TVCs such as 'Arjun Deewar' and 'Jaat-Paat'. Through all this, the brand never deviated from its core promise.

The latest campaign has been conceptualised and executed by Publicis Worldwide and the budget is pegged at Rs 18 crore.

Talking about the idea behind the campaign and choosing Khali as the protagonist, Bobby Pawar, managing director and chief creative officer, South Asia, Publicis Worldwide, says, "Ambuja Cement has been built on the idea of strength from its very inception two decades ago. This is embodied in the logo of a giant holding up a construction as well as its baseline. In the current campaign the idea is to document the life and struggles of a giant human being who is too big and too strong for this world. And since Khali is the best-known big guy in India, he is both the idea and the endorser."

Providing insights into Ambuja Cement's brand journey and the message at the heart of the latest campaign, Ajay Kapoor, managing director, Ambuja Cement, says, "We constantly look out for fresh ideas to communicate Ambuja Cement's giant strength. It is important to experiment with the devices as long as the device helps to communicate the core message. This time around, we found a simple and compelling idea in Khali's house story."

But why use a celebrity? Kapoor, says, "We didn't look at it as getting a celebrity on board. Both the ad agency and the company felt that the real power of the idea was in its natural and simple rendition. And Khali fitted very naturally in it." Indeed, neither the brand nor the creative agency considered any other name--the campaign rested on Khali being the protagonist.

Did the brand fear that Khali's larger than life persona will overshadow the brand? Brushing aside the concern, Pawar emphasises, "If you rely on the endorser to carry the message and not the idea, your brand will always be overshadowed. In our case, the two were hand in glove. The idea is not replaceable by any other celebrity." After zeroing in on the campaign idea and identifying the face of the campaign, what were the challenges before Publicis Worldwide as it was working on a low engagement product category? Pawar says, "There are no low involvement categories; there are only low involvement ideas and executions. The fact that cement is seen as a low involvement category made it a challenge for us because the idea is the brand in low engagement categories. The more engaging the idea, the more engaging the brand. We had to push for an idea that would break through the wall of consumer apathy, and do it in a manner that is very relevant to the promise of the brand."