The real story behind 'Half Stories', the first live action ad campaign

Which do you consider your best campaign and why?

One of the campaigns I have had the privilege of conceptualising is the ‘Half Stories’ campaign for Tata Capital, the financial services brand. The brief was to create a campaign based on the firm’s core philosophy of “we do what’s right for you”. By the time we rolled it out it had turned from an ad into an act. From a ‘feel good’ to a ‘do good’ campaign. India is a land of a billion unfolding stories — some with happy endings, but many that remain untold, unrecognised, unfulfilled. The half stories. Tata Capital decided to walk the talk on its core promise of ‘doing right’ and launched ‘Half Stories — the Journey of Doing Right’ — an initiative that would allow people to get involved in these Half Stories and script a happier ending.

The campaign was live cast and on this platform we presented stories where the social consumer could participate, and help in converting them from half stories to full stories. The campaign ran for about six months from October 2013 to March 2014.

What was the purpose behind the campaign? Did it do the job?

Anil K Nair, CEO & Managing partner, Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi

“Half Stories” was a unique initiative of half-finished video stories that (1) drew people in due to their incomplete nature and (2) gave them an opportunity to complete the stories through online monetary contributions or through social sharing.

Through this 24x7 live, online campaign, our 'Do Righter’ Pankaj Trivedi undertook a 2,000 km bike ride across India to find and film everyday stories of everyday people living in the remotest parts of the country. These films with suggested solutions were made into webisodes that were uploaded on a dedicated website and promoted using social media, blogs and PR.

This campaign got amazing conversation, buzz and goodwill for a financial brand. Though sales was not the objective of such a campaign we got some amazing video views and growth in engagement and fan base.

What was the client brief? 

The key idea behind the campaign was to create a first of its kind live action advertising campaign — where a rider was on the road, seeking opportunities to help people. This was telecast live using the brand’s social media channels and we had created a platform where people could participate in the campaign either by donating money or by sharing the story so that it reaches more people. We gave our viewers and followers a chance to co-author the ending of the Half Stories by participating in a happy ending.

What was the response to the campaign?

The first season of Half Stories ride was from Dharamshala to Guwahati. We discovered 12 stories of hope and courage. This was real interior India -- we met a shepherd in the Himalayas who needed a tent for his nomadic animals, a didgeridoo  maker who needed implements to make more of these wonderful instruments. We also supported a women’s football team in the Doaars, West Bengal, who were badly in need of kits .

It touched over 1,94,20,346 people, with over 3,21,34,511 happy impressions, 3,38,511 fans, 1,98,069 people talking about it, and over Rs 1,00,000  raised. The amount needed in most individual cases was low, for example it was Rs 800 in one case. Our main aim was to create awareness. 

This campaign won a lot of accolades and awards, including India’s first Digital Grand Prix at Goafest, The Communicator Awards in New York and the Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards in Manila amongst others.

 

My Take
 

We were able to pull off a first of its kind live action advertising campaign — where a rider was on the road, seeking opportunities to help people complete their ‘half stories’ with happy endings
 
Brand: Tata Capital
Year: 2013-14
Agency: Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi