Ad campaigns that made the most noise in 2021
We begin our year-ender series with a compilation of some of the best marketing campaigns that created sensation on social media platforms
As 2021 comes to an end, it’s time to look back at the good and the not-so-good happenings of the year. We begin our year-ender series with a compilation of some of the best video marketing campaigns from Indian brands that created sensation on social media platforms.
1. Cadbury| Not just a Cadbury ad| Ogilvy
The pandemic had a crippling effect on the Indian economy. While the big brands got back on track with their large marketing budgets, the neighbourhood stores did not have the same resources.
The 2.18-minute hyper-local personalised campaign features Shah Rukh Khan who is seen promoting a local cloth merchant, shoe shop, electronic store and the nearby kirana shop. The ad showcased 7000+ stores across 34mn consumers in two weeks.
Ogilvy crafted the ad evoking generosity among consumers so that they support the local shopkeepers to help revive their businesses. The ad went viral across social media platforms and got more than 1.37 million views on youtube alone.
2. Amul Macho | Female gaze is OK|Leo Burnett
The men’s undergarment brand launched an ad campaign for Macho Sporto early this year. In the brand's own words, the ad is "a commitment to legitimise the female gaze”.
It features south actress Rashmika Mandanna and Vicky Kaushal. The former plays a fitness instructor who can't help gazing at her student Kaushal who is incidentally wearing Macho Sporto in class. He catches onto her playful efforts and obliges her requests every time.
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The ad, conceptualised by creative agency Leo Burnett and promoted by media agency Madison Media Omega, has crossed 18 million views in two months on Instagram.
3. Dove | #StopTheBeautyTest | Oglivy
From body shaming to skin colour biases, there’s a lot that happens in the Indian matrimony space and is unabashedly accepted as the norm. Dove has been challenging these norms through its series of campaigns with a strong social message-physical appearance doesn’t matter.
This year, Dove once again questioned these ‘norms’ and underlined its ‘Real Beauty’ stance with this campaign by Ogilvy, a powerful adaptation of its global stance for the Indian market.
4. Facebook | Pooja Didi | Taproot Dentsu
The shattering of the Indian economy during the lockdown was best captured in this story from Facebook, as was the message of hope.
While celebrating a large-hearted young woman employer in testing times, the film by Taproot Dentsu highlighted how we can reach out to the many unorganised sector workers who had lost their livelihoods.
“The ad was a great call for support without being preachy”, feels Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Marketing Expert who was former Marketing Head of HP Asia; Motorola India and PepsiCo.
The campaign has got 28 million views on Youtube.
5. Bhima Jewellery| 'Pure as Love'| Animal
The ad traces the journey of a transgender woman through jewellery. Delhi-based creative agency Animal’s latest ad for 96-year-old brand Bhima Jewellery, titled 'Pure As Love', features the story of a transgender person.
The ad portrays the journey of a man’s transition to woman – with jewellery playing an integral role in taking the narrative forward. The video ad has got nearly one million views on Youtube.
“It was a watershed moment in the history of jewellery ads. The bold ad depicting the journey of a trans woman with the full support of her family was path-breaking and arresting. The setting and production values were outstanding and the product integration wonderful,” says Lloyd Mathias.
6. Tata Tea Premium | Kadak Insaniyat of Mumbai| Mullen Lintas
Tata tea’s ‘Desh ki Chai’ ad campaign has been giving one or other socially relevant message for decades. The hyperlocal ad campaign goes on to celebrate the ‘kadak’ (strong) spirit of Mumbai whose residents are perceived to be thorough professionals and at times detached or indifferent but are known to be equally kind and humane, showcasing a true ‘Mumbaikar Spirit’.
The ad film showcases a high-end restaurateur, who sternly refuses to hire an employee’s brother for lack of skills. But her large-heartedness and compassion is revealed when she notices some underprivileged people take shelter outside her high-end restaurant to save themselves from torrential rains.
The ad campaign has got over 2.2 million views on Youtube so far.
7. Tanishq| #WhenItRingsTrue| Lowe Lintas
Tanishq released this campaign for extraordinary engagement rings. Engagement is an initial step towards a lifelong commitment called marriage, and the ad portrays the special relationship between the couples.
The campaign has got nearly 4 million views so far.
The 90-second video brings heart-warming feelings amongst couples about engagement and its bonding. Togetherness and trust were represented pleasantly, grabbing the attention of couples to purchase diamond rings.
The ad gained a massive view and likes across social media with nearly 4 million on YouTube alone.
8. Thums up| #PalatDe campaign for Olympics |Ogilvy
Coca-Cola’s homegrown brand Thumbs Up’s digital marketing campaign on India’s entry on the 100th year of the Olympics, salutes, celebrates and motivates the sportspersons with the message ‘Toofan Wahi jo sab palat de’.
The leading beverage brand roped Mariyappan Thangavelu (High jump), Sakina Khatun (Powerlifting), Suyash Yadav (Swimming), Navdeep (Javelin throw), Sumit Antil (Javelin throw), and Avani Lekhara (Shooting) for the emotional campaign launch.
The story of resilience and strength ruled the social media platforms for abundant likes and views. The trendy campaign with sports personalities has grabbed masses of eyeballs with its heroic marketing act.
9. PepsiCo | Salaam Namaste| Mindshare
Covid-19 lockdown in India was sudden, creating a shift in the way brands connected with their consumers. Pepsi’s digital ad campaign on FB stressed on the importance of social distancing.
The cultural insight recognised "salaam" and "namaste" as an inherent part of the nation’s culture; the social insight recognised the importance of social distancing in the new world, and the consumer insight of people’s need to express themselves during the lockdown.
Salman Khan kickstarted the campaign along with a #challenge and fellow actors like like Sonu Sood, Jacqueline Fernandez, Remo D’souza, Riteish Deshmukh joined in; international cricket stars like David Warner, Yuzvendra Chahal and AB D'Villiers got on board too and all of them undertook the swag way of social distancing.
10. Truecaller| Shabd| Wirality Media
In India, 1 woman falls victim to stalking every 55 minutes. Sadly, this problem isn’t addressed, not on prime-time nor on any other avenue. Truecaller with its ad campaign ‘Shabd’ reinforced its stand against harassment and stalking. The film urges women to take action.
Truecaller's film showcased the story of a speech-impaired woman who proves one doesn't need a voice, but the will to speak up and take action. Earlier in the year, the brand launched its mainline campaign talking about the issue of phone harassment women face.
Abhinaya Anand, the film's main cast, also happens to be a speech impaired actor. The film has been ideated and conceptualised by Wirality Media, and produced in collaboration with M.O.M. (Mortals On Mission) Content Studio.
It has got about 2.5 million views on youtube so far.
11) Unacademy| #TeachThemYoung| Lowe Lintas
Another impressive ad was from Unacademy. #TeachThemYoung ad that nicely brings out the need to empower women while also teaching boys about gender equality, Mathias says.
The ad has gone viral on social media and has generated nearly 2 million views on Youtube since its launch in March this year.
12. upGrad|The Office Canteen|
upGrad partnered with YouTube personality and comedian BeYouNick to create ‘The Office Canteen’, a series of quirky sketches based on real-life scenarios set in a typical Indian office cafeteria, hence the series namesake. kkkkkkkkkkkkk
The series leaned into the comedian’s personal style of creative storytelling to naturally incorporate mentions of upGrad’s educational courses and their benefits into the storyline and dialogue. The content series won the YouTube Works Awards for best collaboration in 2021.
13. Baat Ghar ki-UltraTech
Home-Building is an emotional journey for every individual home builder. It is one’s identity, pride & badge of competence.
90% of people building a home are doing it for the first time. Also, this is the chance to build what they aspire but lack of complete knowledge and no reliable source of information leads to a huge gap between the way they want to build the house and what they know about building the house.
This is where UltraTech saw the potential to make a difference. With an objective to enhance the brand perception as an ‘expert home building companion’, the BaatGharKi campaign was launched.
The campaign was phased into different stages right from understanding the problems faced by the TG to connecting with the audience beyond internet connectivity.
On the shoulders of technology, the brand built a 360-degree integrated solution catering to different consumer queries on home building.
With this campaign, the brand not just reached out to countless home builders, but also established the brand UltraTech as the ‘Wikipedia of the home-building journey’. The significant spike in mind measures proves that the Baat did reach to every Ghar.
