‘The goal of #MyFantasyAdWithSRK campaign was to establish an emotional connect with TG’

Last month Sunfeast Dark Fantasy, an ITC cookie brand, unveiled a campaign with Shah Rukh Khan using Artificial Intelligence. The digital campaign offered the fans of the actor a chance to share a screen with him using the AI feature. 

We caught up with Aparna Tadikonda, EVP – South, Interactive Avenues (the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India), talks about the campaign and how it has helped the brand to reposition itself amongst the new-age audience. 

The brief and the concept

When asked about the brief given by the brand to the agency and the objectives they wanted to achieve from the campaign, Tadikonda, said, “The brand aimed to elevate its market position and increase top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) in the competitive cookie category. To achieve this, the brand roped in Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador and launched a TVC, giving a chance to his fans to make their fantasy of featuring with him come true.”

“The goal was to introduce the brand's renewed proposition, ‘Har Dil Ki Fantasy’, and establish a profound emotional connection with their target audience,” said Tadikonda.

“The campaign drew inspiration from a universal sentiment that resonated across social media platforms. As the audience watched Shah Rukh Khan pampering the artist in the ad in his distinctive charismatic style, they couldn't help but yearn for their own touch of fantasy. The question in every Bollywood fan’s mind was, ‘how amazing would it be to get pampered by Shah Rukh Khan himself?" This insight became the driving force behind the campaign. After all, what better way to build a deeper connection with our TG than helping them realize their dreams and making their biggest Bollywood fantasy come true,” she added.

SRK and Artificial Intelligence

Working with SRK is a dream for brands too as he brings not only the star value but also his huge fandom across borders. The campaign sends people to a micro website where they can feature alongside him. 

We asked Tadikonda about working with SRK and getting him to work with people around the world with this campaign. She said, “Our biggest challenge came from underestimating the power of Shah Rukh Khan’s fandom! Tens and thousands of users flocked on the website to fulfil their fantasy within minutes of an organic post, which led to the website crashing in a matter of hours. Even the backend AI technology had to be trained to manage the completely overwhelming traffic! However, our team rose to the challenge, and quickly found new ways to process thousands of ads in record time.”

While every brand is trying to get their hands on AI, the campaign surely offered a new innovation. “We used AI to democratize the concept of fulfilling fantasies in a unique and inclusive manner by introducing the world to a first-of-its-kind initiative – My Dark Fantasy Ad with SRK, where anyone can create their very own Dark Fantasy ad and co-star with Shah Rukh Khan. What made this possible? The magic of Generative AI and deepfake technology. Users can simply upload a selfie on the campaign website, and get a personalized, dream-like video of themselves starring alongside the ‘King of Bollywood’ himself”, she explained the process of executing the campaign.

The Aftermath

“Since its launch, the campaign has gone viral, garnering unprecedented social media buzz and engagement. At its peak, we witnessed approximately three users uploading their details on the website every second! It has set a new benchmark with 400k+ videos delivered in such a short duration.”

“Several popular influencers including Overpower.ai, Mythpat, Pearl, and many nano influencers also uploaded their selfies and shared their personalized videos with their followers, sparking further interest in the campaign. Additionally, it made waves at mega events like Star Parivaar Awards ’23, where actor Rupali Ganguly encouraged host Kashvi to get her personalized Dark Fantasy ad; and it was also featured in the grand finale of the reality show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi’ (Season 13)”, she added.

We also asked about the possibilities AI brings, she noted that one of the biggest challenges for brands today is finding new ways to craft relevant communication and drive innovation - at scale.

“Today, artificial intelligence and automation are solving these challenges to a great extent. AI can help us scale creativity and strategy, expanding human ingenuity to wider audiences. We can use AI-powered data science to narrow in on specific audiences, derive relevant insights, and deepen connections with specific cohorts by delivering effective communication, personalized content, and dynamic product recommendations. What’s more, automation makes it easier for teams to do all this at scale.”