“Har ek friend zaroori hota hai” as I heard my friend singing it the other day, I knew Airtel has done it again! The jingle became viral since the day it was launched on national television. Airtel, the second largest telecom provider in the country has always been pretty particular about their television ads, especially when most of its peers are clever with their ads.
With more than a billion customers in the country, telecom players have gone creative and effective in their communication to say the least. Vodafone’s latest zoo zoos have caught the fancy and with it a major share of consumer pie. It is essential for Airtel to out-do them to stay in business. Well, with their latest television commercial with fantastic catch lines aims to do just that, Connecting people.
Though the ad focuses on youth and their most special relationship called friendship, it holds significance with every age group as friendship goes beyond the boundaries of age. The hummable jingle instantly connects with the masses with every word in the lyrics describing situations, which most of us has been through at various points in life. Most importantly, the ad clearly states the mindset of the facebook generation, where every person has about 3oo friends and may be more… But are they really friends, like chuddy buddies ? No, they are simply acquaintances who made them useful in different situations and so just fell in the category of friends. All of us know individuals like that.
So, most of us have a dear friend, a contact friend, a beer friend, a kanjoos friend, a weirdo friend, a selfish friend… irrespective of the adjective, they are still friends. The advertisement, perhaps aimlessly, reminds us of the times we spend with different people and shared our lives with. So an ad, which impels you to think, and sometimes makes you nostalgic of those precious college days, can certainly be counted among the efficient commercials.
With the jingle, “Har ek friend zaroori hai, yaar”, ad agency Taproot has continued the legacy of inimitable standards of Airtel ads. The ad conveniently compels its target audience to keep in touch with every ‘friend’ as they all are important in different sense of the word. So to keep in touch, what can be a better way other than calling them up?
So even though the message has been communicated well, ensuring that individuals would automatically choose Airtel over other providers is little dicey to answer. So, these types of commercials definitely have a good sentimental value, but their commercial viability for the company is still challengeable. As when it comes to actual usage, consumers look for various features and attributes of the service provider before taking a decision.
In a country like India, where most of the consumers still prefer price over brand, guaranteeing increase in sales through commercials is not a good idea. However, brand visibility, an important aspect of advertising, can definitely be ensured.
While for t consumers, the ad has come as a welcome relief from tiring skin whitening and dandruff free hair commercials!
Shreya Agarwal
