Idea Cellular's new TVC takes health and fitness route

Sumedha Srivastav - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Continuing with the socially relevant elements in its brand campaign, Idea Cellular's latest television commercial takes the health and fitness route to push sales.

Telecom operator Idea, which belongs to the Aditya Birla Group, has come up with a simple and effective solution to get people to move around more – 'Just walk when you talk' - exercise and indulge at the same time.

In mid-June, Idea Cellular launched the "walking and talking" campaign. Idea's brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan plays a doctor, who advocates how people can stay fit by simply 'walking while talking' and seeds this idea in the public domain.

The TVC begins when a news channel journalist asks him if technology has made people lazy. The doctor has a brainwave that all people need to do is walk while they talk. The message spreads like wild fire. At the end of the TVC, the doctor begins to lose his business.

On the brief given to Lowe, Pradeep Shrivastava, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular, said, "It is our fifth leading thematic campaign. The challenge was to come up with a refreshing new idea that celebrated the power of mobile telephony. It was definitely not a traditional brief that we gave to Lowe. There were many ideas, but the one focusing on health and fitness and making it a trend suited us the best, so we decided to take that forward."

Shrivastava says that the campaign has been well received. The ad, which took about two months to make, was shot by Chrome Pictures and will run for about six weeks. There will be a 360-degree campaign with radio, print, outdoor and digital communication.

On the conceptualisation of the TVC, Tarun Chauhan, executive director, Lowe, said, "The ad was created from a simple thought of telling people that walking while talking kept one healthy. It stemmed out of a thought that was simple and very basic. It was the output of an idea of keeping people informed, which we have done in our previous campaigns as well."

The first campaign in the series had the setting of a village ridden with caste wars, till Bachchan steps in. He suggests that instead of names, which reflect the caste, all individuals should be known by their mobile numbers. This would get rid of the caste system.

Though it was too simplistic a solution for a problem that has plagued the country for centuries, it did connect with the audience. "What an idea, Sir ji," was the punch line.

The logical next step was to build on the theme - how a good idea can reshape the world. Thus, the company brought out the campaign of a deaf and mute tourist in Agra where Bachchan plays the role of a guide and uses SMS to communicate with her.

The next ad saw Bachchan as the head of an educational institution. The ad shows how children, especially girls, face education barriers. Bachchan suggests lessons on the mobile phone to universalise education.

The fourth ad in the same series broke this January, close on the heels of the General Elections 2009, and showcased the use of mobile phone for democratic decision-making. The 'walking and talking' ad is the latest avatar of the campaign.

Idea Cellular claims it is the fastest-growing mobile telecom service provider in the country with new subscribers between 1 million and 1.5 million signing up every month. However, its overall subscriber tally of 45.5 million is way below Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications.