Power to change the society

Are you walking while talking? If not, start doing that right away and keep the doctor away. Gone are the days which said “An Apple a day keeps the doctor away”, the cult following that the latest Idea Cellular advertisement campaign is generating by the moment, one can feel the pulse and as the now famous punch line goes “Walk while you talk” is creating a new wave in the Indian society. The new brainwave that this punch line and the ad campaign are creating is making the India society realise the ill effects of being addicted to mobile phones. It has made them forget the virtue of workout and fitness regime. And the master stroke I guess was developed by Idea Cellular, by making them realise that you can still remain fit and continue your addiction to mobile phones. The answer is walk while you talk – exercise and indulge at the same time.

The advertisement very well shows the frustration of the public at using technology while it is making them lazy and the protagonist doctor played by Abhishek Bachchan thinks and advocates that we can stay fit by simply walking while talking. This gave birth to a new wave in the public domain and the message spread like wild fire and the doctor started loosing his business.

The idea has worked and the 360 degree ad campaign is taken by the India public with open hands with people understanding the problem and its mercurial solution. The concept of setting up a problem and providing a solution has become a huge hit. Even Chief Marketing Officer at Idea Cellular is of the view that they expect this ad campaign to initiate a wave of awareness on fitness, across the country.

The earlier advertisement campaigns done by Idea (conceptualised and designed at Lowe) too had a potential of churning the thinking of the common Indian man and positively affecting the society. The “Championing a world without caste” ad where the protagonist suggests individuals having their cellular phone number as their names championed the cause in a society riddled with names based on castes. This recommended getting rid of the caste system. And this overly simplistic solution connected well with the audience with the punch line “what and idea sir ji”.

Other ads like “Education for all”, “Participative Governance” and “A world without any communication barriers” stood tall in spreading a social message that would go a long way in building Idea Cellular as a brand with social connections and a brand for all. This has helped put across various strong messages across the audience and made them realise the ills affecting our society. I would say, though these issues always stood in our society and we all knew they were there, but these advertisements have made us take a new look at them and realise them from a different perspective. All the more, these ads have given solutions to these social problems as well; any less practical they may look and sound. However, if we dig deeper inside these messages and ads, we would realise that like any problem that plagues us or our society, has a solution to it. The only issue then is thinking innovatively and creatively to bring to table a solution that is practical and acceptable to all.

What an idea sir ji!!