Airtel breaks barriers!

IIPM, GURGAON

Communication knows no boundaries for Airtel that goes on a Moroccan caravan...

Switch on your TV screens and what do you see? A Moroccan boy crosses the Line of Control (LoC) to play with the boy standing across the barbed wire fence (probably from the neighbouring country). No need to guess, for this Airtel ad has successfuly broken the clutter and has registered itself deep in our minds. Such is the universal appeal that the ad instantly touches a deep chord within your soul. The aim of the new thematic ad is to move away from ‘Express Yourself’ brand premise to the new one of ‘Barriers Break When People Talk’. Amitesh Rao, National Business Head (Airtel), Rediffusion DY&R, narrates the idea behind the concept as he says, “There are special and very personal moments of magic in every relationship. Airtel helps in creating and sharing these moments, irrespective of the physical distances.” Using the two young lads as its props, this ad bridges the gap between the boundaries of two neighbouring nations in a beautiful manner.

Incidentally the first preference of the creative guys was to showcase an action-packed football match between the Indian & Pakistani soldiers at the Wagah Border, but realising that the storyboard would have been very stereotypical, it was changed. In fact the ad was shot in four days on the African soils of Morocco by Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films. To interest you further, the two local lads whom you see delivering a brilliant performance on screen had never faced a camera in their lifetime and were selected just for the sake of authenticity. They were even kept uniformed about the rolling cameras, so as to capture their natural expressions and actions. Here’s a little juicy tidbit for you! The house and the barbed wire fence were merely sets and not a shot from a real-life war area. Furthermore, the idea was to make the concept more universal and human – one that appeals to the regular people (the vast service users). “Network is an area of strength for Airtel so we needed to push the bar higher,” says Rao.

The reason behind this corporate ad, depicting a war-torn territory is not only to promote the telecom giant in the Indian market but goes beyond the ordinary – socially awakening the Indians too, without hurting the sentiments of any sect.

Apart from K. S. Chakravarty aka Chax, ex National Creative Director, Rediffusion DY&R, there were three more creative minds – Ajay Gahlaut, Abhinav Pratiman and Daniel Upputuru – involved in producing this master piece. The campaign has been succesful in using these two naive boys – oblivious that they are in a war-zone & free from any kind of prejudices – understand only one thing that barriers are broken when you talk – communication barriers and, subsequently, the borders of the two warring countries.

Edit bureau: Romsha Singh

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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