Campaign name: Life needs a Pulse
Brand: Renault Pulse
Company: Renault India
Agency: Law & Kenneth
The Campaign
The ad film begins with an Renault Pulse stopping outside an office building. Actor Anil Kapoor who is driving the Pulse gets out of the car and walk towards his office. As he enters the building of his office, he throws the car keys in a style that leaves the guard surprised. The lift man tries to guide him to the elevator but the latter chooses to run up the stairs instead. He next walks into his cabin and a colleague hands him a few papers to go through. Kapoor leaves her surprised with his antics. He even sings a song. As the day progresses, he stuns everyone in the office with his cool and free attitude. He greets everyone saying, ?Whassup!?. In a meeting, he appreciates his employee?s hard work by punching in the air and saying, ?You?re the man!?. The rather shocked employee punches back in the air in order to please his boss. At the end of the day, Kapoor happily drives back home. On reaching home, he greets his wife as any youngster would greet his girlfriend by calling her ?Babes?. He then thanks his son for lending him his car. Next day, while leaving for office, Kapoor calls his son and exchanges the car keys. While he takes the keys of the Renault Pulse from his son, he leaves his son with his sedan and the driver. The son looks annoyed and calls out to his father in an exasperated tone. Kapoor, meanwhile, drives his Renault Pulse happily to his office. The ad film ends with a voice-over saying, ?Renault Pulse, life needs a Pulse!??
Our Take
The target audience for this brand seems to be people who are young at heart and want to have fun. But then, perhaps not. Either way, using actor Anil Kapoor for the campaign is a wrong choice as he fails to add any zing to the automotive brand. In fact, Kapoor, who is popular for his macho man image, appears to be a complete misfit for the brand. The campaign which is based on the concept that Pulse is a tiny car with a powerful engine which makes it supremely swift, fails to establish this point clearly and leaves the viewer confused thinking that Pulse gives a fresh leash of life to the older generation who otherwise travel on their Mercedes or BMW, which again is driven by their drivers. The campaign positions Pulse as a brand meant for all, while in its earlier television campaign which featured three friends, the Pulse had a clear-cut positioning of being a youth brand. The brand seems to be lost in terms of the kind of consumers it wants to attract. Another factor which seems to be missing throughout the entire ad film is the car features?a must for every automotive brand?s campaign. At the end of the day, a costumer should be able to find a reason to buy a vehicle. Whether it is the mileage in case of small cars, or luxury in case of luxury cars, the television commercial should be able to sell the features to consumers and it is here that the campaign fails to perform the necessary trick.