ITC Mangaldeep, known for its agarbatti offerings, launches ‘Dil se Karo Baat, Bhagwan Ke Saath,’ a campaign highlighting personal connections with the divine. This initiative marks a shift, focusing on the universal bond between humans and God, akin to friendship. By celebrating diverse expressions of faith, the campaign aims to resonate with believers, emphasising the role of spiritual devotion in daily life. Gaurav Tayal, chief executive officer- Matches & Agarbatti Business (MAB), ITC Ltd., talks to BrandWagon Online, about the inspiration, creative process, and challenges faced in bringing this campaign to life.
What inspired the concept behind this campaign, and how does it resonate with your target audience?
India boasts of a culture of diversity and freedom of expression. There is a wide array of beliefs and customs which influence the prayer rituals of both young and old. While we have been a part of poojas which take place in pooja rooms, we also wanted to participate in quick prayers which happen in the hour of need or when we are running late. We wanted to talk to our consumers, tell them that whatever you do, however you pray, all that matters is that you speak to god with all your heart.
Can you walk us through the creative process of developing this ad campaign from ideation to execution?
We wanted to deliver this ‘pray with your heart’ philosophy in a friendly tone. Because we truly believe God is our oldest friend, a friend who never leaves our side, a friend who always takes care of us. So, we wrote a script that captures the essence of our message and depicts characters doing their everyday prayers just the way they like offering these prayers – anywhere, anytime. Instead of rituals, we focussed more on the joy of connecting with the almighty.
What challenges did you encounter during the creation and implementation of this ad campaign, and how did you overcome them?
Over the years agarbatti advertising has started to look a certain way. Many category codes like the whiff, the fragrance cues, and shots of eyes closing to cue focus or enlightenment have become more prominent than the message itself. We first had to break that mould and think fresh. Another challenge was to capture the diversity of devotion, be it the diversity of the one praying or the way the prayer is conducted, because we wanted our film to be inclusive in every sense of the word. So we derived our inspiration from our consumers and tried creating a representation of their devotion in our campaign. We included stories we heard in the many rounds of research that we conducted with our consumers, and it lead us to a beautiful campaign that’s truly an ode to our consumers.
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