Cheil India’s ‘India Cheers Neeraj’ campaign for Samsung showcases a 120-second film highlighting Neeraj Chopra’s journey and nationwide support. The film combines images of diverse Indian landscapes and people, illustrating how the country stands behind Chopra with unified enthusiasm. From urban streets to rural fields, it visually connects various facets of Indian life in support of their Olympic hopefuls.Vikash Chemjong, CCO, Cheil India, 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?
Neeraj Chopra is a known admirer of Samsung’s Galaxy Foldables, which are frequently seen using innovative devices. Recognising his grit, determination and unwavering resolve, Samsung India decided to use him for their influencer campaign, for the second time in a row. The launch of the Galaxy Z Fold6 coincided closely with the Paris Olympics 2024, where Samsung Global is an official sponsor. This presented a perfect opportunity for Samsung to leverage the launch campaign to express the nation’s support for Neeraj. Through this initiative, we were able to reinforce Samsung’s support for India’s sporting hero as he competes on the world stage.
Associating with a celebrated athlete and national hero, helped tap into the deep sense of national pride and patriotism. This connection we feel will help evoke strong emotional responses from our target audience who are spread across India.
Neeraj’s determination and excellence also mirror the innovative spirit of the Galaxy Z Fold6. By linking the product with its indomitable spirit, Samsung highlights the device’s cutting-edge features and superior performance, appealing to consumers who value high-quality state-of-the-art technology. Since Neeraj’s success and resilience make him popular amongst the youth, we feel the campaign will resonate with them.
Can you walk us through the creative process of developing this ad campaign from ideation to execution?
We didn’t want to do yet another ad campaign that showed Neeraj as an athlete par excellence and be lost in the clutter of Neeraj ads during the Olympic season. We decided that if we hinged the idea on the emotion of patriotism instead of physical prowess then that would be a big differentiator.
So we came up with a campaign that would celebrate Neeraj as a national hero and show our solidarity in standing beside him in his journey to the Olympics.
In terms of execution, while we wanted to show his challenging routine to show his relentless pursuit of excellence, we also wanted to create a large-scale visual spectacle that added richness to the frames and took it beyond his workout sessions.
What challenges did you encounter during the creation and implementation of this ad campaign, and how did you overcome them?
We crossed one hurdle after another to make this campaign come to life. Co-ordinating with Neeraj to find a shooting time amidst his gruelling training sessions was the biggest challenge. Not wanting to risk any injury or hamper with his training, we kept the script as fluid as possible, allowing Neeraj to choose how much he was willing to exert for the film. The India fan shoot was laced with its own set of issues. Managing an exhaustive outdoor shoot amidst torrential rains was another battle. Right from snake infested areas, to getting drenched in the rain, to sleepless nights, we braved it all. What helped us endure was our conviction in the idea. The Client, Agency, Director and Production house, all came together as a strong team determined to bring this idea to life, no matter what happened.