Agency: Global Team Blue
Brand: Ford India
Campaign: #MythConception
Production House: Tubelight Films
The Ad
The three ads feature three famous villains of both big and small screens — all depicted as though they are in the middle of a near murderous attempt. One feels all of them are staying true to their character as they plot to kill. Later the camera pans out to reveal they were actually performing routine acts as they show a softer side with “Ho gayi na galat faimi? Galat impressions yun hi ban jaate hain.” They go on to speak of how in a similar vein, the cost of scheduled servicing for Ford is quite affordable, contrary to the perception.
Target Audience: 25-40 year-olds
Business Objective
While Ford is known for proven safety and quality, potential customers get deterred because of the perception that the cost of ownership for a Ford vehicle is high. The objective here is to bust the myth of high ‘cost of service’ by using a disruptive hook.
The Appeal
The murderous look on the three villains in the first half of the films does get the emotions charged up as the viewer wants to know who their murder target really is. The second half is educational as the narrative changes to Ford’s continuing efforts in breaking the myth of being high on cost of service with hard-hitting facts like the fifth year cost of service for Ford EcoSport amounting to R3,662.
Competitive Edge
Most auto companies emphasise on looks and features of their cars while Ford India tries to dispel certain ownership myths through these ads. Betting big on trust and transparency, it has introduced several initiatives on its website such as Service Price Calculator that allows the customer to know the cost of service even before walking into the service centre.
Tone of Voice: Spooky, then informative
Verdict
The genesis of the campaign finds its roots in the research that shows how consumers tend to believe others and blindly follow perceptions.
Taking a unique and fresh creative route to expose the trend, Ford’s latest campaign features well known on-screen ‘villains’ — Prakash Raj, Gulshan Grover and small screen vamp Sudha Chandran. All protagonists (or antagonists) highlight how they get stereotyped as bad in real life too, before changing the tone of the commercial to educate and inform viewers about Ford and its affordable cost of service.
The TVCs start on a high point, are eventually informative and yes, the casting is impeccable. However, towards the end, one does feel a letdown as the two parts of the story — mock terror and then educational — do not blend. The fit seems a little forced, like too many false alarms in a horror flick. Nonetheless, the actors save the day and Ford owners/potential buyers could find the campaign to be an eye-opener. And in a pleasant way — not the terrifying kind!
Rating: 6/10
Meghna.Sharma@expressindia.com
@meghna0101