5 golden gems behind the making of these iconic Indian ads
Nirma, Liril and Amul’s ad campaigns, ushered in a new era of brand recall advertising, the lasting impression of which no other ad campaign in later years could replicate . While Nirma’s “Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma sabki pasand Nirma” is a popular tagline even today, Amul’s "Utterly Butterly" witty take on topical issues took the Indian advertising to a whole new level.
Interestingly, there is a hidden story behind these moppets and ambassadors who've played a vital role in making these brands a household name in the country.
Who is Nirma?
Ever wondered who the girl in the white dress twirling her way to glory in the packets of Nirma is? She is Karsanbhai Patel’s daughter, Nirma, who died in a car accident even before Karsanbhai launched the brand when detergent powder was considered a luxury.
Karsanbhai made the detergent powder in his backyard and started selling it for ₹3 per kg in an era where other detergent powders were sold at ₹13 per kg. What started as a door-to-door campaign in 1969, Nirma today is indeed “sabkipasand” with an overall 20% market share in soap cakes, and about 35% in detergents.
Why did Surf launch Lalitha ji ?
After Nirma established itself as a household brand, rival company Surf was finding it very difficult to make its way back to where it was. Finally, instead of competing with Nirma in terms of pricing, it decided to embrace the stark difference in their prices and launched Lalita ji
Lalita ji, came across as a middle-class housewife who educated people about the importance of “achchi” over “sasthi cheez”. It was a well-played move by Lintas’s Alyque Padamsee and his team that taught the nation that investing in an expensive brand which delivers quality return could also be a sensible decision.
Why is the Amul girl healthy, cute and witty?
The iconic cute and witty Amul girl in a polka-dotted dress turned 54 this year. For over 50 years, she has been entertaining us with her humorous and witty take on controversial topics. So what prompted the brand to launch a healthy and well-informed moppet? "Eustace Fernandez (the art director) and I decided that we needed a girl who would worm her way into a housewife's heart. And who better than a little girl?" says Sylvester daCunha, the founder of DaCunha communications.
So when Fernandez and DaCunha created the first hoarding for the brand with the chubby girl in a polka-dotted dress that said, "Give us this day our daily bread with Amul Butter", it stole the show and since then her tongue-in-cheek humour became the talk of the nation.
According to the creative team of the brand, the Amul girl is a completely adaptable creation with her round shaped face that can carry off a turban and be Manmohan Singh this second, and the next second, she can transform herself to be Indira Gandhi with just white streaks on her head.
Why did the nation go crazy about the Liril girl?
Even today when we think about Liril - a bikini-clad girl dancing under a waterfall and singing la la la la is what comes to mind.This is the impact that the advertisement has left on the people of this nation who consumed something that was totally different from the usual ads that verbally spoke about the brand and its products.
According to the creators of this iconic advertisement, this was for the first time that a lime-based soap was being introduced to India. Adman Alyque Padamsee, the co-creator of the advertisement conducted a survey to find out what his target audience - that is housewives - want out of a lime-based freshness soap.
It was then an interesting insight was discovered - that these housewives used their bathing time to escape from their daily chores to daydream about their favourite Bollywood actors. And that gave birth to the concept of a girl just having fun under a waterfall. The idea was not to make her look sensuous, but to make her look like any other girl having fun during her leisure time.
When the Cadbury girl danced her way to our hearts
Cadbury in the 90s wanted to do something new. and target a new set of audience. It was then when Cadbury glamourised the concept of dating in the country showing a girl watching her batsman boyfriend score a century, which makes her jump with joy with a chocolate in hand.
She is then seen, dodging the guards and dancing at his victory on the field. Her offbeat victory dance is a jiggle that left a lasting impression on youngsters who started celebrating life, love, and friendship with Cadbury chocolates.
