'Yeh Maa Ka Pyaar Hai,' says Nivea

A commercial, conceptualised by FCB Interface for Nivea touches a tender chord in demonstrating a mother's bonding with her child

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | May 9, 2016

Click on the image to watch the TVC.

Mother's care and the universal bonding between a mother and her child is a hackneyed theme in advertisements, especially for personal care products, but a recent commercial by Nivea has been able to break out of the clutter.

During its brand research, Nivea discovered that the selfless nature of the maternal instinct, while both true and genuine, had a deeper aspect. Themother too craves for appreciation and acknowledgement from a child.  This desire to be loved back by the child exists and is a mother's point of gratification. In our busy lives, we often forget to appreciate all the efforts mothers make to give us a better life.

“Having recognised the need to appreciate a mother, we thought of coming up with a campaign to thank them for their unconditional and selfless love”, said, Rakshit Hargave, Managing Director, Nivea India.

The campaign #SayItWithHugs is an initiative by Nivea to thank all mothers for their relentless dedication to ensure the well-being of their children. Hugs are one of the simplest gestures through which emotions may be expressed without saying anything. This Mother's Day (May 8), Nivea offered consumers an opportunity to delight their moms with a sweet and simple hug, as a mark of appreciation for all they do for their offspring.

“Best way to say thank you to your mother is by not saying anything. A caring hug says it all,” said Sunil Gadgil, Director, Marketing, Nivea India. So #SayItWithHugs!”

The film begins with a mother applying Nivea crème on her little daughter. The mother continues to fret about her daughter, as she applies the cold cream on her arms. “You must be wondering that your mother must be saying something, but you have no idea how much I worry about you. What if something happens to you? My heartbeat stops, but you don't listen to me,” the mother mutters to herself. Her daughter, who is deaf and mute, gestures to her, wanting to know what her mother is saying.

The mother then uses the sign language of the deaf to tell her daughter that she loves her. The child replies that she loved her mother too. The child playfully puts a dab of cream on her mother's cheek and her mother tells her in a gesture that she could go out and play. The child hugs her mother and her mother holds on to her tightly for a moment too. “Yehhaimaakapyaar” (this is a mother's love), narrates a voice in the background. “Mom cares for you the most. Show her your care too. #SayItWithHugs.”

Speaking of the simple yet well executed thought, Rakesh Menon, Senior Creative Director, FCB Interface, said, “Children love to go out and explore the world around them. But mothers, being mothers, find it really hard to let go. It's this simple insight the film is based on. The commercial gives you a glimpse of an endearing mother-daughter relationship, where mom is rubbing some Nivea Crème onto the child before sending her off to play. What seems like an everyday ritual moves you when you realize the child is disabled.”

Peer review:

Nisha Singhania

Nisha Singhania, Co-Founder and Director, Infectious, said, “I think the campaign was really sweet. It brings out a mother's concern and anxiety for her child, especially because the child is handicapped in some way. It's a beautiful ad. It's a sweet enduring ad. The ad does bring a fuzzy feeling to you as you empathise. Brands are capitalising on Mother's Day today. We've all grown up with Nivea and it's not a brand that was introduced to us lately. One can connect to this ad, especially a daughter's skin needs. The casting was nice, and the mother's done a fabulous job.”

Kumar Subramaniam, Founder and Partner, Zero Zero, said, “I really liked the ad. It is a well- made ad. They've taken a simple concept and made this. There is no over acting shown. The mother played a beautiful role. Her care is not wrong when it comes to her mute daughter. It is a wonderfully executed ad. Although for a person like me, I didn't have moist eyes, but the ad is capable of giving moist eyes to many. I loved the ad so much that I saw it four times.”

Neharika Awal, Senior Creative Director, Dentsu Marcom, said, “I love the insight that a mother keeps her concerns to herself and gives her blessings and good wishes. To have a kid with disability becomes that divide behind which the mother could express her jitters and yet not let her daughter know of them. But that itself is something that we have been using quite often lately in advertising. Disability has become the go-to device in ads and that's where it has probably lost its effect. Then again, does the thought of moms keeping their fears to themselves become participative with #SayItWithHugs? I'm not sure.”

Priya Pardiwalla, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, JWT, said, “One of the things I love most about Mother's Day are the ads. You can breathe a bit and enjoy the freedom of creating them. There are no restrictions of packing in RTBs, no product windows, no pack shots in complete glory.Just pure emotion, an interesting storyline and a line that connects with the brand.Like P&G and iPhone's ads, the Nivea Mother's Day ad is sweet and makes you smile. Thankfully not sugary sweet. Loved the performances and track.”

Pardiwalla added, “I just felt that after the voice over: 'Yeh Maa ka pyaar hai – Nivea, the action point of 'SayItWithHugs' isn't really adding much to the commercial and may be wasn't required. But that's debatable and regardless of that, I liked the commercial and have watched it three times already. And not because I didn't understand it.”

The TVC:

https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/

Credits:

Client: Nivea Crème

Agency: FCB Interface

National Creative Director: Robby Mathew

Associate Creative Director: Rakesh Menon

Account management: Govindarajan V, Cornell Rocha, Jenisha Eugene, Shireen Cama

Agency Producers: AlpaJobalia, Ashish Barot

Production House: Crazy Few Films

Director: Anupam Mishra

Producer: UrfiKazmi, VirajGawas

Music director: Micu Patel

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com