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Honda uses Kapil Sharma's humour to launch Mobilio

The digital campaign comprising 4 online videos is being executed by Blazar and Mash Up, of GroupM India.The video has already clocked about a million views

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Honda uses Kapil Sharma's humour to launch Mobilio

Honda uses Kapil Sharma's humour to launch Mobilio

The digital campaign comprising 4 online videos is being executed by Blazar and Mash Up, of GroupM India.The video has already clocked about a million views

Sarmistha Neogy | Mumbai | June 30, 2014

Honda-Kapil-Sharma Click on the image to watch the Video.

Honda Cars India has kick-started the first leg of its marketing campaign for the launch of its family car, Mobilio. The car, which is slated to enter the Indian market next month, is the most anticipated vehicle of the year. The brand has released a 2.5-minute ad on YouTube featuring stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma as a salesman, wooing prospective customers with his wit and humour. And it has almost gone viral.

Mobilio, a seven-seater, is Honda's first family car, and the whole idea of introducing it through Kapil is that he is considered as the new benchmark of Indian family entertainment. The ad starts with Kapil, who is a salesman at the Honda Mobilio showroom, being chided by his manager to focus on his work and not to get distracted by girls. The ad shows him unveiling the features of the car to a beautiful female customer in a flirty way. In the end, he manages to please both the lady and his manager with his unique selling technique.

Shakeel Anjum, Head, Brand Communications, Honda Cars, explained, “Kapil Sharma today is the most searched celebrity on the digital medium, with a massive fan following on social media. Therefore, we believed that he was the best fit to launch the new Honda Mobilio on the digital platform.”

A total of four online videos will be released before the launch of the car with an interval of seven to ten days between each video. The concept and execution of these web ads have been done by Mash Up, a part of GroupM India. The digital campaign is being executed by Blazar, the digital marketing agency of GroupM India.

About the brief, Shekhar Sharma, National Director at GroupM Interactions, said, “Our brief was to create content which would engage the audience and create hype before the launch of Honda Mobilio. When we chose humour as the main angle in these films, we searched the profiles of different stand-up comedians and found Kapil Sharma's humour to be the most appealing and one which cuts across all generations and age groups.”

If rumours are to believed, Honda Cars, which speaks of having no brand ambassador, has given a whopping Rs 4.5 crore to Kapil Sharma for promoting the brand.

In an industry which has an overdose of Bollywood celebrities endorsing brands, having a popular comedian taking a place among them has been quite a change for car lovers and Kapil's fans. The video has already clocked about a million views, with 1.5 lakh 'likes' and close to 5,000 'shares' on Facebook, and that too in just the first 36 hours!

Thumbs down from experts

However, experts have given a thumb down for this new digital ad and they feel that having Kapil Sharma for an international brand like Honda is a wrong step.

Anand Halve Anand Halve

“I am unable to see any link between Kapil Sharma and Honda. Kapil Sharma is smart-alecky, quick-witted, but at a mass level he is popular rather than aspirational/admired. Are these the values that represent Honda? I don't think so!” said Anand Halve, Co-founder and Director, Chlorophyll.

Prathap Suthan Prathap Suthan

Prathap Suthan, Managing Partner, Bang In The Middle, echoed similar views. “Having Kapil Sharma in the ad for Honda was a little below my aspiration. Honda is a serious brand and having Kapil use his crass humour will have serious repercussions. I am also a Honda fan and in no way could I connect with the ad.”

Is digital the new trend?

All of a sudden, there is a growing trend where brands are seen releasing long stories first on YouTube and then going on to release their respective TVCs. As Halve pointed out, “Yes, this is indeed the flavour of the season, probably encouraged by the accolades garnered by the Google Reunion and the Fortune Cooking oil film. However, like any other trend, this is not a magic bullet and it should not be followed just because it is the current done thing.”

Saurabh Parmar Saurabh Parmar

Saurabh Parmar, Founder & CEO, Brandlogist Communications, explained, “Most brands are not planning their YouTube launch properly. Digital allows you a more targeted personal approach which these brands are missing. The focus is on high reach and views which frankly may get the videos 'viral' but will not sell the products.”

The Video:

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

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