Switch to Hike, no more Whatscrap!

The campaign, conceptualised by Taproot, will be promoted across all major cineplexes, radio stations and TV channels

BestMediaInfoBureau | Mumbai | June 19, 2014

Click on the image to watch the TVC.

Hike Messenger, India's free cross-platform messaging app from BSB, has rolled out its brand campaign with a new television commercial named 'Hike Up Your Life'. The campaign, conceptualised by Taproot India, went on air yesterday and aims to strike an emotional chord with the youth of today through its witty, peppy and jingle based advertisement.

The TVC starts with a student eager to join the group of cool youngsters in his college, but he is not welcome and is referred to as an 'uncle' and 'oldie'. His mannerisms make the others shy away from talking to him and he becomes an object of fun and entertainment. However, things change the day he goes to a party and flaunts it to others that he uses the cool messaging app 'Hike'. The voiceover says 'Switch to Hike, no more Whatscrap!'

The essence of this ad is that no matter where you are, there is always scope for better ways of expressing, better ways of connecting, better ways of chatting. It's a mantra for change, to let go of the normal and upgrade to a messaging platform which is flexible, adaptive, creative and above all, caters to the youth of today.

Sameer Aasht

Sameer Aasht, Head of Strategy and Business, Taproot India, said, “Indian youth are upgrading in all walks of life. Be it education, lifestyle, attitude, smartphones or even modes of social expression. They no longer want to adhere to the old, boring and mundane ways of living and are keen to carve a new world for themselves. The ads are an appeal to celebrate the new upgrades in life. In a way the ad brings to life their inner intent to achieve a smarter lifestyle.”

The campaign also addresses issues in the current messaging industry, one such being the lack of privacy. For example, you can choose who gets to see your 'status updates' and 'last seen'. Another unique India-centric feature is 'Hike offline' that allows one to stay connected with friends even when they're offline.

The campaign will be promoted across all major cineplexes, radio stations and TV channels with a media mix of general entertainment, lifestyle, infotainment, news, sports and movie channels.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, Head of Product and Strategy, Hike Messenger, commented, “Our focus so far had been on building the right product. We've spent a lot of time building Hike, as an app that bridges the existing gaps in the instant messaging space. We are now ready to amplify our reach to more users through our full-fledged brand and marketing campaign. 'Hike Up Your Life' is a call to the youth of India to experience a messaging app that is made with their needs in mind.”

Commenting on the media planning strategy, Rabe T Iyer, Managing Partner, Motivator, GroupM, said, “In the cluttered space of IMs advertising on TV, we've planned Hike's media highlighting its USPs that are youth-centric. We have concentrated on sharp targeting hence taking a strong stand that Hike isn't for everybody. It's for people who desire to Hike up their life.”

The messaging app, launched globally on December 12, 2012, today has a user base of over 20 million. Hike is available globally on iOS, Android, Blackberry, BB10, WP, S40, S60 and Noxia X. With Stickers, Chat Themes, Hidden Mode and Last Seen Privacy, hike aims to add a lot more character and fun to messaging especially amongst the youth. You can download the app at - http://get.hike.in/

The TVC:

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

Credits:

Client:  Hike Messenger

Creative agency: Taproot India

CEO: Umesh Shrikhande.

Creative team: Mayuresh Dubhashi, Nivedita Agashe, Apoorva Jain

Strategy & Brand: Sameer Aasht, Dipika Saggi, Royton Varkey

Account Management: Gayathari Bhaskaran, Shifra Baviskar

Production house: Red Ice films

Director: Shimit Amin

Producer: Vandana Singh & Gary Grewal

Music: Sameeruddin

Media Agency: Motivator, GroupM

Sarmistha@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com