With BBDO, HP bends the rules again with a new 'soch'

The latest campaign highlights the new ways of working, driven by the millennials who are more open to being entrepreneurs, and juxtaposes it with the collapse of old hierarchy

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | October 13, 2015

Click on the image to watch the TVC.

BBDO India's new campaign for HP Pavilion X360 Notebook highlights the millennial attitude of bending the rules, challenging status quo and stereotypes. For every soch (thought), there is a new approach and it is time to #BendTheRules, says the new campaign.

Today's youth has a different understanding of life – their heroes are often people who follow alternative paths to great success. Instead of treading the well-worn path of a degree and a corporate job, they use the power of technology and their passion to create their own success at an early age. They are not rule breakers or rebels; they just wish to change the practice of blindly accepting established norms and received wisdom.

The idea behind the campaign was to capture millennials bending rules and forcing everyone to revisit the notion of what's possible. A laptop that bends 360 degrees can help them bend even more rules. HP, with its superior technology, gives these successful millennials the power to make things happen. 'Bend the Rules' celebrates this change or new approach by helping the brand collaborate with the millennials. The film has been directed by Shimit Amin.

The campaign

The TVC highlights a situation showcasing the conflict between the old and the new. The old way of working was all about hierarchy where wisdom, success and power were associated with age. Work happened in offices and in fixed hours. The new ways of working, driven by the millennials who are more open to being entrepreneurs, aren't very fixated on separating work and play.

They believe that work can happen anywhere and anytime and needn't be confined to cubicles – it can happen in a coffee shop too. They firmly believe that when you love what you do and do what you love, the barriers between work and play vanish. Inspiration and ideas cannot be limited by locations as they can strike you anywhere. The TVC shows a group of executives who are trying to understand this 'new way of working'. The millennial protagonist instead of confronting them lets his actions speak for himself and signs off by saying, “I like your soch, but love my approach”.

Josy Paul

Shedding more light on the campaign, Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, said, “Technology is changing the codes that we live by – at home, at college, at play and at work. We are witnessing a collapse of old hierarchy, and the barriers between work and play are vanishing. To an earlier generation, these changes appear as out of norm or out of convention and they probably sneer at them. The new HP campaign plays off this tension between the old soch and the new approach.”

Lloyd Mathias

When asked about this new approach to old soch, Lloyd Mathias, Marketing Director, HP APAC and Japan-Hewlett-Packard, said, “HP has been running the 'Bend the Rules' campaign since the last one year. The campaign started with establishing the thought that millennials are challenging conventions and going beyond the expected. In 2014, this evolved to a space which was about following a passion and using the power of technology to fulfil dreams. For the 2015 campaign, HP continues to engage with millennials and leverage how they are changing the world around them using technology. Our objective is to inspire the large Indian population by sharing inspirational stories of people who have bent the rules by changing the way things are approached. The 2015 campaign focuses on the millennial attitude of 'I like your soch, but I love my approach'.”

How it started

Sharing the journey of 'Bend the Rules', Paul said, “It was last year that we started on the HP campaign with Deepika Paducone, where she is a fan of the brand. The campaign talked about how millennials have started bending the rules by taking the unconventional road to success. HP has that spark in itself not because of how long they have been in the business, but because of the revolutionary young spirit that the brand has. They have been as advanced as any other player.”

He further said, “Millennials strive for success at an early age using the power of technology. HP is inviting them to share their stories by uploading a video on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube using the hash-tag #BendTheRules, of how they have bent the rules to achieve success. This time we thought of approaching something that is perceived by the world today. BBDO itself started out of my car. For good eight nine months we were operating out of my car. The notion of an office is not bricks and a space, but about getting together and sharing your ideas. While working on the campaign we wanted to spell out what the world believes in today.” One can make out how passionate a person is, no matter where they are located and this is what the team wanted to capture.

Insight and the brief

Though the journey started last year, the objective was to make the brand look more evolving and bending with the changing norms of the consumers. Sharing his views on how the idea come up, Paul said, “Grabbing the visuals on how the world is proceeding today, we thought of capturing that insight which says that the notion of office has changed, how and where you work has changed, hierarchy of authority has changed. The whole idea of organisation has reversed. We felt this is a different and interesting space to play with.”

And that is how the team approached the brand and captured the same in a very simple line, 'I like your soch, but love my approach'. According to Paul the whole concept should have blended in just one simple line. He further said, “The whole insight was to be in tune with the changing world order; it is not just people, but technology too is creating that changing order of the world. Interestingly, those at the edge of the changing world are companies like HP, etc., hence this approach was relevant for this brand.”

Mathias added here, “Our beliefs are always based on a strong and interesting consumer insight. Here, the insight was how the young generation thinks and works unlike the old folks. The young generation today believes working from any possible place and is bending the rules of work. The older generation is a bit puzzled by this approach. And this film is exactly based on this.”

The media mix

The TVC is part of a larger digital campaign, including a social media focused campaign with webisodes featuring real examples of people who have a 'unique approach to their soch'. “We have a 360-degree campaign and with quite a few webisodes featuring brands like 'Chumbak', etc., which dwell well with the way the young generation is bending the rules. Traditional media will also play a vital role,” Mathias said.

Does the soch work?

Sanjay Tripathy

Sanjay Tripathy, Senior Executive Vice-President – Head Marketing, Product, Analytics, Digital & E-Commerce, HDFC Life, commented, “The theme of laptops/ gadgets as a tool to do things differently is something that has been explored quite a bit before. So in terms of that, the ad lacks product differentiation.”

He further said, “Also, the target audience for the ad – people who walk a road different from the beaten path as the young entrepreneur protagonist, is pretty much the new buzz and advertising's blue eyed boy – is being portrayed quite a bit these days. So, I don't really think the approach or idea is differentiated. It actually looks like a number of previously explored themes being put together.”

“In terms of the larger brand objective, it seems to be less a product communication and more of a positioning campaign – trying to kill the 'office', 'older person' persona and re-position as the laptop as the office. In that case, I think the communication could be quite clear and effective,” he added.

KV Sridhar

On a different note, KV Sridhar, Chief Creative Officer, Sapient Nitro, remarked, “The film is really good and I personally liked it. It portrays the reality of the changing world. Somehow today there is a huge cultural divide between how old and new generations perceive things. With a category like laptop, this is the best approach that a brand can use. They have tapped the strategy and concept really well.”

The TVC:

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

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