Surf Excel goes a step further, inspires kids to be #ReadyForLife

Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the digital campaign is a natural progression of taking forward the brand's theme of 'Daag achein hain' and engaging with mothers to give values to children

Akansha Mihir Mota | Mumbai | June 7, 2016

Click on the image to watch the TVC.

Surf Excel's digital campaign is conceptualised by Lowe Lintas and produced by QED Films. Carrying forward the brand's proposition 'Daag Ache Hain', the campaign aims at teaching children the value of sharing.

Arun Iyer

Arun Iyer, Chief Creative officer, Lowe Lintas, said, “The main idea of the campaign was that we wanted to create a property which is not just an ad film but an activation that has a long shelf life for many years. So the idea was how to prepare children to get ready for life.  In today's age, it is very important for the kids to have the value of sharing. The whole story was written to introduce the activation #ReadyForLife.”

Speaking on the campaign, Priya Nair, Executive Director, Home Care, Hindustan Unilever Limited, said, "The #ReadyForLife campaign is an extension of the brand philosophy of kids getting dirty for a purpose, which is to build values. The idea stemmed from meeting consumers who expressed that sharing was a habit that they struggled to inculcate in their kids. Through this campaign, we aim to start the right parenting conversations about value building and also provide parents a supportive ecosystem to enable this. This is only the first step of a multi-year journey through which we will engage with millions of parents in this space. We hope that this engagement will evoke a sense of empathy in the kids and make them ready for life."

With this campaign, Surf Excel helped mothers encourage their kids to share through inspiring and giving them the option to kick start the process by signing up and registering for a set of events during the summer break.

In this category, a cute little kid is seen preparing for the selection of a football match. After several attempts he is finally chosen for the match and demands new shoes. To surprise to her son, the mother reaches the football ground and was shocked to see her kid sitting and cheering instead of playing the match. Going forward, the kid explains that he gave his shoes to a friend who is part of the football team. He did this because his friend didn't have money to buy shoes. Overwhelmed with her son's act, she quickly goes and hugs him and asks to give the shoes permanently to his friend. The ad ends with the message that sharing helps kids get #ReadyForLife.

The success of the campaign can be judged by the huge number of views it has on Youtube. The new ad has been viewed 8,258,134 times to date. To call for an action, the company also created the micro website http://readyforlife.surfexcel.in/.

This eco system of sharing consists of the brand's partners – Smile foundation and Helpage India – which will enable kids to share celebrations, sports kits, old favourites like toys, books and clothes and something as diverse as time with elders. Through this, Surf Excel aims at inspiring kids to share more and invoke empathy which they will carry through life. The philosophy of the brand is that if kids get dirty in the act of doing good, then dirt is good. The same has been used extensively to propagate value building in children. These values could range from sacrifice, forgiveness, righteousness to something as sweet and simple as expressing love for one's grandparents. This beautiful emotional space has helped the brand become India's largest premium laundry brand and among the fastest growing laundry brands in India.

The #ReadyForLife campaign is a natural progression of taking this concept to the next level by starting a dialogue and building engagement with mothers on this important parenting topic of 'building values'.

Over the last year, the brand met many mothers who shared the parenting challenges that they faced. An overwhelming majority of them spoke about empathy and how 'privileged lifestyles' are 'distancing' kids from reality. This is a parenting dilemma because parents want only the best for their kids and provide that but kids on the other hand tend to take things for granted and don't value what they have. This sense of entitlement combined with the growing realities of modern urban life of nuclear families and single kid households lead to kids not learning how to share. Sharing was the one habit that mothers said that they found most difficult to inculcate in their kids.

The #ReadyForLife campaign marks the next stage of Surf Excel's brand journey where the brand philosophy transcends seamlessly to the real world in the form of a platform that will enable the brand to engage with mothers. Over the years, Surf Excel wishes to inspire and partner mothers in their journey to get kids Ready for Life.

Creative scorecard

BestMediaInfo caught up with some creative leaders to know their opinion on the campaign.

Emmanuel Upputuru

Emmanuel Upputuru, Founder & Chief Integration Officer, ITSA, said, "I thought this era of trying to make people cry was over. I am sorry, team, that it doesn't impress me much. Seen this before, we had done for Maggi soups, where a kid is worried about his expectant mother. In the end he learns to share. Closer to reality, I am struggling to make my children share chocolates and toys, this is too good to believe or choke me."

Amit Wadhwa

Amit Wadhwa, President, Dentsu Creative Impact, said, “Like many of you, I have been a fan of Surf Excel communication, especially the 'Daag achein hain' campaign. This one as a story may not be as unique as the earlier ads but I still love it. It is probably the message delivered in an emotional manner through the kids that probably tugs my heart. And the kid's innocence just makes it even more adorable. With a lot of short films being tried out by brands, this one works well on another front, subtle yet effective integration of the brand. The only thing where I am not completely thrilled is the sign off line, 'Ready for life'. And coming at the back of 'Daag achein hain', it certainly makes life even more difficult for it.”

Kumar Subramaniam, Partner at ZeroZero Creative Solutions, said, “In a country which loves tear-jerkers, this film could work like a charm by pulling all the right strings. More importantly, it is also a natural creative extension of the brand's position of dirt is good and thus works well within the category and brand territory. That's what makes this different from some ads in recent times which try to appropriate some societal high ground without having any credibility to do so. This brand because of its past work has earned that right and it uses it well.”

The TVC:

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

Credits:

Agency: Lowe Lintas

Creative Team: Arun Iyer, Carlos Pereira, Zeth AP, Virendra Vilankar, Ketan Karande, Kiran Waghmare

Planning Team: Saji Abraham, Archana Iyer

Servicing Team: Anaheeta Goenka, Abhijit Panicker, Denize Dsilva

Production: Imran Khan – QED films

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com