Conceptualised by Innocean Worldwide, the CSR campaign of the automobile company has Shah Rukh Khan advising people to act responsibly while driving
Akansha Mihir Mota | Mumbai | September 27, 2016
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Hyundai India has taken on a road safety initiative with innovative video campaigns as a part of its CSR activity. Conceptualised by Innocean Worldwide, the ad campaign tells drivers to '#BeTheBetterGuy'. In an attempt to promote safe driving, the ad films highlight what to avoid while driving – speeding, drinking and driving, ignoring seat belt and use of mobiles.
In its brief to the agency, the marketing team of Hyundai Motor made it clear that they were looking at an attitudinal transformation of sorts among the drivers on small yet key aspects of road safety. Innocean set about its task by first gauging the consumers' mindset about road safety and safe driving.
In the ads, Shah Rukh Khan sits alongside the drivers, imploring people to have a road safety mindset over and above the state-of-the-art features that Hyundai packs in all its cars.
Madhavi Karunakaram Guha, Senior GM, Account Planning, Hyundai Motors India, said, “The emphasis of the consumer understanding via qualitative research and assessment was to identify the stereotypes and inertia points when it comes to road safety. The drivers have this notion that the presence of features such as airbags, ABS, etc., makes the drive safe and that it's the rashness of others that causes risks. They also feel they are ultra-good drivers and that nothing can happen to them. They feel road accidents happen with others who are not as good as them with reflexes.”
A multi-city study revealed interesting mapping of safety aspects related to driving. The creative process aimed at creating shareable content will be spread through digital platforms and social media.
The ideation and insight
Saurabh Dasgupta
Saurabh Dasgupta, National Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide, said, “Hyundai as a manufacturer is known to provide a lot of features in their cars. The best of safety features are provided by Hyundai. But the best safety feature is inside the head of the driver. That is what we want to activate in each one of us.”
Saminder Ghai, Senior Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide, who also responsible for the writing of the films, said, “The whole initiative has been thought of as a set of stories highlighting small things that happen in our daily lives but compromise our safety while driving no end. Not only have the situations been kept realistic, even the portrayals smack of what gets glossed over as accepted behaviour by deliberately underplaying the risk involved.”
Explaining the reason for coming up with four videos and not one, Ghai said, “The idea of four films is based on the four researches done by the traffic department. The idea was to make behavioural changes and we didn't want to pack too much in one film. So we had to bifurcate the issues.”
Commenting on Shah Rukh Khan being a part of the campaign, Dasgupta said, “A lot of people asked me that why haven't I used SRK typically the way he is used everywhere. Here he stands for the conscience of the brand and that is far bigger than SRK playing any role for the brand. That is why you won't find him in the initial part of the ad.”
Vivek Srivastava
Vivek Srivastava, Jt Managing Director, Innocean Worldwide, said, “This campaign from team Innocean on road safety for Hyundai Motor India marks a paradigm shift in campaigns done with a social purpose. It moves beyond homilies and self-promotion. It touches a chord using human stories that are real and persuasive. And we use it as a powerful first step towards engaging and energising drivers for inculcating safe driving practices.”
The production work
The films were shot in Goa. The Shah Rukh Khan part was done in Mumbai and later the schedule was shifted to Goa. The films were shot in four to five days. Including post-production, the films' execution took almost 15-20 days. The film was shot at the peak of monsoon, making it difficult to find places to shoot.
Hashtag #BeTheBetterGuy raises eyebrows
People have expressed opinions on the hashtag of the campaign, like why #BeTheBetterGuy and not #BeTheBetterGirl or something like that. Dasgupta replied, “That is like taking it too literally. Like that we would need two handles. 'Be The Better Guy' and 'Be the Better Lady'. Guy here means a better person actually.”
Ghai added, “BeABetterGirl would single out women, but #BeTheBetterGuy means being a better human being.”
Each film highlights specific risk elements from a road safety point of view. There is this bunch of over-confident youngsters staying out late after office for a joyride and forgetting the basic tenet of safety while driving – a seat belt. A pair of chatty women who wonder how can someone get robbed of a cell phone while driving as it's forever in use while the wheels are running. A caring dad becomes a speed demon, 'courtesy airbags', to get his adorable daughter to school in time for her fancy dress. The last one is a boisterous SUV enthusiast who wishes to celebrate his new acquisition armed with ABS with a tipple.
The creative fraternity have ifs and buts
Varun Duggirala
Varun Duggirala, Left Brain and Co-Founder, The Glitch, said, “It's very to the point as a campaign. Each insight is very apt for things people will relate to as aspects of their day-to-day lives. In some of the cases, the narrative seemed a little forced and the hashtag leaves women out of the equation, which I think is a definite miss for a campaign that could have been so much more with better visual and narrative execution. Overall, it's good to see road safety has been addressed.”
Rahul Gupta
Rahul Gupta, MD, IBD, a Percept company said, “The cause is noble and the situations are aptly depicted, but the films are a little patronising. The production values are high, but the story line could have been more engaging. Ultimately what you are looking for is to add significant value to brand Hyundai.”
Amit Damani
Amit Damani, Head, Pixel Fox Studios, said, “An ad should be such that one can relate to it. Well, I couldn't. The concept behind the ad is really nice but not executed well. The presence of a celebrity like Shah Rukh Khan was very impactful. The flow of the ad is very abrupt and it could have been much better.”
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