Dhara celebrates festivals of India

Conceptualised and executed by DDB Mudra North, the oil brand has tried to sketch a new image for brand communication and brand recollect. However, experts still talk about its iconic 'jalebi' ad

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 19, 2016

Clicl on the Image to watch the TVC.

The moment you see oil brand Dhara's ad you feel like humming the jingle 'Dhara Dhara, Shudh Dhara'. The next thing that comes to your mind is the jalebi ad and the cute little boy who pretends to leave home, but forgets everything and says 'jalebi' the moment he sees the delicacies cooked in Dhara oil.

Coming a long way from the jalebi television commercial which hit the TV screens in the early 90s, the oil brand has had a lot of videos and commercials to communicate with the audience. One such ad was the 'India ka tadka' ad released by the brand in 2012. It highlighted the diversity of the country, even in food preparations.

In its latest digital ad film, the brand talks about the 'stream of festivals' (Tyohaaron ki dhara). It shows visuals of paintings of various festivals, showing how food is one of the most important aspects. This basic insight led to the idea of the new campaign, conceptualised and executed by DDB Mudra North.

India enjoys a fairly busy festival calendar and Indians keep track of these festivals with the same amount of zeal. Navroz is the Parsi new year but it's an excuse for Indians to feast on Parsi food. Similarly Eid is an excuse for all and sundry to go on a food trail through the long intertwining by-lanes of Jama Masjid to get their share of kababs, saveiya and biryani.

Food is the 'common binding factor'. The one-and-a-half minute film opens with a doodle of Dhara that then transforms into a lady blowing a conch -- depicting Durga Puja. Then frame after frame, it captures the diversity of India and the celebration each festivity brings along and the love for food.

Sanjiv Giri

Sanjeev Giri, Business Head, Dhara, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt Ltd said, “Festivals and food bring not just families but the extended household and the entire mohalla together. All of us forget courtesies just to get our share of modak, gujjia, saveiya or cakes. And that's what we at Dhara believe is our nation all about. With this new initiative, we aim to reach out to the masses and celebrate with them the festivities of India where our love for food has always been a binding thread.”

Shivil Gupta

To elaborate the campaign idea, Shivil Gupta, Executive Creative Director, DDB Mudra North explains, “Dhara is one of those brands that give a lot of opportunities for creativity to come out at its best. With this campaign, we tried to capture the true spirit of Indian festivals and how the signature delicacies of these festivals bring people together. To build on this insight, we took a simple yet effective route through an animation film. We're pretty sure this film will make this festive season even more special.”

The digital film is intended for a rollout on leading digital and social media platforms YouTube, Hotstar, Facebook and Instagram. The brand plans to take it through cinema as well.

Peer Speak:

Asheesh Malhotra

Asheesh Malhotra, President and Head of Mumbai, Bates CHI&Partners

Tyoharon Ki Dhara: it's a nice thought. Good attempt at reaching out to all and sundry (read: the client brief: it's a pan-India audience we should address to). But it's still a nice feel good ad. And a one off. If that's what it's supposed to achieve, it will, I guess.

But I was still left searching for the iconic jingle of 'Dhara Dhara, shudh Dhara'. Don't know why we change for the sake of changing. Guess we get bored of our own selves, our own creations. Or some random consumer research tells us that it's time to change. Would you change 'Om Jai Jagdeesh Hare' bhajan to something else? Has any festival ever felt the need to change over the years?

Some brand properties come to adorn that same status. Keep it intact. That's the best thing to go for it.

Nisha Singhania

Nisha Singhania, Co-founder, Infectious and Firki Productions.

It's a 'sweet' spot which takes forward the basic thought that India has a lot of festivals, and most people make sweets and savouries during these festivals and Dhara has been a part of all these festivals since the last many years. The execution is interesting.

Sachin Das Burma

Sachin Das Burma, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett

The jalebi ad had a nice feel and emotion to it, while this one lacks both.

Though the execution is interesting I felt a bit let down, because after the jalebi spot, I expected something better.

The TVC:

https://img-cdn.thepublive.com/filters:format(webp)/bmi/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Dhara.jpg

Credits:

Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group: Sonal Dabral

President, DDB Mudra North: Vandana Das

Creative Head, DDB Mudra North: Sambit Mohanty

Account Management: Vineet Kindra, Nandita Bajpai, Vinshul Upadhyay

Creative Team (Copy): Shivil Gupta, Binoy Sarkar, Mohit Dabral

Creative Team (Art): Subhashish Datta, Pallav Medhi, Manoranjan Kumar

Account Planning: Sumeer Mathur

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