Why does 5 Star opt for a 'counterculture' advertising approach to set itself apart?

Be it via Ramesh and Suresh’s ‘Jo Khaaye Kho Jaaye’ or the creation of ‘Do Nothing’ not just as a tagline but also as a proposition or platform, 5 Star being the youngest brand of Mondelez has always stood for irreverence via counterculture because it's targeted at the younger generation.

In its latest bid, Ogilvy, the Creative AOR of the brand, has conceptualised and executed the launch of Nothing University by 5 Star. Mind you, this isn’t the only proposition built by the agency as part of the ‘Do nothing’ proposition.

Two years back, when the world was hyping up the cryptocurrency culture, the brand had leveraged the conversations around it in its own style, by launching the ‘Nothing Coin’ which consumers could earn by doing nothing.

Speaking to BestMediaInfo.com about the creation of ‘Nothing University’ in a world where people pressurise each other to do or be something all the time, Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, emphasised that what the brand wanted to do was counter the same because that is what, in his views, has been one of the prime reasons for the youngsters to connect with the brand which stands for irreverence.

“Being the brand custodians of 5 Star, we decided that while the whole world tells you to always do something, right from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, we wanted to create our strategy around building a platform, an approach and a track- ‘Kuch na karke bhi dekho’ which time and again has connected really well, so much so, that it became a big hit amongst our young populace,” he said.

He then went on to add that the insight behind setting up the Nothing University by 5 Star came from the burgeoning conversations around AI and what it could potentially do today and that if it would actually do nothing, then why not do something on the lines of doing nothing and in the process build a great, fun and enjoyable experience for consumers.

Launch campaign for Nothing University by 5 Star-

“Right now as most of us are in cahoots or in discussions around what will AI do and what will happen to us in the future, we decided that why not do something which AI is going to do, i.e- Nothing, and glorify that. So we said pretending to do nothing is a job to be done and hence created a university that certifies you on six courses where you master the techniques of how to look busy and do nothing because doing nothing also is an art and have a diploma in the same, unlike other certificates which are about doing something,” he said.

As of now, individuals can participate and experience the activation by registering on the microsite- staruniversity.com. Upon completing at least 3 out of 6 modules of indulging in the art of Doing Nothing whilst preparing for an AI-powered future workspace, the user would be able to get his/her respective Diploma in ‘Doing Nothing’.

Interestingly, two of the six modules listed on the University’s microsite are led by corporate-employees-turned-comedians Atul Khatri and Rahul Subramanian.

Keeping this in context, Nayak pointed out that the launch of the Nothing University by 5 Star is just the start of the brand’s campaign for the quarter and that there’s more stuff to come around it.

“As a brand custodian, I believe that the work we do for a brand should be around what the brand stands for and the more things we build around the brand, the more does the brand become iconic. And I feel that the challenge we have today, in the world of plenty, is that while there's more than what we need, there are a lot more people fighting for my attention which is why I must do much more than what I'm supposed to do to be able to be recalled by my consumers and become a part of popular culture,” he said.

Apart from this, he also mentioned that experience activations such as these help one build the business and grow the affinity for the brand because in order to choose one brand over multiple others, the consumer has to like or feel something for a particular brand.

“The most important question we ask ourselves is that if somebody makes the effort to come to Nothing University then they better find something that's worth certifying for themselves and display it, otherwise why would anyone make that effort. We are very clear that the experience must be building on what we have attempted to do and it ought to be fun because that is what is at the heart of it all. Being a chocolate brand, the aim is to only make consumers feel and ensure that they enjoy the experience,” he added.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com