8/3/2019 Airtel Ad Review

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From Dil Jo Chaahe Paas Laaye to Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai

With an aim to make the brand trendier for the youth, Airtel is in the news again, with its latest

commercial, Har ek friend zaroori hota hai . This anthem aims at positioning the brand as one thatembodies friendship, and helps all sorts of friends connect with one another.

Though the commercial is youth-centric, it does not attempt to alienate its older generation of users,as friendship and the need for different kinds of friends is something that could perhaps be age-agnostic. In the words of Mohit Beotra, Airtel is too much of a leader brand to go for a challenger'sstrategy of narrowing its TG (target group) so finely to the youth. We will never chase an audience

set at the expense of another important target set." However, Airtel has major plans to shift itsbusiness towards data products, which are more used by youth, and hence the inception of youth-ism in the film. Airtel has used a simple concept that everyone has a different set of friends at a

particular time in life, and technology and mobile phones connect a person to all of them.

The commercial is being supported by outdoor, radio, press, cinema advertising, on-groundinitiatives and web media. A contest on Facebook, inviting people to come up with different type orcategories of friends (and tag their friends there), and the most unique answers shall have the

winner get himself a trip to Las Vegas, among other prizes, has received great response. The

application received a creation of over 8,000 'friend types' within the first four days of its launch.

The commercial is largely well-received by the ad fraternity. In the words of Ramanuj Shastri,creative officer, Saatchi Saathchi ,"Generally, if one is dealing with a vast brand such as Airtel, if one

veers towards the youth, it loses the family focus, and vice-versa. But, Airtel has that risk covered as

long as it continues to focus on its promise of 'bringing people closer'."

About the Ad:

The commercial shows how each person has different kind of friends, and how the presence of eachone is necessary in some way or the other. The

lyrics were penned down by AmitabhBhattacharya, and portrays different categories of

friends, such as the one who wakes one up during

the wee hours for help, or another who may giveyou company during your financial crunch days.Then, there are friends who are forced, effortless,

classroom friends, bike-ride friends, shopping and'exam hall copying' friends, movie buddies, the'hi-bye' variety of friends, etc. The jingle ends

with 'Har ek friend zaroori hota hai', and with the message that Airtel keeps one connected to theirfriends.

8/3/2019 Airtel Ad Review

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C redits:C lient: Airtel

Agency: TaprootAgency team: Agnello Dias, Santosh Padhi, Taproot creative teamProduction house: Equinox Films

Director: Ram MadhvaniMusic: Ram Sampath, Amitabh Bhattacharya (Omgrown Music)Media agency: Madison