Today we see a lot of brands linking their communication to safety.
Well, that’s kind of obvious given the whole Covid-19 situation.
But what happens when a brand tries to portray the future most realistically?
When dining at restaurants is easy, without any social distancing fear.
Or mask-free faces smiling at us.
All this and more was captured in the new Colgate remarriage ad.
Have a look
Remarriage scenario in India:
There is no denying the fact, that remarriage in India is not the same as in western countries.
And while there may be multiple reasons for this, the crucial one of course is societal pressure.
More often than not, women find it difficult for even their family to accept their new relation, and then the societal constraints add to it.
Did you know men remarry twice as much as women do, as per a study conducted in 2018?
This might be the reason why Colgate decided to put forth its communication through the women’s point of view.
Acceptance from her family’s lens and not the other way round.
Colgate Advertising Background:
Having worked for a toothpaste brand in the past, one of the areas I had focused on was competition bench-marking.
This included analyzing advertising communication from Colgate since its inception in India.
While the brand has had various claims and propositions to focus on, one thing that remained constant was the link to ‘smile’.
Even when the brand highlighted the need for germ protection, it did not let go of the smile link.
The protagonists also changed from time to time, from mothers to couples, to kids.
This communication however is unique, given that the link with a smile is still constant but has a deeper meaning.
Advertising Objective:
The objective of the campaign in my opinion was to break the clutter.
We are looking at brands promoting safety, but Colgate chose to paint a happy picture post-COVID-19.
The aim was to connect the brand promise of ‘Smile Karo aur shuru hojao’ with the concept of remarriage, creating a strong statement in multiple ways.
Firstly, it portrayed the brand as a forward-looking one.
A brand that believes that the concept of remarriage must be accepted more openly.
Secondly, it also stood out from its competition.
Think of any toothpaste brand, the focus is either strong teeth, germ protection, dentist recommended, etc.
And rightly so, in fact until now even Colgate followed the same league.
But can a toothpaste brand stir the audience to support a cause?
Let’s answer that by analyzing the execution.
Advertising Execution:
It’s a 35-second long video.
Given the time constraint, it’s of utmost importance that the following things are communicated well:
a) Advertising Message
b) Brand Message
c) Brand connect
Now, as I have mentioned the film is shot from a post-COVID-19 era which is already helping the brand create a positive thought.
Is the advertising and brand message being communicated well?
Indeed, we can clearly understand that the film is trying to portray acceptance towards remarriage and promoting smiles.
Is the brand connect evident?
Maybe not.
And let me tell you why.
This is not the first time when we are seeing a brand promoting greater good instead of just focusing on sales.
But it’s also important to understand whether consumers can relate to the brand and the social message well.
I believe while the Smile is definitely an important element in the communication, it's still hiding behind many layers.
Which is why they have made sure to include the brand logo on top of the screen throughout the film.
To ensure that the brand connect is not lost.
While I believe this is very bold of Colgate to come up with communication like this, the connect could’ve been established in a much stronger way.
Advertising Learnings:
My top 3 learnings from the campaign are as follow:
1) It’s never too late to experiment with your brand
Colgate or rather any toothpaste brand has been focussed on only a handful of insights or areas of communication.
So it’s great to see a brand like Colgate to come out with something unique which is not related to oral care.
A brand, which has for years focussed on one main insight, to experiment with something unique, must be a real challenge.
But I’m glad they rose to the occasion.
2) Brand connect plays the most important role
I feel this ad campaign is beautifully executed, the cast, the way it’s shot, everything is spot on.
But if I have to ask my friend, ‘Have you seen this ad?’ the question would be phrased like “Have you seen the remarriage ad?” and not “Have you seen the Colgate ad?”.
Unless you look at the logo at the top of the screen, I feel the connection is really hard to establish.
3) When living in a negative environment, a positive feel-good ad makes a lot of difference.
When I came across this ad, I thought of multiple ways in which the brand could promote safety.
Just like any other brand, advertising during the Covid-19 situation.
Recently the brand even came up with an insight that talks about how if your mouth is safe, it ensures complete safety.
This was in sync with how other brands are communicating these days.
But this particular campaign stood out- because honestly, I may not be interested in looking at 100 brands just bombarding a safety message.
On the other hand, I would love to look at a brand that is talking about the future.
A brand that is assuring me that, what we are experiencing today may not be constant.
Communication that makes me want to go back to a restaurant and dine worry-free or just step out of the house without wearing a mask not worrying about contracting a disease.
So in a pool of negativity, I will latch on to that one positive feel.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!