Set in a sharp contrast of a slum right behind a multi-storeyed building, a mother sits at the fire she’s managed to set up outside her thatched roof and is making rotis for her little boy. Time and again, she burns her fingers on the heat of the flame, but carries on, determined to feed her child. Noticing her pain, the boy gets an idea and runs to the dump yard nearby, paying no heed to his worried mother. He comes back with a cable wire moulded into a tong and gives it to her. The ad ends with the overwhelmed emotion portrayed by the expression in the mother’s eyes as the boy hungrily eats on.The tagline, “Havells. Wires that don’t catch fire.”
I vote this as one of the best advertisements.
Of all the advertisements in the world, why this, you may ask.
Because, not only does it portray the usage of the product in an unusual way, it appeals to the sentiments of the people who watch it, leaving an impression on the mind and in the heart. Any advert that has the power to conquer the impressions of the crowds and manage to make a mark deserves appreciation. Hence, I believe that the ad campaign of Havells definitely wins on this score.
Ad Campaigns:
Havells India Ltd. has created its ad campaigns to fulfil the expectations of a ‘shock proof’ life asc can be demonstrated in all their ads. Created by Lowe Lintas and Partners, it uses humour that is quirky and fun to advertise its products in the most effective way possible to get the point across.
In one of its latest plots set in a mental institution, the advertisement involves the doctor receiving a shock from medical equipment. Every doctor who touches him begins to get the shock through bodily transfer until eventually the patient walks out in the doctor’s attire, shock free. Through this absurdly comical manner, they have managed to get their point across, and that is that their switches are shock proof. It goes with their tagline, which is ‘Shock Laga Kya?’.
This has improved their product sales and increased their branding.
Similarly, along the same lines, their ad promotions include fans advertised with a social message of saving electricity and a cheesy ad for a shock proof dryer involving a family. While all their themes are centred on the idea of not receiving electric shocks, each of their ads for every product they market seems to be different from the rest. But they all are the same in one aspect and that is the witty humour that is involved in every single one of them.
The Vice President of Marketing and Communication of Havells India, Mr. Vijay Narayan, believes that it is important to portray to the customers the value of the product through advertising.
He says,
“We want to make sure consumers know what they are buying; hence we come up with eye-catching advertising that we are sure people will take notice of.”
Mr. R Balakrishnan, the Chairperson of Lowe Lintas believes in giving a different approach to the marketing strategy. In his words,
“We decided to take a diametrically different approach and refused to give it a brand personality. That redefined the advertising which is why each ad is so different from the other.”
Promotional Strategies:
Approaching towards the angle of strategies that is re-implemented in Havells’ marketing and business promotion, one key factor that comes to mind is their aptness in discovering the peak seasons and times. Timing is their strongest suit.
Havell’s advertising can be seen linked to the IPL season. This is when most televisions all over Indian households are left on, and hence there are higher chances of more potential clients watching their advertisements. Another example can be seen in the way that they have cleverly utilized the recession period to advertise their switches, yet another energy saving and cost reducing initiative. This year, they’ve begun the tedious process of strengthening their roots by conglomerating into the field of appliances, more specifically, into water heaters.
Their social value combined with marketing strategies is what makes them stand out among the rest. With the ‘Save Energy’ campaign, they hope to achieve this via the overt advertising of their products while banking on the success they plan to achieve. This promotional strategy combined with the initiatives of Corporate Social Responsibility is what makes them commendable.
Another unique strategy by Havells is the display of their product ranges in most of the wholesale markets, for the consumers to see. This way, a sample is listed out for the prospective buyers to have an idea of how Havells products would look and function.
Brief History:
Having been founded in the year 1958, by Qimat Rai Gupta, an educational dropout, he started with an investment of Rs. 10,000. In the year 1971, Qimat Rai Gupta bought the distressed Havells brand from its founder, Haveli Ram Gupta, for Rs. 7 Lakh. This was followed by a series of acquisitions and joint ventures, till eventually, categories of new products were ventured into.
Today, Havells India Ltd is worth over Rs. 7000 crores. They now have a track record of five successful acquisitions and very high growth in its operations in India. Looking at Havells India Ltd. as a sure threat to all the other popular brands today, one is eagerly awaiting and wondering how their upcoming innovative advertisement is going to tickle our funny bones next.
[The article has been written by Shravya Gunipudi, a 20 year old CA Final Student with a Gold Medal in Commerce stream. She has a deep passion for writing that started from a very tender age. She has won multiple ‘Short Story’, ‘Article Writing’, ‘Essay’ and ‘Poetry’ Contests over the last year. ]
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