Think big with IDBI

Every brand has its own challenge. IDBI has always been known as an institution that finances big industries. Not many people know that IDBI is also into retail banking serving end consumers. The challenge of changing this perception among its clients has led the bank to launch its first ever TVC, ‘Aao Sochen Bada’.

A senior publicity official at IDBI says, “We never felt the need to communicate. This is why we never had a TVC. The only advertisements that we have done in all these years is print, and that too product oriented.”

The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) was established in 1964. It was set up with the aim to provide credit and other facilities for the development of Indian industry. In 1994, IDBI Bank Ltd was established as a subsidiary of IDBI. This was their foray into commercial banking. In October 2004, the parent IDBI converted into a banking company as IDBI Ltd. On April 2, 2005, IDBI Bank Ltd was merged into IDBI Ltd. Following this, IDBI Ltd wants to emerge as a top-drawer commercial bank, providing innovative financial and banking solutions for corporates as well as individuals.

The official says, “This time around, there was a need to communicate the repositioning of the brand. The bank is now a commercial bank. It is no more only for corporates or for financing developmental works. It is now for the common man. It is a modern bank with modern technology aimed at helping people.”

The commercial opens with a young man sitting before his laptop; a thought bubble flies up in the sky. The song in the background opens with the lines, ‘Ek chota sa man ud chala (A tender mind soars up to the sky).’ A girl sitting on a bench is thinking of something and the thought bubble becomes bigger. It flies higher with the song in the background, ‘Choo le armanon ka aasman. Ek chota sa man ud chala (Touch the sky of your desires as your mind soars).’

The next scene shows a little boy looking out of a car. Then, a young girl at the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata and the bubble merges with her thoughts and becomes even bigger. The next scene shows some trekkers climbing a mountain, grinning at what they have achieved. Cut to a little boy and his mother in the backwaters of Kerala. The song continues, ‘Meri aasha hain, mera yakeen; Khwab hain manzilon ki nishaan. Ek chota sa man ud chala (My hopes are my confidence. My dreams are the milestones of my destination. My mind is soaring towards the sky).’ The TVC ends with many people marching forward, symbolising the nation as a whole moving towards the bubble. The voiceover says, ‘Har Hindustani ki soch ko hum denge udaan (We will give flight to the thoughts of each Indian).’ And then ends with, ‘IDBI Bank, Aao Sochen Bada (IDBI Bank, Let’s Think Big).’

Another version of the same 45-second commercial has the same beginning and end, but features a different set of people, capturing the essence of Rajasthan and Punjab.

The IDBI official says, “In the last 40 years, the bank has helped people in the industry segment think big. Now we want to extend this to people by operating as a commercial bank.”

Commenting on the brief given by the client, Rajeev Raja, executive creative director, Bates, says, “The brief given to us was to present the new entity of the bank. The commercial aims to convey the message that everybody has a dream. With the economy shifting in India’s favour, Indians are thinking big as never before. And IDBI wants to say that it is firmly behind each and every Indian and will help them fulfil their dreams.”

The commercial has been shot in Kerala, Kolkata, Rajasthan, near the Rohtang Pass near Manali, Mumbai and Punjab.

Raja adds, “We went across the country capturing the length and breadth of India and then the biggest challenge was to not make the commercial look like an India tourism spot.”

He continues, “This is where the music and the thought bubble helped us. The thought bubble gets bigger and bigger and is representative of the collective dream of the nation. We used orange for the bubble, which later merges with the IDBI logo as it is the corporate colour of the bank.”

The music for the commercial has been scored by Rajat Dholakia. The music is folk based, yet its instrumentation is such that it captures the progressive thinking of Indians.

In terms of music, Shoojit Sircar, filmmaker, Red Ice, says, “We wanted the lyrics to be similar to the poet Gulzar’s style. But I personally wanted the music to be very much like a Hindi film song, very hummable.”

Sircar says, “While shooting the commercial, I was confident that it should be premium quality visually, with world class imagery, but that the characters should be very Indian.”

Commenting on the casting, he says, “The important thing while casting for the commercial was to make it as mass as possible. That is why we have used a farmer, an executive, a college girl, mother and son and a schoolgirl to depict characters that are down to earth and real.”

Sircar says, “I think what adds a unique quality to the commercial is the thought bubble. Playing with the bubble adds a new dimension to the TVC.”

© 2005 agencyfaqs!