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MTDC: Luring workaholics with flights of fantasy
In an ad for Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), Mudra tries to make sure you don’t drop dead putting in those extra hours at work when you could be on your way to a picturesque getaway
Perhaps daydreaming is as much a part of a workaholic’s life as meetings, deadlines and incessant phone calls. The stress of daily routines and long working hours tend to take their toll on professionals and, at some point, one feels like throwing in the towel and escaping from it all.
Borrowing from this insight, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has unleashed a campaign on television which appeals to professionals to take the plunge and act on these impulses.
| With his sweetheart next to him a guy strolls along the beach. |
As he looks into her eyes, the VO plays, “this is all I want. To... |
...be with you. Let me take you away.” The guy picks up a conch... |
...and places it next to his ears. The next moment he finds himself... |
...sitting in the office hearing a credit card offer on the phone when he realises that it was only... |
...a dream. The ad ends with the voiceover: “Unlimited reasons to get lost. Super: Maharashtra unlimited. |
One of the ads shows a man strolling along a moonlit beach (Tarkarli in Maharashtra – near Goa) with his sweetheart. As he looks into her eyes, a romantic song plays in the background, with lyrics that say, ‘This is all I want… to be with you. Let me take you away.’ As the two walk along in blissful silence, the guy picks up a conch and puts it to his ear.
Cut to a shot of the guy in his office as he discovers that the conch he was holding is actually his mobile phone. The ring of the mobile phone shatters his dream and he takes the call only to hear a pesky salesgirl trying to sell him a credit card. He glances back at the screensaver on his computer, which contains the image of the beach he had imagined moments ago. The ad ends with the voiceover, “Unlimited Reasons to Get Lost”, while the super reads, ‘Maharashtra Unlimited’.
Prithviraj Patil, general manager, MTDC, says, “While most other tourism ads resemble a collage of the place to be visited, we wanted to build a story around the ad, based on a real life insight.” The TG for this ad is SEC AB, 22-40 year olds, particularly those who are employed (as they are often the decision makers in the family on such things because their work schedule needs to be adjusted accordingly).
Mudra had a double job to do. Firstly, it had to promote the concept of a getaway from work. Thus emerged the whole ‘Don’t Think, Just Act on It’ idea. That done, as a destination, Maharashtra had to be amongst the consideration set for those who did decide to venture out.
“People choose Goa and other such destinations when Maharashtra itself offers beaches, temples, forests and hill stations aplenty,” Gharat says. Mudra decided to keep the locations in the background and highlight the story instead. The ‘Unlimited Reasons to Get Lost’ thought was used to propel people into taking that much-delayed break, as there’s a whole new world within Maharashtra just waiting to be explored.
The film was shot over three nights by Vishal and Bob of Good Morning Films. The background track is by Ram Sampath. The overall campaign was allotted a budget of Rs 2 crore by MTDC.
© 2006 agencyfaqs!