Children drive home the message for Tata Capital

Perhaps more children are seen in financial ads these days than in nurseries. Over the last few years, several brands in this space have made use of creative elements associated with children and childhood to drive home their message.

The latest financial player to join the club is Tata Capital, a brand that is investing in its brand identity for the first time. Its aim is to be seen as an expert in the field of finance, as a company that places the needs of its consumers before all else.

Conceptualised by Leo Burnett, the film was shot by Shoojit Sircar of Yahaan fame in Shimla over a span of six days, including three days of pre-production.

The brief given to Leo Burnett was to portray Tata Capital as an honest, professional and transparent brand. Shyam Mani, chief operating officer, retail finance, Tata Capital, says that through the ad, Tata Capital wanted to convey that it puts consumer satisfaction before everything else.

About the timing of the ad, Mani explains, “Recently, we’ve added various personal products, such as personal loans and home equity finance, to our business portfolio. Earlier, we were concentrating mainly on our industrial products.”

Tata Capital has also launched a signature tune as part of the rebranding exercise. The tune has been composed by musical trio, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. Praveen Kadle, managing director, Tata Capital, says, "We decided to have a signature tune as it would reflect the soul of the company – honest, genuine, caring and professional." The tune will be used in all internal and external communication.

KV Sridhar, aka Pops, national creative director, Leo Burnett, says that since this was a finance-related brand, the proposition of trust had to be conveyed through the campaign.

The Coin campaign was released nationally on December 19 through all major media, such as television, print, radio, outdoor and digital.

Niranjan Kaushik, creative director, McCann Erickson, says, "This is a really sweet and endearing thought, put together quite nicely. What's even better is the casting and the way the film has been shot. The one thing that makes me raise my eyebrows a little: Are too many financial ads using kids to make their point? Nevertheless, it's still a lovely commercial."

Hanoz Mogrelia, creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, doesn’t approve of the clichés used in the ad. “Give it warmth showing kids, give it old world charm, and give it that personal touch by showing the problem being solved in the most charming manner. Make sure it is seen as a finance company's TVC by featuring a coin or something related to finance. Having said all that, as far as formula films go, this is as good as it gets.” However, Mogrelia says that the film has good production values and good casting.

Rahul Jauhari, head of creative, Pickle Advertising, echoes a similar thought, "Looks like a hill station, an out of circulation coin, two kids, an ice-candy man, a coin exchange shop, a boy who magically appears, cycles away and reappears, have all been put together without making a deeper or logical connection."

Nilesh Vaidya, creative director, Euro RSCG, isn't sure what the message is. "At the end of it, I didn't know any more about Tata Capital than I did to start with," he says. He adds that the last frame of the ad was the most informative, because it mentioned all the businesses of the brand.