A welcome summer with Samsung air-conditioners

It is only March and the mercury levels already have most of us in India complaining. Warmer months lie ahead and not everyone likes the thought of 'welcoming the summer'. Samsung does not think so though, with the latest television commercial of Samsung air conditioners building on that very thought - Welcome summer!

Created by Cheil Worldwide, the ad pushes the company's new S series compressors that do not require stabilisers and can cool even at very high temperatures.

The sun plays a central role through the film and almost every situation through the ad suggests a welcome gesture to it. A music track composed by Rupert Fernandes plays through the ad and aptly captures the carefree mood of the film.

The film ends with a voiceover that talks about the AC with the new compressor, which is 'designed to keep the Indian summer outside' and is 'India ready'.

The TVC is directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures.

The brief was to introduce the compressor and creatively convey powerful cooling, says M Rafi, product manager, Samsung air-conditioners.

While summer brings its own worries among people who choose to stay indoors, the commercial encourages one and all to go out, welcome the summer and come back without carrying in the heat.

"We are trying to say that the product gives the consumer the confidence to take on what the Indian summer throws at them. You cannot go out and air-condition the world. However, with this particular product, you wouldn't have to carry the summer into the house," he says.

The company is looking at extensive promotions during the Indian Premier League. The ad will also be aired on select general entertainment and news channels.

"Everything in the next one month will revolve around the IPL. Ads aired through the tournament will definitely give us the visibility that we want," Rafi says.

Television will be supported by a print campaign concentrated across nine metros in the country, along with certain semi urban markets.

Just the right feel

"Celebrating summer outside because you have a powerful AC at home is a nice area to be in. The ad is more of a feel thing and is a mood film. It works for me and I quite like it," says Ambar Chakravarty, executive creative director, Publicis Ambience.

Ramkrishna Gopi Yadav, creative director, Lowe Lintas agrees. "The treatment is fantastic. The mood is captured just right, with some great camera angles and the imagery is very powerful and fresh. The ad actually makes me want to buy the product," says an enthused Yadav.

Sujay Shetty, director, Whodunit Films thinks that the camera work and colours are excellent.

"While it looks like being shot in and around Mumbai, the look is very international," Shetty says. However, he thinks that the 'Welcome summer' idea hijacks the brand and he could not remember it as a Samsung air-conditioner ad by the end of the film.

Chakravarty, too, has a suggestion. He thinks that since the ad talks about the Indian summer, the international feel, with the execution and music, could have made way for a mood that Indians could relate to better.

"Summer is a very personal Indian thing. We live with it for months. Every Indian has a personal summer story. Hence, the ad could have been made a little more enjoyable with some Indian insights that would have resonated a bit better and made it more endearing," he remarks.