TVS Wego: The balancing act

BBH Mumbai has crafted a new ad campaign to announce the launch of TVS' new scooter, the Wego. This offering is positioned as a unisex one with unique features that cater to urban men and women riders. The campaign introduces a new perspective in the two-wheeler category by highlighting the feature of body balance.

The communication attempts to position the Wego as the most efficient and enjoyable means of conveyance for a young urban couple to travel within the city. According to the agency, the TVC attempts to bring back the fun and spontaneity of the scooter for the edgy new urban couple. It demonstrates how the Wego's body balance feature allows the riders' weight to be distributed evenly, thus making it a sturdy, yet fun ride around the city.

Partha Sinha, managing partner, BBH further explains the positioning. "The Wego is designed specifically for urban couples. It's packed with enough to please Him and Her. We wanted to amplify this product narrative with a relevant social meaning," says Sinha. He goes on to explain how the Wego is like an antidote to today's stressful urban life. "The task was to place the core feature of body balance in an invitational world of play," he sums up.

The creative team at BBH includes Russell Barrett, creative head, and Darshan Choudhari and Sundar Iyer, brand partners. Julien Lutz of Kiss Films has directed the film. Madison, Bengaluru, handles the media duties for the account.

While Subhash Kamath, managing partner, BBH, tips his hat towards the team at Wego for encouraging this "brave" campaign, Barrett enthuses, "At the end of it all, we're pretty sure people are going to understand that the TVS Wego has got body balance, and that body balance can make some pretty cool stuff happen. How much more technical can you get?"

The print campaign for the Wego started in January and will continue to support the television campaign.

A Fine Balance?

While some industry professionals adored the ad, others found it just average.

Swati Bhattacharya, vice-president and executive creative director, JWT Delhi tells afaqs! why she loved the ad film. "The insight used is great. I love the way newly married love is displayed today. It's not about how much you love the guy, it's about how you're cool enough to openly show it!" she quips.

So what's Bhattacharya's take on the way the campaign puts forth the USP of body balance? "Any USP, if brought about in this kind of memorable way, is great. Buyers will anyway do their research and homework before making a purchase - but this is a brilliant way to put forth the main product offering," she appreciates. She adds that the creative team could have easily shown a bunch of trapeze artists balancing on the scooters to display the body balance feature. "Of course, there would have been no 'namak' had they done that," she says.

Overall, Bhattacharya feels that this ad is rather daring as opposed to other bike and scooter ads that are much "safer".

Putting forth a different point of view, Rohit Malkani, executive creative director, Grey, says that the ad is not too memorable. "Though it starts really well, the end, in my opinion, is a bit contrived - with the bit about the old Parsi couple observing the scene," he says. However, he does feel that the ad is visually very funny owing to the two women doing things one doesn't normally get to see.

"But, it doesn't quite come together in the end," he adds, nonetheless. To sum it, Malkani thinks the film is a great first watch, but pretty low on 'repeat watch value'. He finds the music "okay", too.