"This is not a 'soap film'; this is my 'brand film'": Godrej's Sunil Kataria on Cinthol's #AliveIsOffline ad

"Your time is more valuable than your timeline."

"Have a conversation without a character limit."

"Filter your thoughts, not photographs."

"Live your life, don't scroll through it."

"The world is more beautiful than the World Wide Web."

There are more such words of wisdom, delivered by an evenly pitched female voice-over, in Cinthol's new minute-and-a-half-long film.

Titled #AliveIsOffline, an extension of the brand's two-year-old umbrella thought 'Alive is Awesome', the film urges today's perpetually logged-in consumers to get off the internet, keep their smartphones away, and, well, live a little - in the real world, that is.

Ironically, the campaign is a digital one. The film has crossed 22,000 shares on Facebook and six lakh views on YouTube.

In the film, a lone male traveller explores the scenic outdoors while making a conscious attempt to ignore incoming phone calls. Shot in Kerala, the ad has been crafted by Creativeland Asia and produced by BWP Totem Productions.

Is the insight research-backed or intuitive? The latter, Kataria admits. "The best insights are intuitive, omnipresent and obvious - not prone to research," he tells afaqs!.

Anu Joseph, executive creative director, Creativeland Asia, says, "...We go on holidays, but never go offline. We are never alive in the moment..." The campaign, he says, is Cinthol's way of reminding people to lead more "balanced" lives.

As part of the teaser leg of the campaign, team Cinthol asked people - 'What would you give up your Twitter handle in exchange for?' Hashtags #Addicted and #AliveIsAwesome were used.

In the ad, when calls to the protagonist go unanswered, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) says, "The person you are trying to call is currently busy". Cinthol is making similar-sounding, customised caller tunes available for mass download. The goal is to reach 90 million users, shares the brand team. For this, Cinthol has tied up with several telecom providers.

The brand also plans to leverage the power of its online content partners and Twitter influencers to promote the campaign.

Awesome Insight?

What do communications experts make of this effort?

While it reminds some of Coca-Cola's recent anti-phubbing film, others say it looks more like an ad for Wildcraft, an adventure gear brand.

As one expert puts it, "This film is a 'planner's AV' kind of spot, the end frames of which could have come from any category - travel, tourism, bicycles, shoes, outdoor gear, deos, SUVs..."

Still others say it's risky for a brand to, in its communication, go against the tidal wave of digitisation; after all, goes the argument, we're a nation that takes immense pride in its smartphone penetration figures.

So what does an insight this like tell us about today's Indian consumer? Are we really that guilty of being indoor -or shall we say, online- enthusiasts?

"The other theme I see in this kind of communication," he adds, "is the typical 'those were the days'/'the times have changed' statement. Every generation looks at the newer guys and has something negative to say. When Cinthol makes a statement like this, it risks becoming 'preachy'."

The brand connect, insist many, is weak in this film. "It would have made more sense if the product was closer to the execution, critiques Banerjee, adding, "The first few ads (released under the Alive Is Awesome thought) linked it (Cinthol) back to a feeling of freshness... a clear connect to the category. But this new execution makes a larger-than-life statement, running down the world of connectivity and mobiles, but does not tell the consumer how exactly the brand helps this happen. All it seems to do is advocate this way of living. Not a strong connection at all."

Would it have helped if the protagonist was shown lathering up with a bar of Cinthol? "A small connect, be it through a product demonstration, or even a usage occasion, would have helped," Banerjee answers.

Says Prem Mehta, former chairman and managing director, Lintas India, and present day chairman, The Northpoint Centre of Learning, a management institute, "While, it (the creative execution) is interesting from the point of view of building a long-term, outdoor personality, the immediate relevance to the product offering is questionable. But it certainly would have been outdated to include the obvious act of bathing with the soap in a commercial of this kind."

Cinthol's Kataria defends, "Different films have different purposes. I have done films that show people bathing under waterfalls - that's because we wanted to build a connect for Cinthol, the soap. But I don't want to just sell soap. Yes, I want to sell premium, functional benefits, which my functional films will do. This one is my 'brand film'. This is not a 'soap film'."