Neha Kalra
Advertising

With a snap of the fingers, Jaypee’s first ad on TV

Contract Advertising was appointed Jaypee’s creative agency in the latter part of 2006

Can only a magician get something to appear out of nowhere with a snap of the fingers? Well, a five-year-old child can do so, according to the first-ever TVC by the Jaypee Group, which seeks to cultivate a soft image for an old player in heavy industry. The Delhi-based conglomerate’s main areas of business are civil engineering, private hydropower, cement, integrated townships and IT.

The group has now finally gone beyond the usual print advertising that it has been doing for some time. With its first initiative in television, it seeks to position itself as a company that simplifies the most difficult tasks. The client brief to Contract Advertising required it to bring out the strengths of the company that were not hitherto known to the common man. Sunita Joshi, executive general manager, Jaypee, says, “The idea was to release a communication which could act as a common thread across all businesses of the group.”

Talking about the strategy behind using a soft and emotional concept for the TVC, Vandana Katoch, creative director, Contract Advertising, says, “Sure, the Jaypee Group is into heavy duty areas like construction and cement, but at its very core, (which we discovered after studying the numerous projects it has undertaken), it is a company that takes on every challenge with childlike enthusiasm and ends up making the most gigantic of tasks look easy. If it is fearless, childlike enthusiasm that you want to convey, why not use children to do it?”

With a snap of the fingers, Jaypee’s first ad on TV
That’s how the agency came up with the ‘No Dream Too Big’ campaign for the Jaypee Group, wherein it juxtaposed “the sheer size of the projects with the innocent I-can-do-anything spirit of a child”. The logo is still to be worked out.

Talking about utilising children for the TVC, Joshi explains, “Looking at the category, bringing the features of Jaypee’s products and services to the fore would not have garnered much interest. It was easier to get children to connect with the audience that we were looking at. The child and his dreams personify the dream that the group wishes to achieve, and that there are no boundaries to dreams.”

The TVC depicts the corporate image of the Jaypee Group. The print ads, however, focus on the various areas the group is into. The film has been shot by Bangalore based Nirvana Films near the Tehri Dam in Uttaranchal.

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