Royal Stag mixes a large one with Bollywood and cricket

Seeking to create further brand recall and address an expanding target group, Seagram India has launched a television commercial (TVC) for its brand, Royal Stag with Saif Ali Khan – its brand ambassador and a few cricketers.

In the TVC, Khan will be seen along with well known Indian cricketers such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Robin Uthappa. In the past, Royal Stag has used several cricket stars such as Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting for its print and outdoor campaigns.

Says Bikram Basu, vice-president, marketing, Seagram India, “The consumer profile for Royal Stag has not changed much over the years, though we have realised that, over the years, the target base has expanded enormously. This TVC, by virtue of mixing cricket and fun, intends to send out a larger than life message. Cricket is the only game that creates an instant connect with almost everyone in India.”

The film features Khan and the cricketers as members of a rock band. While they are jamming, they feel the need to do something to make their music larger than life. Next, we see the cricketers strolling into a mall. Just then, a masked robber snatches Dhoni’s bag and runs away. The cricketers run after the masked man to retrieve their bag.

As they chase the thief across town, more and more people join them. The thrill quotient increases as the masked thief evades the crowd, runs through heavy traffic and overcomes other hurdles using heavy duty stunts. Finally, he reaches a rooftop and the cricketers surround him. The thief removes his mask to reveal that he is Khan.

Khan shares a smile with the cricketers indicating that the chase was a plan to gather a big crowd for a party. Their band then gives a live performance right out there. They “make it large”. (Submit your opinion on this ad.)

Ogilvy is the creative agency behind the campaign. Nitin Srivastava is the creative director and Vinil Mathew of Foot Candles, the director.

Says Nitin Srivastava, senior creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, “Royal Stag wants to take its brand positioning of ‘Make it Large’ to the next level. By involving five celebrities from movies and cricket – both considered to be religion in this country, the campaign needs to connect with young adults and their attitude towards life. As such, the overall brand message was meant to be larger than life and communicated in a truly international way.”

Managing five celebrities was not an easy task. Srivastava says, “Five mega celebrities in a single film was surely a challenge. The scale of the film had to be large. It was like a big jigsaw puzzle for Ogilvy’s creative team, comprising Anuj Kala (copywriter) and Ayan Das (art director). The team took the essence of the brand, ‘Make it Large’, and built further on it, taking it to a new level altogether. Once the basic idea was in place, the rest was about outlining the story, which had to be thrilling and fast paced. Shooting the film wasn’t a cakewalk either. Only two days were available when all five (stars) could be together. But Vinil Mathew of Foot Candles made sure everything fell into place and the product came out as desired.”

Foot Candles had its own share of challenges to face while executing the script. To achieve the concept of ‘free-run’, which has been shown in the film, the production house flew in a specialist from London. Mathew says, “The scale of shooting was mammoth. The most basic challenge was to give equal attention to all the celebrities and at the same time tell the story. The story moves pretty fast and the film is shot in a moving fashion.”