HCL’s day out

India’s first computer company, HCL, wants to shed its low profile image and create more awareness about its technology prowess. HCL Enterprise, a $4.8 billion (around Rs 18,535 crore) company, has unleashed an extension of its earlier “touching lives” campaign.

In 2007, HCL had come up with an advertising campaign that talked about the reach and importance of HCL technology in everyday life. The 60 second TV commercial told the story of a hitchhiker, who is an HCL employee. The same HCL employee features in the new TVC, but the plot takes a leap from its previous communication and brings in the stories of various people and sectors that have benefited in one way or the other from HCL. The commercial focuses on the width and depth of HCL’s technology, products and solutions and its ability to touch lives across the globe.

The core target group for the TVC are potential employers, decision makers and entrepreneurs in the IT space. Adds Saurav Adhikari, corporate vice-president, strategy, HCL Technologies, “The creative challenge for this TVC was to package so many areas of HCL’s presence and show them in a humorous and impactful manner, yet retaining the emotional connect. Through the new commercial, we wanted to reinforce the fact that HCL, via its innovative approach and creative edge, has always fashioned technology that improves the quality of people’s lives.”

In the new TVC, the story begins when an investment banker accidentally swaps his jacket with that of an HCL employee at an airport. From being just one in the crowd to becoming ‘The One’, the investment banker runs into people from diverse backgrounds, discovering new facets of HCL and the way it has empowered their lives. (Submit your opinion on this ad.)

The TVC has been conceptualised and developed by Draft-FCB-Ulka. Says Sanjeev Bhargava, chief operating officer, Draft-FCB-Ulka, “The tone of the ad highlights HCL’s core strength: the combination of more than three decades of pioneering technology and the freshness of its outlook personified by the young HCL employee. The look and feel of the ad is youthful and vibrant, thus reiterating the spirit of the organisation.”