World Gold Council: A fresh approach

This festive season, World Gold Council brings back the original 'grihalakshmi', and urges consumers to invest in gold.

Over the years, jewellery brands have celebrated women and womanhood, and every festive occasion has given the opportunity to showcase jewellery brands as symbolic of the association between gold and women. This festive season, World Gold Council takes an unusual route and re-positions the relationship between the glittering metal and women, as it asks consumers to buy gold as an investment for long-term relationships.

Conceptualised by BBH India, the television commercial (TVC) titled World Gold Council, shows a mother-in-law talking to her daughter-in-law. It's the festive season, and the older lady tells her daughter-in-law that she would like to gift her something special and expensive -- a gift received from her husband on their 10th Diwali together. The happy daughter-in-law expects something very special, but to her dismay gets an old and battered television set. A voiceover then says that had her husband invested in gold 10 years ago, the mother-in-law could have gifted gold jewellery to her daughter-in-law, and would have helped create a better relationship. Towards the end, the voiceover asks viewers to invest in gold this Diwali, as a better investment in relationships.

Prachi Tiwari, marketing director, World Gold Council, says, "As the market development body for gold, we at the World Gold Council, aim to drive relevance for gold across consumer categories and life stages. This festive season, we decided to take a very fresh, innovative approach to drive home the importance of investing in the much-treasured yellow metal."

According to Tiwari, the TVC has been created to drive home the point that Diwali can be seen as a time to reaffirm wedding vows to a wife, or tell a daughter how much she means. "The TVC essentially reminds people of gold's enduring and everlasting value, how it brings families closer, and underscores that investment in gold, family, and relationships only further strengthens with time."

Talking about the idea of positioning gold as an investment factor, Partha Sinha, managing partner, BBH India, says, "Over the year, most jewellery brands targeted the 'grihalakshmi' (woman of the house), who became the brand ambassador of gold jewellery, and at the same time, turned into capitalism's pet girl. Given that gold is so well-entrenched in our customs and traditions, its use has become somewhat ritualistic. There was thus a need to show a strong reason to make gold an inherent part of Diwali festivities and spending. This year, we thought of reducing the ritualistic value of gold and turning it into an asset that is bought and cherished, and as something which helps strengthen relations with loved ones."

Taking the television commercial to the ground level, the agency has set up a hoarding at Juhu in Mumbai, where it has installed more than 50 old TV sets. The hoarding reads, 'This Diwali, invest in something that lasts'.

A reason to celebrate

The television commercial has been liked by the advertising fraternity, which finds the agency's strategy a break from the old, and a fresh idea for a body associated with jewellery.

Suraja Kishore, national planning director, Publicis Ambience India, says, "I like the TVC for its freshness. Traditionally, Indians consider gold as an investment in wealth, to be passed on from one generation to another. What's new is the storytelling from the lens of the young generation, as well as the satirical treatment of the story."

According to Kishore, the campaign could have been made more resonating if the creative agency had also adopted a youthful tagline, one that could have become a smart repartee to all the mindless spending during Diwali.

"From the campaign point of view, the TVC and the rest of the work on the hoardings do not have similar satirical treatment, and therefore, lack the cumulative impact," adds Kishore.

Kawal Shoor, head, planning, Ogilvy India, says, "People are sitting on piles of cash -- paralysed into non-action due to some imagined uncertainty. The thought and the timing of this advertising message are spot-on. What I don't particularly like, despite its attempt to break communication codes of the category, is the execution -- corny should be really corny to be cool. And, this isn't corny enough."

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