Manyavar attempts to drive suit-to-shervani trend

A frustrated woman professional once wrote a LinkedIn post requesting men not to treat the social platform as a dating app. Manyavar's latest ad campaign with Ranveer Singh features a similar crossover. In the ad, Singh is seen following an elderly man around, badgering him about a job opportunity. The ad tries to drive home the point that this is a wedding, not a job interview. Western formal clothes may be acceptable in an interview, but the campaign implies that a person attending a wedding isn’t fully dressed for the occasion, unless Indian clothes are involved.

The ads focus on one particular insight – that attendees aren’t ready for an event/occasion, unless they’re wearing Indian traditional formal clothes. Fashion seems to have come full circle, as marriages of yesteryear featured the groom himself dressed in a suit during the wedding reception. In August this year, the brand had released a commercial featuring Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan, carrying the same tagline - 'tayyaar hoke aa jao' (Go, get ready and come) which was based on a similar concept. Manyavar uses multiple brand ambassadors – including Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma and now Ranveer Singh, who has been recently signed on. The ads have been conceptualised and created by Shreyansh Innovations.

Experts Speak

Marketing consultant Shripad Kulkarni points out that when it comes to the bride's family, everyone is typically dressed in Western clothes. "At a wedding these days, the bride is obviously well dressed but now, the groom also has a variety of clothes to choose from. The couple’s parents, especially the fathers, don’t wear ethnic clothes - this is the insight. They're mostly in Western clothes, and this is what the brand is trying to address. What the brand is saying is that everybody should wear Indian clothes, not just the families of those getting married," he says.

Kulkarni refers to it as a mindset that the brand is trying to create, that of donning ethnic wear during these occasions. When asked if this is Manyavar's way of competing with the Raymond and Van Heusens of the world - he agrees and disagrees simultaneously. "They're not directly competing with these brands, but they're trying to create relevance for themselves in the ethnic dressing space," he says. "Around 15 years ago, the groom himself could be seen in a suit. Now they're trying to bring about a change in the somewhat unsaid ritual of dressing up in a certain way to match these occasions. They're not just talking to the groom's father - it's for anyone who is attending a formal event like the one in the ad," he says.

As far as the choice of celebrities go, Kulkarni feels it doesn't matter much which celebrity is selected - as long as they're current and relevant. "At the end of the day, the plot of the ad is pretty generic and it's not a very well-crafted position. It's a standard Indian wedding, so the choice of celebrity works," he avers.

Mythili Chandrasekhar, a former planner with JWT and now a consumer behaviour and brand strategy enthusiast claims to be a fan of the campaign. "It's not about using Ranveer Singh here. It's about the idea that you're not dressed for an Indian wedding unless you're in Indian clothes. They've identified Western clothes as the enemy in this communication," she says.

She adds that in the past, Manyavar has done occasion building very well. "Their Kurta series of ads were pretty interesting too. In this case, they've tried to answer the question - 'What should we replace?' in a buying system - that's a classic way of creating demand for a product. This is along the lines of companies telling you to use honey instead of sugar," she explains.

She adds that the mindset to wear Indian clothes during such occasions is already changing and that Manyavar is trying to ride that wave. "They were part of creating that mindset with their ads for the wedding collection. They're taking the leadership position in this category since technically, they're pushing the concept of Indian clothes and not just their own brand. If you've reached the status where you're talking on behalf of the whole category, then it's a good thing. People at Manyavar know that when a person buys a Manyavar item, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to refrain from buying/wearing Western clothes," Chandrasekhar concludes.

Ashish Khazanchi, managing partner and founder of Enormous Brands likes the concept of the campaign - of attending a wedding, not an interview. "It's quite a phenomenal effort. The work that these guys along with the agency has done is based on insights. It taps into the existing behaviour of people using their Western formal clothes for Indian formal events. Our weddings aren't like the ones in the West - they involve a lot more pomp and opulence. It's a nice way of shining the spotlight on to an area that they own," he says.

"The film itself isn't as bright as the insights it's based on. The insight helps identify the enemy and suggests that someone wearing Western clothes isn't necessarily dressed for the occasion. What Manyavar has been doing for the past few years is that they've become synonymous with all occasions in which a person would don Indian wear. They've associated with festivals, celebrity weddings and so on," he tells us. "The basic understanding of culture and how we are as a people is good - unsure if I can say the same about the film. It's competent without being bright or creative," Khazanchi opines. He adds that Manyavar's choice of brand ambassadors is fine, and says that they all come from the same personality archetype - outgoing and outstanding. "Think of a person with the personality archetype of a peacock..." he says.

When asked if Manyavar is trying to compete with formal Western wear brands like Raymond or Allen Solly, Khazanchi disagrees. "Manyavar's competition in this case is not a brand like Raymond or Van Heusen. Their space is any space where a celebratory event is happening and they're trying to own that space. Their biggest enemy, you could say, is laziness when it comes to dressing up. People may just wear what they already own as opposed to buying appropriate clothes for the occasion. The person who wants to get a suit stitched for a wedding is who they're looking out for..." he signs off.