Samsonite’s new campaign motivates viewers to brush off adversities

Luggage brand Samsonite has launched a campaign, titled 'Tested like Samsonite', to create a common ground with individuals who have encountered adversities in their lives. The brand has onboarded veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, and cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Mithali Raj as ambassadors.

The campaign includes three TVCs that feature the brand ambassadors delivering motivational monologues on dealing with hardships, juxtaposed with creative representation of Samsonite luggage bags being tested for strength and durability.

Conceptualised in collaboration with strategic consulting partner Centre of Gravity, the campaign will be placed across television, digital, social media, and outdoors. The three ad films have been created by Mumbai-headquartered creative agency Lowe Lintas. 

Given the utility and application of luggage bags, it's conceivable why Samsonite would opt to build its campaigns around homecoming and holidays. But with this latest campaign, the brand has chosen a message atypical of what we've come to expect of its commercials.

The choice of brand ambassadors, seems to be driven by the real life experiences of the three celebrities, who have encountered hardships in life and still persevered. The spot featuring Bachchan shows him theatrically representing the challenges of life, and facing them with confidence and valour. Singh, in his spot, is seen undergoing medical tests, while delivering the message of self-belief. Raj is seen bouncing a cricket ball across the glass walls in her message delivery.

Talking about the campaign, Anushree Tainwala, executive director at Samsonite South Asia, tells afaqs!, "Samsonite has become the gold standard for consumers. We're, of course, the most premium brand in the category. So, the question was, how do we integrate the premiumness of our products with the engineered testing that our products go through."

"We collaborated with a creative agency to bring to life the manufacturing trials that our products go through, and the idea of 'Tested like Samsonite' came about. The concept is, just like Samsonite products, there are people, regardless of how privileged they may be, who have gone through ups and downs in life and have come out victorious. That was the genesis of the campaign - in marrying the journey of life with the journey of the product," she adds.

On the target audience, Tainwala mentions, "The existing Samsonite customers are our target audience. Those who have arrived in life, and are frequent travellers. We’ve created a feel-good campaign to remind the consumers of why they're a part of the Samsonite family, and why they will continue to be so."

Commenting on the choice of ambassadors, she shares, "We were looking for people who're at the top of their respective fields. All three of these celebrities fit that criteria. Also, we were trying to onboard celebrities who have personally experienced the message of the campaign. Our ambassadors have seen ups and downs in their lives, and people are aware of their stories."

Given the campaign’s distinguishing narrative compared to previous advertising endeavours of the brand, we asked Prateek Bhardwaj, chief creative officer, Lowe Lintas, if there was a specific brief that agency was given.

His response, "Samsonite luggage is known the world over for its toughness. It delivers on this toughness through rigorous strength, quality and durability tests. These tests are at the very core of what makes a Samsonite, a Samsonite. Not surprisingly, the brief to us was to land the brand’s essence by referencing these tests. And, from there, drawing a parallel with how life tests even the best of us, seemed a natural and apt extension."

Speaking about the challenges the agency faced in executing the campaign, Bhardwaj reveals that to hire three prominent celebrities for a campaign can cause scheduling challenges.

"As with any multi-celebrity campaign, the biggest challenge was scheduling. To mount a production of this scale, while sticking to an uncompromising schedule, was quite demanding. More so because of our equally uncompromising emphasis on quality. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that those involved with the project were also tested, like Samsonite."

The overall theme of the campaign is quite minimalistic and modern. Bhardwaj says, "The campaign was always designed to be minimalistic and stark, as conceptualised by our team, and director Bharat (Sikka) brought in his own brilliant aesthetic to make it truly unforgettable."

"The essential idea of overcoming the challenges life throws our way, is a timeless one. We felt it deserved a visual representation that's as graphic and timeless as this.”