With Alia Bhatt, Vicco's Vajradanti jingle makes a Bollywood style comeback

'Vajradanti, Vajradanti, Vicco Vajradanti' – the jingle from the iconic ad for Vajradanti, the oral care brand from FMCG company Vicco Labs has resurfaced in a new campaign featuring Bollywood star Alia Bhatt. While the new ad film retains the jingle from the original Vajradanti ads, it cuts down on the Ayurveda-heavy and problem-solution narrative. Also, with the addition of a popular star face and dance moves, the brand appears to be headed towards building a strong digital presence (across platforms like TikTok, etc.).

The ad film has been crafted by Triton Communications. Vicco Labs, the Nagpur based company, was established in 1952 and has built its brands over decades on the back of its 'natural - no chemicals' proposition. Also, Vicco is among the early proponents of 'Ayurveda' in the Indian personal care space, a space that is seeing a lot of competition today. Vajradanti was launched in its powdered form in the mid 1950s. The paste followed later. The Indian toothpaste market today is valued at a little over Rs 10,000 crore. The market is led by Colgate Palmolive (Colgate) and is followed by HUL (Pepsodent, Close Up), Dabur (Dabur Red) and Patanjali (Dant Kanti). However, reports suggest that Ayurveda backed companies like Dabur and Patanjali are making progress and are rapidly gaining market share. This is also forcing players like Colgate to push the Ayurveda narrative with brands like Vedshakti.

Vicco has also been playing up the 'natural' aspect of its brand portfolio and is undergoing a rebranding exercise. The brand recently ran a print campaign 'Trusted Ayurveda' showcasing all its brands. It also redid Vajradanti's packaging in mid-2019. Vicco announced Alia Bhatt as the brand ambassador earlier this month.

The brand's association with Alia is an attempt at connecting with a younger generation. "We have had a loyal customer base but we realised that somehow there has been a disconnect with the millennials. That's where Alia Bhatt comes on to the scene as an influencer and an icon," says Shrirang Tembherkar, brand and media manager, Vicco Labs.

The campaign broke a few days ago and is visible on TV and digital platforms. "We are going ahead with all types of channels including news, GEC, movies, etc. The campaign is also active in movie theatres. In the coming phases, we will also be leveraging all possible digital mediums that can help us connect with the youth. The new version of the jingle and the ad film rebuilds the connection with the audiences who have grown up with the tune and have even learnt it by heart."

Speaking of the key challenge facing the brand, Tembherkar says, "Despite having a high brand equity, Vicco is dealing with a disconnect with the younger generation. There will be more ads as part of the campaign which could about the functional benefits and newer variants of the product."

Speaking on the challenge of working on a campaign which has a high nostalgia value, Jyotsna Parikh, creative head, Mumbai - Triton says, "Nostalgia allows brands to connect with the consumers on a powerful emotional level but one needs to be very careful. It can either change the fortunes of the brand or backfire badly. As there is a very strong association that people have with nostalgic campaigns, they either love the change or hate it. There’s no in-between. So one has to be very clear as to what part of the original advertising is to be retained and what’s to be changed."

"In case of Vicco Vajradanti, the melody was a very strong asset of the brand. We wanted to retain the essence of the jingle and yet give it a modern upbeat feel. There were many objectives to meet while we were rebranding Vicco, the first being to modernise the brand and get a youth connect. This is what the first TVC does by using the magic of its jingle, something that the brand is strongly associated with. Having done this, we will soon launch a solution oriented communication done in a modern, quirky way," Parikh adds.

Industry Speak:

Prathap Suthan, chief creative officer, Bang In The Middle

I see this as a bridge. Something that they built to bring across the heritage, legacy, efficacy, nostalgia etc of the brand from the past to today. I like the way it begins with the refrain of the tune that has stayed with all of India across these years.

Contemporising anything has its challenges and there’s painful sacrifice that’s involved. Perhaps the biggest asset has been the tune and bringing it back to the present has been done well. Of course, there’d people who will like the track and those who won’t. That’s bound to happen, considering that there are many ways it could have been done. The good thing is that the tune is back, and for me, the brand is back in visible business.

This is also a bridge that connects regular middle-class users of this brand, to younger people across the country. Choosing Alia has been a good choice. She has energy, sass, and verve, and she has her own likable persona, which I think gives it a pan-Indian appeal. Overall, this new avatar of the brand saves its heritage, saves all the equity across the last few decades, saves and refreshes the brand, and makes it appealing to the newly recruited users of today.

Gulshan Singh, national planning director - FCB Interface

Vicco Vajradanti is trying to contemporise their original campaign for 2020, and they seem to have approached it with a ‘let’s tick the boxes’ manner – modern setting, millennial-friendly food, and a celeb that their TG can relate to.

The overall focus seems to be going neither here nor there. Consumers are likely to take away ‘modern Vicco Vajradanti’ at best. But as we’ve seen amongst younger consumers, they are less likely to adopt brands that claim to be the ‘best of both worlds’. Besides, today’s 20-25 year olds don’t share their parents’ familiarity with Vicco’s core product promise – hence, adding to the challenges for the brand.

It might be interesting for Vicco to explore committing to its heritage, and go after it whole-heartedly. Patanjali succeeded because it was committed to its roots, and consumers were convinced of its authenticity. Alternatively, Vicco could make a complete break with the past and commit completely to the new TG.

Amit Wadhwa, president, Dentsu Impact

What has been retained from the original ad are the basic lyrics of the jingle, the rest to me is different. The big miss for me is the natural/Ayurveda part of it. The original, howsoever tacky it might seem in the current context of ads, had a big stand out in the natural/ Ayurveda part. And now when so much is being spoken about the natural part of products, Vicco appears to have missed that crucial part.

The natural/ Aurveda part over here is hugely downplayed, which to me is a miss. Also, the jingle is something that possibly someone over 40 years like me remembers. Possibly, the younger generation is not even aware of it. This seems like an ad targeting the younger audience, so I am not sure if retaining the lyrics helps there. I feel a fresh take with nature and Ayurveda is a possible way forward.