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Bournvita's take on exam pressure this year...
Through its latest video centred on exam pressure, the brand continues to encourage parents to #LookBeyondMarks
It's that time of the year again when a parent’s expectations are set to ‘High’ as they wish for their kids to excel in every subject by faring exceptionally well in their exams. However, this over-expectation is the biggest reason for children feeling burdened and only adds to their anxiety. Needless to say, in the current context, Bournvita's #LookBeyondMarks campaign is probably a much-needed shot in the arm.
Like last year, the brand released a new ad for the season titled – ‘Bournvita - The Exam Collection’, taking the #LookBeyondMarks proposition forward. Ogilvy Mumbai conceptualised and created the ad and Footloose Films produced it.
Inderpreet Singh
Through its latest ad, the brand takes a progressive parenting stance and highlights the message that marks alone won’t define a child’s future. “Unfortunately, a large part of our society uses marks as the only marker of measuring a child’s potential. Through this campaign, we want to remind parents that every kid is special and that our job as parents, is to recognise their talent and provide them with the necessary nutrition and life skills to excel,” says Inderpreet Singh, associate director – Marketing (Gum, Candy & Beverages), Mondelez India.
This year’s brand film is much warmer than the one released in 2018 since the conversation has picked up differently. As a society, we need to consider if our kids get a choice to pursue their dreams. To drive the point home, Bournvita chose to talk to adults in an atmosphere where exams were farthest from their minds, but choices were of utmost priority. Comparing the dissatisfaction of not having the choice of clothes in an adult garment store to the lack of career choices for kids has certainly done the trick in triggering the thought.
“Last year, the Look Beyond Marks ‘Exam Sale’ video struck a chord with parents, principals and celebrities across the globe. This year, we wanted the message and the execution to hold its own while still nudging society to reorient its obsession with marks. With ‘The Exam Collection’ campaign, we shift the focus to something every child deserves, a choice for their future,” says Akshay Seth, group creative director, Ogilvy Mumbai.
Ever since the campaign was launched on digital platforms, it went viral and has been widely retweeted. In fact, Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, who rediscovered his form and smashed a brilliant century (143) in the 4th ODI during the recently concluded India-Australia ODI series, also got on board tweeting, “It is not necessary to score 90 per cent to be successful. I am so grateful that my parents understood that and let me pursue my dreams back in those days. I hope this video reaches all parents and helps them #LookBeyondMarks.”
Over to the Experts
Vibha Desai
According to brand consultant Vibha Desai, as a champion for kids, Bournvita has now entered the territory of overall care, not just health. In this communication, Bournvita is championing the choice of children to choose their careers and not just be doctors and engineers or be so mark centric.
Bikram Bindra
She says, “The communication is clearly done in an extremely stark and eye-catching way and is bound to catch the attention of many parents and students. It’s an effective ad and is reasonably well executed.”
Bikram Bindra, vice-president and strategic planning head - Delhi, Grey Group, says, “The thought, though not entirely new, is noble and remains relevant in a culture where we still remain quite fixated on academic excellence and have fairly boxed notions of success. The brand seems to want to own this space and it makes sense for an HFD that has a spike in relevance around exam time, to want to do so.”
Bindra, however, maintains, “I find the thought a bit confused in this specific execution and the ultimate sign-off of #lookbeyondmarks. Is the thought about being able to have more choices when it comes to a career or is it about putting a lot of emphasis on academic excellence? I find these two slightly distinct and am not clear which one the brand wants to own up to. Also, the execution doesn’t help - honestly the metaphor used to establish a lack of choice is so tenuous that it almost trivialises the point being made. I think this could have certainly been done in a more authentic and impactful manner.”
Credits:
Client: Mondelez India
Client team: Inderpreet Singh, Anaswar Rajagopal, Pratik Shetty, Smriti Agarwal, Ashwin Chandran and Srikanteaswaran TK
Agency: Ogilvy India
Group Chief Creative Officer: Sonal Dabral
Chief Creative Officers: Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Kainaz Karmakar and Sukesh Nayak
Creative team: Akshay Seth and Kanika Sethi
Account management: Prakash Nair, Mayuri Shukla, Nikita Agarwal, Pooja Jhawar
Strategy Planning: Russell John and Atreyi Nag
Production house: Footloose Films
Director: Nishant Goyal
Producer: Kedhhar Barrve
Associate Producer: Pallavi Singh
Director of Photography: Debashis Remy Dalai