Marketing and branding experts are quick to pick holes. If the intent is to build awareness around drinking more water, then why mention about the ‘ambitious target’ of 30 million consumers, asks Ashita Aggarwal, professor of marketing at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. The message—drink more to look your best—too seems to be loaded as it doesn’t says drink more water. “There are a lot of better ways to convey the ‘responsible’ messaging," she says. “This one for sure looks too diluted," she adds.
Harish Bijoor tells us why brands need to act more responsibly when it comes to corporate responsibility, and conveying the intent. “While ‘drink more water’ is a nice message, it loses its impact when one sees the brand name," says Bijoor, who runs an eponymous brand consulting firm. “It’s a teaser, and the surrogate messaging can’t be missed," he adds.
But in an industry where one can’t advertise—much like tobacco—and surrogates are the only way to bypass the lax laws, it’s normal for brands to adopt the easiest way of communicating with the users. Take, for instance, Royal Stag’s latest campaign featuring Ranveer Singh where the celeb underlines the tagline in a not-so-subtle way: It’s our life. We live it large.
Mohindra of Pernod Ricard explains the ‘large’ philosophy of the Royal Stag brand and the group. The latest campaign captures the spirit of today’s generation which does not hold back, embodies self-belief and wants to maximise life experiences. The new campaign, he points out, unveils a distinctive and youthful visual identity that’s fresh, energetic, and most importantly embodies the ethos of this new generation—the Generation Large. Well, the large disconnect between ‘drink more water’, and ‘live and make it large’ can’t be missed.
First Published: Jun 07, 2023, 14:39
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