Is it a case of yet another international brand talking to Indians and saying, ‘hey, we understand you’? The new corporate ad from ING caught my attention and I must admit that I quite liked it at first view. The lyrics are poignant, the jingle catchy (the pahadi style refrain of ‘sirf paisa nahi hai‘ is still playing in my mind) and the visuals have an emotional appeal. The insight of us Indians equating money with more than a mere transaction rings true too.
Yet, this is not a completely original approach, is it? From VIP’s ‘Kal bhi, aaj bhi’ to Bajaj’s ‘Hamara Bajaj’ to Exide to Maruti, the montage-interspersed-with-catchy-lyrics’ has been tried and tested. The trick is in creating a connect with the central idea (in ‘India come home in a Maruti’) and a heart warming, memorable jingle. The ING ad has both. I think AIG had a corporate campaign with a similar theme – where a grandma gives a Re.1 coin as ‘shagun’ to a new born. While that left me cold, the ING effort works at one level because it makes you feel good. Some would say that this not really out of the box or a stretch, but the package seems to work overall. What say?
