BBH India uses media innovatively for New Skoda Octavia

Skoda recently launched its flagship model Octavia. Skoda had entered the Indian market with the Octavia and experienced great success. It was obviously time to bring the legendary car back. BBH India, the agency for Skoda has worked on the high decibel launch campaign. 

Kamal Basu, Associate Director Marketing, Skoda India, said, "The Skoda Octavia sits right at the heart of the Skoda portfolio. It contains all that we do best. We wanted to bring alive the features of the new car as freshly, yet as powerfully as possible. The print innovations to me, do just that, and am sure the TVC will too."

Sanjay Sharma, Head of Planning, BBH India said on the campaign, "The launch of the Skoda Octavia is quite possibly the most important launch Skoda has made recently. It was not just any other big car launch, with this launch Skoda was bringing back the much loved Octavia, marking the return of one of the biggest names in the Indian automotive market. We felt that there was a great opportunity  to build on the past equity of the Octavia while, at the same time, reveal that the new and modern version of the Octavia is packed with incredible features."

Russell Barrett, CCO and Managing Partner, BBH India said, "Anyone who has worked on the car category would be aware, that it is both exciting and incredibly challenging to do a genuinely fresh car commercial. We needed to tell an engaging story that revolved around the features. While subtly reminding people of it's legendary past. The TVC is an interesting story made up on the spot by a kid, trying to explain to his dad why the sunroof was left open. Naturally he blames his imaginary friends while allowing us to show a host of really cool features. And then we decided, with the help of Mikey McCleary, to bring back the legendary Pag Ghungroo song from Namak Halal. We felt that it lifted the film quite significantly and most importantly it was a great fit for the return of a legend."

In print, the launch of the Octavia was announced through 2 press innovations. The Times of India innovation featured a faux auto classifieds page on the front page of the newspaper and had their readers turn the page to discover why everyone was selling their cars. They open onto the second page only to realize that for the first time ever, TOI had moved their masthead from the right hand side to the left side. While in the Hindustan Times, The Octavia was presented to readers in a 4 page centrefold ad, the biggest newspaper ad done so far. There could have been no better way to announce the return of a legend.

The film has been directed by Scott Anderson from Australia, who has gained recognition for his CG spectacles. It was jointly produced by Photoplay (Australia) and Nomad (India).
BBH is now a creative network wholly owned by the Publicis Groupe. BBH India was founded in 2009 and since then has grown very rapidly to a staff strength of 70 people and manages a portfolio of diverse clients and brands that include Unilever, Marico, Diageo, Skoda, Red Bull, Acer, Movies Now and World Gold Council, amongst many others.