Cello Pens’ unique ‘test’ makes parents experience the pressure of exams

Exam times are particularly stressful for both students and their parents. With the board exams currently underway across India, there is great focus on relieving the pressure on students and instead encourage them to their best in a positive way. Quite a few brands have been putting the spotlight on the consequences of the tremendous pressure put on students to score high marks in exams. 

BIC Cello (India) Pvt. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of writing instruments, recently launched a short film aimed at illustrating the change of perception of parents in exam time after having taken the same exam themselves. 

The short film commences by portraying a scenario on how parents unknowingly pressure their children to perform better. The short film, which has been launched digitally, is created by J. Walter Thompson (JWT), Mumbai and directed by Abhishek Sengupta. 

Cello Pens came up with a ‘Surprise Test’ for parents to make them aware of this constant pressurisation only creates more stress and anxiety in the child’s mind. In the video, the parents of kids going to St. Albertus High School are asked to take the same exam that their child is taking – 6th graders mid-term test. While taking the test, they experience the level of stress that their kids go through. They realise that their constant pressure on their kids to get good marks only leads to creation of extra stress. The surprise test leads to a change in their perception and belief that ‘Encouragement works better than Pressure’. 

This initiative is a part of Cello Exam Expert Series, which has been manufactured keeping in mind the comfort of the students using it. Cello Exam Expert Series (Maxriter, Pinpoint & Technotip) are designed to enable students to write for a longer time without pressure on their finger and wrist. 

Watch the film here:

Commenting on the insight behind the campaign, Tanveer Khan, Director – Marketing (CMO - India), BIC Cello, said, “Cello Pens has been and will continue to partner with students, teachers and parents. During exam time all of them go through stressful moments, but none like the students. We at Cello Pens understand the kind of stress that students go through during exams. We observed, while setting expectations for their children’s sake, parents at times unknowingly put pressure on their kids before exams, adding to their overall stress. Examinations are stressful and any unnecessary pressure should be removed. We believe words of encouragement will help boost children’s performance in exams and that is the message we want people to take away from this campaign.” 

Samarth Shrivastava, Senior VP & Executive Business Director, JWT Mumbai, elaborated, “Exams are a stressful period for students. We observed, while setting expectations for their children’s sake, parents at times unknowingly put pressure on their kids before exams, adding to their overall stress. Examinations are stressful and any unnecessary pressure should be removed. How can we make parents understand that kids go through a lot during exams and they should not put any additional pressure on them?” 

Shedding some light on the creative thought process behind the campaign, Shrivastava added, “We realised that in cases like this one, experience speaks louder than preaching. We needed to show them how it felt to be in that same situation. That’s why we decided to get parents to take the same exam as their kids, as a surprise test.” 

When quizzed how the agency went about executing the short film, he stated that the script pretty much wrote itself. Everyone’s experience as a parent and as a child brought in many nuances of the different kinds of parents and their pressure tactics. Using these, they selected real parents and kids and put them in the exam situation. That was enough to give the creators everything they wanted to make a great film. 

When asked how Cello planned to take forward the initiative beyond the campaign, Khan replied that it is the brand’s intention to reach out to key stakeholders (students, teachers and parents) in the education sector with relevant content, which will help them succeed in their respective roles. Cello has also planned a school contact programme to put the spotlight on the raging topic. 

On the way forward for the brand, Khan said, “Cello Pen is a leader when it comes to the stationery segment, not only in terms of market share but also thought leadership. Cello will continue to create excitement in this segment with its interesting product designs, smooth writing experience, innovative technology and communication campaigns.”