Ex | Demystifying smartphone technology: Karbonn's Shashin Devsare

Karbonn Mobile has consistently churned out interesting campaigns in the past. Their recent advertisement for Titanium Dazzle 2 focuses on showcasing the world-class styling of the handset and its unique aesthetic appeal which makes it hard to resist. The value for money device does not compromise on the feature and aesthetic while targeting the youth. The campaign showcases the evolving needs of today’s young consumers and on breaking the myth that budget smartphones compromises on aesthetic.

 The campaign reflects the idea of merging style with technology and to bring in the product which reflects the need of every youth. Conceptualised by Chapter Five, the campaign showcases four different scenes with one common element of mysterious lipstick marks which appear on the handsets and the irresistible effect it has wherever it goes.

Adgully caught up with Shashin Devsare , Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles on his vision behind this campaign and some major highlights of the campaign. Edited Experts:

AG: What has been your inspiration behind making this advertisement?

( Shashin Devsare)SD: Karbonn Titanium Dazzle has been especially developed for youth to address the demand of youngsters for a feature packed value –for-money device which is aesthetically appealing and adds to their style quotient while breaking the common perception among consumer that budget smartphones compromise on aesthetics

AG: What has been the theme behind the campaign?

SD: The key theme for the campaign was to showcase the irresistible appeal of the device in an irreverent, flirtatious fashion which resonates with our young target audience.

AG:What was the Audience Profile you were targeting?

SD: We are looking at establishing a connect with the college going youth by offering them a Smartphone which offers a unique value proposition combining style with substance.

AG: What has been your communication strategy (Digital/ Social)?

SD: Since the campaign was targeted at youth, we employed a unique communication strategy for Titanium Dazzle 2. Instead of launching the campaign on traditional electronic and print mediums it was launched first exclusively on mobile and digital platform of Hotstar and Star Sports during the IPLmatches which has a huge following on the youth. These sports portals also ran exclusive banners and ads for the campaigns on their website. Strategy was highly successful garnering great response attracting 12,333,271 views within a few days of the launch of the campaign.  The campaign has been released on TV today across channels to sustain the popularity of the campaign.

AG: What are the campaign highlights?

SD: The creative execution of the campaign reflects the idea of an irresistible powerhouse performer that defines style and panache, all in one go. Targeted at the youth, the commercial resonates the fun loving, eccentric mood of Gen Y whose unabashed about their likes and preference and isn’t afraid to express themselves.

AG: How will the campaign be different from your previous one?  

SD: Our last campaign ‘I Am The One’ was about bringing a sense of achievement and pride in oneself by associating it with the idea of clicking Selfie. However, the latest campaign of Titanium Dazzle 2 brings out the quirkiness of today’s young generation. The commercial clearly showcases that how today generation feels free about expressing their liking towards the smartphone of their choice.

AG: How do you think you are different from your closest competition?

SD: Karbonn has been launching devices with highly intuitive gesture enabled features and user-friendly interface to facilitate faster navigation with minimal interaction between the user and the device. In recognition with the linguistic diversity of the country, we have been focusing enhancing local language supports in our devices and currently offer up to 21 local languages for local language interactivity.

AG: How do you think the youth will connect with the Brand?

SD: Titanium Dazzle 2 is specifically targeting at the Generation Y who are always on the lookout for the ‘Wow’ factor in their smartphones. It offers them an impeccable combination of style with substance at a competitive price.

AG: What is the USP of the brand?

SD: Karbonn in cognizance with the needs of the Indian consumer, has been focused towards demystifying Smartphone technology to enable easy adoption.Taking on the vision of simplifying technology for the end consumer while keeping in mind the varied levels of technology adeptness of Indian consumer.

The Director of the campaign was Sunil Cherian, the Production house behind this advertisement was Fullcircle Communication and the Creative Team Working on this was Sunita Murthi and Prateek Srivastava.

These entire group of people came together to create a campaign that could reach not only to every sector in the market but address the demand of youngsters for a feature packed value-for-money device which is aesthetically appealing.

Commenting on the ad campaign, Prateek Srivastava, Creative Director, Chapter Five said, “The campaign aims to showcase the ‘unapologetic attitude of today’s youth who is not afraid to express her likes and dislikes. The commercial shot in romantic locales of Romania associates Titanium Dazzle 2 with glamour and charisma due to its unparalleled aesthetic appeal and seeks to establish a connect with the Generation Y. The different scenarios in the commercial showcase how Dazzle 2 captures everyone’s attention inviting admiration from all who set their eyes on the device, creatively highlighting its desirability  owning to great features and aesthetics.