Hair & Care partners with TikTok for hashtag challenge; gets over 2.8 bn views

Staying true to its philosophy of being youthful and contemporary, Marico’s Hair & Care recently launched their new campaign #KhuleBaalBefikar that celebrates the joy of ‘Khule Baal’ or open hair. The film that is currently on air shows a few, fun situations where the protagonist isn’t able to enjoy a ride either on a carousel or in a convertible because of the heavy, sticky hair oil which doesn’t let her hair dance. Adding a quirky hint of nostalgia, the iconic song ‘Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri’ plays in the background as the couple discovers the joy of free flowing hair because of a light, non-sticky hair oil. 

A key element of this campaign was the TikTok challenge that went live on November 23 with top influencers of the platform and crossed 2.8 billion views within 3 days. The brand worked with influencers across multiple cities and challenged TikTok users to make their hair dance and upload videos of their best hair moves with the hashtag #KhuleBaalBefikar. The activity saw 2.8 million videos created with multiple, fun takes on free flowing hair. 

Speaking about the campaign, Koshy George, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico, said, “At Marico, our priority is to understand consumer mindset and accordingly develop an insight-driven campaign. Hair & Care is a young, fun brand for audiences who like to enjoy every moment in their lives fully. These consumers are always looking for entertaining content on the new-age social media platforms and are willing to adopt new trends. Our media mix was hence devised scientifically keeping in mind newer formats that would gain engagement from our core consumers. TikTok is one such platform that has helped us drive our brand narrative - #KhuleBaalBefikar in a fun, engaging, short-video format.” 

With a 360-degree integrated marketing communications approach, the campaign went live with a TV commercial in Hindi-speaking markets. The brand has also innovated with their OOH advertisements in the form of motion sensor boards at targeted locations, including the Saki Naka Metro Station, Mumbai and the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Jaipur. The screens display the photo of a girl with open hair that is programmed to fly every time a train or a bus enters the station. A radio campaign was also a part of the mix where listeners were encouraged to share their ‘Khule Baal Befikar’ videos on the RJs’ social media pages. 

The film was conceptualised and shot by BBH India with Chrome Pictures and is currently on air in Hindi speaking markets. Commenting on the campaign, Subhash Kamath, CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India, said, “Hair & Care has always been an exciting brand for us. It is young and fresh and demands a very different approach from regular hair oil advertising. The brief was simple and clear and we had fun creating this campaign. The promise of ‘Khule Baal Befikar’ isn’t just a functional promise. It symbolises the sense of freedom and expression of our youth audience. So, it was important to make it fun and entertaining, and the creative delivered beautifully on that promise.” 

Campaign credits:

Creative agency: BBH India

Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner: Russell Barrett

CEO & Managing Partner: Subhash Kamath

General Manager: Sarita Raghavan

Creative Director: Ira Gupta

Senior Business Partner: Shivani Dand

Business Partner: Vimesh Salian

Senior Strategist: Amrita Korwar

Production House: Chrome Pictures

Director: Hemant Bhandari

Producer: Abhishek Notani

DOP: Tapan Basu

Assistant Producer: Aditya Gupta

AD Team: Bhavtavya Saklani, Rishabh Jain, Rishi Parinja, Avinash Sharma

Production Manager: Rimal Arora

Production Assistant: Drishti Goda

Post Producer: Mithun R Shaw