Large scale, big budget productions may become a thing of the past: Arjun Mukherjee

Into Day 30 of the nation-wide lockdown, social distancing, wearing masks, maintaining strict personal hygiene and working from home has become the new norm for people across the world, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated.

The very challenging task of the lockdown is to keep crores of Indians confined to their homes to break the chain of the spread of the virus. Celebrities, influencers, brands and organisations of all hues have been stressing on the importance of staying at home. One such brand joining the fight against COVID-19 is Tata Pravesh, a brand of steel doors from Tata Steel that has taken up the initiative to drive awareness around the fact that when ‘you stay home, you stay safe’.

Conceptualised by Wunderman Thompson, the message is being driven by a digital film, #DoorsOfIndia, where hundreds of closed doors across the geography of the subcontinent are showcased. The film is a montage of these closed doors to showcase the importance of staying indoors. A completely ‘Work From Home’ initiative, the campaign is backed by an entire Indian classical music rhythm pattern has been created by using live sounds of doors being shut and sounds of latches, hinges, stoppers & locks, along with ambient street noises and dialogues. These sounds have been sourced from across the country through #DoorsOfIndia.

In an interaction with Adgully, Arjun Mukherjee, Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson, India, shared some key insights on the campaign. He also spoke about the ‘New Normal’ emerging out of the current scenario.

Could you tell us about the creative ideation of this campaign?

In the initial days of the lockdown, people flouting the stay at home rule, running away from hospitals, partying, and acting utterly irresponsibly were making the headlines. Like everyone else we too were concerned for our safety, as individuals and for the nation as a whole. That’s when we realised that Tata Pravesh as a brand of steel doors can play a bigger role in the fight against this deadly virus.

The client also wanted to send out a responsible message in these difficult times. The message of asking people to stay indoors had a natural connect with doors and how they should remain shut right through the lockdown. You stay safe when you stay home behind closed doors. Shutting the door was a metaphor of taking quarantine seriously and fits the brand and the context perfectly. All people need to do is to #ShutOutCorona with #DoorsOfIndia.

How was this campaign executed as it is a #WorkFromHome initiative?

The challenge was how to get this done at a time when the entire world was behind closed doors, production houses included. Crowdsourcing was the only solution.

The film was made with Instagram and Twitter posts by hundreds of Indians with the Tata Pravesh hashtag #DoorsOfIndia. These shots were combined with footage of closed doors sourced from the Wunderman Thompson team across 6 Indian cities.

An entire Indian classical music rhythm pattern was created by the music director, not by using traditional Indian percussion, but by using live sounds of doors being shut and sounds of latches, hinges, stoppers and locks, along with ambient street noises and dialogues. These sounds were sourced from across the country using #DoorsOfIndia.

The film was shot, edited and sound mixed, approved by the client and made live on social media – all from home.

What are the factors that brands need to keep in mind while formulating campaigns during the COVID-19 period?

This is a global emergency on an unprecedented scale. Governments alone cannot do everything, including educating the general public. Pockets of ignorance and defiance will always exist. A brand has a massive reach and can spread awareness among the masses effectively.

We need to keep in mind that at this phase of the pandemic, brands should attack the crisis and demonstrate that it can be fought. Advertising should not exploit the situation to promote a brand and ads should offer a positive perspective.

Staying indoors, social distancing and self-quarantine are the only ways to fight Corona. The less one goes out, the lesser the chances of contact. The virus dies when it doesn’t find a host. So, the simple thing to do is to close the #DoorsOfIndia to #ShutOutCorona.

Who is your target audience? Which markets are you focussing on more? Also, what is the organic overall reach of the campaign?

The brand’s target audience is home builders and those who are renovating their homes. Through this campaign, however, we are reaching out to a much larger audience, because the message that we are sending out is universal. This is a pan-India campaign on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube with a smattering of Twitter and LinkedIn. Apart from social media, no other media is being used for this campaign.

The campaign has just begun and is being promoted on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. For Facebook and Instagram, we are looking at a total average reach of 235,000 and 330,000, respectively, over the first 4 days; while for YouTube, we are targeting average impressions of 375,000 over the same period.

Since it is a complete Work From Home initiative, could you tell us about some key learnings from the process? If the current situation extends further, can this process become the industry norm?

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Work From Home can give birth to truly ingenious solutions as this film has demonstrated. It taught us that achieving a pan-India feel is possible even from the confines of our homes. These are early days, but large scale, big budget productions may become a thing of the past as creative people start thinking within the limitations of WFH and what is possible given the restrictions.

The current situation is here to stay, for some time at least. What audiences are looking for is a simple idea brought to life by brilliant execution. In order to be able to deliver that time and again, agency folks will have to unlearn all that they have learnt in the past and adapt their working ways to this new paradigm.