No Idea, a great Idea ad campaign!

In the latest campaign of cell phone service provider Idea, has Abhishek Bhachan who has been their long standing brand ambassador urging people to get Idea cellular for better services and connectivity in various situations without changing their number. The campaign with the phrase "no Idea, get Idea' has been a mainly television led one.

In the past, we have seen Abhishek Bachchan in different avatars that include tea vendor who overcame language barriers, sarpanch who found an idea against caste discrimination, a priest on an education drive, an insightful doctor who thinks of saving paper, all of this through the use of mobile phones. Idea, a five year old brand has been consistent with their campaigns and is one of the longest running ad series with the same theme , including the same tagline and brand ambassador.

The basic objective of the current campaign is to pre-empt Mobile Number Portability, a playful take on the brand's name to establish the superiority of Idea over competition.

The campaign is a pre cursor to Mobile Number Portability (A mobile subscriber can change his/her telecom operator while keeping their number intact) and establishes the superiority of Idea. The campaign consists of four commercials which address four important mobile service problems like Network, Customer service, Plans suitable to the customer's needs & Instant information on balance deduction. In each of the commercial a person is stressed about the above mentioned problems while Abhishek Bachchan is this "cool dude' who appears to be fully in control and having no problem whatsoever. Concerned about the person's problem, Abhishek Bachchan asks him/her, "Why is the problem happening?' To which he/she replies, "No Idea'. That's when he points out to the root of the problem and says, "Get Idea'.

The idea of the campaign is to make consumers switch to Idea for a tariff plan that suits you, better customer care better network and instant information on balance deductions without changing your number - Mobile Number portability.

Speaking exclusively to Adgully, Ashwin Varkey, Creative Director, Lowe Lintas said, "There will be a lot of action for the first few months. People don't generally change their services because then they would have to give up their numbers. We want to get customers from other networks. This communication also reaffirms existing Idea customers pride in the product. We have got excellent feedback. It is a national campaign, primarily on TV but other mediums will pick. This has just happened in Haryana now and will slowly pick up nationwide."

Commenting on this campaign, a senior person from the advertising world said, "This campaign reinforces Idea and is great. Consumers will be able to connect to the brand; especially since it communication strategy hasn't changed over the years." | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]