No more a Chhupa Rustom, HP encourages people to Print Befikar in new campaign

HP Inc. India has rolled out its ‘Print Befikar’ TVC-led campaign, introducing the home segment to its new range of ink tank printers. Created and shot by BBDO India, the TVC was conceptualised basis HP’s research in printer uses highlighting that higher recurring cost remains the biggest barrier in buying a printer. HP found that parents print out their children’s assignments in the office free-of-charge, as they are dissuaded by the recurring cost of home printing, perceived inconvenience. While they secretively use the office printer for printing, they also feel ashamed of others noticing their frugalness. 

The TVC’s protagonist, behaving as a ‘Chhupa Rustom’ (Someone who acts deceitfully), is repeatedly caught by office staff and colleagues who remind him that he is saving only 10 paise per print. 

View the TVC:

As encapsulated by the ‘Print Befikar’ tagline, the HP Ink printer is a perfect fit for households. Not only does it offer a highly economical 10 paise print-per-page, but also easy, high-volume printing, colour-rich prints and mobile/ computer compatibility. These features make it ideal not only for homework and coursework-related projects, but also as an enabler of edutainment for the whole family. The ad campaign also subtly positions its printers as a solution to the social stigma of not being able to afford a print-out. 

Neelima Burra, Country Marketing Director, HP Inc. India, commented, “HP is committed in understanding customers’ needs and requirements to introduce technology that fulfills their needs. Printing is extremely critical for parents of young children to address their homework and learning needs. With our campaign ‘Print Befikar’, we want to debunk the perception surrounding home printing and highlight how HP brings ease and affordability to printing.” 

Elaborating on the campaign, Josy Paul, Chairman, BBDO India, said, “In a world where telecom and e-commerce brands are shouting the loudest, how do you make ‘ink tank printers’ relevant, meaningful and top-of-mind for parents of school going children?  By reminding them, in a fun way, of their own surreptitious behaviour in office when it comes to printing home work. This furtive stealthy action in office is so universally linked to printing costs that it gave our ‘affordability’ proposition instant recognition and connection. The execution is made for repeated viewing and likeability. The Pink Panther like movements of our protagonist and the catchy song adds to the charm and joy of the film.” 

The TVC-led campaign will be brought alive across TV, social media, digital media, and experiential activations at point of sale, dedicated Print Hubs at apartment complexes, and Print Stations at Corporate parks, to drive purchase considerations. 

The ‘Chhupa Rustom’ TVC continues as HP India’s ongoing printer campaign for millennials, young working professionals, and parents of school-going children. As early as 2012, HP India had leveraged the insight that children tend to take on school projects at the last-minute for its ad campaigns, demonstrating its printers’ ease of use and status as a household necessity. 

Primarily targeted at parents of school-going children between the ages of 4 to 14, the HP ink tank printer is positioned as a solution to affordably meet printing needs of parents of school going kids for projects and home paperwork. 

Elaborating on the campaign objective, Neelima Burra informed, “The HP brand is positioned around the philosophy ‘Keep Reinventing’ in India, as we want our technology to inspire people to reinvent their lives, stories, success and productivity every day. With the ‘Print Befikar’ campaign, we are looking at addressing the barriers for printer adoption in homes with the aim to increase print penetration by offering them a solution to all their printing woes. With HP’s new range of ink tank printers, we are bringing affordability and convenience to printing in home range printers.” 

The TVC ‘Print Befikar’ was conceptualised basis the insights the company got from its customer research that while the need for printing is there in most homes, high recurring cost remains the biggest barrier in buying a printer. “On our interaction with consumers we found out that parents are okay with the inconvenience of running to print shops or taking print outs from their offices, to avoid the hassle and recurring costs,” Burra added. 

She further said, “The TVC is a result of deep insight which we are sure most consumers will identify with. Home printer adoption is low as consumers are wary about the high cost of printing and the hassle of maintaining and using a printer at home, hence they rely on other solutions for their printing needs, and mostly since office printer is accessible, it becomes the go to place for home printing need. Through this campaign we are telling the consumers that all that they used to worry about for not buying a home printer – is now covered with HP ink tank printers – low running costs, hassle free printing, print form anywhere …and therefore, ‘Print Befikar’.”  

Burra pointed out that HP has been a leader when it came to the printing segment. According to her, “The biggest factor for this success has been the innovation which we have driven in the last two years. Our recent launches in the printing segment have helped us to provide the printing solution which customers were looking for and thus helping us grow quarter on quarter.” 

She further mentioned that as per IDC, HP has a 42.8 per cent market share in the printing business in India.