Ogilvy Mumbai crafts the new campaign for MP Tourism

The Brief given to the agency was pretty simple that is to do an ad campaign to promote tourism for the State of Madhya Pradesh.

Fourth in the inimitable series of MP Tourism ads, this 'Colours' TVC takes tourism advertising to a whole new level. It welcomes the audience the same way Indians welcome people by throwing colours at them during the festival of Holi. Colours in different beautiful hues envelope tourists and form the key tourist attractions of Madhya Pradesh - Kanha's tigers, Khajuraho's famous sculptures, Mandu's Jahaz Mahal, Sanchi Stupa and Ujjain's Mahakal Aarti. The task this time was to also underline that there is lots and lots for tourists in Madhya Pradesh. Whether it is wild life, culture, monuments or heritage. So in that sense, colours seemed to be the perfect choice to tell the MP story this time.

The campaign includes a TVC supported by Press and Outdoor.

Abhijit Avasthi, National Creative Director says, “MP Tourism ads have enjoyed a tremendous popular appeal in the past. From its artistic execution to touching the pulse of millions of Indians, we had to come up with another stunning ad in the series of unique MP Tourism ads and that’s what we did.”

PradyumnaChauhan, Group Creative Director, said, “This ad is a labour of love. From conceptualization to the final execution, every step of the way one could tell a story or two. If I were to say it differently, this ad was easier imagined than done. But hats off to all our collaborators led by Varma, finally we did pull it off. A special mention for PankajAwasthi – he brought so much soul and feel to this ad with the music. Writing the song to the visuals was some task but it worked out great in the end.”

Mahesh Gharat, Group Creative Director said, “The moment we started brainstorming on this campaign, the idea to present the State of Madhya Pradesh through beautiful, vivid colours sort of leapt out at us. After the first sketches were done, we gave a shout to Varma to check how feasible our vision was. Or not? Fortunately, he was as excited to execute this never seen before riot of colours as we were. From there on, one thing led to the other. It has been months in the making but now when you sit back and have a look at this ad, all the hard work and detailing seems worth it.”

Defining some of the Unplugged Moments: Pradyumna Chauhan, Group Creative Director said,  “Because the visuals are in super slow motion, writing a song to them was an amazing learning experience. All the lines of the first draft pretty much finished by the time only 1/3rd of the ad was over. So after a hearty laugh, we went back to timing all the different sections and formations. And then only could we get a grip on creating the right balance between the lyrics and the music.”

Mahesh Gharat, Group Creative Director, adds, “The throwing of colour and where it was landing was a sight to behold. Most time, no matter how accurately one tried, we’d get it off. But it was played over and over again in high speed to check how the colours were actually falling, specially by the post guy who had flown all the way from Norway. And only with more takes and a bit of luck, we got the final takes.”

Credits

Client: MP Tourism
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai
National Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi
Group Creative Directors: Pradyumna Chauhan, Mahesh Gharat
Account Management: Ajay Menon, Rohit Sharma
Production House: Nirvana Films
Director:Prakash Varma
Lyrics:Pradyumna Chauhan
Music:Pankaj Awasthi