This Christmas, ACKO Surprises Bangaloreans With A Gift Of Better Roads

In keeping with the real magic of giving this Christmas, ACKO’s new marketing campaign for the holiday season captures the surprise and cheer delivered to Bangaloreans with an unexpected yet much welcome gift. The marketing campaign is based on work done on-ground in collaboration with the NGO PotHole Raja, to patch over 150 potholes near Royal Meenakshi Mall in Bannerghatta. While a bumpy road may be a minor nuisance to drivers, a road littered with potholes can cause accidents and severe damage to vehicles. 

Bengaluru is a beautiful city; however, the state of the roads has made commuting within the city an obstacle course for car drivers and a safety hazard for pedestrians. To help make the roads safer and to ensure a smooth ride for commuters, ACKO's heartfelt initiative to fill potholes gives back to the city of Bengaluru in a meaningful way this holiday season. 

The campaign film opens with the headlights of ACKO's 'magical ride' driving through the winter darkness of Bengaluru City. As the enraptured passersby and onlookers watch, the doors open, and a troop of Santa Clauses emerge. The Santas get to work, with a cheery Christmas melody as a backdrop. They perform an overnight miracle by closing all the potholes. The following morning, residents express their joy and gratitude upon waking up to the gift of a patched-up road. 

The film concludes with ACKO reiterating its commitment to road safety and how essential eliminating potholes is to securing the safety of vehicles. The film is being amplified through digital channels and across social media. 

The video campaign - 'The Gifted Road' is created, developed and executed by Leo Burnett Orchard and conceptualized by Bigfoot Productions.

ACKO EVP Marketing Ashish Mishra said:  "Potholes on Bengaluru roads are a constant source of distress to the residents of the city. At ACKO we are constantly working towards making a meaningful difference in the lives of the people. The campaign was born out of our desire to play a part in eliminating this menace and making road travel safer. We made this vision a reality by collaborating with PotHole Raja to give the city's residents an ideal Christmas gift. The campaign is also especially close to our hearts since it is part of ACKO's bigger mission to promote and prioritize road safety for all."

 PotHoleRaja Founder and CEO Dr. Prathap B said: "At PotHoleRaja our focus is to have accident-free roads & save lives by fixing potholes. Our agenda is to drive awareness and find effective means to fix these potholes. So when we were approached for this campaign we felt this would be the best thing we could do during Christmas for the people of Bengaluru. We are always on the lookout for companies and partnerships that understand our vision of pothole free roads, so we thank ACKO for supporting our cause".

 Leo Burnett Orchard Creative head India Pravin Sutar said: "Christmas is all about childlike innocence and smiles. And that's exactly what we wanted to spread for the residents of Bengaluru. We hope that we've raised the bar for Christmas advertising in India, with this piece".

ACKO's Christmas campaign is the latest addition to the series of locally relevant marketing initiatives. Recently, during Durga Puja, ACKO created 'Moving Pandals' in Kolkata and the 'Dashboard Cha raja' campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai. 

Agency credits: Leo Burnett Orchard

Creative – Pravin Sutar, Sanjeev Tripathi, Sandeep Iyer, Sanket Taral, Siddhi Kapse, Shreemoyee Choudhury

Production House – Bigfoot Productions

Director – Chinmay Dalvi

Producer – Suraj Bijlani