This V-Day, Britannia Little Hearts has the perfect antidote to mush & melodrama

Even as almost all brands have been taking a saccharine route in their Valentine’s Day campaigns, Britannia has been going against the grain by telling stories of heartbreak, albeit in a playful way. It was in 2017 that Britannia first launched their ‘Break some hearts’ campaign during Valentine’s, and has since been growing its heartbreak stories.

Little Hearts was launched in the 90s and its heartbreak stories reflected the mood and sentiment of the ’90s kids.

The brand has always challenged itself to be relevant to the next generation of youth, currently the millennials and Gen Z. From missed opportunities on the bus, to a left swipe on Tinder – the way people break hearts has changed.

Since the first campaign, the brand objective has been to stay away from the mushy and be edgy. To achieve that, this year Little Hearts has roped in rapper ‘Kaam Bhaari’ alongside digital star and film and TV actor, Ahsaas Channa, who face off in a Qawwali-Rap battle.

Conceptualised by Wunderman Thompson, the video depicts ‘Channalaments’ – the repercussions of breaking the heart of a ‘one-sided lover’ who might be a friend, neighbour or someone in the locality. While we missed hearing a reference to ‘Ok Boomer’, we heard the call to youth with phrases like ‘Netflix and Chill’ and ‘Swipe Right’ floating in the #BreakSomeHearts song.

The creative strategy

Vinay Subramanyam
Vinay Subramanyam

Vinay Subramanyam, Head - Marketing, Britannia Industries, elaborated, “Britannia Little Hearts is a brand of the young, by the young and for the young. The brand follows youth trends keenly and knows that they ‘Love themselves’ more than anyone else. They don’t need a relationship to define themselves. They are happy when they are in a relationship and happier when they are not. They don’t get dejected when rejected, and they don’t think twice before saying no either. What better gift can a brand give them than a contemporary take on #BreakingSomeHearts. This Valentine’s Day when the world zigs, Little Hearts shall proudly zag!”

Priya Shivakumar
Priya Shivakumar

Commenting on the creative strategy, Priya Shivakumar, National Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson India, said, “The overdose of mush on Valentine’s Day was becoming a theme to break away from and for the last two seasons, Little Hearts became the brand to change the conversation with “Break some hearts”. This year, we wanted to deliver the heartbreak a little differently with the first ever Qawwali-Rap battle that offers quirky advice to break the heart of every kind of hopeful Romeo you may come across on this day dedicated to love. Featuring Ahsaas Channa and Kaam Bhaari, who bring their unique styles to the lively musical debate, this piece of content is the fun antidote to romantic melodrama, sappy love stories and other Valentine’s cliches. Making it a cool counterpoint to the popular narrative and a youthful take on the culture of love.”

Concept for the music video

Sharing more details on the music video, Subramanyam explained,While working on this year’s #BreakSomeHearts campaign, we realised that today social media has made us put ourselves out into the world for everyone to see. This often results in unwarranted attention, which might not be something the consumer is looking for, and fending that attention off isn’t easy for them either.”

He further said, “We have spent the past two years focusing on developing and establishing our brands message of ‘Break Some Hearts’ and its meaning. By taking a counter-culture stand, we have successfully managed to break new grounds with a young audience that relates with our light-hearted, relatable point of view. This year, we wanted to push the brand’s message further and shift the conversation from explaining ‘Break Some Hearts’ to encouraging our consumers to live the Break Some Hearts philosophy through the heartbreakers song. The song encourages our consumers to unabashedly break hearts of those they are not interested in – roadside Romeos, friend zoned pals, among others.”

The song was conceptualised with the aim to celebrate heartbreakers and empower people to guiltlessly break hearts in a progressive and witty manner.

The marketing strategy

Digital has been the primary medium of communication for Britannia Little Hearts since the very beginning. This is where its TG (Millennials and Gen Z’ers) live and breathe in and respond best to brands. Digital media allows the brand to engage with the young audience better and build relevance for the brand in their lives.

“As our core creative is a long format video, our primary media objective is to provide a seamless viewing experience to the audience and at the same time create maximum buzz and awareness. Thus, we have taken the popular platforms of YouTube, Facebook and Instagram where our TG is present in vast numbers and can also engage with us,” added Subramanyam.

Brand legacy

Launched in 1993, the heart-shaped sugary biscuit was targeted at young adults of the time, snack junkies, with a penchant for trying out new taste experiences. “We capitalised on the unique shape, look and feel and delivered a never-before crunchy bite,” said Subramanyam.

The consumer hook was simple – “A Heart”, signifying love and romance that helped the brand gain prominence and became one of the most loved brands of Britannia. The campaigns which were rolled out across the years and the associated brand positioning mirrored the feeling of love and romance and encouraged the youth to forge more bonds amongst each other. Love and romance became pivotal for the brand becoming a rage even with minimal marketing support and communications.

Cut to 2017, Little Hearts surprised its consumers with something they didn’t expect from a heart-shaped biscuit – taking an anti-mush stand, the brand asked the consumers to go #BreakSomeHearts.

Campaign credits:

Creative Agency: Wunderman Thompson
Chief Creative Officer: Senthil Kumar
National Creative Director: Priya Shivakumar
Senior VP & Managing Partner: Kundan Joshee
VP & EBD: Tiraz Balaporia
Creative Director: Ashwin Lingan, Pradeep Ravindran
Copywriter: Rishabh Mishra
Art Director: Akshay Kumar Bhat, Anusree Nair
Account Management: Sandeep Mathummal, Rince Panicker
Production house: EO2 Events & Films
Executive Producer: Risheeta Agrawal
Director: Adhiraj Bose
Music Director: Karan Kanchan
Vocals: Kaam Bhaari, Yashika Sikka
Lyrics: Kaam Bhaari and Vishal Dayama
Featuring: Kaam Bhaari and Ahsaas Channa

Also read:
Burger King & Netflix steal the thunder on Valentine’s Day as cheekiness rules

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