In the 1980’s electric bulbs marketplace, Philips stood at the first position, Crompton at second and ECE at the third position. Despite a presence of more than four decades, Bajaj Electricals had a lesser brand value and stood at the fourth position.
According to an ET BRAND EQUITY article, Mukul Upadhyaya, then a senior vice-president at the company wanted to change this. Upadhyaya approached Ivor D’Souza, an account director at Hero’s Publicity. After preliminary discussions, the agency began their hunt for a suitable production house to shoot an ad film. They roped in Siraj Ayesha Sayani, founder of Shunyata.
The filmmaker wanted to shoot the commercial in a way that people could relate to.
According to the article, she said, “When we were small, we were constantly trying to hide. For me it was all about my naughtiness through different stages of my life that was exposed by Bajaj bulbs. I constructed scenes whereby I showcased a person’s childhood, their youth and then their old age. As he touches old age, he is trying to take a bite of cake from the fridge. I had a grandfather who used to do the same. Such scenarios have been a part of everybody’s life and it is like taking a humorous look at one’s journey.”
Ayesha conceptualized the film and the sequences of the commercial and along with Imtiaz Hussain Mateen, of the “Shalimar Superlac Jodi” radio show fame, penned the jingle: Jab main chota ladka tha….
The film was shot at Famous Studios, involving a star-studded cast including 0m Shiv Puri, who played the role of the boy’s father, Malvika Tiwari played the role of the young man’s girlfriend, Sarita Sethi, a Doordarshan news reader, played the patriarch’s wife. The character of the young man and the old man was played by Ayesha’s assistant, Parvez Jamal.
The ad film was released on Doordarshan in 1985 and it turned out to be a super hit. Post its release, Bajaj Electricals did periodic researches which showed very encouraging results. The ads recall value was very high and it positively affected the sales and marketing Of Bajaj bulbs. This led to the company continuing its run. Upadhyaya said, “The commercial was an image building film. Before starting the periodic research, we had conducted a survey which found that the ad film had created a great impact amongst its target audience. From spot four, we came to spot two and I believe we still hold that place.”
About 10 years back, Bajaj Electricals reproduced the film with the same jingle but with different visuals. However, the sequel did not get as much visibility as the original. Maybe it lacked the simplicity and humor of the original.
What do you think made this ad such a hit? Is there any other ad that stuck in your memory for a long time? Please write about it in the comments section and I’ll try to write the story behind it in the coming weeks. I post one such story every week.
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