The campaign keeps it simple and straight, as usual. And it’s disruptive and entertaining. One will just have to wait and see whether consumers become fans of Havells

Anil Thakraney

One good thing Havells does is to keep things simple and straight for their various hardware products. This ensures the advertising agency can fly with single-minded creative work. Rather than belting out five things… tech, quality, reliability, service, guarantee, blah, blah… and thus ending up nowhere.

And that's the case with the new campaign for Havells fans as well. There are three commercials on air. In each one, a person is featured using a common device to fan him/herself for some respite from heat. In one, a man uses a newspaper to fan himself. Suddenly, some journalists gherao him. They are upset that the paper, on which they invest their blood, sweat and tears, is being used as a fan. And they gift the fellow a Havells fan. (I think usage of newspapers as fans isn't such a bad idea. When you consider most people use them to chuck really dirty stuff… can't even list them!)



In another ad, a school teacher uses exam answer sheets to fan herself. And she gets berated up her angry pupils. In the third one, a housewife fans herself with her saree pallu inside her sweltering kitchen. In arrives an elderly lady who declares that the saree has been designed using exquisite ancient craft, and that it must not be disrespected. The voice over says: 'Hawa chahiye? Havells Fan lagaaiye'.



Yes, I like this campaign. It's simple, it's disruptive, it's witty, it's wicked and it's entertaining. However, here's a concern: One can safely assume what the marketer is trying to do with this communication. And that is to own the product category and make fans synonymous with Havells. And while in theory that may sound correct, this sort of extremely generic advertising runs a big risk. Which is that while it may motivate hot and sweaty laggards to go to the market and buy themselves a fan, the choice may not necessarily be a Havells fan. Because in their attempt to keep the communication very simple, the marketer has said nothing about the brand itself. We have no idea what makes Havells special. Sure, I do realize a fan is a fan is a fan, but such generic work does come with that one big question mark.
 
Anyways, whichever way the wind blows, must say this is a laudable effort. It remains to be seen if indeed the consumers become fans of Havells.