Manish Bhatt on building a lasting brand world for Gopal Snacks’ brand Cristos

Gopal Snacks Limited, the 4th largest manufacturer of ethnic savories in India, has introduced a refreshing twist to its brand with the launch of Cristos, a sub-brand aimed at the Gen Z, millennials, and urban youth. As part of this innovative campaign, the company has introduced Cristopher, the second-ever human brand mascot in Indian advertising, following the iconic Onida Devil. With this move, Gopal Snacks is not only expanding its market reach, but also redefining its appeal to a younger, more modern audience. The ad campaign has been conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Manish Bhatt, Founder and Director, Scarecrow Communications, speaks at length about the conceptualization and creative thought behind the campaign. He discusses the reasons for choosing a human mascot, the media mix for the campaign, and plans to integrate the mascot with new flavours, such as the upcoming African-flavored wafers, ensuring a cohesive brand identity across all product lines. Bhatt also shares insights on how the increasing use of AI is impacting the thought process in advertising and creative agencies, and more.

The World of Mexican Chilling campaign for Cristos Wafers is a bold and quirky concept. What inspired you to create this unique world, and how did the conceptualized storytelling and anthem come together to bring the campaign to life?

When Gopal Snacks reached out to us, we began an association by studying their legacy as a traditional Namkeen brand. Among their product categories, wafers stood out as a key segment, given that Namkeen is widely consumed across different regions of India, with varying local preferences. For example, you might find Jhalmuri in Bengal or Gathia in Saurashtra. Despite these regional variations, wafers have emerged as a universally accepted format for snacking.

The company initially decided to focus on wafers, recognizing their appeal as a cooler, more urban and youth-oriented option. About two years ago, before partnering with Scarecrow in 2022, they launched Christos as a sub-brand of their wafer line, targeting urban youth, Gen Z, and millennials. Though they did not engage in organized advertising at the time, they introduced Christos with four flavors: Salted, Korean Barbecue, African Mint, and Mexican Chile. The Mexican Chile flavour received an overwhelmingly positive response from consumers.

When we began planning our advertising efforts, we decided to focus on Christos, starting with this flavour due to its strong reception. The founder, Bipin Bhai Hadwani, was particularly convinced that Mexican Chile would resonate well with the target audience.

Our approach was to create a distinctive, quirky space for the brand, similar to how other brands occupy unique spaces – like Lifebuoy with its focus on tandoorosti and freshness, Volvo with safety, or Coca-Cola with happiness. We wanted to position Christos as the ultimate snack for chilling, aligning with the evolving lifestyle of today’s youth. We identified “chilling” as a growing trend, with youth increasingly valuing relaxed, enjoyable experiences. To connect with this, we decided to craft a narrative around “Mexican Chilling”, blending the flavor with the relaxed, cool vibe of chilling. This led us to create a brand world where “Mexican Chilling” became a quirky, ownable concept. To bring this to life, we introduced a character named Christopher – a charismatic, music-loving, pun-loving individual, who embodies the essence of chilling. Christopher is not just a mascot; he is a long-term, engaging figure designed to resonate with the youth over time, setting a unique tone for the brand.

Instead of a short-term campaign, we aimed to build a lasting brand world with its own distinct elements, including an anthem, styling, activities, and language. This approach ensures that our branding effort for Christos will stand out and endure.

In a world dominated by celebrities and influencers, you chose to go ahead with a human mascot instead. What led to the decision to create Cristopher, and how did his character take shape in this era?

We often spend disproportionate amounts of time, money, and effort on endorsements. However, we believe that real endorsement is about endorsing emotions and emotional spaces. In our case, we’re focusing on the space of chilling – the act of chilling. The person endorsing it is just a phase.

To illustrate, consider Coca-Cola’s Santa Claus. The red suit, white beard, and cap we associate with Santa Claus were popularized by Coca-Cola’s advertising in the past. While Coca-Cola’s ads may have depicted Santa Claus with a certain appearance, the essence of Santa Claus as a joyful, generous figure has endured beyond any specific individual.

Similarly, instead of endorsing a single person with a specific life story, we aim to endorse an emotional space. We want to build a character that embodies the spirit of “chilling”. For example, we chose Pratik as our initial character, but the essence of this character will continue to represent the brand for a long time. The unique costume, mannerisms, humour, and style are designed to be so distinctive and ownable that they will benefit the brand for decades to come. This approach ensures that the brand’s emotional connection remains strong and relevant over time.

What was the brief received from the company, and how did you ensure it was effectively amplified in the campaign? Additionally, could you share some behind-the-scenes insights on the making of the campaign?

First and foremost, when the decision was made to advertise Christos, with a specific focus on Mexican Chile, we thoroughly evaluated the wafer category, identifying competitors and their strategies. We assessed the gaps and opportunities in the market, considering what had been done and what could be improved.

Despite having already developed the concept of “Mexican Chilling”, including recording music, we decided to explore other ideas. After much deliberation, the consensus was clear: the flavour is crucial to a brand’s communication, as taste is the primary focus when it comes to food.

We prioritized the flavour, specifically Mexican Chile, as the core message. We created a variety of puns, rhymes, and alliterations, compiling a bank of phrases. From this, we developed hummable lyrics and collaborated with Aman and Suman, with Aman as the composer and Suman as the singer, to create a scratch song with the client’s approval.

This process brought the concept to life. We conducted extensive sketching, storyboarding, and brainstorming sessions to define what “chilling” would look like and how it would integrate with the Mexican Chile theme. We also explored cultural elements, such as mariachi and Spanish music, to ensure that our brand's representation was authentic and engaging.

By understanding the nuances of both the Mexican culture and the food product, we aimed to build a distinctive and ownable identity for our brand.

As the brand expands its portfolio, how do you plan to integrate the mascot with new flavours, such as the upcoming African-flavoured wafers, and ensure a cohesive brand identity across all product lines?

I think it is important to consider the example of Rajiv Rao, formerly of Ogilvy and now the director of Nirvana. His work on the Hutch campaign, which featured the iconic ad of a boy and a pug, shows how a single campaign can define a brand. Hutch, now Vodafone, was a major telecom brand with many messages to convey, but the focus on that one campaign created a lasting impression. The campaign was organic and resonated well with audiences, extending its impact beyond the initial launch.

Creating effective campaigns is a two-way process involving both creators and the audience. For example, with our new character, Christopher, and the concept of “Mexican Chilling”, we’re aiming to build a strong brand identity.

Success in branding involves more than just communication; it’s about establishing brand affinity, likability, and adorability. Just as a few key ministers represent a government or a captain leads a team, a brand’s core identity and key elements like Christopher and Mexican Chile serve as the primary touchpoints for engaging with consumers.

As we develop our campaigns, we don’t need to overcomplicate things. We start with a strong concept and let it evolve organically. Just as people have multiple facets to their personalities, our brand can develop and adapt over time based on consumer feedback and engagement. The goal is to remain authentic and responsive to the audience while maintaining a clear, recognizable identity.

Given the campaign’s target audience of Gen Z and Millennials, which media platforms do you find most effective for reaching them, and what innovative strategies do you plan to use to engage with this demographic?

Currently, we are focusing on all mediums except TV. We believe that millennials and Gen Zs are more likely to engage with other platforms like digital and press media. Our approach involves integrating multiple mediums to create a cohesive message.

It’s not just about using the brand’s colours or fonts; it’s about creating a common thread across all touchpoints. Our campaign includes a brand mascot, music, and cultural elements, all of which will be integrated in various ways. For example, the brand mascot may appear on TV and also engage with people on the ground, such as at colleges, malls, or marketplaces.

We aim to innovate and use guerrilla marketing techniques to maximize our budget, because no budget is a great budget. By blending different mediums, we hope to achieve the best possible efficacy and impact.

How is the increasing use of AI impacting the thought process in advertising and creative agencies, and what influence do you see it having on the future of campaign development?

AI played a significant role in a couple of areas during our process. For instance, when choosing elements like the arch or gate design that says “World of Mexican Chile”, we used AI to explore various possibilities. By browsing through different beach-like establishments, arches, and signage ideas influenced by Mexican culture and the concept of Chile, we generated several options with AI. We then took those options and crafted our own design based on the results.

Similarly, when it came to selecting the character, we conducted about 200 auditions. AI helped us avoid bias towards any particular individual – like wanting someone who resembles Al Pacino or Tom Cruise. Instead, we aimed for a common, authentically Mexican-looking character. We used AI to generate images, compared them with real auditions, and selected the person who best matched the desired appearance.