Max celebrates Deewanapan with a new flavour

MAX is all geared up to take their brand campaign “Deewana Bana De” to the next level of ‘deewangi’ through three new TV commercials. The campaign “Deewana Bana De” launched in 2002 embodied the passion movie buffs had for good cinema. MAX is celebrating deewangi through a brand new campaign thought “Jahaan Dekho…Wahaan Dewaana” which promises to draw in new deewana’s and regale the loyalists.

Neeraj Vyas, Executive Vice President and Business Head, MAX and Vaishali Sharma, Vice President, Marketing, in an interaction with Adgully shared their views on the different  strategies planned for this unique campaign.

Speaking about the idea behind this campaign, Vyas said, "The idea behind this step is to take ahead the 'Deewana Bana De' element, which is the most catchy and recalled tagline ever and for which we are known for, but this time from the consumer's perspective.  The tag line, launched ten years ago, itself is synonymous to our brand Max. We have been trying and testing this line since many years now.  This latest brand campaign actually revolves around the fact that 'deewanapan' lies within all of us. Films are so deep rooted in our conscience that there is a little bit of movie madness in whatever we do.”   

India being rich in the movie culture has influenced movie buffs in some way or the other and  Max has taken ahead their inner passion for movies. Vyas says, "We all have the residue of movies we see and try implementing it in some way or the other in our daily lives may it be humming a song while walking the streets or using dialogues or at times we even tend to become a character ourselves. So we really cannot deny the fact that we all use some element from our rich Bollywood heritage in our daily lives. Hence this is the thought behind our initiative."   

Vaishali Sharma sharing her inputs regarding the campaign said, “The objective of this campaign is to draw in new deewana’s and regale the loyalists. The commercial emphasizes the point that there is a bit of deewangi within all of us. It is based on the insight that Hindi films are so much part of the Indian DNA that we feel, breathe and live this passion during so many moments in our daily routine lives.”

Vyas says, "Over the years whatever campaigns we have done, some have been overtly funny, some overtly touchy and some have been over the top but this time round we decided not to take that direction.  Hence though these films are not overtly funny but yes they are on the softer side and in line with today's situations. This time the commercials are not predictable at all because the sense of humour is really different."

When asked about the brief given to the agency Vyas explained that it is entirely different this time in terms of idea, humour and thought. He says, "In our past campaigns, we have always used the communication route from the brand's perspective but the unique part is the fact that this time the approach is consumer driven in terms of how a consumer's 'deewanapan' comes out in a normal slice of life’s situation."

The three commercials bring out the shades of Deewangi - a daughter hoping for a filmy response to her love story from her parents, a filmy son hoping to avenge his father’s death and a deewana police inspector who cannot think beyond movies.

Though the entire thought of the campaign is different the media mix remains the same. All mediums would be used but this time digital would be used heavily and extensively. In this regard Vyas says, "Well using digital would soon be a policy for everyone considering the advantages and opportunities it presents as far as reaching out to the audience is concerned. We tried and tested the medium during the IPL and were quite successful in it.  Hence the push would be seen more on digital and the network channels would also play an important role in the marketing."

To promote the campaign which was launched on 15th August, the channel is engaging in a massive television plan across 22 channels for over 4 weeks. The 360 degree marketing plan also includes radio, digital and cinema spread over the next 2 months.

There will be no OOH promotions and when asked the reason for this Vyas was of the opinion that he would rather use OOH when showcasing properties like Aashiqui 2 etc. He opined that for such a campaign digital and television would fit in best as the core essence of the message and the concept would fit best in a TVC rather than on a hoarding.

Elaborating further on the marketing front, Sharma shared with us that all the channels from their kitty will be used extensively be it the movie channels, music channels or regional channels. She says, "Well, although it is not a multimedia campaign but the entire route would be extensive and even on digital we are going viral.  We will keep building our strategies around it in terms of bringing more engagement opportunities for the consumers."

There is no doubt about the fact that the entire concept is unique in itself as this time the channel is showcasing the protagonist as a consumer who is watching the channel and not the brand MAX. The commercials broke on the channel effective August 15, 2013. The 3 brand films are directed by ace ad film maker Rajesh Sathi from Kerosene Films who has shot successful ad campaigns for MAX earlier.