NEW DELHI: Durga Puja is a time when people come together in joy and celebration. The streets are chock-a-block with revellers, the night glows with colourful light displays, and the very air thrums with excitement and gaiety. Brands look forward to this time of the year and come up with beautiful creatives that celebrate the festive spirit to resonate with their target audience.
While this year is different, brands haven't shied away from reaching out and connecting with consumers in a number of different ways. Their pujo ad campaigns this time around are designed around the resilience of the human spirit, overcoming difficult times through a positive outlook, and celebration with responsibility.
Here is a compilation of a few of them: -
Tanishq
The jewellery brand’s festive campaign Ekotai Shundor, Ekotai Shokti is an ode to the resilient spirit of Bengal and Bengalis. The ad film encourages people to come together and celebrate pujo while adhering to safety norms. It resonates with the message that we can overcome any obstacles in our way with the spirit of oneness and unity.
The campaign features popular Bengali actor and Tanishq’s brand ambassador for the east region Mimi Chakraborty. It highlights the rituals and traditions associated with this auspicious festival and the mythos of Maa Durga.
Shoppers Stop
Titled Ami Alo or ‘I Am The Light’, the film by apparel & lifestyle brand Shoppers Stop showcases how women, even in the most difficult and darkest of times, embody the characteristics of Goddess Durga. She is one-of-a-kind (Advitiya), powerful (Shakti), fearless (Nirbhay), and light (Ami Alo).
Depicting the festive season as a celebration of families coming together during such difficult times, the campaign urges customers to step out of the darkness, stand together and bring the brilliance back into their lives. Above all, the film recognises women as the beacon of hope and positivity for their family.
Asian Paints
Asian Paints has a long association with Durga Puja. As part of their Sharad Shamman campaign this year, the brand has launched a new film Dugga Elo Ghawrey – Maa Durga is coming home.
Dugga Elo Ghawrey is a story of little Mini’s pujo surprise. The film opens with a despondent little girl ruing the fact that she won’t get to enjoy the customary pandal hopping and other pujo delights. Then, her family takes it upon themselves to transform their home into a vibrant pujo pandal, complete with carnival games, snacks and sparkling laughter. As for the homecoming of the Goddess, the little girl discovers Durga Maa on her living room wall. Her mother paints the Goddess with Asian Paints wall colours, thereby bringing a new kind of celebration to light.
The melodious background score in the film has been created by renowned band Lakkhichhara.
ZEE5
ZEE5 has launched a digital campaign #MaayerSatheMaakeDekha to encourage viewers to celebrate pujo by paying a tribute to their mother alongside Maa Durga. The platform has roped in five renowned celebrities of the Bengali entertainment industry to feature in five heart-warming videos, where each of them reminisce about their childhood memories around pujo, realizing in the bargain how mothers would often get relegated to the side-lines for the overall fanfare. The campaign makes an impassioned appeal to everybody to appreciate and recognise our mothers more, and most importantly, give them our love and time. The videos also see each of the known faces highlight all the special things they will do for their mother to make this pujo memorable for them, encouraging the audience to do the same.
Welspun
Domestic brand Welspun has launched a multi-pronged campaign #ChaloPaltai this Durga Puja. Through this initiative, Welspun has tried to convey the positives of inverting established gender roles. Inspired by Welspun’s reversible bed sheets, the campaign showcases the powerful stories of women who defy gender norms and societal limitations to take on vocations that are considered a man’s domain, such as purohits (priests), dhakis (percussionist), and sculptors.
Joy Personal Care
Beauty brand Joy, which enjoys a strong market presence in West Bengal, has attempted to capture the vibe of Durga Puja in their latest campaign Dugga Elo. The music video features 10 popular Bengali celebrities preparing for the festival in their own way and indulging in the celebrations whole-heartedly. Akriti Kakkar has lent her voice for the upbeat song and it strikes an emotional chord with audiences by evoking the vibrant and cheerful spirit of pujo.
