O&M takes Incredible India concept forward

O&M takes Incredible India concept forward

Incredible India

MUMBAI: The Incredible India campaign - Find what you seek - conceptulaised by Ogilvy & Mather takes the meaning of previous campaigns a step further.

"Look at our geographic terrain, culture, history or art; we are a very diverse country. And we want to convey the same message through this campaign. Whatever one is looking for in India, he/she will find it here," explains O&M executive creative director Ajay Gahlaut about the idea behind the new campaign.

The Ministry of Tourism had briefed O&M to dig a little deeper into what makes India truly incredible. The team started researching by talking to travelers from around the world.

"Our previous campaigns described the word Incredible but through the new campaign, we will give more meaning to it. We always aim to evoke curiosity about the country," says Gahlaut when asked how different the new campaign is from the previous ones. The earlier Incredible India campaigns have also showed prospective tourists different parts of the country - be it the deserts of the west, the hills and mountains of the north, the beautiful coastal beaches or jungles and the backwaters in the south.

The campaign isn‘t city specific but travel specific and showcases everything from Leh and Ladakh to Kerala. The campaign (a total of nearly thirty pieces includes press and outdoor advertising) covers a range of experiences in India through the eyes of the tourist.

For instance to describe Kolkatta, there is the image is of a rain-soaked window through which you can see the trademark yellow cabs in the distance. The captions go: ‘Watch artists paint what nature paints‘.

Similarly, the one on the Rann of Kutch says: ‘Go into a salt marsh. Get out of your comfort zone‘. An image of snow covered Chang La in Ladakh says: ‘Discover new heights, discover a new high‘. An image of the floating oil lamps on the ghats of Varanasi is accompanied by the caption ‘See candles float, see hope float‘. A picture of two rhynos from the Kaziranga National Park, Assam, comes with the advice ‘Avoid loud horns, Admire sharp horns‘. Another one, depicting the festival of Holi says: ‘Throw colours on others. Add colour to your life‘.

Other pictures include a variety of images from camel rides in Rajasthan to wildlife reserves of Madhya Pradesh, from the tea plantations of Munnar to the Taj Mahal in Agra, from the backwaters of Kerala to the beaches of Andaman, from Kathakali dancers to Tibetan monks.

India‘s diversity is well represented in the series.