Brands
Bournvita salutes mothers as the original influencers in new Mother’s Day campaign
Long before algorithms and follower counts, it was mothers who did the shaping
MUMBAI: In an era of sponsored posts, viral trends and carefully curated digital personas, Bournvita has decided to redirect the spotlight. The Mondelez India brand launched a Mother’s Day campaign titled #OGInfluencer, making the case that the most powerful influence in any child’s life predates social media by several decades and answers to the name “Mum.”
At the heart of the campaign is a film that eschews sentimentality in favour of something more honest: the quiet, unglamorous, relentless work of motherhood. Waiting by cricket nets. Cheering through one more lap at the pool. Sitting beside a child after a failed exam. Helping them get back up. It is the kind of footage that does not go viral but, Bournvita is betting, goes deep.
The campaign is rooted in the brand’s long-standing philosophy of tayyari, a concept of preparedness that extends, in Bournvita’s telling, well beyond the physical. Mothers, the campaign argues, are in the business of building emotional resilience, one unremarkable everyday moment at a time.
Nitin Saini, vice president of marketing at Mondelez India, said the campaign was conceived as a tribute to an influence that precedes everything else. “For generations, Bournvita has partnered with mothers in their child’s growth journey,” he said. “Their encouragement, values and everyday support leave a lasting impact, and this campaign is a tribute to that influence.”
The creative work comes from Ogilvy India, where the film was conceived by senior executive creative director Akshay Seth. Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group chief creative officers at Ogilvy India, described the idea as an ode from the brand to the women who made it what it is. “Bournvita as a brand would not have enjoyed the status it does, if Indian mothers across decades would not have made place for it in their homes and hearts,” they said, adding that the film’s director, Bob, brought the script to life with characters “so many of our audience will love and identify with.”
Beyond the film, creators across genres and platforms have been sharing personal stories and childhood memories in the build-up to Mother’s Day, extending the campaign’s reach into the spaces where influence, in its more modern form, actually lives.
Mondelez India, formerly Cadbury India, has been in the country for more than 75 years, introducing Cadbury Dairy Milk and Bournvita to Indian households in 1948. It is a heritage the brand has never been shy about invoking. With #OGInfluencer, it does so again, with a simple and rather difficult to argue with point: the original influencer had no ring light, no algorithm and no brand deal. She was just there, every day, doing the work. That, Bournvita says, counts for rather more.
