AD Agencies
Dentsu Marcom flies away on Hondas’ Activa
MUMBAI: In a bid to reinforce its market leadership, Honda, launched a new campaign for its first personal compact scooter offering under the brand name ACTIVA-I.
The campaign was conceptualised by Denstu Marcom on the brief that the customers desire an automatic scooter for daily commute, which is lightweight, compact and easy to handle yet comfortable for both genders.
Dentsu Marcom NCD Titus Upputuru said, “As children, most of us have played the chidhya udh, totha udh, maina udh game. It’s when we become adults and start leaving our homes and begin earning that we actually start udhna. The game combines with young men and women setting out of homes with optimism to inspire young people to come out of homes and fly. This also brings alive the iconic symbol of Honda, the wing mark, in a refreshing manner.”
Added, agency’s account management VP Abhinav Kaushik, “Today’s young generation is not ridden by any past baggage. They are supremely confident, they think differently, they have a can-do attitude and they are charting new territories. They are willing to ride into the future knowing fully well what they want out of life. This expression udh or ‘ready to fly’ captures the mindset of this generation that has the desire to excel, follow their own direction and happily take on the challenges of the life ahead.”
The campaign works on the approach that Indian youth today finds new ways to show the world that ‘I am standing on my feet, and powering myself on my own dreams and ambitions’. They are affirmative and seek identity independence, in everything they do.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India VP Yadvinder S. Guleria said, “From its first family scooter Activa, Honda has always understood the pulse of the nation in its journey as undisputed leader in automatic scooter industry. Addressing the need of today’s customers, Honda has now brought the next revolution in personal lightweight mobility. The new Activa-i empowers Indian customers to be “Ready to Fly”. The Dream mileage of 60kmpl powered by the revolutionary Honda Eco Technology, features like combi-brakes, lightweight and compact design ensures that Honda is the customers trusted partner for every empowering ride.”
AD Agencies
Fevicol releases its last ad campaign by the late Piyush Pandey
The adhesive brand’s last campaign by the late advertising legend Piyush Pandey turns an everyday Indian obsession into a quietly powerful metaphor
MUMBAI: Fevicol has never needed much of a plot. A sticky bond, a wry observation, a truth that every Indian instantly recognises — that has always been enough. “Kursi Pe Nazar,” the brand’s latest television commercial, is no different. And yet it carries a weight that no previous Fevicol film has had to bear: it is the last one its creator, the advertising legend Piyush Pandey, will ever make.
The film, released on Tuesday by Pidilite Industries, fixes its gaze on the kursi — the chair — and what it means in Indian life. Not just as a piece of furniture, but as a currency of ambition, a vessel of authority, and a source of quiet social drama that plays out in every home, office and institution across the country. Who sits in the chair, who waits for it, and who eyes it hungrily from across the room: the film transforms this sharply observed cultural truth into a narrative that is, in the best Fevicol tradition, funny, warm and instantly familiar.
The campaign was Pandey’s idea. He discussed it in detail with the team before his death, but did not live to see it shot. Prasoon Pandey, director at Corcoise Films who helmed the commercial, said the team needed five months to find its footing before they felt ready to shoot. “This was the toughest film ever for all of us,” he said. “It was Piyush’s idea, magical as always.”
The emotional weight of that responsibility was not lost on the team at Ogilvy India, which created the campaign. Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group chief creative officers at Ogilvy India, described the process as “a pilgrimage of sorts, on the path that Piyush created not just for Ogilvy, but for our entire profession.”
Sudhanshu Vats, managing director of Pidilite Industries, said the film was rooted in a distinctly Indian insight. “The ‘kursi’ symbolises aspiration, transition, and ambition,” he said. “Piyush Pandey had an extraordinary ability to elevate such everyday observations into iconic storytelling for Fevicol. This film carries that legacy forward.”
That legacy is considerable. Over several decades, Pandey’s partnership with Fevicol produced some of the most beloved advertising in Indian history, building the brand into something rare: a household name that people actively enjoy watching sell to them.
“Kursi Pe Nazar” does not try to be a tribute. It simply tries to be a great Fevicol film. By most measures, it succeeds — which is, in the end, the most fitting send-off of all.
