Webfilms : OYO Rooms & Whisper
By Malay Desai By : Boring Brands and BBDO India Around Fathers’ Day last week, budget hotel chain OYO Rooms launched a web film starring veteran actor Piyush Mishra playing a middle aged father. One rainy afternoon when he finds his dead dad sitting in his drawing room with a pastry, he scarily walks up and begins a conversation. After the old man says he invited himself back to celebrate Fathers’ Day, Mishra’s character emotionally admits not having told him how much he loved him. The old man then removes his wig, revealing that he’s actually Mishra’s son, who just gifted him an OYO voucher. In Whisper’s new web film, 10 girls were asked questions about their dads, the last of which was if they shared period talks with him, putting them in awkward positions. Do we like ? Archies’ and Hallmark may no longer be in the business every May and June, but our digital agencies, yes all the small, big and in-between ones you have read about in this issue, ensure that the spirit of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days is kept alive in the noisiest ways possible. Fathers’ Day, which went past last Sunday the 21st, created the annual ruckus of brands vying to forcefully fit in-between you and your dad, and I picked two films which were remarkable. OYO Rooms, Ritesh Agarwal’s start-up that raised over 100 crore of investment this year spent some of that in two fine actors, the maverick Piyush Mishra and a bright NSD-ite Zeeshan Ayub. The script was fine – get a dead father back to initially create comedy and then pull the viewer in with a teary emotional moment; the piano score was intact and the brand plug was waiting too. How did it not work for me then? In one line – I may not recall OYO rooms the next time I’m booking a room online, simply because the brand plug in this film was disconnected. The son gifting his dad an OYO voucher was like an afterthought, something the lo-ong film could do without. Yes, when I speak of ‘good fathers day ads’ I will cite this on the top but what’s the use? The film was backed by the #SayitWithOYO campaign which too is not only disconnected from the service offering, it’s also the same phrase that Archies Cards used in the 90s! Can do better, OYO, hope you get the Softbank guys’ dough and raise this bar. Whisper India, meanwhile, has stuck to #LetsTalkPeriod, another brand that’s urging us to communicate. While fitting into the large story P&G started last year to urge Indians to discuss menstrual issues, this film seems to be a me-too effort in the women-centric ad trends. That said, it’s yet another poke in the uncomfortable mind space of us Indians, so no big complaints here. Congrats P&G, by the way, for the Glass Grand Prix for the Touch The Pickle campaign. Aachaar may not have tasted as sweet! (To watch the OYO film,feed this link in your browser - bit.ly/OYOrooms and to watch the Whisper film, look up @whisperindia on Twitter) Social Newsfeed YOUR REGULAR DOSE ON THE SHIFTS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSE Shine.com playing the Dubsmash card I’ve been on the lookout for Indian brands interestingly using the filmy dubbing app Dubsmash, and among many, I’ve found HT Media’s job portal Shine’s campaign Lag gayiVaat to be particularly effective. Coming in along with a fun TVC starring Javed Jaffrey and the brand’s real ambassador, the all-knowing mouse, this campaign has invited users to send in snappy dubbed videos in appreciation of their bosses. Some of the entries are downright hilarious, and the activity rounds off the campaign well. With Bollywood to the rescue and minimal effort on the part of the audience, Dubsmash is quite the fillip to many marketers. Jerry Mouse likes this Scoopwhoop’s video vision is latest in web film trend Let’s call this year the year of web films and co-branded content. You may have read about Delhi-based, 18-month-old listiclesite ScoopWhoop’s efforts to start a web film division, and now I read on Light House Insights some more details on their plans. SW published the first web episode of Baked, an original fiction web series recently and its promoters are all too keen on focusing and investing more on ScoopWhoop Talkies, their web film arm. There are more series coming up, including a monologue called The Chair where individuals spurt out their darkest secrets. With AIB’s sketches getting longer, Viral Fever’s characters and films too proving to be hits among the TA and more brands tying up with YouTube channels to co-create, we’re looking at an exciting year. TVF likes this Twitter sends hearts to Wimbledon No this isn’t about how the ‘Favorites’ button on Twitter is soon going to change to hearts (annoying for me) but it’s more on one of the world’s snootiest, proper sporting clubs opening up to Twitter. The world’s oldest tournament has finally embraced digital innovations which include live streaming player interviews, using Periscope to give fans a fresh perspective and even a brand new set of icons and emojis (strawberries!) to encourage users to get involved. Well played, All England Club. I’m already impressed by the stuff I saw at Federer’s Periscope walk through the club last Friday. Cannot wait to smell the grass courts! Roger Federer likes this
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