This project was a collective effort to expand a brand's impact by creating an engaging ad campaign.
The task began with building a common understanding of the brand we had selected, Paper boat. It had been serving packaged traditional foods & beverages for 10 years. To further decode their presence in the market, I identified their audience and their interaction with the brand.
Paper boat has a very clearly defined audience, and have used this knowledge to target them in places that will be accessible to the educated and working adults. Railways and airways, often used to travel for work or people moving away from their native homes.
I analyzed the brand's previous campaigns that have taken place on social media, through which they are building a relationship of nostalgia with their audience. The content is focused on the childhood memories from the 90's and often indulge millennials with their interactive and storytelling approach. The medium of illustrations is dominant throughout their social media with more tangible mediums for campaigns.
Campaign Idea
During the research, we identified a gap in the market of the brand. With their goal to carry forward and introduce the traditional Indian drinks, Paper boat has not been successful in creating awareness for the upcoming generation. This becomes a potential hindrance in their promise of bringing back memories through their products, which limits this proposition to Millennials.
"Akkad Bakkad Bambe Bo..."
With our campaign in mind, we created the tagline: Akkad Bakkad Paperboat! The line comes from the popular jingle which is sung during a multi-player game. To associate Paper boat with joy and play, we planned to represent the brand as a reward throughout our campaign.
We curated a list of games and jingles from the good old days of outdoor play. It lay a foundation of elements for the campaign visuals.
The process for a key visual started with visualizing stories, and exploring the idea of exaggeration and steps of playing the games. Sketching the stories helped visualize the context and create a better image of what we want the campaign to convey.
Struggle
While creating the final visuals, we struggled to balance the visual with the tagline. Since the tagline carries the name of the brand, I tried to incorporate the logo within the tagline. In a composition, it wasn't clearly readable or as strong to maintain a balance of attention with the visual.
Therefore, I iterated with Chalkboard SE Typeface, to keep the text clean. The addition of strokes attracts attention and carries joy and positivity in the graphic.
Pre-Launch
Coming from our curated list of activities, we shortlisted popular jingles to be displayed throughout the pre-launch stage. The goal was to initiate audience engagement by recalling them of their melodic childhood.
We wanted to invite our audience to the leading event, through an interactive approach; therefore their participation is rewarded with an exclusive offer on the main event of the campaign, Paper boat Carnival.
Launch
The launch of the campaign presents the tagline with a series of visuals on social media. Following a similar visual language in our illustrations, we try to immerse the viewers deeper into the fun and refreshing experience of childhood games.
The representation of these games through exaggeration helped bring the joy and playfulness to the surface like a fantasy in the visuals. We played with the placement of the product in the compositions to associate it with a win or reward.
The campaign launch is followed by an event, a carnival, with a collection of the games and activities from the 90's for children to interact with and grow a connection with the brand's proposition and adults to relive the experience. The carnival will be activated on Children's day, for a period of 3 days every year.
Sustenance
The carnival will be documented through photographs and videos to be presented on social media. Through this content we will narrate stories and experiences of childhood games and initiate online interaction with the audience through the brand's social media handles.
Learnings
When working collectively, it is important to keep the brand identity intact and recognizable throughout the work. Creating the mood board at an early stage helps keep the team members on the same page.
Any content for publicity should be powerful with it's tone of voice and interaction to create an actual buzz.
It is important to keep in mind the interaction or reaction one intends from the viewer to figure out the medium of communication. Example; A QR code will be more accessible through newspaper or magazine instead of hoardings.
Every piece of visual should be held to constructive criticism amongst team members. It helps ensure that the process is iterative and mentor's feedbacks are incorporated.
