The Kurl-on ad campaign of mid-2014, featuring Malala Yousafzai, drew flak from several parts of the world for its content, which was found to be offensive and in bad taste. The images were not accepted by the public in the way they were supposed to have been, and the ad agency responsible for the creative, O&M, got a lot of heat from social media and media houses around the globe. In spite of the fact that the campaign glorified the achievements of the personalities in a humourous vein, it the visuals — of Malala being shot and bouncing back after falling on a Kurl-on mattress — did not go down well with most people.
Most mattress ads look similar — a man sleeping on a mattress, with visuals conveying his feeling of lying on a bed of clouds or feathers. But there’s a need for advertisements that connect with consumers rationally and emotionally, sharply distinguishing one brand from its competitors. Fresh insights are important to avoid using the same appeals and taking the same position as the others.
For this purpose, there’s a need to design a campaign that, though on the lines of O&M’s earlier creative, depicts bounce in a different way. The print ad campaign designed here is themed around sports and the message in posters is conveyed through sports marketing.
Linking bounce and sports
These print ads deliver the message of ‘bounce’ in a witty manner. We have added a campaign slogan “Kurl-on for the right bounce”, to convey the message loud and clear. In the print ad, a snapshot of a sportsperson/athlete is taken, where he/she is in a state of bouncing/jumping, and the bounce is attributed to the Kurl-on sports, advertisement (Kurl-on written on the court/ground).
This print campaign links Kurl-on’s bounce with sports; and this could be an instant hit with the country’s sports-lovers, with the the witty element adding some spice to the copy.
This campaign can be run during famous sporting events, such as World Cups and other sporting events of high importance for maximum attention. Advertisements can be printed in magazines and newspapers for greater reach. Also, to increase visibility, the advertisements for this campaign can be placed on billboards and flexes as well.
Simple, direct
The ad pictures show how athletes could get ‘just that right bounce’, all thanks to Kurl-on. Since Kurl-on is the leading brand in the mattress market, there is no real need to show a mattress; though the message is implicit, it is loud and clear.
Moreover, the campaign slogan “for the right bounce” complements the picture. As far as the print media is concerned, picture, headline and copy matter the most. And this print advertisement is strong enough to draw attention. The headline reinforces the picture and would draw a person into reading the copy.
( Note: The publishers do not claim ownership of these pictures. Pictures have been modified for the illustration purposes as part of case solution )
( The first runners-up are students of PGDM-General at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi )