Iconic Ads: Amaron -Lasts Long, Very Long, Ting Tong

Car batteries were a forgotten product. Under the hood, forgotten for a long time, till something happened. A slow-moving product!

In 2003, the Indian automotive battery market was 8 million units per year. OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales contribute 25% but the main attraction was the remaining 75% replacement market. So the brand with high saliency got the prize – top of mind recall.

Since the customer largely was ignorant & indifferent, involvement was also limited if not none. The car mechanic, service centre or the shop owner decided on which brand to purchase. To compound this, around 60% of the market was unorganized (read cheaper, lower quality) making it even tougher for the branded players.

The brief to Ogilvy from Amaron was to be different but retain the promise of long-lasting batteries (Amaron had its SilvenX technology made by its US-based partner, Johnson Controls which prevented the corrosion of the battery plates). And also break down the indifference from the car owner.”

The advertisements were adaptations of familiar allegories like Ramayana with a contemporary twist. This helped to establish a stronger rapport with the audience. Moreover, interesting execution ideas were possible. 

The creative team felt that everything that Amaron has done was different from convention, so the advertising too had to be treated differently

To break through the clutter, a unique technique called clay animation or claymation was used (for the first time in India). It combined clay and animation. 

The creative team comprised Pushpinder Singh, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar & Naren Multani. The animation was done by Vaibhav Kumaresh and Ashok E at Famous House of Animation. There are no tracks or audio effects except for a cold flat newsreader voiceover by Chetan Shashital.  

Following the Kumbhkarna ad was the Hare and Tortoise film which had the same team with Rajesh Telia giving the music

This clutter-busting advertisement worked for Amaron and it captured a 6% market share in a very quick time.

Lasts Long, Very Long, Ting Tong