Iconic Ads: Vadilal – Making Desi Ice Cream Go Oomph!

Vadilal began as a soda firm in 1907 and grew to become Gujarat’s most popular ice cream brand in the 1970s. When they intended to expand to Mumbai in the 1980s, they ran into a problem called Kwality – the most popular ice cream brand.

They had engaged Trikaya, but their advertising wasn’t having the desired effect.

The Gandhi’s of Vadilal met many agencies & most suggested that the brand name had to change because succeeding in a Western product category with an Indian name brand was tough.

Except for Mohammad Khan of Enterprise.

When the account moved to Enterprise, Mohammed chose to replace the black and white line drawings used in Trikaya’s advertising with real pictures of the actual ice cream. He said, “No one wants to lick line drawings!” So they photographed the ice cream with the aid of photographer Swapan Mukherjee. The final results? Advertisements that were worth licking off the page.

Enterprise created a campaign that defined the look of ice cream advertising for many years. Mouth-watering ice-cream visuals & to quote Freddy Birdy ‘made Vadilal even better than Versace worn by Elizabeth Hurley’

Vadilal’s marketing strategy was built on the simple insight – people need variety to try out, in an impulse food category. It created the flavours of the month concept. The brand would introduce two new flavours, one Indian like Shahi Gulab & the other a Western one like Hawaiian pineapple.

This led to several things. A) an excuse for consumers to visit a Vadilal outlet & try the brand even if they ended up eating one or more of the more popular staple flavours such as chocolate, strawberry, Vanilla etc. B) It gave Vadilal a vibrant, exciting happening image C) create an appeal among the customers as they asked for a Hawaiian pineapple

This campaign was carried forward at Ambience by Elsie Nanji & Freddy Birdy/ Maia Katrak btw all ex Enterprise!