Iconic Ads: Havells Cables – Wires that don’t Catch Fire

People rarely go to buy wires. They usually send the electricians or contractors to buy them.

Havells wanted to connect directly with customers to make them insist on Havells. And they wanted to establish an emotional connection for this category. They took a product positioning route rather than an umbrella brand positioning.

The strategic decision of amplifying the HRFR (Heat Resistant Flame Retardant) factor of Havells wires was Lintas’s recommendation.

Uday Rao wrote the line ‘Wires that don’t catch fire’. He also had worked out a couple of scripts along with his team. One of the stories he had written involved a mother and son (son gets his first job as a firefighter and the mother ties a piece of Havells wires…symbolically praying for his protection). He bounced off the idea with Balki who was about to catch a flight. He heard the idea and picked the line immediately. It was simple and rhymed too, making it easy for customers to remember.

Balki loved the fact that Uday had managed to get a story where the wire is not shown in its actual place (wires are usually hidden behind the wall).

A couple of days later, while Uday was with him in a studio on some other project, Balki suggested the story of the boy making tongs… That idea was inspired by a story by Munshi Premchand – Eidgah which he had read.

A.Vijay Narayanan, who was heading marketing at Havells, heard the story and was moved by the emotions. However, it took several trips and meetings to get buy-in from all concerned and that was the job that Uday patiently did.

A caring nature is a quality most humans have. Kids always can connect with the audience as emotion comes in easily. Also, kids observe and pick up things very fast.

This commercial was a contrarian. It was showcasing a premium product in a non-premium way.

Gauri Shinde directed this film bringing out the emotions. Sameeruddin was the music director and his score aptly captures all the feelings!

By the way, the voice you hear saying the line is Balki’s.

A huge thanks to Uday Shankar Rao for providing all the inputs