Hidden Nuggets: Flipkart – Wish Chain

Flipkart just updated the look of their company. It intended to convey that it has a diverse group of customers, spanning age groups, genders, and locations.

While they had been advertising their features for a long time, using the much loved ‘Kidadults’ format, it was time to do one for Brand Love.

However, this needed to make a larger point, and they wanted to make the point that they connect with India at a larger level, fulfilling the desires of different kinds of profiles of people. And using ‘Kidadults’ might seem restrictive.

But Flipkart was used to breaking clutter, and they had to be convinced that this had to break clutter even in the format and not just the story.

All possible techniques from stop motion, animation, graphics….nothing seemed to be convincing.

Also, the point being made was more an emotional one, and techniques could seem like a force fit.

So after multiple attempts, it suddenly struck Rajesh Ramaswamy ( creative head at Lintas) that what if they went even more basic on the execution. Instead of trying some cutting edge methods.

The New ‘Old’ Idea

How about narrating a story only using still pictures?

He particularly liked a script (and the last one too) that used a series of still images or photographs. Each photograph inspired the next and thereby a story was created. It was a unique treatment, very different from regular commercials.

A Wish Chain.

This film dealt with the idea of how various desires may bring people together on a personal level. Creating amazing moments of life, connections and contemplation, of joy and desire was the inspiration behind this film. These moments were re-created, told in a new way against an impactful plot, and made approachable.

Well, the client did find it different, they weren’t particularly convinced if this would manage to convey the emotions, and there wasn’t any reference for the same.

After much deliberation, they decided to take the plunge.

And now came the larger problem. This needed an expert in story-telling and also someone willing to experiment with a new format.

The Production

Abhinay Deo was the first name that came to Rajesh’s mind. But was sceptical, if Abhinay would find this exciting, as it uses a more analogue form of story-telling. Where you take away the main device of story-telling ie film and replace it with photographs.

A little later Abhinay called back and told a very surprised Rajesh that he would be delighted to do a film like this. What Rajesh did not know was that Abhinay was a closet still photographer, just like his father. His father had left his large collection of cameras for Abhinay. This was a chance for Abhinay to try each one of them. In a sense – a dream/wish come true!

There was no end to the surprises. Abhinay’s director of photography Karthik Vijay was also a hobby still photographer. So, both Abhinay and Kartik decided to go on a trip all over India living their dream and enjoying their hobby.

They shot more than 12800 photos in just a few days. And they had the arduous task of selecting only a few of them for the commercial.

Swanand Kirkere wrote the lyrics, and Ram Sampath composed the music.

And what resulted was a unique and exhilarating campaign for everyone around at least for Abhinay and Kartik, as it fulfilled one of the Wishes!

And much to the surprise of everyone, people were so engrossed in the story-telling that many didn’t even realise that it was being narrated with pictures.

Ab Har Wish Hogi Poori