As concierge Velu toils away at a hotel in Dubai in order to save money build a house back home, he misses out on the small joys of family life. On his return, while choosing a cement for the house he built with his hard-earned money, he picks JSW Cement, knowing that though this brand takes time to dry, it’s worth the wait. Kainaz Karmakar, executive creative director, O&M, the agency behind this campaign  says, “Most players try to position themselves as the strongest cement brand. But through this television commercial, we wanted to make cement a high-involvement category by letting consumers choose JSW Cement. Since people spend their lives saving up to build a house, we wanted them to make an informed investment.”

Rahul Akkara, associate vice-president, JSW Cement, says, “Unlike other Indian brands, JSW Cement is made from slag and not fly ash. Earlier, we positioned ourselves as a strong, environment-friendly cement. But since every company speaks of strength, we took a conscious decision to talk about the speed at which the cement dries, because it being a low-involvement category makes people depend on influencers to make a decision.”

While JSW’s commercial features a south Indian character in an attempt to address its core market, it remains to be seen if the company can cement its brand recall in other parts of the country as well.