Pawsitive Support

The day is perfect. In fact, it’s picture perfect. The sun’s shining bright, the freshly pruned grass looks very inviting and there’s even a white-picket fence. Making the most of this wonderful day is a beagle gleefully tackling a ball between his teeth. All is well till the ball gets deflated and there’s a momentary pause. Just before you frown over the poor fellow’s fate, there comes another ball bouncing over the fence and we’re all smiles again.

Turns out nothing is going to rain on his parade. Quite like nothing would ever deter your daily commute plans thanks to road-side assistance by Reliance Car Insurance. While the manner in which the commercial smartly portrays the benefits of its services – fixing a flat tyre, free towing and emergency fuel assistance – is commendable; what’s even clever is the choice of protagonists in this ad film by Ogilvy & Mather.

Funny cat videos garner the most attention on social media and are widely shared. And Reliance General Insurance figured what better way than the four-legged actors to promote the new campaign. “The aim was to create awareness and promote the incredible features that 'Anywhere Assist' provides in an adorable way. We also observed an emerging trend according to which millennials are currently hooked on to animal videos on YouTube. It was about crafting a cohesive story that connects with the product feature,” explains Anand Singhi, chief distribution officer, Reliance General Insurance Company.

Right from a cocker spaniel wooing another to a panting labrador in need of an energising snack, relating each of the scenes to a product feature was another tale altogether. Burzin Mehta, group creative director, Ogilvy says, “If we look back, there is nothing that you can actually recollect for an insurance brand, irrespective of what the product is. There’s a certain memorability attached to the campaign now because a lot of people remember it as the ‘dog campaign’.” That does hold true given the popularity of the pug in the Hutch commercial, which made a comeback several years later for the Vodafone ad series. Looks like this insurance player made a wise choice to enhance its recall value.