Amul’s India is a rather appropriate title to celebrate India’s Amul. It’s a tiny book, the little girl in red polka dots instantly recognisable on the cover as the one who has sold us stories and anecdotes as she told us about Amul. Inside, the book is rich in its selection of Amul billboards, created and sustained week after week by daCunha Communications. In this interview with Business Editor Jagdish Rattanani, the Managing Director and Creative Head of daCunha Communications, Rahul daCunha, speaks in brief, ad copy style about the story behind the billboards that we are so accustomed to seeing.
Q. Every Monday morning, you say its “decision time” on the event to spoof? It might seem you and the team almost run a weekly news column, if not a weekly magazine (five editions!) called Amul in the role of a commentator, journalist, adman and/or brand manager…how do you see the role?
A.I think the two principal roles would be of social observer/commentator and brand manager. When we comment/spoof an issue/trend/personality, we have to be mindful of the fact that we are selling a brand at the end of the day.
Q. It is almost a cliché to point out that we are in the midst of change, or that change is sweeping and all encompassing. But the Amul girl, polka dots and all, has remained unchanged for decades. What is it that worked yesterday, is working today and will probably click with audiences into tomorrow as well?
A.I think the answer is in your question – we as Indians want change, but also yearn for some things to remain the same. The Amul Girl and Brand Amul represent stability, and trust. In many ways, it is one of the last of the great Indian brands.
“We as Indians want change, but also yearn for some things to remain the same.The Amul Girl and Brand Amul represent stability, and trust. In many ways, it is one of the last of the great Indian brands.”
Q. I find it interesting that you’ve used various platforms, including social media but essentially taken your hoarding to these places and succeeded…your medium is still the billboard in essence and the book acknowledges this in as many words [“a hoarding at a time”]. What does this tell you about emerging platforms and engaging audiences, notably young audiences in a cluttered environment?
A. Young people spend more time now in the virtual world than the real one. They prefer screens to the streets. So the new approach is to catch them on Facebook than face to face with a hoarding. Though nothing quite matches the magnificence of the topical, up on a 20 foot by 20 foot, hoarding.
Q. So if you were to distill the properties of this young girl what might they be, and how do you relate them to Amul butter?
A.The young Amul girl encompasses all that is emblematic and perverse about India – innocent yet experienced, open-minded yet opinionated, comedic but serious, capable of being everything that India can be.
Q.You make a deep comment about we as a nation being a “democracy only in principle”. How do you keep within the boundaries these days? Do you take risks, weigh the pros and cons of a particular comment closely or just go with your gut feel?
A. We’ve taken the approach of being edgy without being reckless. Political right wing parties are an area we don’t venture into.
Q.Would it be fair to draw some big ticket ad principles from 50 years of a steady and consistent campaign? What might they be?
A.The one thing is the unshakable belief that once you’ve hit upon the Big Idea, stay with it and nourish it.
Q.Tells us something about the five India’s you’ve mentioned and the way you’ve segregated them and how advertising propositions work differently in each of these nations with the nation, as it were?
A. So the five India’s are Bombay, Hindi Belt, the South, the East and Facebook. Bombay subjects tend to be glamour, Bollywood and local issues focused. The South is more regional and we avoid Hindi. The Hindi Belt is very political issues. The East too. And Facebook is youth oriented.
Q. You’ve personally handled some 1,500 of these hoardings now…which of them are your favourites…and which ones make it to the gallery of all time greats?
A. Our recent one KOLKARTOON about Mamata Banerjee’s outburst against the political cartoon is a recent favourite. And of course VICTORIA TERMINATED, when our premier railway station was renamed.
Q. Finally, your thoughts on a single brand Amul that sells multiple products — butter, ghee, dahi…
A.There is a huge amount of trust with the brand name AMUL. Consumers associate the name with trust and it is truly one of the last of the great Indian brands.
