Freecharge offers youth ‘redemption’, with vouchers

Online recharge player Freecharge has launched its first TV commercial, conceptualised by Lowe Lintas and Partners.

 

The campaign revolves around the fact that young people are often accused by parents of being spendthrifts, for their modern day indulgences. Youngsters engaged in shopping, in a cinema hall, at a coffee shop and other places frequented by youth are featured. Each of them mimics a parent admonishing them in a humourous tone.

 

The film shifts to a classroom where parents are seated as five youngsters walk in. One of them addresses the parents: “Hamare kharchon ko leke, aap hum par kitne charges lagate hain. Par hum ek kharche se, saare charges se free ho jate hai” (You ‘charge’ (blame) us for all our expenses, but we free ourselves with just one expense). A voice over says, “Bas app download karo aur uspe jitney ka recharge karo utne ke offers aur deals pao. Toh aaj se, recharge nahi, Freecharge” (Just download the app and recharge worth any amount to avail discounts and offers for an equal amount. So from today, don’t recharge, just freecharge).

 

Alok Goel, CEO, FreeCharge, said, “FreeCharge is a youth brand and hence we wanted to figure out a campaign idea that will connect with today's youth at deep emotional levels.

 

He explained that Lowe came up with the insight that ‘today's youngsters are life hackers and they will figure out their way out in life despite what life throws at them’. “The insight was so original and emotional that we felt Lowe team will be great partners for this campaign,” he added.

Kunal Shah, co-founder, FreeCharge, said, “We want to completely change what people expect from the simple act of recharging a mobile phone. It is no longer just a payment, but a rewarding experience which delivers joys to our customers. We felt that Lowe Lintas’ campaign idea captured this in a surprising and insightful way. We are confident the youth of today will connect with the brand and engage with it for a long time to come.”

 

Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas, said, "We felt that our campaign needed to do more than land the product and its benefits. We needed to connect with our rechargers at a real level. We hit upon an insight that the youth of today are 'charged' with being irresponsible with their money. This simple app is their ally and just one re-'charge' fittingly answers all these charges."

Credits

 

Client: FreeCharge

Agency: Lowe Lintas and Partners

Creative Team: Arun Iyer, Akash Das, Amar Singh, Piyush Gupta, Paresh Panchal

Account management: Raj Gupta, Abhimanyu Mathur, Rohit Chatterjee, JagannathRane, Ruth Andrea Peters

 

Planning: Rishabha Nayyar, Prashant Verma