Lay’s looks to re-enter the campus space with Ranbir Kapoor

PepsiCo’s potato chip brands Lay’s has roped in Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador and has rolled out a campaign featuring the Bollywood actor. The theme for the campaign is ‘Lay’s Best Buddies’, and phase one of the campaign is currently on air.

The film created by JWT opens in a college canteen. Kapoor enters the canteen and attempts to lay his hands on the solitary pack of Lay’s. But before he can get there, another boy steps in and grabs it. Kapoor thinks of an idea to get the packet of chips. He goes to the table on which the boy is seated and grabs the pack of Lay’s. He addresses the group as ‘freshers’, making them believe that Kapoor is a senior. He asks for their introductions as he munches on the chips, until a friend of Kapoor’s walks in and asks him whether he’s applied for ‘Mr Fresher’. That’s when the group realises that Kapoor is a fellow fresher. The film ends with the voice over introducing Lay’s American style, ‘Cream and Onion’ flavour.

On the TVC, Surjo Dutt, AVP and senior creative director, JWT, said, “For us it was a challenge to come up with an idea for the brand that takes our communication to another level. And when one of our country's biggest stars signed up for us, magic was bound to follow. It was a pleasure to chart the journey of five friends who with their witty antics make every moment magical. We could not have been happier with the end result.”

Campaign India caught up with Gaurav Mehta, category director, Western Snacks, PepsiCo India Foods, to learn more about the campaign. Edited excerpts:

What was the reason behind roping in Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador? Does Saif Ali Khan remain associated with the brand?

There were multiple factors for this. We’re positioned as a youth brand and for us it was about bringing in someone with youth values and who fit in with our brand values. We looked around and Kapoor was the person who stood out and he could leverage both aspects.
Saif Ali Khan is very much our brand ambassador as well. Depending on the creative we could have a situation of Saif and Ranbir together.

What was the brief given to JWT?

The brief was threefold.

Firstly, it was to stay true to our positioning idea, which is making ordinary ideas magical.

We wanted to give it a creative refresh in a sense. It had been a while since we’d entered the campus space with Lay’s. It wasn’t in the brief (to enter the campus) but it came as an outcome of the discussion of the brief.

The third point was about social consumption. A group of friends coming together is a creative manifestation for that.  We wanted to anchor it in youth spaces.

One TVC has been rolled out – what else will the campaign have?

The campaign is going to be multi-dimensional. More than the TVC, it’s a central idea out here. The core insight is that we all look for big things to make our lives more enjoyable, but it’s a lot about the small moments that do become more memorable.

The campaign design will not be about a single TVC, but how it applies into everyday lives.

For the moment, the TVC will extend to digital. But it’s going to be more about episodes. It’s an episodic narration that’ll be revealed during 2014. There’ll be connections into the story.
Digital will be an important mix and it won’t only be in the social space, but in other non-traditional vehicles like blogs, too.

What percentage of the campaign spend will be on digital?

Digital is very efficient so it’s not just a matter of spending. We’re very cohesive about getting into the medium. We’ll be on travel sites and technology sites as well; basically on sites where we see our TG.

What’s the current market share for Lays and what’s the brand’s target for this year?

We are the leading chips brand, so it’s not about market share for this campaign. Market share is an outcome variable and it’s not the end game.

We’re trying to drive the market harder and that’s our responsibility as the number one player. I’m hoping market share will be a good outcome of this.