Racold elevates hot shower to 'rebirth' ritual, through cricket umpire's story

Racold Thermo has launched a ‘Reborn every morning’ campaign for its water heaters. The TVC created by BBDO India went on air on 23 November and will be on for eight weeks.

The TVC shows a cricket umpire walking into the stadium and carrying out his duties on the field. He sets the wicket, stops the players from fighting amongst themselves, ties a batsman’s shoelaces, and so on. He takes decisions and at times faces the ire of the players as well as spectators.

How is he unperturbed by all this? That's where the brand is brought in:  the minute he steps out of his hot shower, he is ready to face the world again, ready for another gruelling day. The TVC ends saying: ‘Reborn every morning.’

On the creative brief, Josy Paul,  chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO India, said, “The brief from the client was very provocative and insightful: ‘How do we add value to hot water?’ It was a sharp, clear brief, and it started us thinking about rituals and the cultural nuances of bathing. Ajai Jhala and Rajat Mendhi converged on 'Reborn every day with the force of hot water'. We decided to dramatize the lives of unsung heroes who go through a rough time, day after day, so that others can have a good time. We looked at cricket, closely. Everybody glorifies the cricketer or the fans. But, what about the poor umpire! Look at the hell he goes through. However, nothing like the perfect hot water bath to make him feel like heaven… renewed and reborn - ready for another bout with hell! The script did well in consumer focus groups. It is all about empathy. We connect with the film because, in a way, we see ourselves in the daily trials of the heroic umpire.”

Ajai Jhala, CEO, BBDO India, added, "To add value to hot water Racold had to elevate the morning habit of a shower to a ritual. Every morning when we wake up we are in essence starting off the first day of the rest of our lives. Integrating Racold with this daily morning ritual of rebirth gives Racold an opportunity to occupy the emotional high ground in a generic and functional category."

On the objective of the campaign, Mathew Job, managing director, Racold Thermo, said, “The objective of this commercial was to differentiate Racold clearly and make the brand aspirational and innovative beyond existing core values of leadership and trust. Here, a bath plays a crucial role and involves Racold’s expertise i.e. hot water - that affects mental and physical transformation helping us to be reborn each new day and ready to take on the world. So even with just one life and one birth, Racold’s hot water lets us be reborn every morning with a clean slate into each new day.”

On the communication challenge, he said, “‘The Hot Water Specialist’ – our erstwhile value proposition– established Racold as a leading brand. The challenge and task before us at Racold was that of evolution / revolution in the water heater category. All the communications of various players in this category have been product and feature centric. The main task was to take Racold’s brand essence to a higher level and simultaneously increase the level of understanding, awareness and engagement with the new age consumers.”

Asked about the timing of the campaign and seasonality of purchase in the category, he said,”Our advertising depends on the markets; it is region specific. We have observed that in the North markets sales are more skewed to October to January while in West and South seasonality is much less pronounced. To launch a new campaign at this time makes more sense as purchase of water geysers is not an impulsive decision but a well thought out one. And, there is, overall, more focus on the second half of the financial year and hence the campaign.”

The pan-India campaign will run on national as well as regional channels across genres like music, news, and entertainment. The TVC has been shot at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the spend on the campaign is pegged at between Rs 6 and 7 crores.

Apart from the regular TV spots, Racold has also undertaken weather branding on news channels like Zee News and Tez. A  vox-pop with actual customers being interviewed will air on Zee TV, and on 9XM, promos involving the channel's Bheegi Billi character is on the cards. 

The campaign will straddle  online, outdoor, print in newspapers and magazines, and in-shop branding.

Credits:

Client: Racold
Agency: BBDO India
Creative team: Josy Paul, Rajdeepak Das, Malini Chaudhury
Servicing team:  Ajai Jhala, Schelicia Caszo, Jaya Narang, Shefali Kothari
Planning: Rajat Mendhi, Naina Meattle
Production house: Old school films
Director: Piyush Raghani
DOP: Deepti Gupta
Agency Producer: Divyang Pandya
Music and Sound: Mikey Mccleary