Wechat woos youth with voice, video messages

Social messaging app provider Tencent has launched a brand campaign for Wechat Messenger in India starring Bollywood actors Parineeti Chopra and Varun Dhawan. The campaign targeting the youth has been created by Ogilvy & Mather and comprises of two TVCs that went on air in the second week of May.

On the objective of the campaign, Rahul Razdan, Head, Tencent India, said, “With this youth-centric brand campaign we would like large number of Indian smart phone users to experience Wechat and its unique features voice message and group chat.”

One of the films opens in a café where Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra, playing lovers, are seated. Much to his dismay, Chopra leaves and boards a bus. She sings the popular Hindi song ‘Achcha toh hum chaltein hain...’and sends it as a voice message to Dhawan. He sings the next sentence, asking her when they will meet again. The film shows them exchanging repartees’ through song on their Wechat Messenger. The film ends with both of them meeting at the same café. The voice over says, “Introducing voice messages only on Wechat. Download now on your smart phone for free.”

Another film highlights the group chat feature. It opens with Chopra alone in office working late at night. Upset, she clicks a picture of herself sulking and sends it to her group of friends. On receiving the message, Dhawan who is shown strumming a guitar, sends it to a group of friends to cheer her up. A friend who is exercising in the gym begins to hum and Dhawan begins to sing. Soon another set of friends sing along in a bid to entertain her. She finally gives in and begins to laugh. The TVC ends with the voice over, “Send group voice and video messages only on Wechat.”

On the creative brief, Kapil Arora, president, head - advertising, Ogilvy & Mather Delhi, said, “Wechat is probably the first app in the country to advertise independently. And that first presented a unique challenge in itself. But on using the app (the entire team was on a Wechat group through the brief to production), the fun nature of the app and its unique voice messaging feature had us all hooked. Using a song device, with popular teen idols Varun and Parineeti, we have tried to bring alive the new way to connect with Wechat. Hopefully, a large part of the country's mobile Internet population will join in on the chorus soon.”

Credits
Client: Tencent (Brand Wechat)
Creative agency: Ogilvy & Mather
President (Delhi): Kapil Arora
Creative team: Ajay Gahlaut, Vikash Chemjong, Basab Tito Majumdar, Ranadeep Dasgupta
Account Management team: Antara Suri, Dushyant Jethani, Tejasvi Kaler
Planning: Neeraj Bassi
Production house: Thumbnail Pictures
Director: Sudip Bandyopadhyay

Also read: ‘We invested a lot in changing perception’