After radio, Scarecrow harnesses power of TV & cinema for Varuna Pumps ad

Last year, the new positioning of Varuna Pumps ‘Paani Ka Pressure Hum Lete Hai’ was successfully launched in a unique manner by exclusively using radio as a medium and Om Puri and Rohini Hattangadi as the Audio Ambassadors. 

The brand released 7 long-format radio spots targeting the various decision makers, influencers and intermediaries, right from housewives, husbands and farmers to society chairmen as well as pump dealers and plumbers. The campaign drove home the message that everyone has several pressures in life. Among all these inevitable pressures, at least they won’t have to take the pressure of water because Varuna Pumps shoulders that responsibility. 

The next step

Now Varuna Pumps through Scarecrow Communications, Mumbai has taken forward this highly successful positioning from radio to equally emotive mediums like television and cinema with two highly emotional TVCs - Rukmi Bai and Jasmine Aunty. 

The TVCs leverage these mediums by visually depicting the misery and helplessness of Indians when they have to fetch water from a great distance or take it up to the higher floors. The TVCs then establish the brand’s role as an enabler that shoulders the pressure of bringing water to these homes. 

RUKMI BAI 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coxO_GxGSYk

Every second woman in rural India walks 173 km every year just to fetch a pot of water (Source: National Sample Survey Office). The first TVC, ‘Rukmi Bai’ set in the arid lands of Kutch, highlights the same. It follows Rukmi Bai who walks miles across the parched land to bring home water. In this smouldering heat, a benevolent ‘chagrawala’ (autowala) gives her a lift. Once she reaches home, her husband has a pleasant surprise for her in the form of a newly installed Varuna Pump. 

JASMINE AUNTY 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMmky3JPRjM

The second film highlights the water issue faced by urban societies. It follows ‘Jasmine Aunty’, an elderly Parsi lady with arthritis, who has to climb all the way up to the 4^th floor with a bucket of water. The creaky staircase, the beads of sweat on her forehead and the aching knees which refuse to bear her weight, all point out the need for a helping hand. The installation of the Varuna Pump and the gushing water in her home brings a warm smile on the faces of both, the husband and the wife.

A cinematic experience

In rural India, the distance to fetch water is critical and for cities, bringing water upstairs is a difficult task in multi-storied and high-rise buildings, inspite of new-age technologies. The new TVCs set in rural and urban India address these water woes and establish the role of the brand.

Shot in Rann of Kutch and in Dadar Parsi Colony of Mumbai, they feature the legendary voice of Varuna Pumps’ Audio Brand Ambassador, Padma Shri Om Puri. In addition, instead of being shot like a typical ad film, these TVCs have been shot like an artistic film backed by the talent of the young Bollywood Director, Vibhu Puri (Hawaizaada fame) and the background score of the national award winning composer, Monty Sharma (Black, Devdas, Ram Leela, Saawariya). 

Right from the soulful casting, to the cinematography to heart-wrenching music, the films reflect the essence of evocative parallel cinema of the yesteryear. Just like the movies directed by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Girish Karnad, Mrinal Sen or the ones featuring actors like Smita Patil.

Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications said, “Water is a highly emotional topic for Indians. So instead of treating the TVCs like a Bollywood masala film or an ad film, we decided to give it a treatment like an artistic short film to heighten the poignancy and the misery and to evoke empathy across the rural and urban audience.”

Harnessing the Power of Cinema 

Varuna Pumps will create a ripple in the market by releasing these 30-second TVCs first on India’s favourite medium – cinema. The TVCs will be played across more than 1800 screens during the intermission of the season’s most awaited blockbuster, Salman Khan’s Sultan, from 6th July 2016 onwards. 

At present, the TVCs have been released in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Teluga and Kannada languages. The Hindi TVC features the legendary baritone voice of Om Puri, the recipient of Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian and winner of two national awards. 

Varun Gajjar- Director, Marketing & Sales, Varuna Pumps, said, "We believe that every household in India has battled water scarcity in one form or another. Looking at the brand’s significant presence in the domestic usage segment, our films have strategically chosen to address both ends of the spectrum – the consumers staying in rural as well as in urban India – in a highly emotional manner.”