Rahul Dravid’s partnership with CRED in the “Indiranagar ka Gunda” campaign bowled down the Cricket fans. He has again proved that he is the most dependable person, both on-field and off-field.
While batting for CRED, Rahul Dravid helped the brand create a viral Advertisement that became an instant hit.
This Ad campaign gathered millions of views in few hours of its launch, making people crazy about it.
The ad was so appealing that people couldn’t resist talking about it and sharing it like a paid influencer and brand ambassador of CRED. Moreover, several influencers like Virat Kohli, R. Ashwin, Deepika Padukon, Kunal Shah, etc., amplified the ad by sharing it on their social handles.
But what lead to the massive success of the “Indira Nagar ka Gunda” campaign by Cred?
Let’s break it down
Concept – Surprise the Audience
CRED’s Indiranagar ka Gunda campaign featured Rahul Dravid losing his temper, which is the most unusual thing on the planet. This 23-second commercial spread faster than fire; people went crazy to see cold-headed jammy losing his temper for the first time.
The biggest secret for the success of the Ad was the Surprising factor. Rahul Dravid is known for his Humble and Cool-headed nature. However, no one has ever expected “the wall,” to lose his calmness. We have not seen him angry in his whole cricket career.
Showing the angry side that people have never seen before and might never see in the future is the point that caught the people’s attention.
The Team – The Masterminds that Knows nerves of the Audience
There is no particular ad agency behind the ad. Instead, a separate team of genius minds came together to create this beauty. The team which understands the people on social media, their triggers, and emotions was brought together to create the viral campaign.
Now, Let’s meet the team.
Tanmay Bhat – The team was headed by the legend of Humour, Tanmay Bhat. The Founder of All India Bakchod (AIB). Humour is the armor of Tanmay, which he has proved in the past, and he very well understands the internet world. He is the mind behind the concept and script of the ad.
Devaiah Bopanna – 7 Years of experience in ad agencies like Ogilvy, Lowe Lintas, and Mudra, then worked in AIB. Now he runs an independent media firm called ATS (All Things Small).
Nupur Pai – The Cowriter of the popular Netflix series “The Little Things.” Having a deep knowledge of the advertising world as a Copywriter.
Vishal Dayama – Previously Worked with Tanmay to write television content for UTV Bindass, MTV, and Disney India.
Puneet Chadha – He is a software engineer turned writer, has worked with Tanmay Bhat in AIB for years.
Ayappa K.M. – He is the director of this ad campaign. He has directed ad films for brands like Flipkart, Cadbury, Bigrock, and Ambuja Cements. He has won numerous awards for his work, including Cannes and D&AD.
The Cast – The brain behind casting Rahul Dravid.
The target audience of the CRED is usually the Credit Card users of India. Their primary focus is on Generation Y, the people between the age of 25 – 40 years.
If there is any religion bigger than religion itself, then it’s Cricket. The target audience has seen playing legends like Sachin, Sehwag, Dravid, and Laxman. So, there would be a no better option to take one of these legends to create Virality.
After studying the nature and public image of all of these legends, the team decided to go and break the cool-headed image of Rahul Dravid. Because to create something Viral, you need to show the unexpected.
Filter – The Lens of Content
Most of the time, the filter and criteria for advertisement are celebrities, exotic locations, great animations, etc.
But as the team behind the ad came from the content background. They know the power of content. Creating content worth sharing can alone create Virality irrespective of all the other factors. Therefore the team spent most of their time on creating scintillating content and script.
Timing – Virality usually depends a lot on the right timing
CRED was already a Sponsor of the IPL 2021. The first match of IPL was scheduled on 9th April 2021, and the ad was released on the same day.
The first match was scheduled between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Banglore. The people were extremely excited, and CRED used this excitement and came as a surprise.
The timing worked really well; Twitter started trending with CRED’s ad beating MIvsRCB, which gave it even more push.
Amplification – Striking the Conversation on the Internet
Soon after the release, the ad started getting shared by netizens and started conversations on the internet.
The ad was amplified when Senior Cricket players like Virat Kohli and R. Ashwin share it on their social handles. To spread it in the GenZ and Gen Alpha, new Cricket faces like W.Sundar, T. Natarajan were used.
Celebrities Like Deepika Padukone also shared her picture declaring herself as “Indiranagar ki Gundi”.
Popular Brands on Social Media like Zomato, Dunzo, Amul, Spotify, etc., amplified the vitality by creating moment marketing campaigns. As a result, memes started flooding the internet. Within 1-2 days, all the news and content platforms covered the story.
Bottom Line
Creating Virality is not an accident, it’s Science. By triggering the pain points, emotions, and timings, anyone can create a viral campaign, but it takes a lot of brainstorming, creativity, time, strategy, and sometimes money.
CRED has set a standard for its ad commercial through its out-of-the-box approach. It has somehow revolutionized the traditional advertising ad marketing ways through its creativity.
What have you learned from the success of this Ad campaign?