New Delhi: Riding on the success of its “Technology That Touches Lives” campaign, HCL launches the second sequel of its TV commercial today. HCL has been a pioneer in creating a global brand campaign and establishing a unique property with the “Technology that Touches Lives” series which began in April 2005 – the first such by a technology & IT company.
“HCL’s challenge was to create a TV commercial that would articulate how technology impacts the everyday lives of people, since technology is something that goes behind a product or a service and is often intangible, tenuous and indefinable. Very few technology companies have been able to crack this. With this commercial, we have retained number one top of mind recall in technology brands and therefore a second sequel is a risk we decided to take”; said Saurav Adhikari, president and global head for HCL’s corporate strategy.
Mr. HCL, the face of the spunky HCL employee who gets Mr. Banker out of several situations, became so popular with HCL employees and viewers alike that it was imperative to continue with the familiar elements, yet with a fresh treatment and narrative.
The HCL TV commercial is among the few advertising campaigns across the globe that uses an employee as its protagonist.
Conceived by leading global ad agency, Draft FCB Ulka, the ad shows how HCL‘s technology ‘comes to the rescue’ of its consumers in all walks of life. The commercial explains HCL’s strengths expressed through the life experiences of a common individual and how its technology is simplifying his world by providing solutions for education & ICT services, banking, aerospace and homeland security - a increasingly critical realm that needs technology to preempt the threat of terrorism. The easy banter and humor between Mr. HCL and the Banker continue to articulate this in a language the end user will understand, this time with the increasingly popular vignette approach. A multi-million dollar 360 degree communication plan will use electronic, print, online and outdoor media to build up the surround.
Commenting on the ad concept, Sanjeev Bhargava, COO, Draft FCB Ulka said, “Making a sequel for an extremely successful ad is always a creative challenge. Here the challenge was even bigger as we had to package together technology and emotional appeal, yet retaining HCL’s hi-tech positioning. Above all, comparisons with previous ads were bound to happen, so we wanted to make it fresh, yet with the emotional and humor quotient that has worked with the audience in the previous ads of the series.”
The ad reinforces HCL’s image as global enterprise always ready to help its customers through its user-friendly technology and ever-ready attitude to lend a helping hand to its customer. Underlined too is HCL’s philosophy of vesting great confidence in its employees (HCL’s Employees First, Customers Second philosophy is a Harvard Business School case study), which in turn makes the employee an ambassador for the company’s core philosophy, customer friendly attitude and business prowess. Reiterating this commitment, the company launched the commercial to its 64,000 employees across the globe before releasing it to the public.
