In February, Lenovo, through its subsidiary Motorola Mobility, launched two smartphones: Moto Z (Priced at Rs 74,999) and Moto Z Play (Rs 49,999). These phones were primarily promoted on social media via a short video which captured the distinct landscapes of Pakistan, and also featured a new version of the national anthem.

Here’s the TVC:

Aurora got in touch with Shahneela Ahmed, Marketing Manager Pakistan, Lenovo, to talk about the concept behind the campaign and the reasons behind ‘revamping’ the national anthem of Pakistan.

AMBER ARSHAD: What was the core objective of launching the ‘Different is better’ campaign?
SHAHNEELA AHMED: After its buyout by Lenovo, Motorola went through a repositioning exercise to redefine its brand for global consumers. An analysis of the smartphone market revealed that this category only saw ‘incremental’ improvements, such as display sizes increasing by a fraction of an inch, cameras improving by merely a few megapixels... and one often has to wait for years for the next big thing. The differentiation between brands in this category was negligible; therefore, they didn’t come across as very different from each other. For Lenovo, it was time to look at things from a fresh and different perspective. Based on this, the brand promise of ‘Different is better’ was developed for the Moto brand.

AA: What was the creative and execution strategy used for the campaign?
SA: As part of the launch of a new identity in Pakistan, the flagship products Moto Z and Moto Z Play were used to shoot the entire video that is the centrepiece of the campaign in order to showcase the phones’ superior functionalities. The concept ‘Different is better’ was executed by showing a rarely seen side of Pakistan – simple yet vibrant moments of everyday life. We also created a new rendition of the National Anthem using quintessentially Pakistani instruments, such as the dhol, sitar, tabla, etc. To stand out, the campaign was launched only on social media. Lastly, since Moto was making a comeback in Pakistan, it made sense to say “Hello, Pakistan” by capturing Pakistan through photos and videos of everyday elements, and also integrating Motorola’s ‘Hello Moto’ catchphrase as well.

"The concept ‘Different is better’ was executed by showing a rarely seen side of Pakistan – simple yet vibrant moments of everyday life."

AA: Who are the musicians, creative agency and other creative people behind the campaign?
SA: This campaign had three ambassadors who were part of the team that travelled across Pakistan to collect the content for the video and anthem; Mehreen Jabbar captured the video content; Hira Tareen recorded the audio content; and Amean J took photographs. The post-production team that prepared the final anthem included Shani Arshad who developed the final music score, while Soheb Akhtar edited and produced the video. Adcom ZenithOptimedia was our creative agency.

AA: The campaign does not include a voiceover or celebrities. Why didn’t Lenovo use these two elements, which seem to be the staple of Pakistani advertisements?
SA: Using celebrities does work for most campaigns, but we thought that there was a better way to execute ours. Firstly, one of the objectives of the campaign was to showcase the product’s USPs ‘in action’ to establish the superiority of the Moto Z. We believe that the ‘proof is in the pudding’ since the video was created using the product; therefore, there was no need for overt branding or voiceovers to shout out our claims. Secondly, we did use celebrities, but in a different way. Rather than featuring them within our content, we used celebrities to actually create the content and then used their social media platforms along with their celebrity pull to promote it.

However, above all, we did not want to destroy the sanctity of the national anthem, which is a cherished national asset, with overt branding. For us, the anthem came first and the brand was simply a facilitator in depicting the ‘Different is better’ concept. So we decided on an apt shout-out – ‘Hello Pakistan’ – signalling the arrival of Moto in the country.