End score 2017
Flashback time: I had recently started working at Pakistan’s ‘only MNC ad agency’ (it’s rather inevitable for those in the business of brands and selling to claim all manner of exaggerated singular achievements for themselves) when they landed a huge account. One of the first items on the agenda was the launch of a high-calcium, low-fat milk brand.
Cue hours (weeks) of brainstorming, fortified by ever-stronger cups of coffee and progressively louder arguments. Eventually, the brand was launched with innovative packaging and a sleek campaign featuring skinny, beautiful people grunting in a gym before parading about dressed in high fashion – in other words, a depiction that barely 0.00001% of the target audience could even decipher, let alone relate to. After a brief struggle, the brand tanked and was pulled from the market. Conclusions ranged from ‘people are not interested in low-fat milk in this market’ (perhaps pre-launch research would have helped determine this assertion) to ‘product issues’ (dubious, given the amount of testing done) to ‘price!’ (the evergreen scapegoat) to ‘too aspirational’ (and we have a winner!).
In Pakistani advertising, ‘aspirational’ usually equals outrageously luxurious lifestyles, enacted by impossibly beautiful people. The brand that must not be named did exactly this and failed spectacularly. Do fitness freaks even drink milk? How many women in Pakistan go to the gym when men are around? Nesvita showed us how to do it right years later, with a platform relevant to women and an approach that verged on inspirational (not the same!), while still having both feet firmly on the ground.
I have bored you with this ancient history for a reason: Nurpur low-fat milk. The campaign received a fair amount of attention, but how does it compare to Nesvita and the extinct brand mentioned earlier?
I would say it falls somewhere between the two. The tagline is memorable and relevant, a welcome occurrence in a country where too often, nonsensical taglines and copy are used because apparently they sound ‘catchy’ – yes, I’m looking at you, Pakistani confectionery brands and lends itself well to social media. The packaging fits with the range, although I still find black an odd choice (it stands out, sure, but it just doesn’t go with dairy and if that means I’m old-fashioned, so be it!).
The TVC is likely the most unique aspect of the campaign and it scores well in some areas. It’s nicely made and I like the black and white (B&W) treatment as that is generally deployed to evoke nostalgia, which is obviously not the case here. It’s sleek and modern and it doesn’t feel fake – there is a certain grittiness to it, reinforced by the setting and especially the female model, who seems extremely comfortable with the strenuous workout she is doing, while also managing to look well put together. Frankly, anything that shows women in a role outside the standard wife-mum-equal- martyr portrayal has my vote, even if hardcore gym workouts are not a prominent feature in the lives of the majority of the target audience. In this case, I think there is a genuine element of aspiration, beyond the generic perfect life stuff we see so much of – everyone wants to be fit these days, after all. I also like the lack of voice-over throughout, as it helps keep the focus on the action.