It is a well known fact that advertisements are a creative means by which brands attract their audiences both old and new. It is a true and tested method to get people to know about the brand’s products and services. Digital advertising in the form of commercials has constantly evolved over the years. Gone are the days when brands completely relied upon the clout of a famous celebrity. Storytelling, emotional connections and an actual impact of the product or service on day to day life is what a potential customer looks for in an advertisement today. Moreover, new actors and fresh faces are being used more extensively yielding great results. Celebrities too are much more cleverly used. Though they still command a much appreciated sway over audiences, they are being incorporated in commercials astutely as part of thoughtful storylines rather than being showpieces for brands.
A latest trend being witnessed in TV and digital advertising is having the company’s founders feature in their adverts as themselves. This is a rather smart tactic. With ads getting more and more interesting, more people are choosing to watch the ad in its entirety rather than wanting to skip it after five seconds. Thus, having someone from the company, especially a founder featured in the ad, creates a fascinating and optimistically experimental viewing experience for target audiences. Secondly, as ‘celebrity founders’ are gaining immense traction through television and OTT, having them be a part of ads plays to online trends, relevant topics and feelings of familiarity among target groups while significantly creating noise about their brands. From the best to the bizarre, let’s take a look at some of the most prominent ads of brands that featured its founders as themselves.
MDH
The OG. MDH is one brand that has managed to create spectacular relevance and lasting impressions on all Indians. The founder of the brand, Late Mr. Dharampal Gulati featured in almost every single ad that MDH released over the years. Every time you think of the brand, you remember his smiling face. They were synonymous. MDH even included a photo of him on the packaging of all their products. Everywhere that you see an MDH product you see the Spice-King’s face. What further propelled this iconic marketing tactic was the Padma Bhushan awardees quintessential appearance. A large, brilliantly groomed moustache and the red turban made him instantly recognisable, creating great recall value for the brand.
Country Club
Here’s another OG of this trend. If you were born before the 2000s, you would definitely remember the fun Country Club advertisements. Rather, you would definitely remember the iconic Country Club thumbs up. The founder of the brand, Rajeev Reddy was widely known for doing his trademark thumb up sign. He actively took part in the brand’s advertisements and soon both he and his thumbs up became an identity for the brand. Country Club and the thumbs up were almost interchangeable. This is a good example of how something so simple can easily catch on and become popular.
SUGAR Cosmetics
One of the ‘celebrity founders’ that received a lot of fame as a result of the popular show Shark Tank was Vineeta Singh of SUGAR Cosmetics. Recently, we have seen her do cameo roles in the brand’s ads alongside brand ambassador and investor Ranveer Singh. Though the ads did not spark a lot of buzz, it did create a little bit of chatter as we saw one of the popular sharks participate in their own brand’s ads.
Lenskart
The last couple of advertisements from Lenskart have been good to watch as it involves fun and needling banter between an over the top Karan Johar and the brands calm and composed founder Peyush Bansal. It is great to see the founder of the brand proactively take part in the ad. Furthermore, we see Bansal play himself as the founder of Lenskart trying to explain to KJo why his eyewear range is classy, unique yet affordable. This is great set to watch that uses the brands founder appropriately.
Shaadi.com
This advertisement is probably the highlight when we talk about founders participating in their brands commercials. The entire ad centre-stages the founder of shaadi.com and People Group, Anupam Mittal. Throughout the ad we see Mittal play himself and talk about his entrepreneurial journey in building his venture to what it is today. We see Mittal in various phases of his life conquering all hardships. The ad definitely utilises its founder to the fullest.
The Whole Truth Foods
The Whole Truth has adopted a unique style to advertise their products. It is often said that the founder of a company and the company are one entity. The Whole Truth took this statement very seriously. They personify food items and the company itself to inform the audience about the benefits of choosing The Whole Truth over other brands. The founder of the brand, Shashank Mehta plays the part as the personified version of the company and usually a prominent personality features alongside him. Every ad involves Mehta talking about the health and nutritional benefits the brand offers as opposed to its high calorie counterparts. The advertisements are certainly fascinating and utilise a founder in a never seen before manner.