CREATIVE

AD FILM

PRODUCTION

[ client name: COOCAA INDIA]

Ad film production in India success story: case study of International TV brand in India by a creative agency

This is an advertising success story of an International television brand in India. We were working on the ad film campaign for our client, which is an agency head-quartered in China. The agency is very reputed. Globally, it's running by the name of Beyond Next Network Limited, and it further outsourced the production work for its client to us. They were working with their client Coocaa on a global level, and Coocaa India had launched a new campaign, which was an offer that they'd brought especially for the Indian customers. They tied up with Maruti Suzuki. They were giving a lucky draw offer in which any person buying Coocaa TV before a specific period during the Diwali festival season in India would get an opportunity to win a cool car. The car is Maruti Suzuki Swift that the Coocaa team is giving away to the lucky winner. This case study of ad film production for a TV brand highlights the making of ad films for Coocaa India by Uni Square Concepts. The ad film had to be done in three parts, and they had the major objective that these three ad films should be promoting the offer that Coocaa India has launched, and, because it is a specific ad for the Indian market, it should be focused according to the Indian traditions, Indian systems and the Indian mindset of the target audience.

AD FILMS CREATED for COOCAA by uni square concepts

In the first ad film, it's an indoor shoot whereby we've shown a typical Indian household, upper-middle-class family, and a mother and a child set up has been portrayed. In the second ad film, an office setup has been portrayed. In the up-and-coming offices in India, many people prefer Coocaa and other brands, and Coocaa is one of the top choices when it comes to buying affordable, good quality television, smart televisions in offices. We have depicted an interview set up over there, and in the third ad film, it’s an outdoor shoot. After we completed shooting the three ad films, and once all the three were approved, the client also approached us to record a live video, a video that was supposed to be used as a live telecast. The purpose of making this video was to announce the results.

Uni Square Concepts

Behind the scenes

It is not just these three ad films that we’ve worked on, but these three weeks have been an entirely different journey for all the people who have been involved in these three ad films.

UDAY SONTHALIA

PROMOTER & CEO, UNI SQUARE CONCEPTS

SITUATED IN INDIA, ADVERTISING FOR THE World.

[ Strenuous situations, demanding times ]

The challenge

This ad film production in India success story has the main challenge of the short duration of time to execute the ad films. This project was on an urgent basis. We had to execute the ad films in a short period of time. We had to deliver three ad films within the time of three weeks. They wanted the first film within a short period of seven days, and then they gave us another week’s time for the second ad film and another week’s time after the completion of the second ad for the third one.

BEHIND THE SCENES

  • It was very challenging work because we knew that this ad film is going to get national exposure, and we’ll have to keep it professional. We’ll have to make it in a creative, engaging way.
  • All the three ad films were different from each other and required different actors, different locations, different assets, and props, and arranging for them in such a short time was a challenge.
  • Another major challenge that we had faced was that we didn’t want to have any dialogues whatsoever in the entire ad film campaign. We had focused on just making the ad film in a very creative manner by using two words. One was Coocaa, and the second was cool car.
  • Searching for suitable sets was challenging work. The first ad shoot was in an outstation where we had to search for a residence. It was very difficult to find a residence, a suitable residence as we wanted for the script, and either we would get a residence, which was not modern, it was traditional.
  • When we went for the first ad film shoot and opened the TV box, it was broken. We saw that it was defective and had multiple cracks on it.
  • One of the biggest challenges for us was delivering the video on time. The first ad film shoot was completed around ten at night, and we had to deliver the first draft by the next morning. Now, to turn the raw footage into the story that we all picturized in our head in such a strict deadline was difficult.
  • Sound engineering took a lot of time and a lot of effort too. We composed different tunes that would set the overall feel and pace of the ad film. There is a specific music track that has been composed in a very creative manner by our team for this specific campaign, whereby a duet of cool car and Coocaa is being sung in a very poetic, rhyming, and creative manner that helps us to build the tempo of the entire ad film.

It was a struggle to find the appropriate actors for the ad films. We have taken audition of several people, for the specific roles. And then finally, we short-listed a few of them, and finally, we had passed them on to our clients who selected the best ones. The actors cooperated during all the times of the shoot. There were times when they were not able to deliver, we had pressure in terms of the time being short, and we had pressure in terms of the time getting delayed. The third film was extremely challenging because it was an outdoor shoot, and due to the constraints of time, we had to shoot on an actual street. We were not able to source a good set as per our requirement, so we decided that we will be shooting it on an actual street. This made the entire process very challenging because it was a busy day. It was a day to shoot, and the street was busy. There were cars, there were bikes. Some passers-by were walking by or passing by the street regularly. We had to ensure that the COVID norms were being followed. All the protocols were being followed. We had to ensure that there was no scene, no mess, no hassles, or no hurdles that were created during that shoot.

[ Effective Measures ]

The Solution

Once we started working on the entire scripting, casting, and everything else, we had a very clear objective in our mind, and we had formulated a very crystal clear image that the film has to be very creative. It has to be simple to execute. We got a very good idea that these three different films can be focusing on the same concept. However, there can be something that can be different in each of these ad films. That’s how we came up with this concept that there’ll be two people who would be arguing over a concept. There is one person who knows about the offer that if you buy the Coocaa TV, you will be getting a chance to win a cool car, on the other hand, there is another person in all the three ad films who don’t know about this offer. He’s seeing the Coocaa TV as a TV, and this is where the entire argument starts between the two actors in all the three ad films. This ad film production sample by a creative agency in India includes every aspect of the making of these ad films. After doing an endless search for suitable sets, we were able to find a residence for the first ad film. We got one modern place and the way we wanted for the script. The second ad film also required an office setup with good infrastructure, and with the efforts of all the team members of Uni Square Concepts, everything was executed smoothly.

RENOWNED ACTOR AND STAND UP COMEDIAN RAHUL GIRDHAR PERFORMING HIS ROLE FOR THE FIRST AD FILM PRODUCED FOR COOCAA INDIA BY UNI SQUARE CONCEPTS

The clients liked the recommendation and the guidance that we had provided them with our professional expertise while choosing the best actors for the role. This helped us to cast very good actors who are talented and hard working. We managed the situation very well when we found out that the TV was broken during the first ad film shoot. We immediately contacted the agency, and there was another TV which we fetched, which was available also. It took us some time, about two hours to send somebody down back to our office and collect the other TV and bring it back again. We wasted a lot of time on that, but still, we picked up the speed, and we continued. We postponed the shots which were requiring the TV. We started taking the backup shots, and then once the TV arrived, we took the shots, which were involving the TV. The good thing was that we were able to complete the shooting as per the schedule and that ad film was very well received by everyone, not only the clients but also the viewers that ad film was very well received. All the people associated in this ad film production in India success story has overcame all the challenges in a commendable manner.

POST PRODUCTION WORK

To deliver the videos on time we had spent endless hours working on the editing also, once the ad films were shot. We used to have night shifts. We used to work on and on to just get that right cut and the right frame of shots that we wanted to portray. We already did detailed research on the best sequence settings for a 4K video and determined the best frame rate at which we would shoot and edit. We spent the whole night working on the first ad film edit. There came a time when we thought it won’t be possible to deliver the first draft in the morning but with collaborative teamwork, we were able to send the first draft on time. We also started working on the tunes as soon as the scripts were finalized. Along with the tunes, there comes a jingle in the background, while the two people argue that Jingle had only two words. To sing it creatively and make it like a song was very important, as this jingle was the only thing that would set the whole momentum of the ad film. It was sung in many different ways, and a lot of effort went into it. We finally got the right audio track that we required.

We changed the theme in all the three ad films, and because of this, we ensured that we can target different kinds of genres and different kinds of people who might be the customers of Coocaa in the future. Uni Square Concepts always works with its proper rules and regulations. It carries out each and every work very professionally. The professionalism and dedication of the whole team made the ad films stand out.

Background music created for the coocaa ad film by uni square concepts

The actors tried their level best. All of them, not the one or two, but all the six actors who worked at different stages in all the three ad films have been instrumental in putting their emotions, their efforts, and communicating what was there in our mind. It is not just these three ad films that we’ve worked on, but these three weeks have been an entirely different journey for all the people who have been involved in these three ad films. 

Token of Apreciation presented to the team members and actors by ceo uday sonthalia

LIVE RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT

The entire country was waiting for the results of the offer that was launched by Coocaa India. Many people had bought the Coocaa TV. The company enjoyed a record sale, and the lucky person was from Tamil Nadu, and he was very happy. We had shot the live video in our studio and the representatives from Coocaa India had come to be a part of this. We had the head of Coocaa India who had come, and we also had people from the Flipkart office who had joined us in this video. We had also sent a team in the Flipkart’s Bangalore office who had recorded a byte of the person from Flipkart who is at a very senior level. A lot of hard work has been put in by the entire team of Uni Square Concepts during the past three weeks. Everyone, every member has worked day in and day out, and it’s because of the collective efforts of various people that we have been able to deliver this ad film on time.

LIVE TELECAST PRODUCTION FOR ANNOUNCING THE WINNER​

LIVE TELECAST BEFORE AND AFTER COMPARISON

[ Outcome ]

Results

AD FILM 2 ALTERNATE VERSION

In this ad film production in India success story, we faced a lot of challenges, but at the end of the day, we executed all the work in a very professional manner. The first ad film was very successful where there was a mother and a son, and their acting was phenomenal. The mother was perfect, just like a mother should be. And the son was, as a son should be. The actors we recruited were extremely focused, talented, and hard working, and they were able to deliver the right kind of emotions that we were looking for and that we had in our minds. We made two different versions for the second ad film. In both versions, everything was the same apart from the male lead. We had two different male leads in both versions, and both of them were equally effective. The purpose of shooting two different versions was to give the client a better perspective with respect to what kind of scenario we could portray. Both the actors had different kinds of personalities; they were playing the same role of a boss.

Both of the actors played the roles very effectively, and they used their style to depict this character while the first actor was very sober. He was firm and strict in his approach. The other one was very aggressive, and he had a different and enterprising kind of a screenplay altogether. Both the versions came out to be very well and overall, the client liked both the versions and he chose the one that he wanted to display at various levels. There is a debate, there’s an argument, there’s a fight in all these three ad films between the actors and the protagonists, and they are arguing. The surprise element is revealed once the pop-up and the voice over is popped out, where the actual surprise element is revealed that when the person buys a Coocaa TV during the Diwali season, or before Diwali, they can get a chance to win a cool car by participating in Coocaa’s Festive offer.

That is when the suspense is busted out, and the people can make out, yes that both the people are correct. In all three films, we have a very unique concept that once the voice-over and the pop-up are over. There is the last ending scene in the final cut in which there is a very creative shot given by the actors in which we had given the actors a chance to improvise and act according to their true selves. We gave them a chance to flow in their character and do something unique. Colors are very important to set the overall feel of a video, and we were very particular about how we wanted the audience to feel while watching this ad film. We put a lot of time and effort into the color grading process. Since this ad will have national exposure, the smallest of things were looked after.

Prithvi Pal has been our lead videographer and photographer. He’s been behind the camera for all these three ad films. Miss Shirin was there with us for the casting, and she was helping us with the other production-related work. With her assistance, we were able to do the casting work in a very professional manner. Akriti’s efforts were also commendable. She was entirely focused on assisting all the actors, looking after the nitty-gritty, placements, and all the other things, the hundreds of things that are involved in the production work. Pooja has been instrumental in the editing work. She has spearheaded editing, sound engineering, and other things. She has led a team of people who have worked a day in and day out on an urgent basis to convert the raw shots.

All the people who’ve been involved got a lot of experience, a lot of exposure, and we’ve been able to enjoy a lot of emotions, a lot of ups, a lot of downs. Everyone who is associated will be remembering these experiences for the rest of their lives, and everyone will be cherishing them. We’ll be waiting for the other projects to work together and create such beautiful, amazing products in the years to come. Hopefully, if everything goes well and by the positive support that we receive, everything will be developing and growing from the point of view of Uni Square Concepts.