Why it is important to have a right Story Telling technique – Amul Girl Ad.
The recent ‘Fuel aur Kaante’ cartoon published by Amul, uses superb sarcasm using words and the expression of Amul girl, commenting on the prickly price of the petrol and diesel at the moment. It also shows the Amul girl baffled and in a state of shock, as she hands over a currency bill.
Call her the billboard star but with next door neighbour appeal, the Utterly- Butterly girl has managed to keep her fan following intact for over 50 years. Round eyed, chubby cheeked, winking at you, from strategically placed hoardings at many traffic lights. She is the Amul moppet everyone loves to love. How often have we stopped, looked, chuckled at the Amul hoarding that casts her sometime as the coy, shy Madhuri, a bold sensuous Urmila or simply as herself, dressed in her little polka dotted dress and a red and white bow, holding out her favourite packet of butter.
It all began in 1966 when Amul changed its advertisement strategy for its butter product line. Amul began playing the role of a social observer through its advertisements. The country saw the birth of a campaign whose charm has endured fickle public opinion, gimmickry and all else. Dr Verghese Kurien, then chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) suggested a mischievous little girl as a mascot with two requirements. It had to be easy to draw and memorable as most of the advertising would be outdoor media which required hand painting in those days and the hoardings had to be changed frequently.
India looked forward to Amul’s evocative humour. If the Naxalite movement was the happening thing in Calcutta, Amul would be up there on the hoardings saying, “Bread without Amul Butter, cholbe na cholbe na (won’t do, won’t do). If there was an Indian Airlines strike Amul would be there again saying, Indian Airlines Won’t Fly Without Amul.
Amul girl transforms herself into different personalities or accompanies different personalities. The personalities are easy to recognize as they are often the one in the news in that week. And surprisingly, the Amul girl do not even have a name, but everyone knows who she is.
Today the Amul girl and its advertisement campaigns itself have become a brand of its own. People may not even buy Amul products but they look forward to Amul girl ads.
What makes Amul Girl advertisement so unique ?
Companies us different methods in designing their advertisement campaigns. The primary goal of any advertisement is to register itself in the sub-conscious mind of consumers, and form an instant emotional connect. For this, one of the popular strategy deployed by companies is to attach themselves with a Social cause. But to convey the message, advertisements use different techniques. Deploying the right technique is crucial, this is where Amul Advertisements stand out.
Amul advertisements are unique and are a treat for a common man as well as a linguist. It touches the heart of millions with simple messages. They use punning, portmanteaus and parodies of popular proverbs, expressions, acronyms, famous dialogues, songs etc are employed to convey the message in a humorous way. Using humour with a tinge of sarcasm, it conveys the society mood and reaction on the current situations, whether it is about Cricket match or arrival of Bill Gates.
In all story mediums, adopting right approach to tell the story is important. Many times even if the content is good but for the dull story telling approach, the story is not able to grab the attention of audience. In advertisements it is even more important, as in timeframe of 30-40 seconds, they have to grab the consumer attention, enter and stay in their sub-conscious mind.
Ten most Popular Amul Girl Ads
