Invincible Indians: Bajaj V extends INS Vikrant's pride with storytelling

The INS Vikrant serves as the protagonist of many war stories in India, the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy granted a decisive upper hand to the Indian Armed Forces in the Indo-Pak War of 1971.

Since the conclusion of its military service, the INS Vikrant has served as a museum, a source of inspiration, of pride to the younger generations. Bajaj Auto designed the V15, a bike that repurposed the metal collected from scrapping the decorated warship.

The brand recently rolled out an all new campaign, Invincible Indians, exhibiting the lives of Indians who have stood out and changed the course things – people just like the INS Vikrant, forged not in metal, but in mettle. Titled ‘Invincible Indians’ the five separate digital films tell the stories of five people from the country who stood their ground, served and demanded no recognition or dividend from their acts.

Karimul Haque gives 24x7 timely aid with his bike ambulance, in memory of his mother. Watch Ambulance Dada in action https://t.co/WIED3zW0AZ

— Bajaj V (@myBajajV) December 2, 2016

Shedding light on the tireless efforts of these five people with five individual short films, created by Leo Burnett India and their in-house production wing, Greenhouse. These short films encompass the motivation, experiences, and struggles narrated by the invincible personalities themselves.

Each of the films, is titled after the nicknames that these Invincible Indians have acquired - Didi, the story of Vijaylaxmi Sharma who works towards the abolishing child marriage in her home state of Rajasthan; Medicine Baba who travels across the Delhi NCR region collecting medicine to distribute it among the needy.

Bajaj Auto’s ideology behind this initiative is a simple yet inspiring one. Narrating a compelling story, Bajaj forms an emotional bond with the audience. Subtlety is not widely orchestrated in the advertising world, but Bajaj Auto balanced promotion and storytelling well in this campaign.

Invincible Social Buzz

Bajaj maintains a separate social media handle for the Bajaj V, on Facebook and Twitter through which the brand indulged in a pre-buzz activity before the campaign roll out.

Creating a distinct identity for the Bajaj V, banking on the deep connect of patriotism around INS Vikrant that Bajaj has successfully managed to associate with their bike, the V.

Invincible Indians was designed to coincide with the Navy Day, celebrated on 4th December every year, for the successful attack by the Indian Navy on Karachi Harbour, termed Operation Trident, it handed India a strategic and decisive victory.

A day of immense historic significance that evokes pride in the hearts of Indian citizens, Invincible Indians was rolled out at the perfect timing.

The campaign was launched on 29th November through an event broadcast through Facebook Live, by Rajeev Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto and Olympic Gold Medallist, Abhinav Bindra.

The five individual videos created by Bajaj were posted on their social media handles in quick succession and received a rousing response from their followers. It is not until the end of the videos, where Bajaj puts forth their product, as a trophy, an acknowledgement for the heroes who strived to rise, not alone but raise others with them.

The Bajaj V itself was unveiled on a Republic Day, which sheds a light on the company’s strategy of associating their product with patriotic pride. The strategy yielded rich dividends for Bajaj Auto, which worked once again as Invincible Indians received a tremendous response in terms of numbers which were considerably high.

The videos were met with an overwhelmingly positive feedback, and witnessed a higher engagement rate in the wake of celebrations of Navy Day owing to which, Invincible Indians sustained its reach on social media.

On Facebook, Bipin Ganatra’s Aagun Pakhi short film received 865k views, more than 21k Likes and 8885 shares; Ambulance Dada received 645k views, 18k Likes and 8665 shares; Vijaylakshmi’s short film Didi received 897k views, 23k Likes and 5445 shares. The other two short films, The Ice Man and Medicine Baba also received similar response.

Vijaylakshmi Sharma has vowed to never let child marriage claim another innocent life. Watch Didi in action. https://t.co/0j4pKeAHqY

— Bajaj V (@myBajajV) December 2, 2016

Although Bajaj posted the videos in quick succession, not letting each video build up the engagement which could have lasted for a longer time achieving above the current statistics.

Considering the amount of resources, Bajaj Auto must have put in the creation of five individual short films, the brand’s social media strategy lacked planning. The short films performed well, but could have done much better if Bajaj posted one short film a day, letting each gather their respective amount of engagement.