Brand Saga: The Curious Case of Ambuja Cement & the wall that refused to break

As Ambuja Cement brought back its iconic Deewar campaign featuring Boman Irani in a new avatar, narrating a different and even funnier tale, we just had to revisit this brand's iconic advertising legacy. Here we share it with you...

‘Action, drama & a whole lot of entertainment’ – read the YouTube description of the sequel to the popular #BhaiyaYeDeewarToottiKyuNahi campaign. The campaign went live with the reboot of its iconic commercial last week and we couldn’t help but walk down memory lane with the Ambuja Cement advertising journey which is as incredible as its memorable campaigns.

Ambuja Cement Advertising Journey

Cement has always been touted as one of the low involvement categories and to market, a product like it requires a unique and tactical approach.

Kickstarting its advertising journey, Ambuja Cement stayed away from the ‘serious’ depiction of the product features in its campaigns. It rather adopted a humorous approach and blended comical characters into the commercials - because what’s better than laughter?

There were competitors who spoke about the wall failure and it falls after a certain period, then was Ambuja Cement who concentrated on the ‘Unbreakable Wall’ jo kabhi nahi tootegi. The company joined hands with Grey Worldwide to bring in more creativity with a whole lot of drama in its advertising campaign which then culminated into the making of an evergreen TVC that couldn’t be forgotten.

The campaign was released in the 2001-02 cycle and since, the tagline, 'Ye deewar toonth to khu nahin' has been synonymous with the brand.

Also Read: Brand Saga: Badshah Masala, weaving the waft of spices in iconic campaigns…

The insight that triggered most of the campaign ideas was that strength is a very relevant attribute as far as the customer is concerned and if given an emotional touch can strike the right chord. With the ‘Muskaan’ campaign, Ambuja Cement was back talking about ‘unbreakable walls’ and reiterate the idea of “Ambuja Cement. Yeh Deewaar Nahin Tootegi”.

The brand sought to relate to its consumers on different levels by identifying genres they find solace in. For instance, the ‘Vijay' campaign, became successful in finding a loyal consumer base who not only was loyal to the brand but raved about its advertising.

Unlike most of its competitors in the market, Ambuja Cement has gone much beyond being just an essential commodity brand to being a messenger for good and positivity. The brand has been vocal about societal issues like caste, socio-economic, and religious disparity and firmly believed in equality for all.

In 2014 when Ambuja Cement entrusted its creative duties to Publicis India the result was an ad that took the social media world by storm. A video cum mockumentary conceptualized by the agency featured wrestling champion ‘The Great Khali’ was titled ‘giant strength for the giant’ with a humorous and lighthearted approach. The campaign was also featured in Social Samosa’s Eternal Campaigns of the Decade.

In 2020, the brand communication revolved around stories of strength and positivity amid the pandemic-induced lockdown and the various CSR initiatives Ambuja Cement stepped up for.

Continuing with its streak of long-form campaigns, Ambuja Cement touched chords through its varied stories during the festive season, New Year 2021, and Independence Day.

It launched a heartwarming film on the occasion of 71^st Independence day to reiterate the fact that tough times may come and go, but the patriotic spirit of the nation should remain unshakeable, unbroken, and strong.

The advertising portfolio of Ambuja Cement boasts of different flavors – comedy, fun, drama, emotions induced with lots of personification. 

Take a detailed look at the Ambuja Cement Advertising journey here.