Murthy Knows Best

The current Voltas All-Weather AC advertising campaign is among the best I have seen in recent times. It is a three ad campaign (Cherapunjee, Kota and Mukteshwar) featuring an affable gentleman called ‘Murthy’ who keeps getting transferred from place to place; each place he is transferred to has a different climate, but Murthy is not at all worried because he uses Voltas AC which takes care of his problem quite efficiently, as he says in the ads – “Whatever the weather outside you are comfortable inside”, to my mind this is a powerful proposition.

The campaign addresses different air-conditioning needs of people very effectively, whether it is about getting relief from excessive humidity, heat or

extreme cold – Voltas AC is the answer to all. The proposition, “Whatever the weather outside you are comfortable inside,” is effectively conveyed, without any distracting sound or visuals, the proposition is also well supported by giving the reason why through animated demos. I am glad that no celebrity was used; the character Murthy is someone most of us can relate to, a guy like him could be your neighbour, colleague or a friend, or an affectionate Murthy uncle to children. The actor who plays the role of Murthy has indeed done a fine job; I don’t know if any other actor could have done better.  I do not know if the same actor dubbed his own dialogues or it was someone else, whoever lent his voice has got the South Indian tone and accent right and has spoken very well too, it may be quite likely that the actor/voice artiste is a South Indian himself otherwise it would not sound so natural. In the Cherapunjee ad at one point Murthy claps his hands and says “Why?”, it was executed beautifully; these are one of the little things which makes the communication effective and engaging. The animated demo is beautifully executed. After seeing the ad over a period of time the brand persona to my mind is that of a sincere, honest, efficient and a reliable friend.

While surfing the net I found some comments on the Cherapunjee ad. Someone said that when it rains in Cherapunjee it gets very cold so there is no sweating as the ad claims, I did not know about this but the ad despite this possible flaw is still able to convey the benefits to the consumers quite effectively. The entire campaign of the three ads is effective in communicating the ‘all-weather’ concept. If I were to buy an new airconditioner I will surely go by what Murthy recommends, the campaign has surely worked for me.

Watch all the three ads here.