Ringing in the new year, we are excited to be launching a multi-film brand campaign that will be visible across television, social media, OTT platforms & more through January and February. We have released three films that feature several renowned new age actors such as Gul Panag, Kalki Koechlin, Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor, who bring to life the many day-to-day stories of travellers. Over the pandemic years, travelers not just in India, but across the world have adapted and evolved their travel habits and preferences. Travellers now place higher trust and confidence in brands that provide flexibility and personalization. With this insight at the heart of our brand campaign, we aim to spread awareness about the key features on the OYO App.
The first film highlights the benefits of the ‘Nearby’ feature. Our deep presence across India, and in 35 countries around the world, allows our users to book accommodation on the go with an easy tap on the “Nearby” icon. The second film is based on the ever increasing need for flexibility when one travels. The film therefore highlights our easy cancellation and refund feature, allowing users to modify bookings before their stay. The third film promotes the ‘Search the view’ feature, which lets users discover stays according to any search keywords including the view, be it by the beach, the hills, near the market, close to the airport, or even a golf course view. Throughout the brand campaign, we showcase a diverse customer base, catering to families, discerning travellers, and groups of friends.
The first film, “Assi reach gaye?” features Gul Panag. The film features a family’s roadtrip. Keeping with her real-life personality, Gul portrays the role of a confident and adventure seeking mom, taking the lead at the driver’s seat. The film showcases the many stages of the journey, starting with the child enjoying the views of the scenic hills, turning to boredom and finally to restlessness after spending hours in the car. Hereon, the film captures the many quirks of a now impatient 3-4 year old child, who incessantly nudges his mom from the backseat with the engjabi words “Assi reach gaye?” (Have we reached?). At this point, the now anxious couple realize that they have a long journey ahead of them, with over eight more hours to go. Everyone has had enough of the journey. While on the road, Gul turns to the OYO App, taps on the “Nearby” feature and hits the book button. The film highlights the tag line, ‘Need a time out? Find a stay nearby.’
Our brand campaign continues with two more films. The second features Kalki Koechlin and a group of friends chilling by a lake. And a third with Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor in the lead at a golf course. Trivia! The download arrow at the end of the films is the same one that our Patron Team uses internally as part of their email signature.
Speaking on the brand campaign, Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand – OYO said, “OYO truly believes that progress is for everyone. No matter who you are, where you’re from or where you’re headed, we’re all looking to evolve in our lives. That’s the spirit OYO embodies and supports. You could be experiencing a hotel for the first time. You could be relying on a safe and sanitised stay as you go about your 50th sales trip to a far away place. You could be looking for a beautiful home in Europe, a nice hotel in Bali or a premium stay at Jaipur. There’s an OYO for that. At the core of it all is a simple to use app that is backed by some serious tech. An app that enables you to find an OYO right next door, wherever you may be. That helps you keep your plans and life flexible, as we all must today. An app that enables you to step out and reach your next stage of progress. And that’s exactly what this campaign is about. It is about the evolution of OYOs customers, our Patrons (our hotel owner partners) and indeed the evolution of OYO into the global tech-hospitality brand that it is today.”
Commenting on her role in the films, Gul Panag said, “Let’s face it – Travelling with kids can be super challenging, especially if you’re at the wheel all day long, maneuvering across ghats, hills and treacherous roads. And this is just one situation. What if your car breaks down? Or if suddenly travel sickness kicks in? Or if you just love a particular spot along the way? Why wouldn’t you want to pull the brakes and enjoy the sunset? And the list could go on and on. I love traveling and the spontaneity that comes along with it. I was super stoked to learn that travellers have an option to discover stays wherever and whenever they wanted to, on their terms. When OYO came to me with the concept of the ‘Nearby’ feature and the script, it was an easy YES. Because it’s so relatable. Needless to say, Vishvesh and the entire OYO team were a super fun bunch to work with.”
Our second brand film ‘Kalki Kal Dekhenge’ featuring Kalki Koechlin aims to highlight OYO’s ‘easy cancellation and refund’ feature to serve the requirements of today’s evolved travelers. Set against a lake, the film features Kalki Koechlin with a group of friends. The witty script, a banter among friends, captures attention through wordplay on the name ‘Kalki’ and ‘Kal ki’, which could mean ‘tomorrow or yesterday’ in Hindi. The joke carries on as the phone reaches Kalki, who is coaxed into volunteering to change their travel plans. At the last minute, they are just toying with the idea if they can cancel their bookings and stay where they are. The message of the film, delivered with very smart humor, is simple, relatable and current – ‘Live flexible, Cancel easy’. The film, within a few hours of going live, trended at #1 on Twitter’s India trends. In fact, we at OYO have also made our own, fun Kalkimojis (Kalki + Emoji)!
Kalki Koechlin comments on the project saying, “For as long as I remember, since school days, I have heard various renditions of my name, but this script has to be one of the most entertaining so far. To see how the company is growing and adapting to newer products & initiatives based on customer feedback is super impressive. Personally, enabling easy cancellation at the tap of a button on the app, without having to spend hours talking to the hotel directly for a refund is honestly game changing.”
Our third and final ad featuring Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor is set at the back of a witty script, and brings attention to our platform’s ‘Search the view’ feature enabling people to discover stays with any keywords, be it by the beach, the hills, near the market, close to the airport, or even a golf course view.
The film is set in a golf course and sporting a Callaway t-shirt, Rolex on his wrist and gloves gripping a 9-Iron, is Kunal Kapoor exclaiming that “he never knew one could search premium OYOs with such picturesque views”. The film further goes on to reveal that he actually lost a bet about this to Chitrangada and now has to play golf while wearing a ghagra. The film closes with the line, ‘Stays with a view? Search the view.’
Fun fact: the Callaway Cap worn in the golf film is the same make we used to design the OYO golf caps for our Fairway warriors, Rohit Kapoor, Sunny Sodhi and co.
The concept of the brand campaign and script of the films have been developed and written by our global in-house brand team. The film is directed by Vishvesh Krishnamoorthy from Corcoise Films, one of India’s biggest production houses founded by Prasoon Pandey.V ishwesh Krishnamoorthy has been a Director at MTV and VH1 with over a dozen PromaxBDA awards to his credit. He’s also won a Cannes Lion for directing the documentary series “The Dewarists”. He has directed the feature film titled “99 Songs” produced by Two Time Academy Award winner A R Rahman, a dozen music videos and over 150 television commercials. Some of his notable advertising work includes Satyamev Jayate (feat Aamir Khan), Bournvita, Fastrack, Swiggy, Gpay, 7Up, Tata sky, LivSpace, Perfetti (mentos & Center fresh) and more. We launched the brand campaign during the India VS South Africa ODI matches on TV.
Our brand campaign will be seen in multiple channels across GEC, News, Infotainment and the Kids genre. We will also release the first film across our owned digital and social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn. We will also feature the campaign on our OYO App, Co-OYO App (for Patrons) and across all it’s in-house digital communication mediums with customers, patrons and OYOpreneurs.
Interestingly, similar to the role of Gul Panag, Chitrangadha Singh and Kalki Koechlin in the films, our journey with the portrayal of strong women began last year with our ‘In a Long Term Relationship with OYO’ brand campaign starring Neena Gupta. Our 2021 campaign was born out of a simple yet solid insight – women were the key decision-makers when it came to booking a getaway, holiday, or vacation. As per our study, in eight out of ten cases, women drove the conversation and made the final decision around travel. Keeping these findings at the core of the brand campaign, we have decided to talk to their core customer cohort and decision-makers – women.