Created to mark Bondtite's 25-year anniversary, the first-ever TVC of the brand built an emotional connection with the TG, created a high recall value & emphasised the pan-India presence Celebrating the 25th year of Bondtite, Astral Adhesives (which acquired the brand in 2014 after acquiring the majority stake in the parent company Resinova), launched its first-ever national television campaign, conceptualised by the Womb. Driven by a simple yet powerful message of the product’s core functionality of joining various materials ‘Ekdum Tight’, the 40-second spot shares a glimpse into the various applications of the epoxy adhesive. Speaking about the rationale behind coming up with the brand’s first-ever nationwide television campaign after 25 years, Astral Limited VP - Business Development Kairav Engineer shared, “We acquired the brand only in 2014 and before that it was being promoted by the earlier owners. We, too, actively started directly communicating with the core users, including masons, artisans, and carpenters, soon after the acquisition. But then we realised that the product has been in the market for such a long time and holds quite a big market share in a category wherein no other company is trying to build a brand. So, we saw a white space and decided to fill that in by building a strong brand out of Bondtite, which already was very popular in the market.”   Engineer added that since epoxy adhesives are very technical products and mainly the communications around these products are application-based, Astral wanted to break a mould with Bondtite’s first campaign, “We wanted to tell a story that’s not only about the application but something that surely connects with the heart of the viewers. It should create a high recall value and also emphasise the pan-India presence.”   And this was the clear brief that was sent to the creative agency The Womb. Creative Head Akshat Trivedi noted, “When you get such a clear and functional brief about a kickass product that is actually able to deliver what it is promising, the creative process gets very exciting. The brief not just gave a very clear idea of who the target audience is and what kind of people we are trying to reach out to but also spelt out the core tenets we were trying to showcase, which were the brand’s application in joining various solid and non-similar materials together, creating a good recall for the Bondtite name, and how it is available across the country. That’s where our conversation began and it was almost immediately that the idea of Bondtite getting various materials and crafts from India together shaped up in our head.” Trivedi and the team then started an elaborate research process that included figuring out what valuable materials do various states of India have to offer and how two different materials are brought together to build beautiful products. He elaborated, “Our internal research teams did a lot of research and brainstorming in finding out the artforms and various products that could be featured in the film. In fact, I talked with my own carpenter to understand the brand better and how functional it actually was. The feedback I got from him only solidified my trust in the script we were planning. We created several buckets of possible products, their combinations, and final products. These were then discussed with the Bondtite team who were immediate with their feedback. The final step was taking the idea to the production house - Hungry Films, wherein the director Vijay Sawant gave his feedback on which materials would look good on the screen.” Sawant’s vision for the film was about sending the message of Bondtite binding the spirit of India and bringing various people & cultures together. He, therefore, worked with a larger colour palette signifying the personality of each state. And therefore the ad has been receiving a lot of positive feedback from the viewers too. The Womb Head of Account Management Heval Patel highlighted, “We wanted to create something beautiful that is a good reflection of Indian crafts. The best reaction that we have got to these films from our own teams, stakeholders, and masons & artisans that we are directly in touch with is that the film doesn’t make caricatures out of the people it shows. The relatability that we have managed to get on screen is being appreciated by people.” On being asked what is different about making the first film for a brand that has been in the market for several years and is already quite popular amongst the TG v/s making the first film about a new brand, Patel responded, “I would say the responsibility and accountability are much more (than in the case of a new brand) because the brand is already there in the market and is much loved. We have to be very careful to not harm the goodwill it already has in the market. That’s why we definitely felt more responsible for the brand.” The campaign is currently running on television and digitally, supported by BTL activations and billboards.