-By Ankita Dutta
Myntra, a fashion e-commerce platform in India, has unveiled an out-of-home (OOH) ad campaign featuring the Adarsh Balak character to promote its End of Reason Sale. Created by Talented, the campaign uses the character’s symbolic elements, offering relatable humour to a modern, dystopian world. The OOH campaign has been well-received and the success strengthens Myntra’s conviction and highlights the potential of using pop culture icons to resonate with customers.
Myntra, an Indian fashion e-commerce platform, has launched an out-of-home campaign featuring the iconic meme character ‘Adarsh Balak’ to promote its End of Reason Sale (EORS). The campaign was created by Talented and aimed to highlight the bitter-sweet comedies of a modern dystopian world using the symbolic elements of Balak. Through this campaign, Myntra wanted to showcase the brand’s position as a go-to fashion platform, by communicating its EORS propositions with a unique approach to break through the online noise and clutter.
Abhishek Gour, Director – Digital Marketing, Myntra, said that their collaboration with Adarsh Balak was a testament to their commitment to always keeping EORS-based communication fresh and interesting, with a touch of humor to build deeper resonance with their customers. The campaign was designed to be disruptive and distinguishable from other online sales.
Pooja Manek, Creative and Founding Member, Talented, explained that symbolism was at the centre stage of art and fashion, and the rebellious undercurrent associated with the Adarsh Balak icon, lent itself naturally to the world of fashion. The team picked Adarsh Balak instead of a celebrity, to create a relatable personality who could remind modern-day millennials of the unhindered spirit of their youth.
Manek added that the brainstorming was wild and that Priyesh, the talented artist behind the illustrations, was nothing like Adarsh Balak, which was unexpected but helped the team to spill all their visual concepts on the table. The artist patiently fine-tuned all the ideas to ensure that they remained true to the Adarsh Balak universe. The illustrations were a mix of dark humor, rebellion, and fashion, resembling a Banksy-style approach.
Aabhas Sreshtha, Creative, and Founding Member, Talented, said that finding the right balance between doing justice to the brand’s communication and keeping the aesthetics of Adarsh Balak as a pop culture sensation was an interesting challenge. The team had to ensure that they meshed the two without disregarding either world.
The OOH campaign was well-received, and the first sample illustration created for the Adidas sneakers billboard was approved by Myntra in the first go. The success of the campaign has strengthened Myntra’s conviction in its approach and highlighted the potential of using iconic pop culture characters like Adarsh Balak to resonate with customers.
