
I have written about regionalization and localization in advertising very often, particularly in the context of the use of local languages when it comes to local media and locally targeted advertising.
A significant part of localization is also about understanding local nuances and using them appropriately in marketing.
Recently, a national (international too) brand like Oreo cleverly identified a pop culture moment in Tamil Nadu and used it to great effect!
‘Thala’ is the popular title of actor Ajith Kumar, while ‘ThaLapathy’ is the title of actor Vijay. Ajith and Vijay’s films (ThuNivu and Vaarisu, respectively) were released on the same day on 11th January, for Pongal. Star wars are very big in Tamil Nadu, and these 2 stars are the current generation’s MGR-Sivaji Ganesan when it comes to star wars. And their movies were released on the same day after 9 years (the last time their films released on the same day was January 10, 2014 – Vijay’s Jilla, and Ajith’s Veeram).
To see a national/international brand like Oreo dig so deep into the star wars of Tamil cinema is a different level of localization!
In that context, another national brand that localized its communication around Pongal/Sankranti was Urban Company.
Usually, Pongal is broadly associated with special festive discounts, food, among others in terms of marketing. A lesser-used angle around Pongal in marketing is around cleaning.
Pongal is a multi-day harvest festival and the first day of celebrations is called Bhogi. This involves cleaning the house, discarding old items/junk, and also repainting or whitewashing if need be.
This whitewashing/repainting element is integral to Diwali too (the ‘North Indian’ variant; not the ‘South’ Deepavali) and that has been used in marketing quite adequately. Consider this Birla White Diwali 2020 ad made by the agency Autumn Grey, for example:
I don’t recall many brands using the cleaning element of Pongal’s Bhogi in their marketing communication. It could be very appropriate for a range of product categories – paint brands, floor cleaners, household disinfectants, vacuum cleaners, and so on.
Urban Company, of course, is perfectly placed to make use Bhogi’s cleaning tradition given that it is an outsourced cleaning brand after all.
The agency, QED Communications, chooses a very nice perspective to tell the story – the little girl (and her curiosity) is the narrative device. She asks questions to her mother as the Bhogi cleaning is going on in the house and the mother’s answers are directed towards both the child and us, the audience, as a reiteration of the meaning of Bhogi cleaning – that the cleaning is required to welcome ‘aishwaryam’ (prosperity) to our homes.
Not just that – the ending has a lovely local touch too! The idea of depicting ‘aishwaryam’ (prosperity) entering their home through the footprints of the little girl (who had stepped on the colored kolam/rangoli at the entrance and walked in) beautifully harks back to another festive tradition in Tamil Nadu – Gokulashtami or Krishna Jayanti, where people draw the impression of little feet, meant to be that of little Krishna, using rice flour.
This linkage, from Pongal to Gokulashtami, is particularly nuanced and highly meaningful! And to pull this off while creating an ad that is perfectly in context to both the brand and to a specific set of audiences based on one highly regarded local festival is a fantastic fit!
But, having said all this, there are 2 things that deserved a closer look.
One is rather minor and easily avoided.
Observe the YouTube title of the Tamil ad: “Vishesh Dinangalil Thevai Vishesh Cleaning”

‘Vishesh’ is not Tamil – ‘Vishesha’ is. The title now sounds like a bizarre combination of ‘North Indian’ sensibilities and Tamil words 🙂
Update: This has been updated, thankfully 🙂

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The other thing is even more interesting.
Consider the fact that there are only 2 main characters in the ad besides the 4 professionals from Urban Company – the mother and the daughter (played by Poorthi Pravin and Krishita D, respectively). And yet, the only name we notice in the ad is that of the father/husband, outside the home, on the nameplate.
I happened to notice the name only because it was exactly my name 🙂 (I used to be ‘S. Karthik’ all through my school and college since we Tamilians don’t use a surname/family name after the given name usually). That they have also used the actual possible spelling for ‘Karthik’, with an ‘h’, as against the usual ‘North Indian’ spelling ‘Kartik’, is a plus in terms of attention to detail!
Digression:
Do you remember that Farhan Akhtar – Deepika Padukone starrer with this name? Did it have ‘Karthik’ or ‘Kartik’? Check out the posters of the film or search for the film online. That character was hinted as having some roots/connection to Kerala, by the way.
Digression ends.
I found it odd that the nameplate carried only one name, that of the husband (or the little girl’s father). In nuclear families, like the one depicted in the ad (the grandparents are conspicuously absent; they may not have approved of outsourcing the Bhogi cleaning either!), it’s far more likely that the nameplate carries the names of both the wife and the husband – usually the wife’s name first. It’s only in regions where the surname is given paramount importance do you notice nameplates carrying just a surname in the plural – ‘Joshi’s’, ‘Khurana’s’, or ‘Menon’s’, among others.
Surnames don’t carry that level of visible primacy in Tamil Nadu and the initial is usually used in the beginning as depicted accurately in the nameplate.
I wonder what the thought was behind having a single name in the nameplate for an ad that entirely has the wife all through the narrative.
Let me also counter this line of thought: is it not possible to find such nameplates that carry only the man’s name? Not at all. I’m sure such nameplates can be found outside many Indian homes. But it jars, to me at least, that an ad that features only the wife as the central character (along with the daughter) chose to have a nameplate that did not include her name. It’s a choice… for a very small, easily missed detail. But that minor choice makes it stand out as odd.