Tecno Spark 6 TVC, a real hero or a borrowed one

Tecno Spark 6 TVC is developed around the idea of ‘a real hero’. The million-dollar question is, whom do we call a real hero. The land we live in was invaded by all kinds of invaders who looted, plundered, and mascaraed our people. Unfortunately, we perceive them as heroes. Races and dynasties as foreign as the ottoman Turks are portrayed to be role models.

Dirilis: Ertugrul is a historic fiction that glorifies the Ottoman Turks. Since we are far removed from our historical roots, it is hard to conjure up heroes like Raja Porus who fought against the mighty Alexander or Tipu Sultan who resisted British imperialism in the subcontinent. Nevertheless, the idea ‘real hero’ is certainly worth pondering over.

The safest and arguably the most effective way of advertising is to follow a fad making full use of its popularity and mass appeal. Setting a trend is always the hardest. So, brands looking for instant reach and revenue pounce on celebrities, TV shows, Films, etc. for their campaigns. A couple of months back QMobile adopted this strategy by using Esra Bilgiç for the ‘Your View Matters’ campaign. Now Tecno has done something similar.

Tecno Spark 6 campaign featuring Ali Zafar is a flawed campaign for several reasons. Apart from production value, the film has nothing new to offer as the idea, as mentioned earlier, has already been used by QMobile. For most of the ad duration, the sequences go without dialogue and voice-over. The action reminds unmissably of Dirilis: Ertugrul.

With the presence of the lead female of Dirilis: Ertugrul, QMobile embraced the theme and aura of the Ottoman history. Tecno has not done that. It neither has any of the lead characters of the Turkish TV series nor has it been shot in Turkey. The only thing it does is, remind us of the QMobile ad.  

Tecno with a considerably short time has carved out a space for itself in the cellular market. The brand should avoid making tactical mistakes as far as creative communication is concerned. To follow a competitor is not a good idea, to begin with. Even if it was necessary to cash in on the success of Ertugrul, Tecno Spark 6 TVC could have used Cengiz Coşkun instead of Ali Zafar.

Just like QMobile’s ‘Your View Matters’ Tecno Spark 6 juxtaposes action sequences with the features of the handset. The communication could have been handled differently but it remains to be seen how the consumer responds to the campaign, will it translate in the sales the brand was eyeing for?