Maruti Suzuki India Limited are giving their ageing warhorse namely the Estilo a new lease of life. That the Estilo never quite managed to latch on to the name of the old Maruti Zen is quite evident. Also the Zen tag was dropped from the Zen Estilo after it was widely criticized. The older Zen was a much fun to drive car and had good dynamics however the new Zen Estilo was just a tall boy design. In 2009, Maruti Suzuki India Limited plonked the 1.0 liter K series engine from the Maruti A-star into the Maruti Zen Estilo and dubbed it as a new car to the masses. It also got the same gear shift as the Maruti A-star. However sales were anything but phenomenal.
To act upon this, Maruti Suzuki India Limited have come up with a new ad campaign for this car. It has been dubbed “Come Alive” campaign. In this ad campaign, one can see a Maruti Estilo been parked in a garage{or was it a show room, assembly line} and a technician pulling down the shutters after the day’s work is over. Also quite noticeable are the paint lines and crash test dummies. After the shutters are put down, a male crash dummy comes alive. He walks out of his resting place and switches on the lights. A catchy old Bollywood tune “Roop Tera Mastana” is been played in the background. The crash dummy then walks upto the car and gently admires its lines by stroking it. He then opens the door and plonks himself into the driver’s seat. On his way inside the facility, he meets a female crash test dummy and they converse. After some time, he asks her for a drive and she affirms it. She hops into the car and starts admiring the interiors, features and space. This is where the first series of the ad stops. Lest I forget, the ad would be shown in a series of 3.
The 2nd and third series would focus on the car’s driveability, handling and also the K series engine. Maruti Suzuki India Limited have reportedly pumped in about 8 crores for this ad campaign. They have also designed a separate website for the “Come Alive” campaign and one can log into the website, name the male, female crash test dummies and play contests with them. Once the contest is over, one would have to put in their name, physical address, phone number and email ID. An immediate email confirmation would tell you how many points one amassed and that one would be liable to receive “Come Alive” gifts at their doorstep. I personally played it and got 36 points at the first go and 44 at the second. Both the times, the email said that I would receive the gifts soon. I am yet to receive them considering it has been a week or so.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s Executive Creative Director Satya P Ranjan has mentioned that the “Come Alive” Ad campaign was shot with real actors however during the post production, they were switched with the animated characters. This ad was shot in a span of 3 days out of which, two days were at Cherish Studios in Mumbai and one in Magarpatta in Pune. He also said that they have created a Facebook account for the Maruti Estilo and within a week, it had 9000 members. The “Come Alive” points would be shown on the member’s wall as well.
The Maruti Estilo would compete against the likes of its stable mate Wagon R, Chevy Beat, Ford Figo and the Hyundai I10.
