As Cred’s IPL commercial starring Rahul Dravid, aka Indiranagar Ka Gunda, blew up online, discovery and rewards platform Magicpin was quietly scripting a spoof. Magicpin’s parody of the famous Cred ad talks about “bread points” versus “asli savings” and stars actor Vijay Raaz. Given the popularity of the Cred ad (and polarised views on it), the ‘Bread’ ad by Magicpin quickly gained a lot of attention and traction on social media.

Brand Equity caught up with the company’s chief executive officer Anshoo Sharma to find out what prompted the brand to take a dig at Cred. Sharma also shares the category challenges and his view on the trend of brands hijacking other brands’ campaigns.

Edited excerpts.

Tell us about the genesis of the Bread ad.

We were in the process of conceptualising ads that talk about ‘asli’ (real) savings. There is so much noise around cashbacks that most of the ads around it go into clutter. When our competitive brand’s high decibel celebrity-driven campaign came out, it was our eureka moment. From our social media listening we got to know that there are many who didn’t agree with what was being advertised. That became an interesting opportunity to contrast consumers’ dissatisfaction with our proposition. We didn’t want to miss that moment-marketing opportunity. It took about four days to put the film together. The ad is currently running across TV news channels, print, radio, and digital. We can’t spend big bucks on IPL, but we know we have good content that can be amplified using other channels.

Could the Bread ad be the beginning of fintech brand wars like the Cola Wars of the past?

Every time there is an imbalance in the market, there is an opportunity that smart marketers make the most of. These things work when there is truth behind the communication. We will see more of this as brands in the category are built.

What’s the category problem that you are trying to address through advertising?

The number of reward programmes that consumers are bombarded with is endless. Most of the time these points become a liability to the providers. Eventually, people lose interest in these points because providers are not always able to meet the promise. We have done years of work to build our proposition which is all about ‘asli’ (real) savings. All we want to tell users is that what’s the point of pointless points. We intend to build on this message through advertising.

What’s your view on brands hijacking other brands’ campaigns?

I think it’s fair play if it is done right. Historically, brand wars have helped the category grow. What’s happening currently is also a reflection of that. At the end of the day, I believe the category will benefit the most.

Also read: Promoting violence through advertising and eulogising it too?