The Emotional Connection - Is it enough?

I saw this ad for Airtel, the largest mobile telephone operator in India, when I was in India a couple of years back. Born in a small town in southern India and growing up there, I was made aware of the lingering animosity between India and neighboring Pakistan, from an early age. Indian history is steeped with incidents and wars with Pakistan and depictions of Pakistanis as the jealous, poor cousins across the border. But there were always some news articles proclaiming that the hatred was at a higher political level, and normal citizens from both countries would get along just fine.

When I saw this ad for the first time, and every time after that, I literally get goosebumps when the boys in the ad enter the no-man zone and the flute music comes on in the background. And millions of Indians make the same emotional connection when they see it too. I decided to step back and analyze the reason for my reaction, as suggested by Marc Gobe, by thinking about the earliest memory that this ad triggered.

Whenever I see this ad, I am reminded of a childhood memory, when I visited the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, in the northwestern state of Punjab. Every day at sunset, the gate at the border is opened and the Indian and Pakistani guards conduct a parade to take down the flags (which by rule cannot stay up after sunset). Hundreds of people watch the ceremony from both sides equipped with stadium seating. I remember watching the parade with a sense of pride, proudly singing the national anthem. When the gates were closed after the ceremony, people from both sides gathered near the gate, denouncing each other with derisive slogans. I was very young back then and thoughts of political diplomacy and open communication were too far from my mind.

This advertisement makes the connection very effectively by using the voice over, which says 'There is no war or barrier that can keep us apart, if only we talk to each other'. A telecom company, urging us to 'talk' to each other. I cannot think of a more perfect way to deliver this message, considering the context. I find myself thinking back to that moment on the border, mere yards away from Pakistan, wondering if things might be different today.

What influence does it have on marketing behavior?
The ad caught my attention, lodged itself in my memory, and I was able to connect the message to the company 'Airtel'. But did it actually translate to a purchase? Surprisingly, I did not want to switch to Airtel, just because it put forth this great message. I was a customer of Airtel's competitor for a long time. but watching this ad and making the emotional connection was not enough for me to switch over to that provider. Could Airtel have done something different? I think I will have to deliberate on it further. I will update this section in a few weeks, with some new insights.