Storytellers of the year: Mccann Erickson

McCann Erickson 
Nescafe ‘stutter’ ad campaign
It isn’t too often that a big-brand ad campaign not only conveys its message creatively, but also gets people feeling, thinking and talking about something more profound.  But somehow, Nescafe managed to take one of the greatest steps in Indian advertising last year, shunning commercially-viable gimmicks to instead connect with audiences on an insightful level. Protagonist Rishi, played by the captivatingly gifted Hussain Dalal, is not just any stand-up comedian. He starts out facing rejection galore. Faltering, he trips over his words as people walk out on him, but then one word, one stutter, one witty anecdote at a time, he wins us over. McCann Erickson has steered clear of the brand’s usual celebrity faces, but at no point does one miss the presence of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy singing to Deepika Padukone and Purab Kohli. With a topic like this, there is a fine line between hitting the mark and disrespecting those with speech impediments, and the credit for pulling it off goes to Dalal and director Vinil Mathew. Dalal rhetorically asks his audience what the greatest strength of a stammering comedian is, and answers “Sss…ssus..suss…suspense” –making his way into the softest corners of our hearts and deservedly ruling the internet for a long time.