India’s celebrity obsession has peaked to unhealthy levels. Nowhere is this pattern clearer than in the reliance new-age Indian brands have had on celebrities for growth. A-lister celebrities command millions for a few hours of their time per year, shift loyalties at will, and stifle creative output basis whims - seeing advertising as an artform that doesn’t deserve their best.

As Ad pundits continue debates around ‘celeb value’, their role in ‘brand growth’ etc. the consumer continues getting exposed to huge volumes of low-quality advertising featuring popular faces. Budgets to afford A-lister celebrities become a curse for big brands.

Indian travel and hospitality giant - Make My Trip - is no stranger to this curse. In 2015, they signed on two top Bollywood celebrities who have since become synonymous with the brand. And the brand has become incapable of imagining themselves without this duo.

MakeMyTrip needed a creative direction that would shake them up - both internally and in the consumers’ minds - of their value and impact, independent of stars.

The Indian Premier League was the perfect media occasion. The summer cricket tournament paired perfectly with the brand’s biggest offer - 30% off on hotels. It hosted India’s most expensive media spots - where brands mostly deployed celebrity faces one after another. In between all these ads with ‘faces’, MakeMyTrip boldly announced their offer as the “real star” and instead hired 4 new A-lister celebrities to shed their ego and literally ‘hide their faces’ for the entire ad.

https://youtu.be/ta9EIr6kbRk?si=465HUbZBVx1zh2tt
https://youtu.be/r_5SSi5oz-8?si=gRlDqreRYtsGCLwo
https://youtu.be/yrpCI-0KC_A?si=ggRRpjs0JjhQ_yTA
https://youtu.be/MIwNYpdcCQ4?si=OA0wvD9zI7ik7OZ4

Situation: Indian travel giant Make My Trip, who has been endorsed by two of India’s biggest superstars, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, was looking for a new creative direction to take the brand without their iconic duo. And wanted to debut it during 2024’s IPL. MakeMyTrip needed a direction that would shake them up - both internally and in the consumers’ minds - of their value and impact, independent of the stars they’d relied on so far.

Brief: Announce Make My Trip’s 30% off on hotels and homestays in a clutter-breaking manner.

Objectives:
Break clutter during the IPL
Create the most ‘rewatchable’ series of ads
Showcase a new creative direction for MakeMyTrip without Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt

1 - Jackie Shroff is at a poolside restaurant, gently shoving the camera away from his face. He recommends we focus instead on the hotel & ambience that you too can enjoy with offers on MakeMyTrip. 

2 - Loved ex-cricketers and current commentators, Ravi Shastri & Virender Sehwag are at a hotel sauna. Their faces are covered by the steam. They remind each other that the star of this ad is MakeMyTrip.

3 - Prabhu Deva is in his hotel room wearing his iconic all-white look. Hiding his face through innovative dance moves, he shows us the different amenities you too can enjoy with offers on MakeMyTrip.

4 - It’s Karaoke Night at a hotel where Shankar Mahadevan is performing a twist of ‘Breathless’ to his fans. The lyrics are about MakeMyTrip’s offer on hotels and homestays!

Each spot ends with the MakeMyTrip logo eclipsing the face of the celebrity.

In 15 days, the campaign garnered:
>20% Growth in platform traffic.
17% increase in new users during the campaign period vs pre-campaign period month of March
30% higher CTRs vs Benchmarks
20% higher VTRs vs Benchmarks
~$450,000 organic coverage
30M Reach

The campaign broke the clutter of one of the biggest cricket seasons by consistently delivering more than the planned objectives in its first few weeks. With nearly 25% new consumers booking hotels on the platform, the films ensured the focus remained on the real star - Make My Trip.