Netflix was seeing steep fluctuation in its Indian subscriber base, led by the perception of not having great content for the whole family. We needed to break this perception about Netflix India with Indian households. An effort was required to build a substantial variety and value play for the world's biggest streamer in one of the world's most extensive streaming markets.

The work needed to establish that Netflix was THE entertainment destination of choice - not just for Indians who wanted quality international content, but also for families that wanted entertainment, stimulation and celebration of being together. The move was potentially made possible with the expansion of the OTT device universe and the reality that the TV is the centre of most Indian households, in addition to the growth of mobile streaming.

Idea: Diwali is the Indian festival of lights and firecrackers. But at the core of it, it’s about families coming together. Unfortunately, over the years, the importance of the latter has diminished. So when Netflix India decided to do their ad for Diwali, they took a unique approach.

Execution: For our film, we set the story in Cherrapunji. A place is known to receive rain almost 365 days a year. The story revolves around the folks of this town humorously battling the rains to keep the traditions of Diwali alive. Be it kids trying to burst firecrackers, create Rangolis (Indian art made using powdered chalk outside homes) or adults trying to step out in their festive best attire. The rain has a say in everything. But when it comes to family time, even the Rain Gods had to bow down to the experience of enjoying Netflix with their families.

Backed by the growth of mobile streaming thanks to seemingly unlimited internet, and the improvement of broadband connectivity in recent years, Indians were increasingly adding Smart TVs to their repertoire of entertainment sources. In this context, the existing perception of Netflix was that they had great international content, but it wasn't suitable for family viewing.

Research showed that this was based on the buzz created by some previous titles of a specific genre and that the target audience needed merely to be let into the vast library that Netflix had built to suit every possible taste among Indian entertainment audience segments.

The vehicle for this was the Diwali time of the year - when every Indian family came together to celebrate. But we did this without making it look like every other Diwali ad.

The team focused on developing a script that did justice to the brand and its USP, while ensuring an efficient and elegant narrative was maintained. To ensure the most effective implementation, we chose to go ahead and execute the film precisely at the location of the script, Cherrapunji, the world's wettest place.

The scale of execution required the team to visit this distance and even plan an entire shoot at this remote location with local actors. Upon the film's release, the aim was to ensure sufficient digital ad placement to drive millions of views. Still, due to the song and the overall brand love, this video reached over 130 million views on YouTube alone.

The video, the simple and sweet story, the innocents of the cast members, and the first-of-its-kind song drove this video to reach over 130 million consumers during the clutters Diwali ad season across India.

The campaign also generated millions in earned PR revenue via organic new stories and social media reactions.