Good and Bad PR: Finolex Pipes wins hearts at Diwali, while Natural Diamond Council fails to sparkle

Back to the office, everyone? Seen your calendars blocked with Christmas/New Year campaign planning meetings? Too soon? We're back after a mini-Diwali break, so let's dive right in.

Good PR:

Finolex Pipes & Fittings

A couple of editions ago, we wished brands a bright and safe Diwali. It almost remained a pipe dream until Finolex Pipes decided to show up. Their plainly titled Diwali 2024 campaign hit the right notes with seemingly everyone.

First, we must congratulate the creative team for winning the length battle and accomplishing a 3-minute-plus ad film. Engaging from start to finish, the film is an excellent rampart to the dying breed of long(ish) storytelling. The story itself is a rollercoaster ride of smashing stereotypes (we won't spoil it for you) with a brilliant, sensitive and thought-provoking reference to the Goddess of Diwali.

No Chief Outrage Officers were harmed in the making of this film. The ones who deal with the type of seething digital outrage that usually accompanies any religious references made by brands these days. 

A seamless CSR integration follows, which tells almost 17 million viewers (and counting) about the support they provide for women plumbers.

Time for me to pipe down.

Just go watch it.

Bad PR

Natural Diamond Council India

In a somewhat muted Diwali (ref: automakers, FMCG manufacturers, travel industry), the Natural Diamond Council decided that guilting shoppers into choosing naturally mined diamonds over their lab-grown counterparts was an excellent idea.

Their print campaign compared natural diamonds to analogous products seen as high-value collector items like pashmina shawls, Banarasi sarees, finely aged wine and even the Taj Mahal. The lazy premise was if it's not the original, it's not worth it.

We get it. As the Tobacco Institute equivalent of your industry, it is your job to protect your market share from lab-grown diamonds. Even if we know that naturally mined diamonds can be exploitative, soaked in conflict and cost a liver and kidney to buy.

Maybe they missed the Knockoff Effect: How Imitation Sparks Innovation theory that imitation games can positively affect the OG brands. Or it's the lack of having the pulse of your market message - aspiring Indians will use lab-grown diamonds as a 'gateway drug' to their more expensive counterparts shortly.

Or it's a brilliant virtue-signalling exercise for the buyers of costly natural diamonds. But they missed the plot for the most apparent debate on originality that divides India every few weeks. If your biryani has vegetables, is it really biryani?

Shoeb is the chief innovation officer at Ideosphere Consulting. He loves helping brands and business leaders articulate their value better. If you want to point out examples of good and bad PR message him on LinkedIn