Manish Bhatt on creating an enduring brand universe for the Cristos brand of Gopal Snacks

Gopal Snacks Limited, India's fourth-largest producer of ethnic savories, has given its brand a welcome update with the introduction of Cristos, a sub-brand targeted at millennials, Gen Z, and urban youth. The company has unveiled Cristopher, the second-ever human brand mascot in Indian advertising after the legendary Onida Devil, as part of this creative campaign. By making this change, Gopal Snacks is reaching a wider audience and reframing its appeal to a younger, more contemporary demographic. Scarecrow M&C Saatchi is the creative team behind this advertising campaign.Manish Bhatt, the founder and director of Scarecrow Communications, talks extensively about the campaign's conceptualization and creative thinking in an exclusive interview with Adgully. In order to ensure a consistent brand identity across all product lines, he talks about the rationale for selecting a human mascot, the campaign's media mix, and how he intends to incorporate the mascot with new flavors, such the upcoming African-flavored wafers. Bhatt also discusses other topics, such as how AI's growing application is changing how creative and advertising companies think.

Cristos Wafers' World of Mexican Chilling advertising is an audacious and humorous idea. What motivated you to develop this original environment, and how did the anthem and planned narrative come together to make the campaign a reality? We started an association with Gopal Snacks by researching their history as a conventional Namkeen company when they contacted us. Wafers were one of their product categories that stood out as being particularly important, considering that Namkeen is a popular beverage with diverse regional tastes throughout India. For instance, you might locate Gathia in Saurashtra or Jhalmuri in Bengal. Wafers have become a widely acceptable snack format despite these regional variances.