Airtel’s latest Instagram reel featuring Bollywood actors Neena Gupta and Ashish Vidyarthi is a fine example of how brand communication is evolving. It is becoming short, witty, relatable, and perfectly tailored for today’s scroll-happy audience. While it’s a tricky balance to strike, when done right, it can turn your brand into a social media talking point.
In the reel, the actors share internet safety tips, like how to delete spam emails and book flights at a cheaper rate. Vidyarthi’s short monologue also shows Airtel’s fraud protection service, which doesn’t come across as a promotion.
Neena Gupta’s cheeky line, “Comments mai koi boomer-boomer nahi likhega…”, sets the tone of the commercial. It’s playful, and right in sync with Instagram’s youthful vocabulary.
Bridging the gap
This video highlights how Airtel, a legacy telecom brand, is moving from formal, straightforward messaging to something more fun and engaging.
Instead of conventional celebrity endorsements or creating three-minute-long jingles like Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai, it is tapping into Instagram trends and hot topics of social media. Reels aren’t just filler content; they seamlessly blend into your Instagram feed, making ads feel less intrusive and more like entertainment.
Airtel tapped into nostalgia by featuring veteran actors Neena Gupta and Ashish Vidyarthi, but gave it a modern twist with a script tailored for Gen Z. By placing familiar faces in a contemporary, internet-savvy context, the brand smartly bridged the gap between two generations.
Airtel’s reel collected over 5 lakh views within a day of being posted, along with over 8,000 likes and 2,600 shares. The comment section was filled with users teasing the actors as “boomers” and calling the ad “superb.”
Unlike traditional TV commercials, such reels allow brands to foster direct interaction, turning passive viewers into active participants. And, the reception of a video can be analysed in real time.
It also helps the brand to pivot from its strategy mid-way in case the views or interaction isn’t up to the mark.
Also read: Flipkart’s Big Billion Days campaign is the festive season’s best. RD Sharma stars in it
Future of advertising?
Airtel also collaborated with Netflix for Aryan Khan’s directorial debut series The Ba***ds of Bollywood. After all, it’s one of the trending topics on social media for the last few days.
Featuring the show’s leading star cast — Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Bobby Deol, and Sahher Bambba — the video shows viewers getting hooked on the show, only to be interrupted by poor internet connection.
“Let go of slow internet. Don’t compromise on the net or Netflix,” say the actors.
Within an hour, the video crossed 100,000 views, highlighting how swiftly brands can ride cultural moments via reels, something which is difficult to execute with traditional campaigns.
What makes Instagram reels a game-changer for brands is their agility and cost-effectiveness. They thrive on simplicity and authenticity rather than high production, enabling brands to jump on trends in real time. This speed and flexibility is critical in a fast-moving digital landscape where relevance is temporary.
Moreover, reels deliver what today’s audiences crave: short, smart, shareable content that entertains and informs without feeling like an ad.
They act as micro-stories with macro impact, helping brands engage rather than just sell products.
For legacy brands aiming to stay relevant, Instagram reels are no longer optional, but essential.
The ‘reel-vertising’ (reels + advertising) trend also reflects that brands are desperate to hold attention and stay relevant in an era where the audience is being bombarded with messaging left, right, and centre.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)