Let me first beg your pardon for belaboring the obvious - It is a funny and attractive ad in the Indian context. Seeing it would definitely have ensured the imprinting of Asian Paints into the viewers' brains adding a cue to the brand of Asian Paints into the public's mindset.
Now to get to the hard part - to determine if this was a good advertisement for the company or not. From the vantage point of any company - an ad must spread awareness, catch attention, should appeal, be memorable etc. but only with the view of ultimately creating preference for the brand and this should reflect in the sales! An ad to the company is an investment whose returns are reflected in the sales of the paints in this case. I could present you with enough factual and empirical statistical data to show that the sales of Asian Paints increased after this and also increased their market share. Of course, proving that they did increase because of this particular ad is opening another Pandora's box altogether.
What is truly great about this ad is the fact that the marketers first realized what the major problem with their product was and then addressed it via this ad. Paints - typically not considered in everyday life, unlike products like cars which have been known to be part of the consciousness even when purchase is not the intent. Many of us think of "this would be the car that I'd love to buy," even if we are not going to buy a car in the near future. But paints - paints had never had their presence in our heads, save for the time when we actually needed to paint something! And at this juncture, with absolutely no real idea about which paint we would really use to paint our house with, we rely on either our painter's or the retailer's advice. So despite the fact that the consumers were the ones paying for the paint, the real decision was made based on the opinion of the painters and retailers, who acted as the influencers for the purchase. For that reason - all promotion efforts of all paint companies were directed towards the painters and the retailers, instead of the public. It made perfect sense. This was the scenario - and for the large part - still is.
Asian Paints chose to advertize to the general public instead. They attempted and accomplished reduction of the influence of the above influencers. Suddenly, Asian Paints Sunil babu ad made us think of the brand even when we did not use it and it brought a smile on our faces because the ad was so funny. At the same time addressed a functional benefit of the product for competitive advantage - the long lasting paint. Asian paints now gained a pleasurable cognition in some part of our brains.
As opposed to the previous scenario - where you'd ask the influencer on which paint to buy, and get all unheard names rendering you clueless, now among the names, you recognize one too! And this is what increases the chances of preference shifting to Asian Paints. You hear 5 names, one of which is an already existing pleasurable thought in your head - Do that math... which one would you buy?
One of the best ways to judge if something works or not is to see what the competitors do after you do something. LO!! Other paint manufacturers also started advertizing - possibly the biggest evidence of the ad having worked for Asian Paints! "When your adversary starts to emulate you - you are doing something right!"
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