<p>When people hear the name Vir Das — they think of the guy from Delhi Belly or of his comic repertoires. What most don’t know is that he also owns a niche comedy-driven production house Weirdass Comedy, which besides organising comedy festivals, also functions as a brand agency. The artist-cum-entrepreneur in conversation with BW Businessworld’s Shubhi Tandon<br><br>Weirdass Comedy is a ‘comedy consultancy’. As strange as that sounds, there is such a thing. Led by Vir Das, the company started off organising live tours and comedy festivals in 2010. But soon after it was creating comedy content for brands and advertising agencies as they queued up for ‘funny content’ for their campaigns.<br><br>This led Das to set up production capabilities in-house and offer ‘comedy consultancies’ to brands. The consultancy has since worked with companies such as Travelocity, Flipkart, Micromax and most recently Rebtel for their ad campaigns.<br><br>“We decided that we should cut out the middleman — the advertising agencies. For example, Rebtel was looking for digital videos and television commercials (TVCs). So we designed their entire digital campaign and directed and edited their TVCs, where I functioned as a brand ambassador. There was no external agency at any level,” says Das.<br><br>One of the first TVCs that Weirdass Comedy executed was for Flipkart around their Big Billion Day sale ahead of Diwali last year that featured Das. “It is a journey which started off just writing scripts for TVCs for clients and agencies. Then we slowly got into production and started producing videos. And eventually, we ventured into advertising for brands that are looking to get in the comedy space,” he explains.<br><br>Das calls himself a ‘comedy consultant for brands’. When asked why brands need one, he opines, “A brand is looking to not just reach out to its consumer but also make meaningful content to reach out to consumers. I believe, as opposed to invading your consumer’s digital or individual space, if you can give them something cool, then that positions your brand as witty, and intelligent — and that is basically what every brand out there is going for.”<br><br>In the ad campaigns for both Flipkart and Rebtel, Das was also the brand ambassador. He feels that having a comedian as a brand ambassador is a very good idea as he/she has a happiness connect with the consumers. He explains, “The minute people think of a comedian as a brand ambassador, they think they are happy to see that person. That is a good, instant connect that comedians have because they do not rely on superficial aspects but on the happiness aspect.”<br><br>The company has a complete production department that helps in producing TV shows, digital videos and social media marketing as well. It has a talent pool of comedy writers, directors, choreographers, cameramen, etc., who produce videos and content for brands. “We took everything comedy and made a company. We are your one stop shop, we don’t need another agency to come on board. We offer a 360-degree solution — from talent, to targeting different mediums of marketing, to content,” says Das.<br><br>When asked about what advice he would give to brands or marketing officers, Das says, “Open your minds to comedy so you can reach your consumers in an intelligent manner. You can’t buy ‘cool’ and I think that is something that comedy can do — whether you buy it or not, it just says you are cool.”<br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 05-10-2015)</p>
