Modi's Fevicol quote is a dream come true for the adhesive brand

“Yeh Fevicol se bhi mazboot jod hai (this bond is stronger than that of Fevicol)” is a quote used when Modi described the Indo-Japan relations.

It’s a dream for any brand when the brand enters popular culture or their tagline begins to stand for situations in daily life.

Fevicol, over the years, has been equated to strong bonds - or ‘jod’.

For example, this is how blogger Shailesh Maskeri appropriates Fevicol.

“Jod rakhen… hamesha,” he says. (The bond lives forever).

Maskeri is not alone. As Fevicol was, in his mind, equal to enduring and everlasting bonds, so it seems to have been with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he spoke in Japan yesterday. In Modi’s case, however, he goes a step further. Using Fevicol as a benchmark, Modi says that the India-Japan relationship is stronger than that of Fevicol. In true Modi style, he’s not happy with just reaching the benchmark - he needs to go beyond the benchmark.

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This morning, the media is full of references to the Fevicol statement - and that’s no easy task for a brand in a low-involvement category such as adhesive. Almost by definition, low-involvement categories are not spoken about, and, as a consequence, brands in low-involvement categories rarely, if ever, get free and earned media.

The mention of Fevicol on the front page of The Economic Times is testament to how strong the brand is and what a mark the brand has made. Newspapers from the BCCL stable (to which The Economic Times belongs) take extreme care not to mention brands unless the name is absolutely essential to the story. In this instance, Fevicol has been mentioned twice in 16 words.

By coincidence, last night, as the chatter on Modi’s mention of Fevicol rose to a crescendo on social media, I was having a drink with Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy, the agency that has been creating communication for Fevicol for over 30 years.

His reaction? “This is bigger than a Cannes Grand Prix,” he says.