How a 10-year-old LinkedIn Influencer Chatpat took the internet by storm by recreating iconic Cadbury, Tide and Liril ads

• Chatpat, a 10-year-old Influencer from the streets, has been winning hearts on the internet for his unique style.
• From recreating Cadbury's Kuch Khaas Hai to partnering with Raftaar, Chatpat has been encouraging the audience to donate to SOS Children’s Villages India.
• We speak to FCB Group India's Swati Bhattacharya and Kinnect's Kartikeya Tiwari to find out what went behind bringing this fictional character alive and discuss different phases of the campaign.

In a sea full of digital creators, one influencer stands out. He goes by the name ‘Chatpat’ and is popular for sharing street wisdom on LinkedIn. He was quick to rise to fame, as he says, “Anna ke tapri seh Insta ki nagri, Public ka support har jagah!” Another reason why people love him is because Chatpat is a just 10-year-old boy who shares tips on living rent-free in Mumbai, how to get foreign aid, how to ask for a raise, how to ensure mental wellness for your team and we all could use a Chatpat in our life! With these enlightening videos on LinkedIn, which are targeted at working professionals and corporates, little Chatpat is trying to raise funds for the NGO SOS Children’s Villages.

“The media strategy was to not spend money,” Kinnect's National Creative Director, Kartikeya Tiwari told Advertising and Media Insider when we asked him why the agencies, Kinnect and FCB India, chose LinkedIn to launch Chatpat. “Our strategy in everything was to not spend money but make money happen for SOS donations,” added Tiwari.

The campaign, while born in adversity, became a huge opportunity for SOS Children’s Villages. The agencies kept their ‘whims and fancies’ aside, said Tiwari, and prioritised starting a conversation and raising donations on almost zero budget. They needed a strong idea that could be impactful and have a long cycle.

So, after launching Chatpat, in phase two of the campaign, Chatpat started recreating some iconic advertisements with his gully gang to get attention from corporates. He played Jim Sarbh for CRED, he danced like the Liril Girl at a Dhobi Ghat, twirled like Nirma Girl and shocked the public again with Tide’s ‘Safedi campaign.’ In return, he asked these brands to donate to SOS Children’s Villages. “Maine tumhare brand ke liye yeh banaya, ab aap mere brand ke liye kuch karo,” requested Chatpat in every recreated advertisement.

Exceeding their expectations, Chatpat’s advertisements got viral in a few days and has been winning hearts on LinkedIn since December 2021. Swati Bhattacharya, Creative Chairperson, FCB India said that she firmly believed that love will find a way. “So the task was to create a campaign that gives visibility and makes corporates donate. With no budget and a task like this, we knew we need an influencer and we couldn’t afford an influencer. So, that’s how the sparkly idea of ‘let’s create an influencer’ was born,” shared Bhattacharya.

While Bhattacharya has worked on many viral campaigns, she said that she has never seen numbers move the way they did with Chatpat’s videos. Played by a Mumbai-based boy Akul Badoni, Chatpat’s videos amassed more than 20k followers in less than two weeks.

“The magic word for us is ‘organic.’ The magic was organic reach, organic shareability and organic love. The fact that we got the earned media is the winning validation for us,” said Tiwari.

The campaign got organic attention from Kusha Kapila, Tanmay Bhat, Rhea Chakraborty, Divine, Raftaar, to mention a few. “With this, we knew we were in the right direction. Corporates are also human beings and after the first phase, he started earning a place in India’s hearts, then we were fairly confident that we will be able to open the heartstrings and the purse strings of the corporates,” said Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya and Tiwari further told us how challenging it was to work with a team of kids and discussed different phases of the campaign.