Out of The Box Ads [Part 1]

Advertisers are often criticised for over exploiting the art and "leeching" out the fun from the communication.Rather that over the top or rather intrusive approaches,an out of the box approach which the consumers dont expect might just work fine.Catch them off gaurd and surprise them when they didnt expect anything and...Voila...you might just end up converting a prospective buyer into a loyalist.But off course after saying this, the medium of expression should have a logical semblance with the product or service being offered. Many a times out of the box ideas hit the wall because they are either too out of the place or do not connect with the audience.The key over here is: "Dont try too hard".Your customers are intelligent enough to grasp what you want them to convey.Catch them at the right place at the right time and half your work is done.Apart from this i personally feel that subtlety is an unexplored art.Dont say too much,Let the consumers get hitched to the idea,let them explore on their own and make out what needs to be communicated.This gives them a feeling of being mature,intelligent and approriately receptive to the communication.In India per se,subtle communication is far too ignored.But i cant complain as there are pretty differentiated socio-economic factors in our country which ask for rather in your face communication(which is at times is screaming!)In some mature markets the art of subtleness is well appreciated.Here are some of the ads which i find extremely intresting and creative.

A straw being used for communication of a gymnasiun is extremely well thought of.The part of the straw which folds shows a woman's body being streched backward.It demonstrates the benefits at the same time it conveys to the audience that joining a gym and working out was never so easy.Another example is of messages being printed on the eggs!Who ever thought of that! every morning when we either go out to buy eggs or they get delivered to your doorstep,you never expect anything flamboyant out of it.But surely eggs provides a rather fresh approach to convey some information againts its passive white shell.CBS has definately won some eyeballs with this strategy.Another winner for unconventionally placed ads is Ford motors.For its cargo trucks, they advertised on match boxes! the box when opened,showcased how ford trucks come with extendable cargo beds.This is pretty immpressive stuff.It actually engages audience in the communication and makes sure that the intended message in conveyed in the right fashion. Watch out for more posts on Out Of The Box Ads...

Attitude-The New Advertising Mantra

The television advertising has undergone a sea change. Instead of selling products or its features, the ads now sell attitude, aspirations and emotions. Consider the Indigo CS ad. There's office tyranny, pettiness and you only get to see the car at the tail end of the ad.

It doesn't bore you with the mileage bragging, power window or any other feature. Just a vindictive smile on the employee's face and only one line in the ad, ‘at the end of the day, it's the style which matters'. Pure entertainment and statement anchored on youth.

Or be it the Fastrack ad. A couple breaking apart, without speaking a single word through out the ad. Both of them make smirking faces at each other, returning each others gifts — Fastrack articles — and moves on. No product message, the ad just has one thing to sell ‘move on' attitude. Many such ads make to the list.

You rarely get to see adds which will punch ‘sabse sasta', ‘sabse achcha' catch lines, or ads communicating ‘in new pack'. It's all passe`. ‘Move on', ‘Dar ke aage jeet hai',"har roz utho nahi jago". are ‘in'TV ads have seen a lot of innovation in the past couple of years. Advertisement on TV is no more informative, it's entertaining. What's the idea behind keeping features at a bay and infusing entertainment?

Industry professionals are citing that the "information context" of the ads ought to be kept for the print media which will do all the intellectual work. And the fun and entertainment part shall be taken over by TVCs which initiate the highest recall value. It is proven time and again that a serious message does not evoke as much response as humour does. One run of humour ad equals ten runs of serious ads!

Almost all the products come with more or less same features. It becomes difficult to establish a ‘very distinct' image of the product in the minds of the audience. Cult ads like Fastrack, Virgin Mobile and MotoYuva have a great recall value even if the features of the brands are not talked about.

Even radio ads are becoming increasingly free from the information clutter,afterall how much info can you pack in a 10 second slot!

TV is an emotional medium, being both voice and visual medium, and does justice to entertainment or emotions better than any other medium.So lets look forward to a whole lotta "Attitude thrown at us" !!!

Paanchvi Pass-With A Bang

The much awaited game show, Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai?, was launched amid much fanfare on April 25. Besides the traditional media of TV, print and hoardings, an interesting on-ground promotion helped to build the anticipation. A high intensity, 15 day activity was carried out before the show’s launch to build awareness and lure in the crowds for “India’s biggest game show”.

Nine Panchvi Pass Express vans, designed by Candid Marketing, went around 25 cities in six states. The vans or floats had the Panchvi Pass branding and were designed in the form of a classroom. People were allowed to play Panchvi Pass games on board and win a chance to witness the shooting of a Panchvi Pass show. The floats were taken across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and in the states of Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lucknow), Punjab (Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana), Madhya Pradesh (Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota), Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot) and Maharashtra (Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur). It was flagged off in Mumbai by host and actor Shah Rukh Khan. Publications such as Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar promoted the Panchvi Pass Express in every city, informing people about its location and at what time it would appear in their part of the city.
Prem Kamath, vice-president, marketing and communications, STAR Plus, says, “We fabricated the float to offer a glimpse of our show and its format to the consumer. That’s why the float has the basic elements of the show – the green board, school props and desk. The games played on the float are based on the subjects taught from Classes 1 to 5, such as history, geography, English and maths.”

Traffic signal branding was also done – 800 signal posts were branded with Panchvi Pass panels with traffic sensitive messages such as ‘Always wear a helmet. Yeh ek Panchvi Pass ko bhi pata hai’ and ‘Don’t drink and drive. Yeh ek Panchvi Pass ko bhi pata hai’.

The activation at Big Bazaar outlets saw Panchvi Pass carry-bags in 47 outlets in 21 cities. In the Mumbai and Delhi outlets, the staff were dressed in school uniforms to promote the Panchvi Pass message. A purchase linked contest was also held at Big Bazaar outlets.

Branding across Shoppers Stop cash counters was done across 20 stores in five cities – innovative Panchvi Pass tags were put on inhouse apparel, which read, ‘What is the temperature of a normal human body? Don’t know? Ask your Panchvi Pass neighbour’.

Another out of home branding consisted of numerous magnet cups placed on cars at high traffic points in key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Indore. These read ‘Magnets stick to iron – Std V Science. Are you prepared for India’s biggest game show?’

Other outdoor branding included branded buses in Mumbai and Delhi and branded vikrants (rickshaws) in Agra, Amritsar, Lucknow and Kanpur. A flash mob activity was conducted in Agra, Amritsar, Lucknow and Kanpur, wherein a cutout model of a school bus was carried around by people dressed in white school uniforms.

In addition, Panchvi Pass branded T-shirts were distributed to stall owners, ‘nimbu paniwalas’ and ‘pani puri walas’.Now thats publicity with a BANG!!!

Virgin Mobile- Definately Hatke !

Virgin Mobile has made a grand entry and is screaming its arrival. The front page of The Times of India carried the print ad of the newest entry into the mobile industry in India on March 10. The ad leapt out at the reader, with its sensational claim, Get Paid for Incoming. What’s more, the headlines of all the news stories on the front page of the TOI were red. Now thats a royal inroad!And this is only one part of the campaign,Virgin has planned for India after its announcement of the joint venture with Tata TeleServices. The same innovation was also carried in Dainik Jagran and Sandesh! Pretty cool...they hitting the biggies already!
Other initiatives include two television commercials targeting the youth. The first one narrates the story of a teenage girl telling her parents that she doesn’t like boys. This leads to her parents worrying over how to get her to like boys. Her father extols the virtues of going out with boys, and sanctions a trip to Goa with her boyfriend.
In the second film, a boy gets caught by a policeman for not heeding a stop light. When the boy calls his ‘Papa’ to bail him out, the policeman is told by the furious ‘Papa’ that he wants his son thrown into jail and slapped soundly. The policeman’s heart melts and he lets the youngster go. The ‘Papa’, it is later revealed, is none other than the boy’s friend.
Both commercials end with the tagline, ‘Think Hatke.’ Thats such a clutter breaking proposition in already saturated mobile market in India which has got some mean and mighty players.The concept reflects the edginess and street smartness of the youth of today.
The entire character of the Virgin Mobile brand is drawn from the maverick persona of its founder, Sir Richard Branson. Therefore, it will constantly push the envelope in terms of its irreverence and cheekiness. This will carve out a unique identity for Virgin Mobile.
Pull up your socks guys, the mobile category just got a hell lotta interesting and competitive!

Vodafone Communication

I am an avid fan of all the Vodafone Communication. And When I say “ALL “communication, I definitely mean so. I actually changed my service provider to avail the benefits of this super brand.
For lucidity of my expressive purpose I have divided the Vodafone Communication initiatives under different headings:
1.) Television Commercials
What can I say about them? They are so damn appealing. Each and every advertisement commercial is crafted to perfection. Right from conceptualization to its execution, they are just perfect. The music stands out and so do the adorable kids and not to forget the dahling pug. Even the placing of their ads across channels and time slots is so effective, They never seem out of place and always refreshing. Every ad that you see makes you feel that it is unbeatable and always you are proven wrong after seeing the next one. The core brand proposition “of always being there for you” is so well established. The full fledge ads to small insertions, the ads about daily alerts to the socially sensitive ads, all are masterpieces. Looking forward to some more endearing TVCs.
2.) Internet Communication
Their interesting virals with animated boy and girl which was a logical continuation from hutch is clearly remembered and gels with the core format which is different.
3.) Mobile Communication
There is nil interference as compared to other networks, which is a boon. Apart from timely vital information and bill related info, there is absolute peace. God Bless’em!
4.) Out Of Home Ads
The hoardings and bill boards are extension of the TVCs and retain the charm. Whats important are the locations which are selected for them. Away from the clutter and higher than the adjacent ads.
5.) Vodafone Bills/Leaflets/Handouts
I am actually maintaining all the bill envelopes since the time i have switched over to vodaphone. Apart from being very communicative and creative, they are damn interesting, out of box and pretty clear in the way they put the message across. Right from the rebranding exercise, to blocking unwanted calls, to caller tune feature, every word has been very represented through pictures. Leaflets and handouts which are low involvement means to communicate are also painstakingly splendid.
6.) Personal Communication
The back office guys who handle their customer care operations are doing a wonderful job. They are courteous, articulate, non-irritating and don’t bother you at wrong time. Also they are good at providing apt info at blitz krieg.
7.) Below the line Initiatives
Still some time to be at par with its international btl initiatives but definately at par with other industry players.
8.) Socially Relevant Communication
From sponsoring youth oriented events, shows and concerts to environmental campaigns, they are maintaining a strategic balance between the commercial and relevant communication

The Mad Mad "Ad" World

Have you ever noticed why are people associated with advertising industry so different or rather try to be different all the time? I mean they really show you in your face that they belong to the ad world? Or they want to reiterate the fact that belonging to the advertising community is a REAL BIG DEAL. Or does the naive profession makes them the way they are.They incessantly blame it on the industry, for their lifestyle,attitudes,apprearance,dark circles,erratic outbursts,addictions,Break-ups,Hook ups,Stress,thinking,or rather lack of it...just about everything!I have cemented my opinion from way too many sources...Finally i was of the opinion that an individual looses his/her own identity once he/she enters the cosmos of the ad world.Another rather lame thing that’s associated with this nonstop blame game is "CREATIVITY". I miserably fail to understand that how is creativity related to a person being so affected or rather disillusioned in the ad world.I can vividly recollect my encounter with a person from the industry.It so happened that this Gentleman,was supposed to teach us fundamentals of advertising as a profession in our MBA course.We were briefed that he had his own agency,was doing well for himself and was a respectable ad veteran. Never having heard about him,we were waiting anxiously in the class on the scheduled date and I, in my over fertile mind had secretly formed an image of how this "ad guy" would be.With the Flamboyance of Alyque Padamsee and wit of Piyush Pandey & rather "visible" body of Prahlad Kakkar all throw in together.I was anticipating a pretty dramatic encounter.Cut to- a rather small looking,fragile creature entered the room.I mistook the person as a peon...but after seeing him "formally" dressed i was forced to think otherwise. He cleared his throat and introduced himself as the speaker for the session.I was so damn disappointed.My one and only chance to meet an ad junkie had sadly vanished.I made sure that the disappointment did'nt show during the session.After the "mind-impersonation debacle" i concentrated on what he had to say...Needless to say this encounter initiated my mixed opinions about ad guys.Not all are in your face.And certainly not the guy who lectured us.He was so humble and soft spoken.But at the same time he was also very articulate and Creative.Probably he was the "OUTCAST".There might one in a thousand cases of guys being sober,well dressed,tidy and well held up in ad community.However,i feel lucky to have encountered the "Rare Specie".By the way did i mention...intrestingly the guy who took the session was the man behind the historic "Raymonds-Complete Man Campaign"...Maybe he was too affected by his own Campaign!!!