Not only Aunty! We all are "Choked"

I am compelled to write this post after watching the latest Rin commercial where the advertisers have rather blatantly compared themselves to Tide claiming they are better than the latter.

Apart from the fact that the ad is extremely poor in idea and execution, it is completely illegal to show something of this disposition. Also the plot of showing kid's uniforms shining with brilliant radiance which is a direct result of using a given brand is done to death!

It makes me look down on brand marketers(Read:HUL), advertising planners(Read:JWT,India) who are still trapped on this illogical 'follow the herd' syndrome!I have lost count how many times the same "My clothes are whiter than yours-YEY" plot has been used. Almost all brands have at some point of their communication trajectory used this plot to either mock a fellow student, an office colleague, a house wife...and just about everyone possible who they think can be the influencer in this category.


Its time to 'Grow' up. Today's Neo Consumers are not as naive as they once used to be. Its time to beat the rules and look out for newer behavioural patterns and methods to execute effective communication.

HUL & JWT,are both rather respected entities in their areas of expertise.This is least ecpected from them.

Another bone of contention-Extremely poor media planning!!! The ad is all over the place with "HYPER" repitition across most of the channels within a very short span of time! Is this done purposefully?If yes, congrats!its even more unnerving(Read:Turn Off)now!

I also wanted to upload this print ad of RIN which was published in 1970s, where their whitness claim was so much more beleivable, partly because they had no competitors and partly because they seemed genuine. Their first mover advantage still had some resonance and value which they could have revived with some heritage related communication.

However, thier myoptic vision of taking P&G's Tide head on has/will result in worst consequences.It only leaves me feeling more sympahatic toward's poor Tide!

American Tourister- Survive Mumbai,Survive the World

Contract positions American Tourister, the premium luggage brand as one that can survive the toughest journeys; a weapon against surviving what the big, bad city can throw at travelers.

Objective:

According to Sudip Ghose, marketing director, American Tourister, they were looking to target ‘mass with class’. The idea was to establish American Tourister as the luggage that can withstand the most rugged conditions. Their objective was in being able to convey the toughness, without losing the brand’s international, premium appeal.

The Insight:

American Tourister consumers travel overseas at least once a year, on holiday, however, they aren't exactly seasoned travellers, but are just beginning to explore the world. Keeping this in mind, we dug deep into the 'beginner' international traveller's psyche. What emerged was that destinations around the world can be a challenging place for the 'beginner' international traveller.Every destination is unique in itself and there is a lot that can happen - and catch you unawares. Mumbai for instance, can overwhelm you with its crowds, LA has no public transport system to speak of, New Yorkers can be rude... and so on. It's in these instances when you need the reliability of an American Tourister by your side - so that your luggage can withstand whatever the world throws at you, so to speak. It was from this point that the idea evolved and the line 'Survive Mumbai, Survive the World' took shape.

Outdoor Media (Train): On Your Face?

Hype Integracomm is one of the growing OOH (out of home) media companies in India, owning media assets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. Hype owns all the media assets that it markets and follows the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model in conjunction with the local governing bodies.

After successfully launching the Smile TV network in western route of local trains in Mumbai,Hype has inked another deal with Railways in the same route to put up designer grab handles in Mumbai’s trains!!!

I get the whole logic, that Mumbai local trains are one of the best consumer touch points, an ideal way to reach the masses with communication messages, after all Railways is the lifeline of this city. About 7.77 million passengers travel daily by train and each train carries about 75,000 passengers daily. The journey time generally varies between 20-100 minutes. Good enough time for advertisers to make their point.

However, my point is, trains in Mumbai are straight out of "Ripleys Believe It Or Not". The sheer numbers are mind-numbing. It wont be a hyperbole if it is stated that life long train journey is a death defying accomplishment! It is just too crowded!Period. I mean in all the chaos & struggle, adding branded grab handles...will it serve the purpose? People who board the trains are for a brief period paralysed and become in almost semi-liqiud state (sweat+ability to take desired shape depending upon how much space one gets!)

Hype's Winning Idea

Grab handles is the medium that is closest to the eyeballs and offers a very high brand recall value!!! Yeah Right!!! It is also closest to ones head, maybe a good hit would make some sense prevail! What about the brand fit? And the least said about the ambience the better!

Apart from this the grab handles bear stark contrast to the rest of the interiors of the train which seem grossly untidy. In terms of look and feel, they are far away from the Metro trains or regular trains which are present in Developed countries.

Another point of contention is that off late trains have been used excessesively for brading activity. Right from external brand wraps to internal posters...branded products and services providers to not-so-known players...everyone has been there and done it! And of course Railway stations are an exmaple of too much in too little space.

Contract

Hype has won a five year contract to put up these handles in the trains run on the western route (WR). While exploring a very innovative advertising medium, this will also bring in hefty revenues for the railways.Each compartment of the trains will have about 125 handles, which is 40 handles more than the current number of metal and wood handles. About 67 trains of WR will have these handles installed over the next couple of months. Hype is investing nearly Rs 10 crore for the entire project.

Hype has also won contracts to install similar handles in trains of central route (CST to Kalyan), BEST buses and has installed these in the local buses in Bengaluru.

Cheaper option

Ad space of each of these designer handles is 7x 3.5 inches on both sides. Advertising on these handles, say for a month for a whole train, could cost an advertiser anywhere between Rs 1.5-2 lakh.The handles have a smart design and give a cheerful, vibrant look to the compartment when they display uniform images of the advertisement on top of these grooves.

Bottomline

Commuters have welcomed these sleek, comfortable handles in the place of the hard iron handles. Response from advertisers has also been good. However, a true win-win situation will emerge only and only if the revenues generated out of these activities are channelised in making railway commuting hygienic,safer and and a pleasurable affair. After all this principle should be a central one for an accountable BOP Model.

Visa Going The India Way...!

Visa will soon launch its global campaign, along with its new global positioning, in India. The campaign went on air in the USA market in the first week of March and will be released in the Indian subcontinent on the day of the festival of colours, Holi (March 11). It is pretty impressive to see That Global Brands are taking keen interests in India an Emerging Market and launching seperate communication strategy for the same

Craft & Media Masters

Visa consolidated its entire creative duties with TBWA and its media duties with OMD on a global level. Following the global consolidation, the first ever global campaign will be released in India simultaneously. The brand’s new positioning line is ‘More people around the world go with Visa’.

The idea has been tweaked a little to suit the Indian consumer. The 60 second ad pegs the various ways in which a consumer relates to the word ‘go’.

The Indian Tadka

In the Indian version of the ad, cricket and Holi have been woven in to impart a regional flavour. Visa was launched in India in 1989. According to Saurav Bhattacharya, marketing director, South Asia, Visa the initial task when Visa entered India was that of informing the prospective Indian consumer about Visa and the facility of plastic money.

Back Then...

It adopted the tagline – 'Visa Power. Go get it' – with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador from 1997 to 2003.

The next campaign was about connecting emotionally with the consumer. ‘Mind and Body. Heart and Soul’ was the next big campaign. Musicians Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, who composed the tune for the campaign, were also the brand ambassadors at the time.

Shifting Focus

Earlier, the idea was to empower the consumer with 'Visa power' and then ‘go’ get what they desired. Now, since the consumer is aware of Visa, the focus has shifted to communicating that he can ‘go’ with it anywhere – be it shopping, marriages, dining or even for a holiday abroad. Accto Uttam Nayak, country manager, South Asia, Visa- The aim now is to convert cash and cheque transactions to electronic payment platforms.He goes on to explain that in order to bring this to effect, Visa will be present at all sites of consumer action to convert those into transactions.

In the Indian version, the print uses Indian nuances such as Indian marriages and eating habits to depict the word 'Go'.

Apart from print and outdoor, Visa will also use the digital platform through websites such as Shaadi.com, Yahoo and Sify.

Finger Lickin Good?

The above picture showcases 2 different specimens of Human Hand, the one on the left shows the median nerves which are responsible for the supply function and determine the growth of the fingers. The hand on the right shows certain area of hand covered in Blue, suggesting area of heightened sensation. When a certain area of the hand (or that matter any part of the body) is continuously made to do certain chores repeatedly, the physical appearance of the same can be altered (Now…now...Don’t let your over fertile imagination work just yet!!!Lolz) Finally someone is paying tribute to Darwinian Thesis of evolution centuries after he proposed it. Mudra (Ahmedabad) has quite cleverly/clichedly used the hyperbole route in its creative execution to build awareness for the brand "Nilon Pickles"

The Ad

The ad shows a young man with a peculiarity: an elongated index finger. The story tracks various life stages of the man as he emerges a winner in several situations because of his strange finger, such as winning a swimming race, fixing a showpiece for his girlfriend or handing her a rose to proclaim his love for her.

The climax explains the protagonist’s secret: he loves Nilon’s Pickle since his childhood and his elongated finger is the result of his licking the pickle off his finger!!!

The shocker!

According to Sanjay Menon, executive creative director, Mudra, the ad is a product of a small testing exercise within the agency to find out how people consume pickle. “Even though a bowl of pickle was kept on the table with a spoon, everyone tasted the pickle with their index finger!This led the team to the creative idea. Definately no brainer there!!!The more general observation that encouraged the creative team to tread in this direction was that when one relishes the food they eat, they tend to lick their fingers so as not to waste even a bit of it. To establish a connect to that fact, Mudra took the exaggerated route of the long index finger.

Creative Leap

finger licking is synonymous to pickle, and pickle is synonymous to Nilon’s...Yawn...Yawn...

Sniff...Sniff...Plagiarism???

One may recall that internationally, Heinz ketchup had created a commercial not too long ago, which had a man undergo an operation to elongate his finger just so that he can dip it in a bottle of Heinz and lick off the last few remnants of the ‘impossibly thick’ ketchup (What and Idea Sirje!). Of course Creative directors will rubbish any similaries (Read: no one would even know about the Hienz Ad...so who cares anyways?) and of course they will be ready to tout that Indians have the upper hand here...licking fingers being our national etiquette!!!

Serious Stuff

The pickle sector is a Rs 1,500 crore market, out of which only Rs 400 crore falls under the organised market segment. Sanghavi claims that Nilon’s has a 20 per cent market share in the organised sector and it aims to increase the market share by 4 per cent in the next five years by alloting a media budget of 10 Crores for 2009.


I Opine...

Personally i feel the insight and execution were good, however the ad does not stand out in terms of treatment.Another point on the positive side is its much relieved departure from showcaseing old grannies or mommies passing on the secret Achar Recepies...But lastly i guess one has to wait and watch id Nilon can fight it out with other established players and more importantly the unorganised segment. Strong brand recall (which they will definately build) shold translate into sales (read:theoratically great communication is aimed at driving better off take afterall)

Lolz!!!

What will people say to shop keeper..
Khariddar : O Bhaiya.. Nimbu ka Achaar dena..
Shopkeeper: Kausa Doon Sarkar..
Khariddar :Aare Bhai.. Woh hi 'Ungali wala achaar:)

NILON'S ACHAAR... ZUBAAN SE DIL MEIN UTAR JAAYE"..."SWAD KA ASAR DIKHE UNGLI PAR".

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" !!!

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!

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!!!