Lost Breadcrumbs

lightbulb power !!!!

2010-09-17T11:50:00.016+05:30

I just came across this video and it made me think about how the world has never been this idea oriented before. Ideas are literally the new currency. Just recently we were in the knowledge economy. Today we live in an "ideas economy". That's one thing i thought about.

The second thing is that audience participation is the most wonderful thing to have hit the new media scene.

I mean JUST look at how anybody from anywhere can raise up a storm about their brand/service amongst potentially millions of people!

Check it out. Its a 'backwards music video'. The idea for this was one amongst the 1000's that were sent in by regular people.

When you see the video, it is unlikely that you won't want to see the same video forward. So for that, they ask you to go to this link: http://sleepbetter.org/home/. And violla! you find yourself reading all about how to sleep better (and possibly placing an order for their brand of pillows)

:)

The answer is "yes"

2010-08-26T11:48:00.003+05:30

The answer to the question that formed the title of my previous post is, as per my instinct, "Yes".

To help me with this argument,I came across a book by the late Mr. C. K Prahalad called "The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid".

The book includes several case-studies of corporates that have earned great profits by doing good!

I think every big corporate company should follow this principle to simultaneously eradicate poverty while earning profits.

The entire book is available online on googlebooks. But, for those who'd like a hard copy, I found it at Landmark for Rs 650/-. My guess is that it should be easily available at any good book store in India.

Can doing good make business sense?

2010-07-19T11:55:00.004+05:30

This is a question I have always pondered over. My inclination is to believe that it can. The movie Rocket Singh released in Dec 09 explores this subject and proves how it indeed can help your company in getting an edge over others. Let me not give away the plot. Please see it if you get a chance.

And now, here's a real life story about a factory in the Domninican Republic that supplies college logo apparel for universities across the US.

This factory has undertaken the initiative of paying it's workers a "living wage" — in this case, three times the average pay of the country’s apparel workers. A living wage is generally defined as the amount of money needed to adequately feed and shelter a family.

Now, the question is whether students, alumni and sports fans will be willing to pay $18 for the factory’s T-shirts — the same as premium brands like Nike and Adidas — to sustain the plant and its generous wages.

Will this factory owned by Knights Apparel thrive? What do you think?

You can read the NYT article to know more about this unique factory including the point of view of it's workers.

Would love to know your views...

"My favourite ad" award for 'yeh nok jhok...'

2010-07-01T12:15:00.007+05:30

"Yeh nok jhok" is how the hindi jingle for the latest Limca ad begins. Roughly,the phrase refers to playful mutual teasing.

If you see the TVC you will get the meaning a little better, just from the visuals.

In December 2008, the previous Limca TVC had inspired me to start a 'my favourite ad' award on this blog. I had conferred the first ever 'my favourite ad award' to the Limca TVC featuring Sushma Reddy. You can see that TVC in that post. I have given out the award to numerous ads since, and this time I am happy to give the coveted trophy to the current Limca TVC.

What a delicious confluence of poetry, art and advertising - once again!

This ad definitely has the quality I look for in a TVC for this trophy - that of never tiring you of viewing it.

Okay and here's my tribute to the poetry used in the ad:

I shall translate it for the enjoyment of a larger audience.

Such playful banters - the fountains conspire it...
The cool sighs, the cool sights - why don't you own them once again?
Why don't you wake those sleeping desires
And celebrate a fresh relationship?

Why don't you soak your dreams in the freshness of these fragrances?
why don't you help yourself to a few thrills from these sweet-sweet moments?

Limca - get soaked in freshness!

And while it sounds beautiful in English, in Hindi it is a 1000 times more endearing!

Only problem is that I hate the taste of the product. :p But I don't mind a glass of this ad anytime!

"My Favourite ad" award for the strongest and lightest ever

2010-01-11T19:31:00.008+05:30

What a concept! To be strong and light at the same time. Trust Samsonite to introduce such a product.

But what inspired me to write this blog-post is the TVC I saw of it. I was floored.

A man cartwheeling, holding the suitcase. I doubt there is a more simpler and more creative way to demonstrate lightest AND strongest. The art direction of the commercial is a total bonus. Deadly combination of beauty and brains. Pardon the cliched usage.

See the ad here. The cleverest and prettiest ad ever. Dare I say!

Intolerance to memorising

2009-12-03T16:34:00.004+05:30

I have spent the last 1 and half months (roughly) in close proximity to my grand-parents. I see that they lay heavy weightage on memorising things. Phone numbers, distances, maps, relationship-connections etc.

I see that my grand-dad prefers to make a rough draft before writing a letter or filling out an application form etc.

I remember being the same until a few months (or is it years) ago. But now, the internet equipped computer age which allows me instant access to information, editing and spell checks makes me intolerant to the erstwhile systems.

I no longer see virtue in or feel the drive to deliberately learn things by heart. I no longer want to jot down things I find interesting - recipes, songs, names, addresses - not even phone numbers.

When I meet someone interesting, I normally google or facebook their contacts.

My thinking is that the human race is slowly going to use lesser and lesser of their memory cells.

This will either make the human brain (and head) smaller over generations or it will enable the human race to sharpen other aspects of the brain - analysis, creativity, inventions. (thereby keeping our appearance the same)

What do you think?

So, what else is new?

2009-07-24T15:12:00.019+05:30

I have been seeing this on Indian television channels. Every single brand of mens' deodorant makes advertisements that follow the hackneyed Axe-effect concept. Okay, not every single brand. Park Avenue comes to mind, with its "don't be invisible" concept. Hats off to the brand and agency behind. They managed to find a different yet relevant stand for themselves.

Then there is wildstone that at least attempts to create an entirely different setting - spicing it up with some desi flavour.

What me-too advertisements do is simple. They provide free advertising to the brand that originally adopted that stand. The different brands don't register in people's minds unless they see entirely different stories in their respective advertisements.

There is a brand of deo that is currently running an ad featuring a man, seated in a movie theatre watching Bipasha on screen. He unbuttons his shirt and wham! Bips steps right out of the screen and walks up to this man, attracted by the deo he was wearing of course.

I have seen this ad a reasonable number of times and always thought it was an Axe-effect ad. Only yesterday did I happen to notice that it was a different brand. (and I can't recall which one it was now). It made me think they were doing AXE a big favour by doing exactly what they do.

I am disappointed that Airtel does the same with its newest ad. Their ad features a little girl ...a little girl..ring a bell?

Surely, you couldn't have missed the telecom brand that has been "happy to help" a sweet little girl trying to do silly things like take a shower in a cubicle by the sea or bake a cake (at her age!) etc.

I have huge respect for Airtel's iconic "express yourself" and "if only we talk to each other" ads. Even their daily ads with the little boy on his toy phone and the Madhavan-Vidya ads are charming and stand their own ground.

So dear Airtel, why this now?

(their current "keep your friends close" ad featuring the little girl, causing me to complain is not yet on youtube. So, you will need to catch it on TV)

Picture courtesy: getty images

What's wrong with today's advertising award shows?

2009-07-14T16:01:00.004+05:30

Read this article on the 'adsoftheworld' website and decided this article deserved a mention on my humble blog.

I subscribe to these views completely. Here are 4 things pointed out by the author:

1) Effectiveness isn't considered

2) Scams are allowed

3) Patting our own shoulders - no one outside of the ad industry takes them seriously

4) High cost of entry.

Read more here.

Me & Meri Maggi

2009-05-18T16:42:00.010+05:30

I have ALWAYS wondered why Maggi instant noodles has consistently targetted only school kids. (In India)

Though I must admit I quite liked the Maggi ads when I was growing up. I can still sing out the whole jingle, particularly the one which went:

"mummy badi gazab ki bhook lagi...* "

No matter how much kids loved Maggi, it was still a forbidden food in India. It fell in the 'junk food' food-group. I have eaten a lot more Maggi as a grown up than as a child. In the college canteen, and later when I lived alone, away from home. And at the cafeterias of the offices where i worked! Even now, after being married, I enjoy an occasional evening snack of Maggi noodles with some cheese on the side.

Which is why the new "Me aur meri**" Maggi campaign makes SO much sense! They seem to have suddenly woken up and smelt the coffee or should i say Maggi on their 25th birthday!

It feels like finally having your love reciprocated. Maggi suddenly took notice of me.

Maggi, in India is much more than a kids answer to sudden hunger. You can see all that Maggi stands for on their beautiful website meandmeri.in where consumers have themselves sent in their Maggi stories.

You can see the ad and read more about the campaign and the people behind it here.

There's even a Maggi time-machine on their website where you can find the Maggi ad of my childhood days.

* loosely translated - mummy, feeling REALLY hungry!!!"

** me and my maggi

Smile time again

2009-05-15T10:47:00.015+05:30

Everybody seeks approval.

No matter how obviously good we may be at something, we still seek approval.

This post is in continuation of the 'smile' series of posts. Those of you who missed them can see the previous two posts on the subject here and here. A good insight always makes you smile.

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Meraj for pointing out this insight when it unexpectedly sprang up during one of our many casual conversations.

Is 'impatience' a good word?

2009-04-17T12:44:00.011+05:30

About Airtel's new ad promoting it's broadband service, I think it is wrong to glorify "impatience" amongst youth.

Impatience like violence is a vice and rarely leads to anything constructive.

The creators of this ad are right about the observation that today's youth have a greater drive to achieve but they are wrong in assuming that it is 'impatience' that is giving them this drive.

It is not impatience that drives today's youth to achieve more. It is increased opportunity and increased consumerism. Youth today dare to set high goals because they know they can't be stopped. The youth of today has more opportunity and a wider platform (interestingly, facilitated by the Internet) than I had just 10 years ago. Today's youth is a slave to consumerism and are prepared to work for it.

Impatience causes people to honk persistently when stuck in a traffic jam. Impatience causes you to quit your job every 9 months. Impatience makes you avoid exercise and resort to those flab reducing belts instead. Impatience makes you thrive on fast food and instant noodles. impatience makes you want to study only those sections that are important for the exam and ignore the rest. Impatient people over-speed and jump the signal.

In these times especially one needs to nurture the virtue of patience.

I can see the logic behind a broadband company glorifying impatience as it means that they respect your impatience and hence will deliver high speed Internet. That's one way to look at it.

Interesting concept from the brand's point of view. But disapproved of from a social point of view.

More importantly, this ad errs in portraying "impatience" like it is a modern day attitude.

Whereas impatience has been the wont of youth since time immemorial.

There's even an age-old Chinese proverb on impatience:

"you can't help shoots grow by puling them higher"

I will be convinced otherwise the day I meet a successful man or woman who tells me that the force behind his/her success was his/her impatience,

Until then, it's thumbs down for making "impatient" sound like it is a good attitude to have.

Meanwhile their 360 degree campaign which simply plays on the words "can't wait" is a harmless fun and relevant way to connect to the youth. Thumbs up to that.

It's like translating "yeh dil maange more" to "greed is the new way of life" and then glorifying "the greedy ones". Wouldn't sound right right?

Favourite ad award for the Vodafone 10p SMS campaign - sabko batao!!!

2009-04-02T10:01:00.007+05:30

These ads won my heart. Apart from a high 'repeated viewability' quotient that I always talk about, these ads are fortified with brilliant acting performance and charming use of background score. The score adds to the humour beautifully.

I'd say, you can watch these ads not just repeatedly but endlessly!!!

Turns out that these ads are the follow up ads to a main ad which can be seen and read about here.

However the main ad is not a patch on the follow-up ads. The follow-up ads are crisp, short and thoroughly enjoyable. Brings a big grin to my face every time!

If there were acting awards for ad models/actors, I would give it to the girl in the 'celebrity' ad. She has done a great job! I could be biased because she is the one i can relate to most. One of my male colleagues likes the pass-fail performance better. I really wish i didn't have to refer to them as 'the girl' and 'the boy'. Would be grateful if anybody could tell me their names.

See the ads here, here and here.

It has made me realise the following:

A good idea dearly depends on execution to become a great idea.

Hats off to the casting team and the production house. Will someone please tell me who the production house is? (I have been searching on google but in vain...)

A few more smiles

2009-03-19T11:41:00.006+05:30

Few months back, in this post, I had initiated a list of universal truths. Truths that transcend language and cultural barriers:

Thanks Meraj, Mathew and Anbu for your contributions.

My attempt in the following list is to present truths that are, lets say, on the second level of truths. The first level include the more fundamental truths such as maternal instinct, sexual desire, envy, desire for more etc...

Here's a list of truths which may not be covered in a ' basic human psychology course'.

1) Feeling pangs of guilt for being more privileged than the, I shall take this opportunity to use the most popular buzz word of the day - slumdogs. Whether we do something about it or manage to ignore.

2) An unexpected present at an unexpected time can win you a special slot in anybody's heart. Don't believe it? Try it and see! ALWAYS worked for me. (borrowed from the movie 'Finding Forester')

3) We all have wanted to prove some people wrong about what some people think of us

4) We all like to 'collect' things. The thing may vary but everybody collects something. (such as the collection of owls in the picture)

5) There is a child in every grown-up and a grown-up in every child. (the former brought out beautifully in the Fiat Linea ad and the latter in Slumdog millionaire)

6) Its difficult to stay calm in presence of a loved celebrity. No matter how dignified you are. (Shown masterfully in the new Vodafone ad. Can't find it on Youtube yet)

7) Anybody who meets/sees a BIG celebrity feels it important to later make character judgements - "very unassuming" or "big showoff" or "has bad skin" or "is very short" or "has a presence" or the favourite: "is very ordinary"

Hope each of them made you smile. I enjoyed putting them together..:)

Cheers!

"My current favourite ad" award for the admiration of Fiat Linea

2009-01-19T14:08:00.015+05:30

"my current favourite ad" award

Speaking of universal truths. This ad takes a beautiful twist on one.

This ad has that same quality that all my "my favourite ad" award winners have. The love-to-see-it-repeatedly quality. Like all good entertainers, this ad employs nice music.

I am not a typical car enthusiast but I do stand witness to the passions that certain cars can stir-up in them. This ad subtly brings out that love thereby winning the award.

Fiat Linea. Just launched in India this month. The ad is still fairly new. Took me a while to find an online version. Someones yet to Youtube it. Anyone at Bates reading this?

You can see the ad here . Tell me what you think.

Like a smile

2009-01-07T09:50:00.011+05:30

Recently, while chilling at Mirrisa beach, it occurred to me that every beach on the world will have sand creations - from the ubiquitous sand-mountain to the intricate castles.

It made me think of certain truths that bind humanity together - like a smile - everybody knows a smile when they see one.

These are the kinds of truths that mainstream advertising agencies have a constant thirst for.

It's through these universal truths, insights if you please that we create ads that are universally relatable.

Of course with increasing individuality and corresponding advancements in technology, we have now shifted to the new-age many-to-one communication strategy as opposed to the traditional one-to-many strategy. Wherein we can focus on more customised truths.

Yet, this exercise is fun. Lets put together a list of universal truths. Do share the ones you may have bumped into.

Look around you! :)

Lifting the burden of choice

2009-01-05T15:46:00.014+05:30

Each time we want to buy something, we get hit by a huge mountain. The mountain of choice, putting pressure on us to make the right choice.

The last thing we want to hear post-purchase is that we missed out on a better, more economical option.

When all the confusion passes, this is how people typically end up MAKING THEIR CHOICE:

Consumer durables:

1) What everybody seems to buy. LG for white goods, Sony for cameras, HP for printers have that advantage in India.
2) What is under a promotional offer

Financial services:

1) Advice of those you believe to be finance-savvy.

FMCG (since it requires far lesser commitment, the choices are swayed by the following)

1) the packaging
2)the fragrance
3)product innovation etc (lux uplifting firm for instance)
4)free bees (parachute massager for instance)

Automobile buyers can be classified into the following:

1) those looking for fuel efficiency
2) those looking for raw style
3) those looking for a blend of the above in desired proportions

Apparel/shoes/watches/sun shades/luxury brands:

1) brand attitudes/image that match theirs
2) peer influence

So, apart from in the last category, one wonders what role does advertising really play?

It depends on the stage in which your brand is:

Stage 1: To get your brand into the consideration set - (bingo chips is at this stage and doing a great job of it)

On crossing stage 1:

Stage 2: to get a preference over other brands - (Electrolux , Samsung mobile is at this stage in India)

On crossing stage 2:

Stage 3: Making them fall in love with the brand and thereby lifting the burden of choice altogether..... (Coke, ipod, gmail are at this stage)

What's your Cartoon Quotient?

2009-01-02T12:47:00.019+05:30

India is witnessing a major animation boom.

This seems to be more a result of cheaper costs more than anything else.

This is probably why when you see the locally made animation films you sense a distinct lack of quality.

So far the Indian animation films have compensated for the lack in finesse by a clever choice of subject - religion and mythology. You can't go wrong with that in India.

But the minute you try a 'roadside romeo', it doesn't see the light of day.

We could do with a quality overhaul I say. :)

How long will it be before India will create animation with the sensitivity of a Disney or the humour of dreamworks?

We need more people with a higher Cartoon Quotient to drive the Indian Industry.

Perhaps the people behind the Indian cartoons have not grown up on a diet of cartoons and comics. People who have would typically have a higher cartoon quotient.

Compare the above picture from 'Roadside Romeo' to the one below from the 1955 Disney film 'Lady & the Tramp'.

Is advertising an art or a science?

2008-12-29T18:55:00.005+05:30

This is a topic that has been reverberating on the august corridors of advertising since time immemorial.

So, here’s my two penny’s worth.

Yes, there is art involved. But when art gets restricted by a brief and a deadline, it no longer remains ‘art’ in its pure sense.

Advertising is not art enough to justify arrogance

Yes, science is involved in terms of logical thinking but not in terms of following proven formulae to arrive at a definite solution

Advertising is not science enough for anyone to claim authority over the results before an idea is executed.

Its only when people feel strongly about either that conflicts occur.

That’s when the art director gets offended when asked to increase the font size of the copy. He sees the “work of art” getting distorted.

The planner fusses over the comprehension levels of TG. He forgets to include the element of uncertainty in his “findings”

The copy writer gets hurt when asked to keep the copy short. He sees it as an obstruction in his display of words.

Truth is that we are all in the same boat and the only way to stay afloat is to sell the brand.

The verdict:
You can call it what you want but deep inside you know, its all about raking in the profits.

"My current favourite" award for the Lime and lemony allure

2008-12-09T12:12:00.022+05:30

The "my current favourite" ad award

The latest Advertisement for Limca is one ad that I don't mind watching repeatedly. I was watching a movie (khosla ka ghosla) on SetMax the other day and we all know how irritating the ad-breaks can get. (even to those of us who are responsible for them :) )

I find it particularly irritating because it often causes me to miss a few seconds/minutes of the show that I'd be watching. This happens because I flip channels during the commercial break because its utterly boring to see the same set of ads repeatedly in each break. By the time I surf and get back, the break would have already got over, and my show would have already started. Sometimes, this causes me to forget about what I was watching originally altogether!!!

The Limca ad too, was aired in each commercial break throughout this movie and I happily drank it down each time. The beautiful jingle, the mysterious splashes of water, sizzling Sushma and that hottie model. (somebody tell me his name)

The ad has a perfect blend of mystry, sensuality and intimacy - the qualities essential in making a lovemark out of a brand.

Each time i would try and listen to the lyrics, learn the song, and you really can't watch enough of the classy pair featured in the ad.

The first ever "my current favourite" award goes to the Limca - fresh ho jao commercial. :)

You can enjoy it here.

"No fun without desipann"

2008-12-01T12:28:00.009+05:30

That's the tagline for the new Kurkure ad.

Desipann refers to 'being natively indian' (loosely translated)

The ad talks about the Cinderella story except that the fairy god mother dresses her in a "lehenga choli' instead of a gown. You can see the ad here.

The ad quite literally acts on the insight that a good way to engage the audience is through stories.

In India, it became cool and, I dare say, intellectual to be 'desi' just a couple of years ago. The sentiment was well captured for the first time in the 2006 iconic movie "rang de basanti".

Indian advertising, however, adopted desipann much before 'rang de basanti'. From the time Fevicol ads made it big on the international dais, ads have had screeching villager voice-overs often blended with western concepts such as in this ad.

Jean Dru Marie in his book Disruption says that the best way to know about a country is to switch on the TV and watch its ads. So true.

These ads which have a dash of desipann reflects on India's heightened comfort level and pride for who we are.

PS: better translation for 'desipann' solicited. :)

Three cheers for Gmail!

2008-11-24T10:22:00.010+05:30

Don't you just love the latest feature of gmail? New colours and themes. What a fantastic way of making me fall in love with Gmail!
(have been reading The Lovemarks Effect by Kevin Roberts. It shows)

The great insight GMAIL uses is that we love to personalise our own space. We lap up any little thing that allows us to celebrate our individuality.

This insight could be used in a variety of industries. The concept spurned the MP3 player industry, few years ago. This insight is largely responsible for the success of the ipod. Of course, Apple took it a step further by throwing in mouth watering design.

Clothing comes to mind. Wherein one could choose a theme to suit his/her personality. Imagine a saree brand that brings out sarees in these themes - art, music, dance, mathematics etc...or a tie company that similarly allows you to choose from a variety of designs under each theme. A shoe company that designs shoes in these templates could be a hit too.

I think sarees and ties could be fashionable amongst college goers! (i don't think its a big deal to ear a saree btw. its all in the mind. if a young woman thinks its "cool" she will go to any extent to master the art of saree draping. Young media professionals would start wearing the tie again. But this is a subject for a different post.)

My observations about Sri Lankans

2008-10-15T18:55:00.010+05:30

Been here for 4 and half months now. My observations continue:

1.Money 'spenders' rather than money 'savers'. Very loan friendly.
2.Banks provide incentives for saving.
3.Strong family values.
4.An image conscious nation – may spend more on their car than on their house.
5.Typically, very friendly, respectful ever smiling and eager to help.
6.View India as the irritating big brother. Many seem to be in awe of India.
7.Like to ape the west, much like Indians did till a while ago.
8.Non-violence lovers.
9.Boys and girls expected to find their own spouse like in the west. However, arranged marriages also occur.
10.Suckers for emotional drama, much like Indians.
11.Many photography enthusiasts – not surprising with the vibrant flora and fauna their country provides them.
12.A piece of meat is considered mandatory in every meal even amongst the poor.
13.Mostly alien to the concept of vegetarian food.
14.Natural good taste in music.
15.Party lovers – turn on the Baila!
16.Unlike in India, the lottery is not reserved for the middle class or the poor. You may find just about anybody with a lottery ticket in his/her wallet.
17.Women are empowered and seen as an equal in this country. I was told that in certain villages, women are expected to retain their maiden sir name after marriage.
18.Equally happy to have a girl child as they are to have a boy child.
19.Big on baking and making desserts.
20.Food is typically very spicy. Their cuisine is nearly identical to goan and kerala cuisine.
21.Hope for the terror situation to be resolved but many seem to be fatalistic about it.
22.The media seems to lack complete freedom - criticism/discussions about the governanment and it's actions are rare.
23.Strong in literature, art, architecture and theatre.
24.Weak film and production industry.
25.Close to no newspaper readership- this leads to low print ad spends – leads to high cost per newspaper(up to INR 20) – leads to low readership – A vicious cycle.
26.Big on radio – boasts of giving birth to the oldest radio station in Asia, Radio Ceylon.
27.Prefer milk powder to milk. Mostly.

Biggest learning: You can’t learn much about Sri Lankans if you don’t follow the local language – am currently working on that. :)

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong about any of my deductions.

PS: the picture is of a Sri Lankan girl saying "ayubovan" which is what Srilankan's say to greet each other. It means 'may you live long'

"The round pegs in the square holes"

2008-09-10T11:18:00.006+05:30

This is one of my favourite 'copy' of all time. There is not a single time I have seen the commercial or read this copy without getting goose-bumps:

So Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

iToilet - Mocking Apple

2008-09-03T12:05:00.020+05:30

I received a forwarded mail claiming this to be Apple's latest introduction into the market since "they 're in the business of making crap"

The mail makes Apple look like a seller of pseudo technology in a range of "gaudy colours" and calls the iBook an "overpriced desk-lamp"

It also makes a few below-the-belt punches about the price tag and incompatibility issues.

But, throughout the mail my eyes kept going back to the pictures.

I couldn't help thinking: you can make fun of it if you like, but you can not ignore the power of design.

What say?

PS: The pictures above were all received in the said forwarded mail.

De-jargonized

2008-09-02T11:36:00.004+05:30

I wrote a post some time back about de-jargonizing ads. You can read it here.

I just happened to come across a few examples:

The latest Tata Sky ad featuring Aamir Khan in a man-woman role. During the dialogue, you hear Aamir khan say that Tata Sky makes your TV look like a computer. This explains "digital TV" in the simplest way possible to a layman!

The latest GNNIT ad says "One GNNItian gets placed every 11 minutes" Now, that sounds a lot more impact full than simply quoting a large number and say, "we place X number of people" or the typical "100% placement", which seems to be a promise everybody makes.

Arriving at such simplicity however, is not that simple. It requires a bit of lateral thinking and effort.

Take a look at this random article I found which explains the science (if i might call it that) behind another such example that made magic out of numbers: ebay India sells one product a minute.

Brand way forward - CSR

2008-08-21T13:34:00.012+05:30

Looking at the current Idea Cellular campaign promoting education coupled with the NDTV-Idea initiative, I get the feeling that for the first time their line "an Idea can change your life" and "what an Idea sirji" holds real meaning.

This time, they are actually calling for action. They are driving a system wherein people interested in taking up the education of an underprivileged child can do so via Idea Cellular.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a powerful way to win over the increasingly discerning consumer. Brands have got to believe first that there's no harm in mixing business with compassion.

Besides it's the only way for us marketers and advertisers to save ourselves from a few years of purgatory. And if you don't believe in that sort of thing, do it for the sake of your conscience.

EXAMPLE 1: For instance, if a Cola brand endeavored to produce music albums that spread a socially relevant message, it would add meaning to the brand. The way Mr. Waseem Mahmood produced this song to bring out the voice of the moderate Muslim in Pakistan. Waseem Mahmood is no brand but had he been, imagine the loyalty it would have got. (take a look at this yehhumnaheen.org to know what I mean)

EXAMPLE 2: I came across the efforts of Pastor Will Bowen, who gives away bracelets in order to help people free themselves of complaints. Read about it on my other blog.

Imagine if a brand whose core values is to feel good does this. Like a 5-star hotel resort or an airline. Adding a 'lets free our world of complaints'

CSR is the best way forward because everyone stands to gain from it. And there are great exciting ways to do it.

Lets differentiate ourselves from politicians and think beyond short-sighted, personal agendas.
Let make "branding" more planet and people friendly. Because that will decide the future of a brand's popularity.

Click here to see a related article that also subscribes to a similar thought.

Real hair in a shampoo ad?

2008-08-15T13:06:00.007+05:30

I recently wrote a post in my other blog about my troubles with dandruff. When I wrote it I did not have my advertising hat on. I wrote that as a mere consumer.

Looking at the post with my advertising hat on, I realize that the post reflects on a need gap.

The need for a shampoo brand that seems honest when it speaks.

I may not be the only one turning cynical. What with all that synthetic hair and exaggerations.

Sure, it had worked in the beginning. We had fallen for the lure and brought the brands - sachet or bottle. But now, I feel they know for a fact that what they see in the ad is but a bold distortion of the truth.

I feel that people are now (or will soon start) looking for something they can hope to trust. They are no longer going to believe anything that you say, simply because you have a 'pro vitamin B5' or 'RDF" reducing factors or 'micro fruit extracts'

My guess is that all the artificial advertising is making them look at shampoo ads on a whole as a farce.

Not everyone can afford LUSH.

What if an affordable, accessible shampoo brand made a more real claim?

More important than the wonders it would do for the brand is the boost it will give the poor confused, cynical consumer…My guess is that the consumer will automatically respect you.

What's your view on this?

The size of your brain

2008-08-05T13:29:00.013+05:30

On Facebook, I recently added an application called "Who has the biggest brain?".

It throws a series of IQ type questions at you in separate sections that test your spatial-visual, analytical, arithmetic and memory skills.

The first time I had a go at it, I sat there expecting a number that would define my intelligence level. Instead, I was told that I had the brain the size of a dog! Not exactly something to shout about. But, I got better in subsequent tests and have climbed to the brain of Neanderthal man. So, there’s potential.

It’s interesting how something technical can be translated into something so relatable, relevant and easy to understand.

Clients tend to talk about their products and brands in a very technical manner. It is up to us advertisers to translate that into a language the consumer will understand and adopt easily.

Of ’course to be able to do that, a thorough understanding is necessary. You’ve got to understand the brand, the product, the consumer, the environment in which they interact with the brand/product etc.

But once you’ve cracked it. It works wonders for the brand. It will immediately capture their imagination and gets them hooked on.

When you take out the jargon from "What's your IQ?" you are left with "How big is your brain?"

About the TG

2008-07-28T11:18:00.007+05:30

You will find this title (or the likes of it) on any good creative brief.
So, let's ponder over our TG.
In the wake of the big changes that have recently taken place, it is important that we keep speed with the changes that have occurred to our audiences.

It is well recognized and acknowledged finally that the "SEC segmentation" is obsolete.

I know of well-to-do (supposed SEC A) people that opt to wait for discount season. I know of taxi-drivers (SEC D) who took a loan to buy that camera phone. Segmentation needs to be done based on mindsets rather than on social economic status.

We can't create an ad without knowing who you are talking to now can you?

What struck me is that maybe we marketers don't need to do the segmentation. If you take a closer look at social networking sites, you see people are happily segmenting themselves. Into communities they believe they belong in.

Of course that gives us an innumerable number of segments but is it really mandatory to be able to put the segments on to a single chart? Not really.

Increasing sense of individuality is a home truth and the communication will need to eventually be narrowed down to the individual as much as possible in the future.

One can imagine what the creative brief (for the relevant brands) can derive from the conversations in groups such as the following, easily available on any SNS

Animal lovers
Beauty addicts
Party animals
Bikers
Food lovers
Fitness freaks
Music maniacs
Travelers etc

So, here's to inspiring creative briefs!

Catching that virus

2008-07-25T12:46:00.006+05:30

You can't give yourself a tooth-ache and expect everyone who comes in contact with you to get one and further spread tooth-aches to others right?

If you want to spread a disease you have to think of catching an illness that's contagious.

When creating viral marketing, it is necessary to create something that is so interesting and infectious that people automatically share it with everyone they know.

What I have seen a few people do, is send it to you and insist you send to everyone on your mailing list.

Not only does that not help it also make you lose your credibility. People will start to ignore forwards from you.

Secondly, why do we treat viral ads as separate from mainstream TVCs? A truly entertaining/interesting TVC will automatically get spread on the web.

We must strive to make every ad viral!

From reel brand to real brand

2008-07-21T14:17:00.003+05:30

What happens when you happen to get a chance to see a celebrity actor live only to see that he really has a big acne problem and is really rude to his chauffeur?

You have seen him on the screen and on posters. He was absolutely blemish-free of course!

The hero you had seen is no longer a hero in your eyes.

Same holds true with brands. If all the effort and money spent on the campaign is not augmented with what the customer experiences on ground, it negates the aura created via the campaign.

The ambiance in which the brand is sold for example must match up to the imagery created

The product needs to talk to you in the same tone of voice. The copy on the package must be in line with the imagery created.

Care needs to be taken to continue the 'reel' experience of the brand to the 'real' experience of it.

What do you think of my analogy?

The clutter breakers

2008-07-14T15:04:00.007+05:30

I have decided to put down a list of ads that broke the clutter on Indian TV that i can think of...

1) Hutch, when it decided to not use people in its ads and use those line-drawings of a boy and girl instead. they were endearing, simple to understand and unforgettable

2) Surf Excel - daag ache hain which actually welcomes stains. It compels us to just let children be. The idea was originally used by Persil, UK. Take a look at their latest ad here to see a real clutter breaker.

3) Pulsar mania - which simply decided to showcase raw stunts mercilessly in going with their 'definitely male' history. Absolute show-stopper of an ad!

4) Sprite - I don't know why they changed from that positioning. It was a super property and people still associate sprite with 'baaki all bakwas'

5) Airtel - "border film" as it is called by regular people. It's power lies in its script. The ad talks about the ultimate level of 'communication' and yet brings out a very basic truth about the power of 'conversation'. Even the most disinterested TV audience has taken notice of and remembers this film. (i observed this in various FGDs)

6) Dove testimonials when it first came many years back. Testimonials still help break clutter except that somehow, if its a skin-care brand, anyone other than Dove doing a testimonial looks out of place.

7) The Garniere skin cream ads, all have a consistent element of contemporary, spiteful, slickness to them. I can recall a TVC each for their skin lightening cream, wrinkle lift cream, sun-block cream and the pimple pen - each differentiated by the use of a distinct colour scheme for each. Yet, you can tell that they all belong to the same family.

Lets' think about what helped the above ads to break clutter.

They tell it differently. They often go back to the basics. The TG relates to them in a snap. They are mostly compassionate. They are a feast for the eyes and the mind.

I am sure these qualities are universal to any clutter-breaking ad in the world.

Which ads come to your mind other than these?

For the 'love' of 'money' - more about research

2008-07-09T10:58:00.009+05:30

A friend shared this quote with me and I found it worth a new post.

“If all people are unique, and if they are constantly changing each and every day, then all one can say about any research finding is that it applied to that group of people on that given day, and given the propensity of humans to be different and to change, then it is unlikely that one would get the same results if one were to repeat the study.”
Wayne Dyer

The point is that you have to always take research findings with a pinch of salt. A lot of people treat research findings as the final truth and this may be wrong.

However with quanti research, if a sample of a 1000 people reveal that most people rate "freshness" as the primary motive behind purchase of a refrigerator. It can be taken seriously.
Such research also helps reveal the top 5 criteria etc which works.
However that shouldn't make us afraid of creating a brand new criterion through advertising.

The classic example of LG-eye comes to mind. All of a sudden, for a long period of time, all people wanted in their TV set was the "eye" that controls the brightness as per the brightness of the room thereby making TV watching harmless to the eyes.

A research done before the LG-eye campaign would have not revealed it to be a criterion.

Quantitative Vs Qualitative research

2008-07-08T11:02:00.034+05:30

Whats the difference?

As the term suggests. Quanti-tative research is the research which bases its conclusions on the quantity of respondents.
On the other hand, quali-tative is about the quality of the findings from a small, representative group of people

Quantitative research is the kind if research we are traditionally, conventionally exposed to. It revolves around the number of people you can get to answer your question(s). Further to which, number-crunching comes to play. A knowledge of statistics is crucial in deriving results.
We frequently come-across reports based on quantitative research.
"64% of urban Indian women feel they are discriminated against in office"

(That is just an arbitrary piece of information I created. I don't know if there is in any truth in it.) Going by my instincts, I don't believe there to be any truth in it. We can't rule out the possibility of a small section feeling that way but I surely don't think that more than half of the urban, working woman in India would think that.

Quantitative research is like money. Its all about 'how much?'

Qualitative research is about being in touch with your instincts rather than your mathematical abilities

Qualitative research, like love is more about the quality

When do we use quantitative research?
When you want specific numbers.
Saying, "most urban, working women feel discriminated against" can never sound as satisfactory as "64% urban, working women feel discriminated against" Of course, the source of the information is of importance. You can depend on any top research agency with the requisite facilities to do quanti research.
Quanti findings is more for brand marketers to understand market drivers etc.
When do we use qualitative research?
When you want insights and a deeper understanding of the consumer. Perceptiveness and the ability to follow instincts is of primary importance in the people that constitute a quali research team.
e.g if someone frowns at a brand logo, the quali moderator should be able to tell whether they are frowning at the logo itself or at the bad after-sales-service he/she gets from the the brand it represents.
To change the logo may not be the right recommendation then would it?
Quali findings are for advertisers who need consumer insights and consumer understanding.

PS: The above scribbles are simply based on my experience in advertising. A professional researcher would give a better insight into various kinds of research and the applications of it.

Disruption - a planners delight

2008-07-03T10:50:00.014+05:30

The best thing about "disruption" is that it is as simple as it seems complicated.

TBWA owns one powerful planning tool thanks to the genius of Jean Marie Dru

I really enjoyed dabbling with it during my stint with TBWA, Mumbai.

Truth is that anyone who cracks a successful brand campaign is consciously or unconsciously applying disruption.

When I say successful, I mean one that is "effective with the masses" AND "loved by the elitist advertising fraternity."

A R Rehman uses disruption constantly. In his latest movie, 'jaane tu ya jaane na' he has actually introduced Jazz music to Bollywood! I love him. Click here to listen to the song.

What is disruption?

My favourite way of explaining disruption is the 'dashed lines' method.

You'll need a plain piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser for this.

Begin with making a dash, anywhere on the sheet of paper. Now, add more dashes next to it to form a line of dashes.
You should have something that looks like this:

Here's when you use the eraser. Erase one dash off. Any dash. This will leave you with something that looks like this.

When you hold up this piece of paper, you will notice that your eye can't help but look at the gap.

Human attention will always fall on the spot, where the monotony is broken.

That's what disruption is all about. Breaking monotony.

Some people are born with the ability to automatically apply disruption in their creative thinking.

For others, Jean Marie Dru invented the disruption process. The art of first laying down all the conventions that exist and then carefully figuring out which of those conventions can be broken and how.

Every face-cream ad features a human face. Now for the sake of disruption you can't decide to show animal faces instead.

Every face cream ad also features an unnaturally "beautiful" woman. Now, that was a convention broken by the Dove commercials. Watch this one.

That's disruption. Its beautiful.

Any planners delight!

PS: The Dove work is not done by TBWA. That's just a good example of 'disruption in action' that came to mind.

What strategy planning is not

2008-06-27T14:05:00.000+05:30

Strategy planning is not obsessing over "insights"

Strategy planning is not about being at war with the creative team

Strategy Planning is not about not-being-client-servicing

Strategy planning is not about endless ppt slides of 'gyan' you learnt in college and swore you would never touch again

Strategy planning is not saying things nobody else seems to understand or honestly, even cares about

WHAT STRATEGY PLANNING IS:

Strategy Planning is about identifying the problem at hand and describing it in one line

Strategy planning is about bringing a new perspective to the table (could be through a ppt)

Strategy planning is the ability to make a 'brainstorm' constructive and prevent it from dragging on for ever

Strategy planning is the ability to acknowledge and make note of a good idea

Strategy planning is to be a treasure trove of fascinating stories and anecdotes and information

Strategy Planning is to be like a sponge, absorbing all the knowledge that surrounds you

Strategy planning is to love people enough to understand what they actually mean when they say something (during consumer research)

Strategy planning is to respect a client servicing persons job (knowing that you will not be able to handle the job in a 100 years)

Strategy planning is about making sense to the creative teams

Strategy planning is about making sense