A Time To Reflect

charukesi May 14th, 2007

I got this on email - several people seem to have already blogged about it but here goes anyway…

I have said this before - it is suicidal for a brand to admit to ‘change’. changed, improved, better, bigger… why, were they not so good earlier? Jet Airways proudly announced its new look - new crew uniforms, new corporate colors, new partner (Sahara) with an ad campaign that read - We’ve changed

Kingfisher Airlines, louder and bigger in every way (if not actually better) put this hoarding up on top of that one - We made them change

And if you are thinking Jet was asking for it, and hey, good for Kingfisher, upstart Go went and did this…

A good slogan does not a good brand make - heck, it does not even make for a good campaign. Go for it, Go! is what I say - Go got it perfect - after all, what does Jet’s “change” mean for the consumer? And Kingfisher’s too, beyond the initial smile it evokes. The only other airline ad I can think of (in the Indian context) was Deccan’s Simplifly, a revolutionary concept at the time it was introduced. (On another note, what does any of this mean to the consumer given the sorry state of Indian airports and the “air traffic congestion” situation?)

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(3)

charukesi February 6th, 2007

There is no ho-hum hoarding of the month - yet. Instead, there is an absolutely awful TV ad (yeah, I know - I have this thing for truly terrible alliteration) - The Camlin ad for permanent markers - really permanent.

Exactly how permanent? Since I am still in a state of shock after watching this to describe it in any detail, here is agencyfaqs :

The film opens inside a hut where a man lying on his deathbed is surrounded by his wife…

The ad ends as the wife hugs him on his well-being. VO: “Camlin permanent markers. Really permanent.”

Yes, really permanent. Widowhood, breaking of bangles, erasing of sindoor… the works. In the last scene, the poor man comes back to life, else what would have been the next shot in the ad, I wonder - sati? Even “worse”, what if the poor man does not come back to life, and the bindi does not got erased? What a blow to Indian culture that would have been…

Is that the most creative idea the agency (Lowe) could come up with? Fevicol (O&M) has similar advertising - but with humour - tongue-in-cheek, momerable, clear communication of brand values… As opposed to that, what exactly does this Camlin ad say anyway? And to whom?

If the ad was in terrible taste, here is a comment on it on agencyfaqs -

1-the ad doesnt cater to the tg
2-widows wud have high expectations
3-what wud a villager do with permanent marker,paibnt his wifes bindi??;)

What are these high expectations, I wonder…?

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(14)

charukesi October 11th, 2006

I remember some offensive ads that Economic Times ran a while ago on the whole “are you talking to the right target audience” question (as someone working in a field related to marketing, I confess I sometimes find the word ‘target’ in this context quite ominous…) - While I found the ads distasteful, I had shrugged it of as “what else can I expect from a ToI publication”, The Other India and MumbaiGirl had expressed strong views on this (which I agreed with totally)…

Here is something simple and striking from Sharad Haksar on how utterly clueless the marketing game can sometimes be… [link through the always interesting and though-provoking Niti Bhan’s Perspective]

Speaking of Sharad Haksar, do you remember his controversial photograph “featuring” Coke…?

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(1)

charukesi June 24th, 2006

And then some more.

For instance, sun protection inside the ladies loo.

[another in the series of things a mobile phone camera is meant for - and I need a better one surely]

I don’t know how to break this to you gently, Hindustan Lever - or the whiz media planner who thought of yet another spot to find the “captive audience” - but I am not thinking about six signs of sun damage when I am inside the loo at the theatre (no, not even at home for that matter). [Dear media planner, here is a handy tip for you because someone seems to have misled you - Imax does not have an open air loo. Really, you must believe me when I say that there is just no exposure to the sun when I am inside]

Yes, I am sitting and staring at the door, purely for lack of anything else to stare at, at that particular moment, but not because I am thinking about what the harsh sun is doing to my skin. No, believe me.

[While on this, please do me a favour and don’t ever ask me what I was doing thinking of blogging about this then]

And perhaps, it irked all the more because I had just spent a good(?) one and half hours with Kkrish, watching him drink Bournvita, telling the little kid how Bournvita makes him strong, how his grandmother always washes the glasses with Tide before serving him with Bournvita, and how Lays chips are the ultimate word in Bournvita-time snack. And how after washing the said glasses, his grandmother places the packet of Tide on the kitchen shelf next to gleaming brass and copper tumblers just so it is always in front of her eyes. And so on.

The point is this - what is it with companies spending good monies on product placements. How does it work? If it does at all? Oh, I know you are going to tell me about about how see, I remember all the brand names. But you must remember also that I am a blogger. And a market researcher and avid advertising industry watcher to boot.

And there was not much more by way of entertainment in the movie otherwise.

And then the welcome interval. And then the fairness cream (with sun control mechanism) in the loo. Enough already.

Merchandising, sure. Free gifts and promotion, surer [I know this because I did a mini poll among friends sitting in the neighboring seats about how their kids would respond to such blatant - to me atleast - endorsement in movies and was told that kids respond better to free gifts. Smart of them and so on]. But what does product placement do for the viewer? And repeated ones at that…

[More on this coming up - wait with bated breath. And oh, go drink Bournvita while you wait]

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing , - Cinema
• Comments(6)

charukesi March 31st, 2006

AdAge reports on the new to-be-launched Coke campaign - Happiness in a bottle (free registration required to read the article)

After trying a dose of reality, Coca-Cola Co. is turning to the effervescent message that drinking a Coke is “happiness in a bottle” for its new advertising campaign. While TV is a major aspect of the global effort, themed “The Coke side of life,” digital, viral and consumer-created content will dominate the continuous feed of creative during the year.

The happiness angle comes from a huge research (what else?!) that Coke has undertaken, called then”Big Dig” which revealed that consumers had a “deep-down love for the brand, but it wasn’t as top of mind.” They also learned that what loyal Coke drinkers love most about the brand was the physical and emotional uplift they got when drinking the product. (Note : Product, not the brand)

The Coke side of life is certainly not one of their better advertising slogans. Interestingly, happiness (from the bottle straight into the mouth) is not really a new association with Coke. Legend has it that the Coca-Cola name in China initially translated as as “Ko-ka-ko-la”, meaning “Bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with wax”, depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent “ko-kou-ko-le”, translating into “happiness in the mouth”.

So, as Coke globally struggles with providing better emotional meaning to consumers, in India the campaign has moved back to. A very tarty Aishwarya Rai making whistle sounds with an empty Coke bottle (and what is with that voice?). Thande ka tadka is as pointless and unimpressive an ad as I have seen in a long time. And coming on the heels of Aamir in Piyo sar uthaake, this ad is a huge let-down. With all of India wilting under the summer sun (peak time for Cola sales), surely Coke needs something cooler than thande ka tadka?

Earlier posts on Coke :

Vanilla Coke and ‘Wakau’

Cola communication and the consumer

• Pot-pourri , Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(6)

charukesi March 11th, 2006

There is a saying in Tamil… roughly translated means, to first pinch the child and then rock the cradle… or - the troubleshooter is the troublemaker…

And that is what Hutch, soon to be followed by other mobile phone operators are doing with their Mobile Manners communication campaign. Hutch now, Airtel and others soon.

I like the ads - great concept and executed very well. This TV commercial shows a man (dad?) playng with his little kid, he takes a picture of the kid, the kid snatches the mobile phone and throws it away. Super : bina izazat photo na kheechein - do not take photographs without permission.

The one I like even better is where the dad (again?) is trying to put the kid to sleep - so ja rajkumari so ja - and the kid bawls till he stops. Is your ringtone disturbing someone? Yes, yes. Let’s hear it for - against, I mean - obnoxious loud ring tones. (It is bad enough to have to hear some new Hindi movie songs on FM radio, but to have them ring in the next seat at work, NO)

And the hoardings which didn’t make any sense to me at first - Ali Baba and the forty tring trings (will try to get a photograph). And Hum aapke hain tring tring.

Libraries, cinema halls, work places, even schools and colleges - no place is safe from these tring trings.

Great campaign. But the cynic in me whispers - why? Did cellphone operators wake up one morning and realize that their corporate social responsibility quota for the year had not been fulfilled? Just wondering… (Reminded me of the statutory warning on cigarette packs, but that is another story altogether)

***
Speaking of mobile phones, and on, here is Always on, always good? at Mindspace. Do read it and leave your thoughts.

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(19)

charukesi January 9th, 2006

Some people never learn - make that some companies. Remember how Reliance mobile had started out in India - with those “dealers” who sold you the mobile phone and then vanished - or if were present, had no clue about handling after-sales queries and complaints? Remember how Reliance called them not dealers but entrepreneurs under the “Dhirubhai Ambani Entrepreneur” scheme? And remember how quickly Reliance had to pull that “entrepreneurship” scheme out of the market and launch their own sales and service outlets?*

Like I was saying, some companies never learn - the always interesting and informative textually informs us that Reliance is planning to sell their phones through vegetable vendors.

“A joint marketing penetration effort by CDMA-based telephony operators ñ Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL), the initiative would involve training of the owners of vegetable and grain mandis to demonstrate and sell the product, and to provide after sales services. Reliance Infocomm would sell its product and services through vegetable and grain mandis, cable operators and farm product vendors, like irrigation pumps and tractor dealers.”

Arrey bhai, yeh mobile ek kilo ka bhaav kitna?

In simple words, no Reliance, selling is not enough. Back-end support is crucial.

***
*In case you don’t remember, here is a detailed article on Reliance’s master-plan and how it boomeranged on the company.

• Branding and Marketing , Technology
• Comments Off

charukesi December 13th, 2005

India Shining. India and China and emerging markets. India all set to take its rightful place on the global scene. And so on…

Brandchannel writes about the Interbrand / businessweek survey of top 100 global brands for this year and points out that there is no single Indian brand in that list. Where are Indian brands on the global stage?

Specifically, their question is - how is it that the fastest growing free market democracy hasn’t produced a global brand to rank among the top 100 of the world?

They have a discussion forum open and you can read other comments and contribute your own thoughts here.

I have been thinking about this - are there any Indian brands that can be called truly global? Or have the stature to become big in the global scene?

I can only think of local brands which have been so popular that they have acted as props for MNC brands which have entered the market - Thums Up, for instance. And of MNC brands which have been around for so long and have indianised themselves so much that they are believed to be local, Lux and Bata, for instance.

As for brands strong enough to be featured in a global list, I cannot think of any. Are our car manufacturers ready? Will Tata make it with their recent exports thrust and their budget car plans?

Or is this because this list is of products and not services - is Infosys for instance a global brand? Is technology / software a product that can be mesured and included in such surveys?

What do you think? Are there any Indian-global brands that come to your mind?

• Branding and Marketing
• Comments(14)

charukesi October 24th, 2005

Clearly this one is not for the straw-sipping wimps. Aamir Khan in Coke’s latest piyo sar utha ke ad. A series of images of people raising their heads, in different emotions - in prayer, in gratitude, in hope, in celebration, in joy, in relief… And Aamir Khan in the end, raising a Coke bottle to his lips, drinking with his head high up.

The ad made me sit up and take notice. Another in the series of good ads from Coke featuring Aamir Khan (although the ads have not created the kind of waves that the original thanda matlab line did, upsetting Pepsi’s Yeh pyaas hai badi). And when was the last time I saw a good ad from Pepsi…? A few initial thoughts on this ad, on the Coke Pepsi ads and on emotional appeals in advertising…

The idea - drink Coke with your head up in pride. Subtle association of the brand with other positive emotions… Never hurts a brand, although it may not help either.

The route- when all else fails, fall back on the emotional “pride in your brand” pitch. Old hat maybe, but as I said, never hurts. Pepsi has Shah Rukh saying (singing /stuttering) and doing good things for that brand; Coke drinkers, this one is for you to feel good about your choice.

I think it is a good time to introduce such a route since this is not peak season for cold drinks. The timing makes it possible for the consumer to get used to the idea, identify with the emotion and become fonder of the brand - ideally. Low risk as compared to peak summer season where the need is clearly for a tangible and relevant benefit - thanda matlab Coca Cola worked, but as the line starts getting thanda, it is now time for a change…

The message - does piyo sar utha ke have the punch that thanda matlab does…? I wonder whether the consumer does not feel foolish saying ‘my brand of sweetened carbonated drink, and I am oh, so proud of it’? I have seen that pride as an appeal works best in times of “conflict” - for instance, a cricket match we all feel compelled to prove our loyalty to our country…

The icon - Ah, Shah Rukh Khan versus Aamir Khan. The problem is, Shah Rukh stays Shah Rukh, in whatever he attempts. While Aamir becomes the character. So, any Pepsi ad I see now is just another Shah Rukh ad. Pepsi has been piggy-backing on Shah Rukh’s popularity with the young for a while now, without bothering about minor irritants like a decent creative idea.

See this : , and this : . And you’ll know what I mean.

Luckily for them, Shah Rukh remains a favourite among the target consumer group - the John Abrahams may come and go but Shah Rukh has stayed on. Aamir Khan does not compare. Is bringing in more “youth icons” such as Mona Jassi Singh and Rajyavardhan Silver Rathore going to help Coke now? Given that their iconic status is dubitable at best…

And finally, the brand - in my mind, the recent Coke ads with Aamir Khan are far superior in terms of creative ideas and just plain likeability. As compared to this, the Pepsi ads have no clear theme - Oye Bubbly what beyond a catchy jingle? Why snake charmer - we do not need yet another “India+culture” stereotype reinforcement, thank you.

Having said all that, I am forced to admit that as a brand, I like Pepsi far more - and I say this as a confirmed Cola non-drinking, market-watching person. It has to do with the kind of consistent and immensely appealing communication route that Pepsi took early on in the Cola wars in India. Pepsi understood the pulse of the younger generation and spoke to them right away in their language. Some of the most memorable lines have come from Pepsi - yahi hai right choice baby, aha! (at a time when ‘baby’ in India was still hip-speak and “cool”), yeh dil maange more (for a generation seeking to break traditional confines), nothing official about it (when Coke won sponsorship rights for the 1996 world cup)… Even when Coke had the bigger stars, including Aishwarya Rai.

Bottom line : I like the new Coke ad; it is a overflowing with feel good elements (including Aamir Khan) - but I have no hopes on what it is going to do for the brand. Coke had in thanda matlab, clear and appealing brand positioning - they need to come up with one more before the next season begins. Feel good is all very good, but it is just not enough.

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(14)

charukesi September 7th, 2005

Happy Vinayaka Chaturti. Rather late in the day but been on my feet all day and just got here. Uma and Sunil have already mentioned the kozhukattais, so I won’t go into that.

About the garish coloured idols, my mother-in-law was saying that this year in Kakinada (where my in-laws live), local newspapers and organisations have got together and done a public awareness campaign. Asking people to buy only simple clay/mud idols. And not the garish environment-hating coloured ones. And she says many houses in Kakinada this year have gone back to the basic idol. Wonderful effort, I think.

Not in Bombay though. We looked and looked and in all of Vashi could not find small or simple idols. Clearly, in mandal-land, bigger is better. As for the next ten days, till the big immersion day, am not looking forward to it at all.

I had written This ganpati brought to you by… last year on the immersion day - about the way marketers have started using ganpati as an excuse to sell everything from credit cards to car loans. It only gets worse with each year…

***
It’s that day of the year again when half of Bombay comes to a stand-still…. Because the other three-fourths are going mad with devotional frenzy (not to forget commercial greed, but more on that later).

The day of the immersion of the grotesque Ganpatis that have been adorning street corners and busy intersections for the last week or so. When roads get choc-a-bloc and offficedom for once shuts down at 1 p.m. and people rush home in a bid to beat the traffic jams.

Fervour - I can understand. Free entertainment for the jobless - more so.

But the way marketers jump on to the ganpati bandwagon (literally, considering the huge floats of the idol all over the city) never fails to astonish me. Last week, on a late night drive from the airport, we saw this serpentine line of people waiting in front of a huge pandal decorated with plastic and paper flowers (why? why?) - this at a few minutes past midnight.

My hubsand (the naiver one between us - to coin a phrase) believed that these were ‘devotees’ waiting for a darshan of the lord himself (or his image in plaster of paris, whatever).

And it turned out later that a cellphone company was giving out a free mobile (handset and connection, none less) through a ‘lucky draw’ that night at the pandal.

Oh, the coolest thing this season was ringtone downloads of ganpati-oriented songs…. ‘Ganpati Bappa moraya, sarwanna ek mobile diya.’ - Salutations, O Ganpati, please give everybody a mobile. (The original is ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudcha Varshi Laukar Ya’ - saying goodbye, G, see you next year again)

And the pandal was ’sponsored’ by ICICI Bank - advertising their ‘lowest interest rates in the market’ for housing loans. (Oh, that made me turn all mushy and devotional at once, but it was just too late in the night).

But I wonder, what do advertisers get out of such mindless sponsorships and advertising?

Why does the concept of social responsibility not occur even to corporates in this country?

No company thought of advising citizens on environmental friendly visarjan (if such a thing is possible) or sponsoring volunteers to control the terrible traffic situation throughout the city today. And displaying their ads prominetly in the process.

Have opportunity, will advertise?

• Indiawatch , Branding and Marketing
• Comments(5)