I am sure most book lovers would love to do something like this. Right?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
You might come across this soon
With the recent war of prices, I wouldn't be suprised to come across this very soon, especially the rate at which they have been targetting women shoppers.
How the Voda pug got lost in God’s own country
Interesting article I came across after the recently very popular Vodafone Happy To Help ad.
An article by Rajul Kulshreshtha, Managing Director -- Motivator, A GroupM company
Folks, the good news is that advertising works! My wife actually got so inspired by the ad campaign of Kerala State that this summer we all flew down to Kerala, lock, stock and barrel. The bad news, my friends, is that nothing really works. What the advertising claims and what the reality are two different things. The whole funda that I heard from going through zillions of Hofsteads and the countless classes on brand interaction with the consumer finally came to roost in my head.
First, the story of the pug. How many OTS have you all got of the lovely little pug running behind the school bus or helping the little girl put stamps on the envelopes? Lots by now, thanks to Lalitji. ‘Happy to help’ being the tag line. God, how many times will they offer to help? But that could only happen if they were available. Trivandrum was a stutter. Kumarakom was sad, Thekkady was about so-so, and in Munnar the dog vanished! Got lost in God’s own country! And guess what? Only Preity Zinta and ADAG were working. What an idea and Water Air, etc. Dog was only wish karo!
What happens to all the OTS and all the money that people spend in promising to help? Who are they fooling with such claims? Maybe they all need to listen to Bob Marley at some point in time. And if they don’t remember it, let me help: “you can fool some people some time...” But, seriously, do we ever worry about the amount of money that has gone down the drain -- simply because people have not got their backend in place? And the consumer interaction with the brand is so terrible that they kind of develop a serious abhorrence to the pug. And if their company was not handling the brand and if number transferability was a reality, they would have dumped the pug. For whom? Good question... Anil Bhai or Preity or... We have to hand it to him -- Anil Bhai literally follows you! However, Anil Bhai has bigger problems. All that he should do is to get into a ‘burqa’ and visit one of his Reliance Web Worlds. What I can guarantee is that his Hindi vocabulary will certainly improve! The point being made is that consumer interaction with brands is woefully short of what is promised in the advertising. And more importantly, no one is listening or even gives a damn.
Hey, so what happened in God’s own country? Well, let me tell you. Even the CPI(M) has got it right. Arun Sarin is not the only one to do it. Kerala as a state is beautiful -- truly God’s own. But the consumer experience for a destination that is touted as one of the ten must-visit places in the world is woefully inadequate. The state is just not geared up for being a tourist destination. The infrastructure is sad. The people are nice, but are looking at the shorter end of things; roads are good in phases, tariffs are weird, one can go on and on. People still visit Kerala and do so only because they continue to see the wonderful visuals on TV and the Net. But having been there once, do they go back and recommend it? I guess I won’t be doing so. I would rather go to Dubai or even the Swiss Alps given the amount of money one needs to spend to get to Kerala from the North. The consumer interaction with brand Kerala is just not satisfactory.
The moral of the story is – purely from a consumer point of view – that consumer interaction with the brand is beginning to derive more meaning for all those sitting in their plush offices and allowing their agencies to spend their money. What they don’t realise is that they are continuing to lose consumers on a regular basis, and the scary part is that while most know of this, little is being done about it. I could give you many more such examples and I am sure that you will have lots of your own. To me a brand is successful if the consumer interaction with the brand is an enjoyable one. If not, then I am afraid all the noise on an IPL or ICL or whatever else is wasted.
On a parting note, I do hope that Mr Sarin finds the pug before it gets run over!
Source: exchange4media.com
The True Value of Account Management
A must read for Account Management people I thought
An article by,
Anisha Motwani, Vice-president, EURO RSCG, New Delhi
Kick Me
Account Management is the pivot around which the agency business revolves.
Many will laugh at this statement. Even client servicing who have spent some time in the industry.
This laughter isn’t because the statement is untrue, but rather because it is fundamentally true.
The broad role of account management is of a coordinator and manager. He/she is a person who ensures that all departments along with the client work in unison towards a common goal.
All of this looks great on paper but is this the ground reality?
You tend to be at the receiving end of all, clients, creative and bosses.
Creatives brand you as the well-dressed ‘courier guy’ or ‘postman’.
And sometimes you could even win the honorary title of ‘Bisleri’ (play safe).
Of course, the jibes and criticism don’t just stop at names. Your thinking abilities are compared to the amount of water found in the Sahara desert.
You even get blamed for having the ‘gift of the gab’.
So many young client servicing people often wonder if they’re walking around with a sign on their back saying ‘KICK ME’. That too in Futura Extra Bold Condensed in 72 point size.
How does account management earn such animosity? Despite having the most challenging and versatile role in the agency, why such criticism? Are the account service guys not playing their role?
Change is the only constant
As Dylan once famously said, Times are a changin’. This statement can be no truer than it is for account management today. It needs to wear a new hat to earn respectability and put an end to all cynicism.
The true value of account servicing is in being a “Client’s Marketing Problem Solver”. The most successful account management people in the industry are the ones who have played the role of a business partner to a client.
When you approach creativity keeping client’s business problems in mind, you come up with Creative Business Ideas, “CBI”, as against just ideas.
A Creative Business Idea:
-- Is Transformational
-- Changes Business Strategy
-- Drives Profitable Growth.
This is obviously not as simple as it sounds. It requires a complete re-orientation and ingraining it as a work culture in the agency. But what it does is bind the agency and client to a common agenda.
If the creative department is the backbone of an advertising agency, the new role will ensure that account management is the chair that keeps it straight.
Source: Exchange for media
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A mouth watering treat
An ambient exercise to promote Eatalica burgers. A ‘Caution Wet Floor’ board was placed near an Eatalica burger signboard. The copy on the board reads ‘Oogling at the burger may involuntarily cause drooling which may in turn lead to a wet floor. Issued for your safety by the management of Eatalica restaurant’. Eatalica is an American-Italian Food Joint in Chennai, India.
Dining in the right ambience
This is a great advertisment campaign at Unicenter Shopping Mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina for Valentine’s Day. It magnifies the romantic ambience with a simple idea.
High Voltage Batteries
A sticker has been placed on the high voltage box depicting that Duracell’s batteries were used. Cool advertisement found in Malaysia.
Yogic Mantra
A very cost-effective advertisement in Hong Kong for a yoga school. It showcases the prowess of a yoga practitioner on the flexible stems of drink straws. A surge of enquiries and enrollment went after up this promotional stunt.
Don't burn out...
Stickers were placed in selected car park locations and car workshops where the product is sold in Malaysia. It delivers the message that M-Tech Plasma HID Lights are 300% brighter than regular headlights. The burn effect sticker from the headlights really leaves an impression.
What's brewing?
A print of a cup of Folgers coffee was placed on top of manhole covers in New York City, USA. Holes on the print allows the steam to come out. Wordings around the cup reads ‘Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up.” from Folgers.
Watch out!
An advertisement by Jung von Matt/Alster for watchmaker IWC. Bus straps have been fashioned from images of IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch to allow bus travellers near the airport to try before they buy at Berlin, Germany. 16 more advertisements after the jump.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sensitive ad
This ad had won an award sometime during Holi. Don't kinda remember more details about the image & the award. It's about something we all know but, the rendition of this ad literally shakes you up.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Are automobiles giving advertising a bad name?
Wheels within wheels
The concern for ads promoting reckless behaviour is not a concern in India only. In February 2007, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention wanted General Motors to remove its ad featuring an assembly line robot that jumps off a bridge.
The organisation sent a letter to GM telling the automaker to pull the ad off the air and off the company’s website, as well as issue an apology. The group said that the commercial made fun of mental illness and depression and that people might see the ad and think suicide is an option when they’re faced with problems. The company did not remove the spot and aired it during an Academy Awards telecast on ABC.
The interesting part comes by way of a comment on the company’s website from a consumer. “No matter what… someone’s going to whine about one thing or another. It’s a commercial… watching something like that isn’t going to give someone an idea to kill themselves, it’s not even going to push them towards it. When you see a commercial for Coke but you drink Pepsi, do you just switch to Coke because you saw it on TV? No! You like Pepsi! Just like people like life over death.”
What it broadly means is the consumer is not a fool. It is almost like a group of people wanting a film banned because it hurts their sentiments. Going back to the GM case, the company did not pay heed to the group which complained against the ad – it did not even modify the ad.
A browse through the website of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, on whose regulations the ASCI codes are based, shows that eight television ads in the auto sector raised objections from the public in 2007. All these complaints were made against car ads – none against two-wheelers. Most of the complaints from among those eight ads reveal that the protest was against either environmental issues or misleading engineering of the product. None of the complaints was upheld.
In the Indian context, it is motorbikes that take pride of place in the rogues’ gallery. Of the 16 complaints mentioned earlier, 63 per cent are aimed at bikes.
This could be because of the shift in consumer preferences from 100cc bikes to the more powerful 125cc and above machines. This category now accounts for 26 per cent (2007 figures, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) of the motorcycle market, compared to 20 per cent in 2006. To show off the ‘power’ of these bikes, marketers and advertisers resort to ads that border on the dangerous.
Where will the inspiration come from?
In all this noise being made about bad advertising, is a regulator like the ASCI then throttling the creativity of the advertising agency? Does this mean the ASCI’s role has to change?
Deo is vociferous. “I don’t know how ASCI can step into this and say you cannot do this. Recently, there was a washing machine commercial – a traffic attendant trying to take a bribe and later picked up by people and put into a washing machine. Metaphorically, it meant the product cleans up everything. It was banned because the ASCI said people would try and stuff people in a washing machine. But can I actually do that? It is a practical improbability,” he says.
There’s no arguing the fact that the ASCI has come down heavily, and rightly so, on irresponsible advertising. But there are cases where the regulatory body could have let a complaint pass. The Tavera ad, where cricketers play a game using the car in a field, is a good example. This also begs the question: Is Indian creativity so limited that the creators depend only on speed thrills? Could they have done more?
Singh of Saints and Warriors feels that intangibles should be created for auto ads which are beyond the mechanical component. “I daresay that car and bike advertising is in the middle of some really sluggish, lazy thinking. People don’t buy a bike because it has 10cc more of power, or a car with 15 per cent more efficient shock absorbers. People buy them because of the mystique that they hold. A Harley Davidson, for example, has never advertised a new piston or a new shock absorber. It has always created a mystique around the bike itself,” he says. Maybe, but creating a mystique about a 100cc or 125cc bike is a bit tough, considering their mushrooming numbers.
Abroad, the issues are different. In October 2007, the European Parliament proposed that all car advertisements should carry a warning of the environmental impact. Under the plan, 20 per cent of the space or time of any auto ad would have to be set aside for information on a car’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, cited as a contributor to global climate change. The rationale is to try to get car makers to compete on environmental information about their cars, rather than purely on power, speed and appearance.
Even though the verdict is not yet out on the proposal, marketers and their agencies are taking the matter with utmost seriousness, fearing that like cigarettes and junk food, car ads might also face restrictions.
Recognising responsibility
Worries about automobile advertising are not new to India alone. Big markets like the US, Europe, Japan and Australia too have agonised over their adverts. While Europe has the Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the body in the US that regulates unfair or deceptive advertising. What is striking is that among the ‘objectionable’ ads we went through, not a single one had traffic violations or any element of irresponsible driving. The complaints as well as the handling were far more evolved than has been seen so far in India.
Consider this striking example. A TV ad for a Peugeot 207 showed a man driving in a city, the voice from his satellite navigation system giving him directions that are contrary to the signs on the road. The directions take him into the countryside and the navigation system says, “Now enjoy.”
Viewers complained that the ad encouraged fast and irresponsible driving in the countryside. Peugeot argued that on the country road, the driver had a totally clear view for roughly two miles ahead and there were no obstructions, vegetation, housing, oncoming traffic, wildlife, crossings, people or uneven surfaces. It added that the sun was behind him, the weather was perfect and the driver had 100 per cent visibility and there was no need for him to modify his speed to below the speed limit on that road. They said the car was travelling below the speed limit for the kind of road depicted and was shown flat to the road with no sign of the stress to the suspension or handling that would occur if the car was driven at speed. They also pointed out that there was no excessive engine noise that would indicate speed or any visible or audible indication of speed. The ASA did not uphold the complaint.
Conclusion
Indian advertising for automobiles is yet to reach a level where the concern will be about environment or more social causes. No auto ad (except Honda’s), for example, depicts environment concerns in any manner. The Indian ad agencies are still struggling to find newer ways of portraying auto ads. This is also probably because advertising in India is where the US was in the 1950s and 1970s – excitement, power, status, speed, sex, style, bravery, toughness, romance and adventure dominate. Responsible advertising be damned.
What automakers need to do is take a firm line when agencies come up with irresponsible ideas to promote their brands.
On the other hand, a regulatory body like ASCI too needs to make absolutely sure that what it is frowning upon is really irresponsible. An unreasonable ban won’t help Indian advertising in the long run.
Source: Chumki Sen | agencyfaqs! | New Delhi, March 19, 2008
Part 1 of this story was carried on March 18.
© 2008 agencyfaqs! filed by Chumki Sen
The concern for ads promoting reckless behaviour is not a concern in India only. In February 2007, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention wanted General Motors to remove its ad featuring an assembly line robot that jumps off a bridge.
The organisation sent a letter to GM telling the automaker to pull the ad off the air and off the company’s website, as well as issue an apology. The group said that the commercial made fun of mental illness and depression and that people might see the ad and think suicide is an option when they’re faced with problems. The company did not remove the spot and aired it during an Academy Awards telecast on ABC.
The interesting part comes by way of a comment on the company’s website from a consumer. “No matter what… someone’s going to whine about one thing or another. It’s a commercial… watching something like that isn’t going to give someone an idea to kill themselves, it’s not even going to push them towards it. When you see a commercial for Coke but you drink Pepsi, do you just switch to Coke because you saw it on TV? No! You like Pepsi! Just like people like life over death.”
What it broadly means is the consumer is not a fool. It is almost like a group of people wanting a film banned because it hurts their sentiments. Going back to the GM case, the company did not pay heed to the group which complained against the ad – it did not even modify the ad.
A browse through the website of the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, on whose regulations the ASCI codes are based, shows that eight television ads in the auto sector raised objections from the public in 2007. All these complaints were made against car ads – none against two-wheelers. Most of the complaints from among those eight ads reveal that the protest was against either environmental issues or misleading engineering of the product. None of the complaints was upheld.
In the Indian context, it is motorbikes that take pride of place in the rogues’ gallery. Of the 16 complaints mentioned earlier, 63 per cent are aimed at bikes.
This could be because of the shift in consumer preferences from 100cc bikes to the more powerful 125cc and above machines. This category now accounts for 26 per cent (2007 figures, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) of the motorcycle market, compared to 20 per cent in 2006. To show off the ‘power’ of these bikes, marketers and advertisers resort to ads that border on the dangerous.
Where will the inspiration come from?
In all this noise being made about bad advertising, is a regulator like the ASCI then throttling the creativity of the advertising agency? Does this mean the ASCI’s role has to change?
Deo is vociferous. “I don’t know how ASCI can step into this and say you cannot do this. Recently, there was a washing machine commercial – a traffic attendant trying to take a bribe and later picked up by people and put into a washing machine. Metaphorically, it meant the product cleans up everything. It was banned because the ASCI said people would try and stuff people in a washing machine. But can I actually do that? It is a practical improbability,” he says.
There’s no arguing the fact that the ASCI has come down heavily, and rightly so, on irresponsible advertising. But there are cases where the regulatory body could have let a complaint pass. The Tavera ad, where cricketers play a game using the car in a field, is a good example. This also begs the question: Is Indian creativity so limited that the creators depend only on speed thrills? Could they have done more?
Singh of Saints and Warriors feels that intangibles should be created for auto ads which are beyond the mechanical component. “I daresay that car and bike advertising is in the middle of some really sluggish, lazy thinking. People don’t buy a bike because it has 10cc more of power, or a car with 15 per cent more efficient shock absorbers. People buy them because of the mystique that they hold. A Harley Davidson, for example, has never advertised a new piston or a new shock absorber. It has always created a mystique around the bike itself,” he says. Maybe, but creating a mystique about a 100cc or 125cc bike is a bit tough, considering their mushrooming numbers.
Abroad, the issues are different. In October 2007, the European Parliament proposed that all car advertisements should carry a warning of the environmental impact. Under the plan, 20 per cent of the space or time of any auto ad would have to be set aside for information on a car’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, cited as a contributor to global climate change. The rationale is to try to get car makers to compete on environmental information about their cars, rather than purely on power, speed and appearance.
Even though the verdict is not yet out on the proposal, marketers and their agencies are taking the matter with utmost seriousness, fearing that like cigarettes and junk food, car ads might also face restrictions.
Recognising responsibility
Worries about automobile advertising are not new to India alone. Big markets like the US, Europe, Japan and Australia too have agonised over their adverts. While Europe has the Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the body in the US that regulates unfair or deceptive advertising. What is striking is that among the ‘objectionable’ ads we went through, not a single one had traffic violations or any element of irresponsible driving. The complaints as well as the handling were far more evolved than has been seen so far in India.
Consider this striking example. A TV ad for a Peugeot 207 showed a man driving in a city, the voice from his satellite navigation system giving him directions that are contrary to the signs on the road. The directions take him into the countryside and the navigation system says, “Now enjoy.”
Viewers complained that the ad encouraged fast and irresponsible driving in the countryside. Peugeot argued that on the country road, the driver had a totally clear view for roughly two miles ahead and there were no obstructions, vegetation, housing, oncoming traffic, wildlife, crossings, people or uneven surfaces. It added that the sun was behind him, the weather was perfect and the driver had 100 per cent visibility and there was no need for him to modify his speed to below the speed limit on that road. They said the car was travelling below the speed limit for the kind of road depicted and was shown flat to the road with no sign of the stress to the suspension or handling that would occur if the car was driven at speed. They also pointed out that there was no excessive engine noise that would indicate speed or any visible or audible indication of speed. The ASA did not uphold the complaint.
Conclusion
Indian advertising for automobiles is yet to reach a level where the concern will be about environment or more social causes. No auto ad (except Honda’s), for example, depicts environment concerns in any manner. The Indian ad agencies are still struggling to find newer ways of portraying auto ads. This is also probably because advertising in India is where the US was in the 1950s and 1970s – excitement, power, status, speed, sex, style, bravery, toughness, romance and adventure dominate. Responsible advertising be damned.
What automakers need to do is take a firm line when agencies come up with irresponsible ideas to promote their brands.
On the other hand, a regulatory body like ASCI too needs to make absolutely sure that what it is frowning upon is really irresponsible. An unreasonable ban won’t help Indian advertising in the long run.
Source: Chumki Sen | agencyfaqs! | New Delhi, March 19, 2008
Part 1 of this story was carried on March 18.
© 2008 agencyfaqs! filed by Chumki Sen
Go Digital!
Digital advertising spends will escalate to more than 7 per cent within a year from the current 3-4 per cent.
Digital advertising will be a part of every marketer’s plan and pay for performance will become a virus.
Digital advertising will be a part of every marketer’s plan and pay for performance will become a virus.
High Rise!!!
The overall advertising spends have gone up from Rs 14,000 crore in 2005 to Rs 17,000 in 2008, while spends on digital have been increasing rapidly from Rs 70 crore in 2005 to Rs 1,000 crore this year, making it the fastest growing medium.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
That sinking feeling: Rediffusion’s strategy for a financial brand
There was a time when financial services ads in India were dominated by a sense of dread and uncertainty – a fear of what the future held. Then creativity happened, and banks and insurance companies trashed their dry adverts and started forging joyful, emotional bonds with consumers.
In a new ad for ING Vysya Life Insurance, Rediffusion DY&R has attempted to strike a balance between joy and trepidation – two strong emotions that money tends to evoke. The challenge for Rediff was to communicate the ING Vysya Life Insurance (IVL) brand essence, ‘Experience the Joy of Fulfilling Your Responsibilities’, in a competitive market.
Rediffusion conducted research to understand consumer behaviour in the financial space, especially in insurance. Next, the agency developed the IVL Brand Blueprint and landed up with the core communication idea – experiencing the joy of responsibility.
The film opens on a shot of a South Indian wedding in progress. The bridegroom is being congratulated by his friends and relatives. Suddenly, the groom ‘sinks’ a little into the ground, burdened by the financial obligations and responsibilities that his future now holds for him. A jingle explains the “joy of the moment and the realisation of responsibility”.
The next vignette is that of a father in a car, just as his daughter runs to him with news of her admission to an MBA programme. He is overjoyed, but simultaneously feels the weight of his responsibility – his car sinks into the ground somewhat.
Last is the story of a young man holding his newborn baby for the first time, while the ground beneath him cracks. At this point, the ING Vysya Life Insurance advisor steps in and tells him that with the help of IVL, he need not fear happiness; IVL will help him fulfil his responsibilities with ease at every stage of life. The film ends with the couple coming out of the ING Vysya Life Insurance office and taking a confident step forward on firm ground, while the tagline goes, ‘Mera Farz’.
Financial decision making in most Indian households is the responsibility of the provider (usually men, though women do play a key role in such decision making, especially in double income households). Hence, the target group for IVL in the insurance category is males in the age group of 25-44 years, while the secondary TG is women in the age group of 25-44 years.
According to the Rediff team, cherished moments such as a wedding, the birth of a child, admission of children into premier universities or courses, or even thoughts of retirement, are very important in our lives. Each of these moments bring with them added financial and emotional responsibilities, which have to be fulfilled. It is at that precise moment when we learn about such joy that the sheer weight of our responsibility sinks into our minds. This has been juxtaposed in the ad with the actual “sinking” of the protagonists into the ground.
Source: agencyfaqs! news bureau | agencyfaqs! | Mumbai, January 14, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thank you, Sir.
The Advertising Club presented The Mind Mining workshop with Madhukar Sabnavis, in association with The Telegraph at St Xavier’s College.
It was all about consumer insights and was a complete knowledge enhancement session.
Looking forward to such mind enriching seminars.
Source: http://www.adclubcal.com
Thursday, January 17, 2008
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