On Advertising, Media and Marketing in India

Marketing Bombast

2011-12-24T21:05:00.001+05:30

There is no reason why marketing and it's spiel may only be limited to established brands. You just need to know your TG, and craft it right!

Online Deals: Here to stay?

2011-09-17T14:45:00.000+05:30

The e-commerce industry in India is booming like never before- words such as these have been written before. Things are a tad different now. With brands like Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal and many others launching their TV ad campaigns, raising VC funds and talking of 1000% topline growth Y-O-Y, things are changing faster than you can type in that url.

As always, the threat of global giants coming in to spoil the party hangs over their heads. Amazon has revolutionized the American market, and resulted in the closure of bookstore chains such as Borders. Barnes and Noble, another bookstore giant, is spending its energies in getting its e-book reader, Nook, in order. It’s only fair that Indian firms in the online business run as fast as they can before big brother comes knocking.

In order to quickly set up distribution channels, these brands are investing in owned courier channels; making investments in IT to ease customer’s online experience, and making inroads into the burgeoning middle class market, where brand conscious but value seeking consumers are looking for a deal everyday. An overview of these sites, and how the future looks for them is in order.

There are two major segments emerging now, one that offers deals on service experiences, and others that sell products at deep discounts, or offer unknown brands at 'great' prices. Both have been seeing growth like never before in the past couple of quarters. Snapdeal, a deals site, is looking at $1.5 billion in revenue this year. Flipkart, the book behemoth that's quickly adding product categories, is looking at $10 million in sales everyday. The math for the topline is anyone's guess- an expanding market, brand conscious customers and an affinity for a better lifestyle are all factors that look good on a VC spec sheet.

Deep Discounts on brands through Deals- sites like snapdeal.com, sosasta.com and a few others are offering daily deals. Among other things, most deals are for offered for service experiences- spas and hair salons, gift articles such as unbranded but premium chocolates, and some product deals too thrown in. Both the vendor and the site make healthy margins, given the low input costs for these services. These deals look like they may offer margins in the short term, but their success is pinned on finding newer customers each week. The frequency at which a given customer might want to get a Spa experience is something to grapple with. With India’s fast growing internet population, they feel they can crack the code. However, there are a few issues they may face.

Most internet users in India are functional users, whose use of the internet beyond Social networking and email is minimal. The most interaction they want to have is with news websites. They look at the internet as another way to spend their time, and Facebook acts like a hyper local newspaper that they choose to read. Though stickiness of these sites and average time spent on the internet is increasing, how many of this large base of customers would indulge in online shopping remains to be seen. This part of the target audience doesn’t have the affinity or the money to invest in such ‘paisa waste’ activities. The masses remain deeply value conscious, and the middle class remains just that. Aspiring but stingy, these masses want the best experience their rupee can offer. Spends in aspirational categories is a challenge these sites have to target, so its not just the online model that they are selling, lifestyle enhancing activities like massages also need to be sold as an experience.

Also, these deals are like MLM schemes in many ways. Their success lies in their ability to keep finding newer customers and generating additional revenues is the only way they can survive. Today, users are coming in thick and fast, to the few notable sites that are making the noise. As the market matures, with competition for the best deals, these sites would not be able to offer ‘even better’ deals, and consumers might eschew those sites, or the deal market itself.

The category has a paradox at its heart- it offers great deals and deep discounts, but mostly on categories that are indulgent in nature. With any economic upheavals, customers would flock to retailers that offer best deals, but overall consumption of such services and products would flounder. Their entire success hinges on the economic upsurge India has seen in the past decade. With mixed signals coming on the economic front, the future is bright for these sites in the near future, but their development as mature business models, without propping up by VC funds and the deep discounting that eats into its margins will have to be watched out for.

On the product sales front, sites such as flipkart have been achieving wild success. With just 50 crores in sales last year, the site today does Rs. 1 crore in sales per day today. The site’s offer is simple, deep discount on books, with free home delivery. The category, books, by itself offers up to 40% margins. With over 30% discount on the books, and almost Rs. 50 being spent on each delivery, the focus right now is on signing up customers. Topline growth, at the cost of margins, would soon start plaguing their operations. An expansion in business would have to be funded with more investments in warehousing, employees and brand building. Sustainability stays at the fringes of their business models, as the market seems endless.

The prime target for the category is the youth. But they are yet to reach categories that see maximum spends- groceries, foods and apparel. So while volumes of orders are huge, ticket size is miniscule. While apparel and footwear has some sites- Bestylish.com offers shoe deals; most such deals are either for unknown brands, or offer discounts that high end footwear brands now offer in their stores all year round. The physical market for sports footwear brands such as Reebok, Adidas and Nike has seen deep expansion- stores on highways, and non high street locations have all year round sales, or through what they call as Factory Seconds outlets. Customers in India still like to feel their product. While this is the very prejudice these sites are trying to overcome, their success in doing so would be interesting to look at.

With expanding product categories- Flipkart recently added computer and peripherals, and cameras to the endless variety of books they offer, an increasing number of customers would land on their sites. How many Indians would buy high ticket items online would be the big question. Ebay India, which has been championing online buying in India, has seen middling success, and has recently added daily deals to its portfolio of offerings. So the past seems like a distant thing. But it also offers history, which chronicles each failure as dismally as it scintillates with each success. Web companies are the first casualty with any dip in Investor confidence, and this category is highly dependent on funding for booking growth, since margins are something they do not worry about at the moment.

The PR machinery is at its work- the customer is being offered an experience that changes the way they shop, and how many sign up and continue to spend their rupees will be a mile marker in what is bound to be a long hard road. Throwing caution to the winds, the new czars of the online business are charting new roads, those lined with gold, and fraught with danger.

Update: Just as I finished this post, an sms came up- Last day to Use Code to get Rs.1000 FLAT OFF on a purchase of above Rs.2000. its Now or Never.Hurry up ! Shop now at www.yebhi.com

We know where this is going.

The Innovation Challenge

2011-08-31T12:06:00.001+05:30

Innovation in advertising is a very narrow term. It refers only to things that haven't been done before, or ideas that haven't been expressed in a certain manner. It doesn't solve problems except one- to push more units of the product your client makes.

It remains important for us to look at innovation in real life- in products and services that impact us on a daily basis. It becomes imperative- As a marketer, brands that indulge in innovation are those who are taking center stage today. Nokia's throne was dismantled by multiple small companies like Micromax, Lava and others- who used three factors together- the has-to-have-an-IMEI law, the ability of Chinese companies to mass produce 'decent' phones in large numbers, and use newer technology in the mobile software and hardware to churn out new models. On the top end, Apple's innovation and Android's ceaseless copying of the Apple's features and looks, has almost killed Nokia as a brand. Nokia today is facing this challenge globally- Sales are plummeting. Their partnership with Microsoft, a long time laggard in the mobile hardware sector would only add to their miseries in the long term.

Coming back home, India has always faced a unique set of challenges- widespread poverty, indifferent innovation standards, and the inability to scale any innovations that might come through due to lack of an angel investor culture in the traditional economy. Businesses are too busy minting their cash cows, and only want to make acquisitions when said innovations acquire some scale.

The innovation challenge begins from the very top. In a very interesting article on pagalguy.com, a MBA portal, the following information throws up some startling stats-

According to annual figures published by Batelle – R&D Magazine, India lags substantially behind China in its annual R&D spend. India’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) after factoring Purchasing Power Parity was US$ 28.1 billions in 2009, which increased to US$ 33.3 billions in 2010. In comparison, China spent more than four times that of us at US$ 123.7 billions in 2009 and US$ 141.4 billions in 2010 on R&D.

The UNESCO Institute of Statistics reports that between 2000 and 2004, India had a research manpower count of 119 researchers per million people compared to China’s 708 and USA’s 4,605 per million people.

The Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s (SJTU) Institute of Higher Education which conducts the annual ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’ using empirical data from science and social science research citation indexes as its sources ranks Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Science in the 300-400 range and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in the 400-500 range. No other Indian institutes, whether the IITs or IIMs, feature in its top 500.

The article was about the comments by Minister Jairam Ramesh, on the quality, or lack thereof, of teachers in the IIT's and IIM's.

While we receive sporadic reports about the innovation in certain areas of the economy, there are some reasons why India has not seen a sustained innovation culture.

1. Lack of an 'Innovation Atmosphere'- Angel Investors and Venture capitalists exist in categories and business categories that are out of the realm of most Indian companies. Venture Capitalists look for a certain kind of pedigree, a breed of entrepreneur who can do term sheets, provide financial information that is akin to providing an investment banker the details of their life, and such arcania. This means most innovators do not get access to the kind of early stage financial support they need to scale up their ventures.

2. Lack of Media Savviness: While the proliferation of media has meant some entrepreneurs get coverage, the large majority only come to light once they have achieved some scale. Economic Times, the country's most read Business Newspaper, does a column named Starship Enterprise. A cursory glance at the series shows Entrepreneurs get into the column once they've started doing a turnover of 4 Crores+. This number, while very low when we compare it to western start-ups, means exposure to aforementioned VC's is only after you've made something of your own.

Also, innovators in most cases come from either of the two backgrounds- IIT/IIM/Premier Engineering Colleges, and those who rise from the ground up, looking at and solving challenges they see in their immediate surrounding. And they don't have the savviness to get to the media with their innovation. And their dreams, die a sudden death, due to one most important characteristic of the Indian Innovator-

3. Social Structures: This brings about two important things to the table-

Most people would still do things as they are prevalent in the society around them- so it was becoming an Engineer 10 years back, and it is doing an MBA today. Exceptions are far and few between, and that's the reason we recall them- the majority of our most talented people are stuck in jobs that require some amount of understanding and communication skills. Risk taking ability in this scenario is minuscule, and their any latent talents remain dormant. Most Entrepreneurship efforts that one sees, is in spaces that the said Entrepreneur was already employed in, so it is a forward integration of skills, and a client base that's ready to deal with you.

The second point is surprising and worrying at the same time. Entrepreneurs would ideally
stake all that they have in their kitty on making their dream work. With India's established family structure, one would think there would be more entrepreneurial ventures, but there are lesser. Given our population base, and the large number of engineering graduates, one could hope for a much larger base of ideas coming up. What we have rather, is an army of code writers.

The way forward is promising, but remains clouded by these issues. Organisations such as TiE are solving parts of these problems, but they would stare us in the face till we have what we really need- fearlessness.

P.S.
Related reading- An interesting article in Forbes India about Jugaad

Think Through

2011-05-30T23:49:00.000+05:30

Why wouldn't Indian magazines do this for their 'red light' vendors. All the children get is oversized T-shirts with just the magazine's name. Think of the delicious copy possibilities.

The Unthought Known

2011-05-30T16:18:00.002+05:30

Advertising is about many things. Pushing products- selling diapers, cars and Space Tourism. But above all, it remains a quest for one person to convince a large group of people to believe in one idea. The ability to proclaim that you would feel fairer, taller, stronger, among a host of other adjectives, remains at the core of that idea.

How to develop this idea, is something creatives and planners strive for all their lives. George Tannenbaum, who deciphers advertising, and copy writing especially, had the following to say in his latest blog post-

What I've found is that most copy is already written. It's buried in the depths of a too-long client brief. It's on page 37 of an annual report. It's in a sales spiel from a company employee. A powerpoint from a "product specialist." It's all around you in a way a building is all around you if you're standing on a pile of bricks.

Our job as creatives is to hear and see everything.

And from that hearing and seeing find a soul. A voice. A cadence. The truth.

It's like writing a biography of an author from reading his books. What is her perspective? Her interests? What pisses her off or makes her laugh? How does she make you laugh?

Because they don't listen, a lot of creators are really decorators.
They put filigree on things, they dress them up. They aren't much more than a fresh coat of trendy paint.

The first ad that came to my mind while reading this was the classic Rolls Royce ad by David Ogilvy-

One of the best known works of Oglivy, one that he chose to put in his bible on the profession- Ogilvy on Advertising- this ad captures the thought of looking at the things already available on the brand one works on. Ogilvy quotes the Technical Editor of THE MOTOR, which must have been an auto magazine in that day.

Modern day skeptics can obviously say, that this works in a long copy setting, but the thought process remains the same. Most great advertising, is about understanding and bringing to the fore the unthought known, and yet most brands choose to struggle between work that highlights the obvious knowns-
The staring-in-your-face USP's, or the crutches of humor or celebrity to anchor their brands. Result- Brand awareness remains high, emotional connections remain low, and customers choose based on the best value proposition in the market, and not on the emotional connect with the brand.

The Missing Cult

In fact, it remains vitally interesting to me to see the number of customers who choose a brand based on the deal they're getting at a given point in time. Maruti Suzuki, which remains the largest selling auto brand in India, today struggles to actually have an emotional connect with its core audience, and frequently talks about its cars' ability to draw an audience. And yet, leaving out the Swift, none of its cars carry what can be called as a 'cult' appeal. Granted that mass manufacturers of products that sell in convenience category are not supposed to have a 'cult', but nearly 20 years of marketing to the masses, should have made at least one of its cars dear to a specific type of people. Today, each Maruti Car stands for the same thing- a safe choice.

Global car makers are today making a focussed attempt at marketing to India- right prices, latest designs (as opposed to launching old body types in the Indian market) and a focus on sending the right signals to the market. Volkswagen, with its Polo and Vento is already becoming a clear winner in terms of customer preference in recent months. Absolute numbers tell a story that's different- Maruti has way better distribution and manufacturing capacities, and ability to undercut every player in the market. But the Polo and the Vento are new and shiny- they belong to the 2010's, unlike every single Maruti car that remains a rehash of its 90's avatar.

But this is being too simplistic, for this only focusses on the product front. On the advertising front- Volkswagen has tried some basic stunts- The talking ad- they have already focussed on creating a buzz in the market. Why hasn't Maruti tried some stunt ever? Because they can afford to, and choose to, play safe.

The Unthought Known in this case, and in every other case in Indian advertising, remains unexplored, and faded out for the trash we are expected to see.

There are however, a few notable exceptions-

The Chevy Beat, ad by W+K-

and this is the Swift ad-

May be I'm blind. May be I'm just too sceptical. May be I just have a point. And its ironic that the ad for the Swift has the brief and the insight stated on screen.

What do you think?

How Major Indian Companies like to Hire

2010-12-29T00:31:00.000+05:30

India's burgeoning markets and rising fresh demand in various sectors are known elements. The people powering this growth; handpicked through rigorous processes by renowned companies. They in turn, offer the best chance that the said company has at succeeding in the market.

And Indian companies forever bemoan the lack of innovation amongst their people. Ok, some of them. But CXO level executives want more entrepreneurial leaders in their line. How do they achieve it?

By carefully selecting professionals, who just three years back, were another statistic in the great Indian middle class. Students, who just by their pedigree proved through the college they went to, suddenly become employable and bright.

Let's read between the lines, what Maruti Suzuki, India's largest passenger automobile company, wants from its employees-
Read it on Maruti's page here.

So, what does it take to be a Marutian?

We are always on the lookout for ambitious, hard working and innovation driven professionals (What they want to say). We provide good career opportunities that are second to none. (What they want to prove)

Maruti Suzuki adheres to certain norms (What they live by) for any vacancy. Given below is a list of norms that we follow:

Freshers, just out of college applicants are recruited only through campus recruitments from select empanelled campuses. (So if you are an innovative engineer who can create the next big thing in automobile engineering, you necessarily have to come from India's premier Tier-1 and Tier-2 engineering college)

Laterals, applicants having more than three years of experience are only considered. (So you don't really have a chance unless you've really scraped it at a competitor)

Good academic track record with minimum 60% throughout in all full time qualifications is mandatory. (Fair enough)

So we know where we stand. Where does that leave you, Maruti Suzuki?

Who's working on it?

2010-09-16T00:19:00.001+05:30

Greetings. It's been a long time coming. And its been worth it.

To revive a scene of semblance in the media of india,this writer has recently taken a break from facebook. Just one amongst many SNS sites making merry at the expense of time.

Moving on to work-

SEC A1 23-35 all over India are today working hard to earn their sizable salary. Once they've earned said salary, they are hard-pressed to spend it, for they either still live with their parents, or they can call in for reinforcements if they need to, for the 6th pay-commission has hit home. They have, what the sharks refer to, as high disposable income.

Let's narrow them down. Some of them are the truly downtrodden and feeble. They went through engineering degrees, for they were supposed to, and now they write code. In their free time, they surf porn, and others, they watch B4U.

I'm looking at a narrower demographic still. These are people watching zero TV. Why? For they spend their time watching things on their laptop. Seasons of Western comedies, and action series, and dramas. You know the types.

How I met your Mother | Glee | House | Two and a Half Men | Mad Men | The Sopranos | Heroes | 24 | CSI | Grey's Anatomy | Friends (yeah, even now)

And if you think this is a very small demographic that isn't worth looking at, you just need to go through my friends' friends' friends' list on facebook, meet all these interesting people in parties, and talk to them at length, and intelligently, about the goings on in these series. They are hooked, and Indian TV isn't reeling it in. Someone else is.

They are picking up their cues outside.

So who's working on content for these guys. Things that they don't necessarily choose but consume. Star World and TLC have some programming, but that's about it. And they could get on to Discovery and National Geographic. BYes, they see small boxes on facebook they might never click on. And they might notice an ad if you buy the cover of a Delhi Times or HT City (replace name with your city's TOI/HT supplement). But that's that.

You can't reach these people. So you, as a brand, are just going to rely on the fact that you used to do great advertising in the years gone by? That now, as a big brand, you can outspend everyone else in the market, and thus you will remain the number 1 brand in India? You can't, because you don't have the content to wrap it around.

Who will make this content? Who will take the challenge? Yashraj and Sony have mostly given up after Season 1.

I'm sure we'll need more than Ekta Kapoor.

2009-08-19T12:47:00.000+05:30

And I thought I was the only one looking.

This space is down but not out. While writing about brands and branding, I got to work on a real life brand, and play a not-so-not-important role in rolling it out from scratch. Will share details as soon as the brand is in front of your eyes.

Peace.

The Big Social B

2009-02-28T13:11:00.000+05:30

Blogosphere- A place for people to express their own feelings without recourse to their being edited by another person. A self-publishing medium. Where through the click of the mouse and a few minutes of hyperlinking, uploading and quoting, a writer can present as lucid a case as he wants on any subject that takes up his fancy.

Blogosphere- a deeply personal space, something held sacred by the people who write it as their place in the yard. They refuse to let other dictate what happens on it, well, sometimes they do. Mostly, there are minor changes to the kind of content being shared.

Blogging in India is still a very nascent trend. With a country where internet connectivity is dismally low, and a population that does not use the internet much except for functional uses (read email, social networking, search on random things- the most searched item in India was Katrina Kaif), blogging is taking on very slowly.

But as with every fledgling trend, there are a few high points. There are few journalists sharing their thoughts in an unedited manner, looking for things they are personally interested in, writing about things that the newspaper wouldn't let them write, and sharing stories about the industry in general. And lately, a few celebrities have also caught on to the medium. Aamir Khan was perhaps the first to get on the bandwagon, but his posts normally trend upwards when its time for a movie, so he is what we would call a marketing-gimmick-hungry-actor-who-became-a-blogger. There's Shobhaa De, who mostly reprints articles that she's written for newspapers across the country, amongst other things.

One of the most popular blogs however, belongs to the Superstar Amitabh Bachchan. He writes almost every day, without fail, and aims to create a real bond with his Extended Family (EF) as he calls them. He does this by responding to their comments (interactivity), providing them with details of where he's travelling, what he's up to, what things/people he saw/met (exclusivity), and by sharing his thoughts on various subjects in a very detailed manner (intimacy and bonding). Needless to say, his blog registers a very healthy no. of hits each day, and many of those who come spend a lot of time (stickiness).

The blog has off late received a lot of press due to the Slumdog Millionaire stand-off between Mr. Bachchan and the media. They twisted his statements around and Mr. Bachchan had to ensure that he replied to them through his blog. While the public opinion is still divided (due to the collective strength of the media, and their far wider reach), the blog as an entity, has managed to reach a even higher no. of hits. For an Indian blog, things have never been better before.

And here's where things went a little awry. The setting of the blog or the nature of the entries are not for self-promotion or promoting films featuring Mr. Bachchan or his equally illustrious family. He writes with rare candor and thoughtfulness, on an everyday basis. When a legend of Indian Cinema takes out time to talk to people (regardless of medium), people would like to listen. The setting is for these people to get together and talk to each other.

Would they really want to see Reid & Taylor there? A suiting company whose products he endorses, Reid & Taylor wanted to get presence on the blog. Fittingly, the blog's readers have protested about the presence of Reid and Taylor on the blog's masthead, and as per Mr. Bachchan, changes are being made. The suits are thinking.

Visibility for a brand is of paramount importance. It increases awareness, drives sales, brings long term loyalty amongst other things. But would you really want to see it everywhere? Where does the buck stop?

Here are a few things wrong with this entire 'want' of being present everywhere your ambassador is-

For Reid & Taylor-

1. The blog is an intimate space where the readers/audience are interacting with the Legend they only see at the Cinema(Films), TV(Film Reruns/Advertisements), Print (Interviews/Features), Radio (Soundbites/Interviews)- in short, all moderated mediums with no feedback possible. Viewers passively take all that comes at them. The Blog is where Amitabh Bachchan grants them a private audience. You have no place here. You belong to the other mediums but not here. This is like getting access to the private diary of Neil Armstrong and finding NASA recruitment ads all over it.

2. You've paid for being associated with the Brand Ambassador. It also means that you are associated for all good and bad things. While the TV and press may say something, they are momentary links to the personality. When Mr. Bachchan is writing something to refute allegations made by the press, there might be audiences who are trying to judge and maybe form negative opinion to what he says. After all, each statement is not being typed out by a PR-hack (We hope so), to ensure its political correctness and ability to convince. So do you really want to be present in this confused atmosphere?

3. How many of your TG actually visit a blog? How many of them visit Amitabh Bachchan's blog? Is there any research going into this? Or just the way most things go? By gut feeling?

For Mr. Bachchan-
1. Endorsements are good- for you and the brands, financially and image wise. We could write a tome here about it, but that for some other day. This is one place where you can put your foot down. For reasons mentioned above.

--

Social media is the next thing. Everyone wants to be on this interactive medium. There are ways to do it, and be successful about it. But can you please wait for 10 years before all relevant TA get a computer, learn how to use it, get reasonable internet connectivity and go beyond the social networking space.

And don't try to monetize blogs. You don't belong here. Not today. Not ever.

Dark Days, but Smiles across the Oceans

2008-11-28T17:58:00.000+05:30

Ok, so the title is very ambiguous. Let us clarify. Since like most Indians we are bound to follow the events in Mumbai on the news channel. Since most of them are going on about minute-by-minute reporting, we thought to move on to our own news sharing platform- twitter.

There was something very interesting to note once we got beyond the oh-my-god-another-rumour phase. Twitter search enables you to see the top trending topics. Another day and time and things would have been ok, but this is amazing.

The top three topics are of known importance at this time. Thanksgiving is an occasion celebrated across the hemisphere. And hence its mention in tweets across the board are fine. Its where WalMart came in that we were perplexed. And the curiousity, even in times like these, got the best of us.

The tweets, all of them about the only non-essential topic within the top 5, is about the things people are getting to see on Black Friday.

About Black Friday:

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees take the day off, which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

The news media frequently refer to Black Friday as the busiest retail shopping day of the year, but this is not always accurate. While it has been one of the busiest days in terms of customer traffic, in terms of actual sales volume, from 1993 through 2001 Black Friday was usually the fifth to tenth busiest day. In 2002 and 2004, however, Black Friday ranked second place, and in 2003 and 2005, Black Friday actually did reach first place. The busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States (in terms of both sales and customer traffic) usually has been the Saturday before Christmas.

In many cities it is not uncommon to see shoppers lined up hours before stores with big sales open. Once inside, the stores shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have only a few of the big draw items. Electronics and popular toys are often the most sought-after items and may be sharply discounted. Because of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, many choose to stay home and avoid the hectic shopping experience. The local media often will cover the event, mentioning how early the shoppers began lining up at various stores and providing video of the shoppers standing in line and later leaving with their purchased items. Traditionally Black Friday sales were intended for those shopping for Christmas gifts. For some particularly popular items, some people shop at these sales in order to get deep discounts on items they can then resell, typically online.

We have a lot of things to say about this. Since they fall outside the purview of this space, we shall let you do your own thinking.

Happy Thanksgiving. Our prayers for the people in Mumbai and the worldover who are affected by this tragedy.

Peter Schiff had it right

2008-11-26T15:16:00.000+05:30

One of the main reasons we started rhetoric69 was to say things no one else would talk about. Though with time, we've found more people who have similar ambitions, and learned from them, we have yet to adopt a stand that cuts through the bull-crap that people can come out with.

Adage and Bnet, two substantial industry portals, have come out with some guns firing in criticism of The Ad Contrarian, a blog run by the CEO of Hoffman/Lewis, a chicago based ad-agency. Not in real time, but these stories are very similar to the video that follows. The industry heavy weights are claiming the same thing as the market pundits did when Peter Schiff was on with his 'tirade' against real issues in the US financial market.

We have been following TAC for a long time, delighting on its take on the rhetoric that's out there. Read the adage story here, and the BNet story here.

Ofcourse, none of them have the decency to link to his blog. Wish they have to delete these entries from their archives just as the other financial pundits are out there washing their own linen.

Rock On, Bob. Hope the gaffes are caught in time. The only thing is, with communication, everything can be washed over.

The Missing Link

2008-11-20T11:03:00.000+05:30

Indian Oil is one of India's biggest oil marketing companies. State-owned, the company has seen better days back when crude had not scaled up as it had. And then disaster struck, but things have calmed down somewhat.

So, this is not about their fortunes. This is about their karma. Now, there are only so many ways you can sell your company once you're done peddling your propane-boosted special petrol. You can even get a brand ambassador, or you can keep harking about your lubricants (the automobile kind) or choose to do a CSR-cum-brand-building campaign.

Yeah, the last one sounds good. It does all those tingly things to the brand that makes the brand manager go weak in the you know what. So, IOC calls for a pitch. The agency, knowing what a rich old goat it has, decides to close in.

They decide for a plan where they talk about saving the world, through environmental conversation. So one of the angles they take on it is how the world would be dark in a few years if we don't conserve oil. Makes sense to me.

Then they place it, where else, but in their petrol vending stations. You know, prime real estate, large no. of people go to a petrol station each day, so we can share with our customers how deeply we feel about the environment.

There are a couple of lacunae. We print the flex, a huge 50X20 ft piece of CSR-speak. We place it. Where do we place it? We place on the inside corner of the petrol station. Where no one can see it. And then we light it up with 4 state-of-the-art halonix lamps.

And here's the post-err of the decade. The copy in Hindi reads- Maybe, in a few years, our bright world can drown in darkness (Literal translation). The real kick is the tag-line- Door ki Soch- Thinking Ahead.

Yeah, you are thinking ahead. By plotting media with lights on, about lights being off. Where no one can see it anyways.

The campaign features at IOC petrol stations all over the city. I've counted out atleast 13 such hoardings at different locations where they have done this. Just imagine the carbon footprint of this one!

Age Old, Brand new

2008-11-19T10:17:00.001+05:30

JWT for Sulekha.com

The ad has a very kitschy and tip-of-the-moment feel. The instant gratification idea fits in too. We like!

Perception

2008-11-18T19:15:00.000+05:30

Advertising at its best picks up clues from the ground, and amplifies them for placing brands in the right cultural context.

HBO launched a new show, based on an Englishman who comes to India to... run a call center. While the show is yet to be seen by us, this print ad has a hidden message-

Quality is an image we all want to portray. What's the image for quality though?

Even we couldn't figure a way out. Tell us of any ideas that you may have. For a country with a gazillion diverse languages and dialects, and slang on top, this is a conundrum hard to crack.

In other unrelated news, the strangely named kijiji.com, has been renamed Quickr.com. Thank god for we were thinking this was on the lines of the astrology-compliant ezeego1.com. With investors like ebay and VC fund Matrix partners, this would be interesting to watch. Just hope they can do something with their site. Looks going the same yahoo-ebay-cluttered-layout way.

In India, the main issue is getting real people online. To post. To contribute. All we have on quickr's second-hand car page, for example, are brokers and insurance agents.
Can someone think around this problemo?

Maybe?

Alternate Channels for Ad Agencies

2008-11-17T14:31:00.000+05:30

Times are tough or so we are told. While this has meant a mixed bag of fortunes for some brands and agencies, some of them are turning things on their head. Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Mother are two international agencies that have turned to running businesses where they see a 'lag' in the customer expectations and brands available.

BBH has started two businesses through a new division- Zag. These are Pick Me Up vegetarian meals for 'bi-tarians'- people who are non-vegetarians but eat vegetarian meals as well, and Ila Dusk alarms. Both are managed by professional vendors and sold at UK's biggest retailers- Tesco and Marks & Spencer. Expected to be multi-million brands within the year, their initial openings indicate as much.

The other agency, Mother has been ON on this front. They've had multiple products such as books, shopping bags, candies and gourmet hot-dogs. While some of these brands are novelties, some have seen interest by VC's and other financial whizkids with their funds coming in.

In India, there's no example that we've located of such businesses or try-outs that have registered a blip. Agencies have so far been content on a ATL-heavy campaigning structure for big brands, with hardly any local brands achieving cult status on their own. Leaving out stand-alone restaurants, or local sweetmeat sellers Haldirams in north India, Jumbo King vada Pavs or MTR is southern India, we have hardly any niche local brands to speak of. And this is only the food industry.

While Mother and BBH are what can be described as 'boutique' agencies, the mainstream ones haven't really started anything exclusive, leaving out launching business specific agencies such as Emfatico (for Dell worldwide) or Altitude (for Jet in India).

It would be interesting to see if any opportunities arise in this sphere, in India. With a brand-starved, aspiring TG ready to look for brands in everything they do, this might be the big ticket for anyone willing to stick his neck out.

Tell us if you know of any agency-operated businesses in India or otherwise.

Pic Courtesy: Adage.com

Placement

2008-11-10T21:02:00.000+05:30

see more pwn and owned pictures

Brevity and Wit

2008-11-04T01:16:00.000+05:30

Yeah, so you and me know a few things. And each time we need to say anything, we spend a good (x)k words to express ourselves, to paraphrase Airtel.

But then there are some people who manage to say so much more in so little time, and yet make such perfect sense.

Take The Ad Contrarian for example. Though you need to go deep through the archives to get what I'm talking about, take this one post for example. How many people you know can take you and me on a world trip in less than 300 words?

About The Ad Contrarian-

Bob Hoffman is ceo of Hoffman/Lewis advertising in San Francisco and St. Louis.

And we're just about his biggest fans.

And oh, by the way- The japanese have found a new way to introduce you to their jingles

Doesn't that sound wicked? Imagine what percussion can be created on the great indian roads- we're after all, potholed for extra pleasure. Imagine the Sony Ericcson Thump.

Can a smile get the fizz back?

2008-10-25T20:07:00.000+05:30

Well, Pepsi seems to think it can. One of world's largest cola manufacturers has decided to smile in these financially tough times.
The new logo, according to various sources, is supposed to regenerate sales for the Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD) segment for Pepsi. According to Indira Nooyi, this would be one of many steps that stops the decline of the CSD across the world.
Does a smile mean more people would drink the fizz? We dunno. What's your say?

Why the US financial system packed up

2008-10-13T17:26:00.001+05:30

Well, we specialize in a lot of things. An analysis of the financial systems is not one of them.

So if you've been wondering about what's been happening in the US, this is a must-read. Trust me when I say I've gone through reams of text on this issue, but no one made it clear as greatbong did.

Part one is here.
Part two is here too.
This is necessary to form a perspective when you have some one who knows a little too much or too little about the entire issue around you.

Outlook thinks they're cool

2008-10-13T01:42:00.000+05:30

You are an Indian publishing major. You print one of the popular magazines that are on offer in the smörgåsbord of print media available today.

You are called in to launch a magazine aimed at high-end travelers while they wait at the airport lounges. You have the wherewithal and the talent to launch the product. You stir up things. Get to the advertisers and get the pages in. The edit team comes in and makes a plan of what to write about. You decide to focus on travel, gizmos, trends, lifestyle, entertainment, health advice, as well as reviews on movies, music and books. These are things that any one waiting for an airplane would want to read about.

So, you are ready. Every thing's up and running. Only one issue. You don't have a name yet. So your marketing team comes in. You call in the consultants. All of you all have a 'meeting', where you 'brainstorm'. And you think hard. Nothing comes up. You don't want to go too niche while naming the product.

And then someone has a bright spark. They decide to name the magazine after the ambience that it exists in. You name it Outlook Lounge.

Whoa! Creativity! hell yeah!

Only thing is, there's a big daddy who already publishes a whopper of a Saturday supplement. So you've done two things at once. 'Invent' the most generic title for your publication, and irritate the heck out of your competitors.

No wonder, they sue.

Any media that can't be exchanged

2008-10-12T07:34:00.001+05:30

Advertising, stripped of all the strategic lexicon that we clothe it in, is a nuisance for everyone involved. It makes people consumerists, shows people inequality through material goods, and tells them how poor and miserable their life is, without a pack of fairness cream.

All that said and done, we at Rhetoric69 love advertising. To bits.

But the gods said, not fair. The guys who inundate the planet with their billboards selling everything from god to garbage, must be punished. So, he invents the internet. And he lets us invent advertising on the internet. And then he lets us put it on. Pop-ups that irritate the hell out of users. Research says place banners, let people click on the 'banners' for looking in if they want to.

So far, so good.

Then, someone has an idea about making a site for the media itself. You know, we have a lot of agencies, a lot of media companies, and a lot of clients who are interested in news related to brands and marketing. Who like to follow what's happening in the world of brands. So, they give us exchange4media.com- the website that promises to be it all.

The people come on, they start reading things. They like it that they have a place to call their own. They need to have a look-in on the world that they inhabit.

Guess what? God decides to give back, in no equal measure, everything that they've inflicted on the masses. So this is what they get-

This is no fun. This is the first fold of the website, where we're all told most of the stuff that a user looks for, should be presented in a manner as concise as possible. And then exchange4media happens.

Well, you see, we've started believing in our own gospel. We need the ads to tell us which brand is the best to use to engage our audiences, with our brands, through ads. Its kind of incestuous.

Or may be we are just old-fashioned. We don't quite understand the way things are. May be naive?

Check out the atrociousness here. And I'd be damned if they get clickthroughs from my site.

Facing the books on a tweet

2008-10-11T21:16:00.000+05:30

You and me have been using Orkut and Facebook for some time now. We've met friends, acquaintances and office colleagues from the past. The wars have been fought and lost. They all exist with equal elan in a market that's no one's for the taking.

The war in the world outside India is being fought in a different universe. Outiside of Brazil and India, Orkut is a very old-world establishment. The apps that it came out with during the past few months have been present on facebook for atleast a year. Hence, users have made facebook the app of their choice.

But facebook's numero uno status is being challenged. By brevity. Twitter is attempting to take them to the cleaners. With a short 160 character message that lets the world know what you're upto, Twitter combines social networking with micro-blogging, and takes the entire universe of facebook to another level.

So facebook is swaying. And their marketing and senior management is thinking. Thinking hard.

They make a new facebook layout. Doesn't help. Most people feel it sucks. Users form "I hate the new facebook layout" groups on facebook itself. Twitter getting traffic like mad. People using twitter to get hitched, to promote TV shows, and people are writing poems about it.

So facebook is going mad. They don't know where to go, what to do. Nail biting, Karl Zuckerberg comes to visit his baba (spiritual guru, you naughty people) right here in India. And I think he gets some advice. Now, marketing advice from a spiritual guru can be enlightening. Knowing their success in India, they know the pulse of their target audience.

So the baba asks: बेटा, क्या करते हैं सब लोग ट्विट्टर पे? (What do users do on Twitter?)
KZ (flummoxed by the way the baba twangs his way to twitter) replies: I really don't know. I gave them a widget and an app for everything that a six-year old can think of. But people, they are bent on sending each other texts about what's up in their life. I mean, how base(ic).

Baba (now unable to understand the fancy accent), asks his assitant to show him this problem face to face. Baba remembers his days of marketing counterfeit goods maybe. And tells Zuckerberg a trick in secret. Zuckerberg has a sudden calm epiphany (oxymoron, for everything else in this conversation is).

His eyes light up, he catches the next flight back and comes to the office. He looks refreshed, the dark circles are gone. And he's got the team together.

Zuckerberg: Let's get this baby rolling. Open up the trenches and show me the enemy's position.

They look at the screen, they see Zuckerberg. There's this storm brewing in his eyes, probably an overhang from the Star Frappe from the flight.
All of them look intensely at him. He whispers something. They come in closer to listen to him. Suddenly, there's this great cosmic transfer of ancient wisdom from the sages to the facebook team. All of them feel the warmth returning back to them. A couple of gofers are dispatched to Starbucks for their decaf Lattes. The office is decorated with the message of the day- The Guru is supreme! Balloons in the shape of birds are blown up, for they now have the ability to surpass every thing that there is.

The apps team is set hard to work. This will be facebook's newest feature ever. It will change the way the users engage with the brand. The internet will never be the same again. Facebook launches the revolutionary feature-
The Power of right now! All this while, Twitter has been beating them over the bush with their tweets which answer a single question. This is their USP, their business plan. Coupled with the ability to integrate Web, SMS and paired devices, Twitter is what most people, short of time, use.
So faceboook has an answer. Right Now. They add the words to twitter philosophy, make it the prime piece of rib on their platter. Now since most people have been lapping up the jalapenos, the bell peppers and all but bathing in the sauce, they'd love the cherry topping too.

Too bad twitter had it first. We are facebook, we are mighty, what if we don't have a fresh idea. We'll do what is needed to win. Even if it means copying the strategy of our competitor right off. Even if the idea struck them first.

In these tough financial times, help can come from unexpected sources. facebook had Neem Karoli Baba. What about you?

When the stars come down

2008-10-10T22:19:00.000+05:30

First, how can it be done wrong

And then, how it can be turned around and done with style.

This is Agnello Dias' parting shot as he quits JWT to open his own shop with Mr. Padhi. The spot open with a scene reminiscent of the Smirnoff 'Life is calling, where are you' spot, but from there, it has a life of its own. Instead of using the celebrities as an add-on, the spot uses them as products, as they are, in channel surfing. Each shot has a lot of stories of its own.

Celeb endorsements have been a field for debate over the past few months. With a sudden spurt from every other brand, and the market having spread from the SRK-Amitabh duopoly, they are newer ways of expressing brands each day. Dhoni has been a big winner, and the others are cashing in too.

By the way, what's up with Mudra? Terra for Rural Activation, Water for Brand Consulting and now Celcius for Events, there's been a spate of new things happening. With agencies telling brands over the years to consolidate their brands under one umbrella, it is surprising they want different monikers for each team, so to say.

With everyone jumping in the fray to have a division for all kind of brand activations, where would the specialist, niche agencies go? A little bird tells us NDTV is also due to come out with their events arm.
The race is on!

The Politicos join the party

2008-09-29T19:24:00.000+05:30

As we worry about inflation, rising input costs and other detrimental things, there are a few things worth looking at-
Ad agencies, who've been looking forward to some business (as always) in these difficult times, have a rather new source to tap. The Indian General elections.
The BJP learnt its lesson well in the 2004 campaign. Under Pramod Mahajan, it used new media pretty efficiently in getting people to hear what the Prime Ministerial candidate had to say, through the internet, mobile messaging and targeted media placements. What happened by the time it all got over was a different matter altogether.
That aside, election advertising is big business. As per reports, the Congress account, worth upto Rs. 150 crores, is being fought over for, as we read. Crayons and JWT are the agencies in the lead, and they hope to help the government get into poll mode.
There are however, a few issues worth looking at. In a marketing company, both the agency executives and the client side managers understand the basic polish communication must have, not too turn off the target audience. In the election campaigns so far, the clear issue that emerges is that they have to be approved by people who understand propaganda well, but do not understand the 'polish'. Ad agencies also give them a rough deal by bowing down and scrimping on budgets to make the maximum money while it lasts.
Result- We have copy-heavy full pagers with all the leaders' anthology placed around like the pantheon of gods India has revered over the years, with a specific interest in letting the people of India know how the 300.2 km long Gangaghat-Yamunasagar canal has benefited them.
Not very palatable for the urban yuppie who treats the election day as just another holiday to sleep late on.
Not very readable by the average man-on-the-street for this lower-than-the-other-segment affinity, or ability, to read.
The BJP brass says in the linked story that they are pretty enthused by the Obama site, amongst others. If they bring up something half as nice, I'll vote for Congress.
The websites will be things to watch out for. Given our politicos liking for color and pomp, it'd be a riot. Keep watching this space for action!

When Google Launched Chrome

2008-09-16T12:53:00.000+05:30

A couple of interesting things that happened at the launch of the google chrome. As is prevalent in the tech industry, all the major tech bloggers across the world were sent this Google Chrome Comic Book. An interesting way to launch a browser. And mind you, these were sent in hardcopy, via mail. The comic gives a good example of how the world's biggest brand goes back to our favorite way of showing things.

Second, the google chrome launch was known beforehand by atleast one blogger in Germany who received the mail on the labour day weekend, for it wasn't a holiday there. Luckily for google, the whole world was on a long weekend and didn't receive updates in time. What could have been a major leak was thwarted due to the holiday weekend. Lucky break.

Here comes another one

2008-09-02T20:57:00.000+05:30

And bites the dust. India's nationalised banks are a troubled lot these days. With some 'foreign' players slated to come in, newer technologies, and younger customers, its time for them to change.

No one talks about the fact that they are in it, becuase everyone else is. Bank of Baroda started the trend in 2005 with their highly publicised logo and branding change. The 'sun' logo created by the bangalore-based Ray+Keshavan, who've helped other banks and brands since then. While R+K helped consumer brands such as Himalaya (earlier Ayurvedic Concepts) and Bru with their brand change, Bank of Baroda was their entry into the big league. The brand reportedly spent over Rs. 100 crores on the branding change.

Since then, its been a mad race to the bottom. SBI essentially remained the same but smartened up. J&K Bank got themselves into a multi-colored bird. Then, Canara Bank came in with their triangles. And UTI bank changed to Axis due to licensing-related issues.

All this has resulted in upwards of Rs. 1000 crores spends on signages, Branding and ATL activities. The OOH coverage meant entire metros were plastered with high-quality graphics, branches with refurbished with shiny formica. And the service, well, it remained the same.

The only technology change in these banks have been core banking services. What that basically meant was that one could bank anywhere, any time. What others like HDFC, ICICI et al have provided for donkeys' years. And customers abroad have had for granted for just about a decade longer. The people and the service look and feel and do the same things that they did for their customers. Disappoint them with indifferent attitudes towards everything that they do.

They think the customer is young. Well, yes, he is. The thing is, he's not banking with them. He's banking with the aforementioned ICICI's, HDFC's of the world. Because their employer has signed corporate account deals with them. Wait, they must be giving out cheques to people who operate in these banks. Fat chance, they spend most of their salaries paying EMI's for loans they've taken from these very banks. But there must be some cash left. That's spent through merchant terminals on points-of-purchase at various places of interest (read Baristas, Levis' outlets, PVR's).

Ok, so we exaggerate. Inflate our argument to a level which is unrealistic. But there's some truth to it. May be a little. May be too little for these bank's brand custodians (various senior, aged bankers) and their new fangled brand agencies (Ray+Keshavan, Elephant Strategy+Design and now the new entrant, Water, from Mudra) to realise.

Well, the agencies, their coffers fill through these campaigns. The bankers, this is what they can present in their next annual report, if, just in case, someone asks them, why new relationships are growing at a sluggish pace (relationships in our jargon mean anything that the bank establishes with their customers- our jargon is pretty simple, eh?).

Maybe we have a grouse to settle. Because this writers parents' have banked with Canara Bank since he was a little kid. And his family business has had a relationship with Bank of Baroda for a similar amount of time. And being a responsible young adult, he's visited both of them for atleast more than a decade. And that the bank officers remain as grouchy or personable as ever. The clerks still scoff if you visit them from another branch. Just because the core banking service has been put in by their higher ups, doesn't mean that they've been paid more to be nice to customers.

Our wishlist-

1. These funds were directed to more plausible issues,so that the cashier doesn't have to receive a ledger book each time you decide to withdraw cash through a cheque.

2. To increase capacity in unmanned interactions (ATM's)- Don't you just hate the queue a la the ration shop queues of yore.

3. To make their office-bearers a little more skilled with their interaction skills.

May be this piece makes you think of an urban nincompoop, who thinks nothing of these banks' service to the nation. Of how they have changed the face of the nation with their centuries worth of business relationships with customers across the country.

Sample this-

With the new logo and branding, Union Bank of India promises to the customer value for money service, a variety of channels through which the customer can choose to carry out banking activities, a timeline with all services offered, and absolutely no opaqueness with respect to the services and products offered.

promises to the customer value for money service- If they weren't doing that already, we have some issues.

a variety of channels through which the customer can choose to carry out banking activities-yeah, they've managed to get ATM's and a website in places, just about a decade after everyone else.

a timeline with all services offered- Well, ISO certifications demand that, no issues if they are just for those stale signboards within the branch. Its a fact that it still takes upwards of 3 hours to get a draft made in any of these banks.

absolutely no opaqueness with respect to the services and products offered- Yeah, being a customer service business demands that as a basic communication objective.
You mean they were opaque? What is it?

Stick to the past and you'll miss the future

2008-08-29T17:16:00.001+05:30

Some brands and their custodians just refuse to listen. To the wind, to the trade and to their cusotmers. What they have in the end is a lost market share and the brand's slow but sure death.

In this week's FE Brandwagon, Ravi Karamcheti, managing director and country business general manager, consumer digital imaging group, India, for Kodak says,

"It's far more satisfying to click and then print your pictures. "

Well, the last time we checked, all of India that has a digicam, in most cases has one or more family members who are a part of some social networking (orkut, facebook) or photo sharing site (picasa, flickr) where they post and publish their pictures. In fact, the only pictures we've seen around that are printed are those in wedding albums and in the print media. Kodak has stuck to the film business, and is the only one still selling film cameras- One camera with two films free. No wonder its at the end of the queue for market leadership in the 'real', digicam market.

Companies that stick to old products, technologies will only get so far with their strategies. They destroy the positioning they've earned over long years of brand building. Just by refusing to let go of their products or brands, or wanting to milk them long after their decline has ended.

Take Skoda for example. Octavia was its flagship brand in India for a number of years, and it did well in the mid D-segment that it was operating in.

Then, fatigue set in with the old car, and its design, and to upgrade, it launched the model launched worldwide as the new Octavia as the Skoda Laura in India- the old Octavia still continued with heavy price discounts and offers et al. Today, other cars such as Civic and even SX4 (now in hitting range due to the lower price tag of the Octavia) are taking business away in droves.

What then, prompts managements to do this-

Carmakers not to put brakes on old models any time soon

ET page 4 Business of Brands

They just refuse to listen to what the market is saying. Models like the Vista and the Laura have replaced the Indicas and the Octavias of the world. Being available at various price points for every one just drives the 'real' customers away.

They can just look closer home. Hindustan Motors' Ambassador will give them enough fuel for thought.

The Forum

2008-08-28T10:32:00.000+05:30

For the short period that R69 has been here, we've wondered what exactly is our mandate?

For us its simple, to bring across what no one's talking about. The web being what it is, everyone has a point of view.

What we bring to you is our take on both events that occur as we speak, and people's take on long-standing principles of m(ass) media, marketing and all other disciplines remotely related. Yes, even psychology would make an appearance in due time.

For today, enjoy this vintage cadbury's ad, which is like no other you've ever seen.

Its in the Air!

The Axe chocolate doesn't go down well

2008-08-25T10:10:00.000+05:30

Hello Folks. We are back. I know it was a false start and all that, but we promise to rise up to the challenge now, whatever it is.

The Axe Chocolate Boy commercial has just been banned by the Indian government. They've decided that shots of women eating out of chocolate boy's arse aren't that appetising.

Axe's always had a very funky feel to their ads, but you all know that. What really takes me down is the way Unilever approaches its brands.

Yes, I think brands are people, and they have their own attributes. But Axe tells me women are brainless hot chicks who log on to every man wearing their scent, Fair&Lovely tells me they need the fairness cream to live the good life. So all in all, women, their prime audience have both an identity issue and a olfactory fixation on a certain tool.

But then, they have another brand. They are a FMCG conglomerate, no? So they have..... Dove! The Dove Evolution film and their other work talks exactly about what they do with their other brands. Pretty brave. But the consumers are fools no? They are different no?

Dove's used by sassy Samira. And Fair&Lovely goes to familial-bound Mamta. And Axe is ofcourse for hot-and-horny Sameer. All of them have their fix. And HUL's raking in the money. And its left for sucker-for-branding types like us to break it all apart.

--

Sorry this space looks very uninteractive, with no screen shots or videos of things that we're talking about. That too shall come. Soon.

Overkill

2008-06-08T12:18:00.000+05:30

The Aarushi murder case has everyone up in arms. I have seen coverage in everything from news channels to glossies, taken part in SMS polls on news channels, read features in city supplements about how family dinners have turned into battlefields ala Kyunki discussing who murdered her?

Just one story that covered the servant who was also killed, and hasn't even been mentioned. A Psychatrist was quoted saying people disassociate themselves with the servant since they earlier thought of him to be the killer, and now they feel guilty about it.

Not to bore you with details but the coverage bears scrutiny. Especially since atleast two channels have been served Showcause Notices over their character assasinations of Dr. Talwaar and that of Aarushi.

This case assumes more importance than the Prince case, and will be discussed in more media classes than others. The media's frenzy to cover the case has resulted in top cops bungling entire investigations and shooting themselves in the foot. It has resulted in the state CM to call in the CBI. Its another thing that the CBI has bigger and better things to do, which it still bungles.

So who's playing the big role here? The Media.

They've covered everything from the color of the blood-stained bedsheet, called all the people on the call-lists of the victim and the accused, brought people to the studio to analyse things, and what not.

One could say a lot of things here. Like how so many others are murdered and left to die, of how the local police did not follow up the Nithari case. It was only the tales of debauchery and cannibalism that brought that case to the fore.

So what's up here? Is there something to learn out of it? Well, me thinks there is. Let's have a look at the Missing White Woman Syndrome. It isn't rocket science. It just says that the media gives disproportionate attention to victims of a specific age, race and gender. There's nothing they wouldn't do to cover such a crime.

You could be sure that things haven't really been the same these last few days. You don't have the CBI coming in for a teen murder. This isn't the US where the FBI cracks everything from drug cartels to well- publicized cases of missing white women. Get the drift?

There was another case of a servant drugging a family in Noida, and killing one family member, a middle-class, middle-aged lady. The case is almost dead before you can say Tez.

I rest my case. For you to ponder.

The Citi needs some sleep

2008-05-16T12:01:00.000+05:30

Citibank is going the whole hog. At least trying to hog it. And the pitch is through IPL. The mega cricket event. Let's let the people have a solid dose and there'll never be anything else between us.

Sample this ad-

Beautiful, no? Goes right into your heart and warms its cockles, if you're from Delhi. Otherwise, goes right up there with the Hutch Half Marathon ads where they made Delhi, and each and every part run. My heart goes out for it. I love it.
But the cynic and the critic in me have a small little question. Pray tell me why does the rest of India need to know about the Citi Metro Card on the most expensive airtime available. Only accessible in Delhi? Only USP in Delhi? Only that the Delhi Metro doesn't sway half as much as your ad does?

Can we call this a scam? I don't think so. Its execution at its best. They couldn't do anything else with it. A brilliant execution needs to be put on air on primetime. Makes people sway and reach out for the card. I did a small FG yesterday at the McDonalds where I was. Everybody was smiling at the end of it.
The radio spots are funky too. One has an auto driver offering to take passengers for free, as they choose to travel by Metro. They can award the creative, and shoot the media planner in the leg. Definitely not a Citi moment of success.

My sympathies with Prasanna Sankhe and Ashish Khazanchi, the guys from ambience who made the ad. Good Luck.

Nuevo

2008-05-09T00:59:00.000+05:30

This is the first line on this blog. We read somewhere that its the first line that makes the difference. Well, we surely have't made one. So here goes-

This blog is our attempt to showcase, throw bricks at, laugh upon and be humbled by the greatness that's all around us. Through Brands, People and the eight other things Kotler says can be marketed. I will share my views (and yours hopefully, for I want to be on didactic mode), on everything that has to do with anything communication.
Today, we start with a campaign that's doing the rounds in New Delhi where I'm currently based. Its by the Delhi government, to showcase their achievements, for the forthcoming elections. Having witnessed India Shining by the erstwhile NDA, and a similar one by the current UPA Govt., I took this with a pinch of salt. Going to the CBD in the Delhi, I noticed these ads placed at Bus Shelters.
The creatives are nice enough. I'll get pictures up shortly. The copy made sense- 'Mere Liye Badal Rahi hai Dilli' (My Delhi is changing for me), a nice two-way street of positive dialogue. A shot of a young woman in our newly-fangled low-floor buses, and another with a guy. Looked cute. The only issue was the placement. All these bus-shelters, atleast 8 of them, were situated on Janpath, the power corridor of India. If they were to be seen by country's leaders, yes, the placement was on target. But if you really want to show the common voting man what it is about, you place them out on the streets, not on the street.
Total waste of money and creative energy. Wish the media planning guy thought about achieving objectives, not appeasing adjectives. The masserati are the ones who vote, and they don't travel through the VIP district. Couldn't an institutional ad campaign take lessons from all the
Happy-birthday-holi-diwali-gurupurab-christmas-lohdi-gudi padwa-Onam brigade? Make flexes and hang them all over the city. Or is too cheap a shot? Are you trying to invoke the non-voting public, driving its X3s and Bugatis to vote? Hell, half of them are out there trying to get your ticket!
In other, international news, the famed Dove 'Real Beauty' Pics Could Be Big Phonies as per Adage. A leading 'celebrity fashion photo retoucher' clained he touched the photos a little bit, but kept the 'mileage' showing. Dove's marketers Unilever have been in hot soup over this before, with consumer bodies pitting ads from the Dove campaigns with the Axe campaigns, and calling Unilever a hypocrite. Read more about it here.
This is the gist of what I want to do. Some of you are here because you got an email from me. Please keep coming back. The last line in this post was the one you just read. We wrote it because bloggers love the attention. If your comments have something more than you're baap/cool/this is nice and share something, we'd love to chew upon it.