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Ad or Mad

See you at home… Airtel or BigTV?

October 13, 2008

So, my confusion was genuine enough and I was not puzzled unnecessarily … I was observing this ad on television showcasing a big Red Sofa and “See you at home” with small fonts mentioning “coming to your home on 9th Oct” but looks like they revealed their product on 8th itself as suddenly on 8th I saw the same Red Sofa with “See you at home with 32 cinema halls” or “See you at home with digital picture and sound” kind of promotion from BigTV. First reaction – ah another one from BigTV but then immediately one thought crossed my mind – why are they doing teaser campaigns again when they have already launched the product with that hopeless “Ho toh BIG ho campaign”! Read More…

Link to my full post: http://marketingchitchat.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/see-you-at-home%e2%80%a6-airtel-or-bigtv/

See you at home… Airtel or BigTV?

October 10, 2008

So, my confusion was genuine enough and I was not puzzled unnecessarily … I was observing this ad on television showcasing a big Red Sofa and “See you at home” with small fonts mentioning “coming to your home on 9th Oct” but looks like they revealed their product on 8th itself as suddenly on 8th I saw the same Red Sofa with “See you at home with 32 cinema halls” or “See you at home with digital picture and sound” kind of promotion from BigTV. First reaction – ah another one from BigTV but then immediately one thought crossed my mind – why are they doing teaser campaigns again when they have already launched the product with that hopeless “Ho toh BIG ho campaign”! Got quite confused but then thought maybe because of the response to their pathetic creative last time they are planning to re-launch the campaign with a different message.

But well, got an answer to my confusion when I read yesterday’s Livemint having coverage on how BigTV crashed its rival Airtel Digital TV’s teaser campaign. That Red Sofa and “See you at home” campaign was originally of Airtel but the idea got skyjacked by BigTV’s campaign immediately. Since that teaser campaign was not having any mention of Airtel or any other brand, so Airtel was not having any copyright on the same. BigTV launched a stunningly similar campaign using that very similar Red Sofa and the same line “See you at home” with some extra additions like 32 cinema halls, digital picture etc. Ah, so it was a spoof on Airtel Ad and yet another counter strategy to spoil the campaign of a rival brand! Now spoofs, satire or take-offs are not something new in ad world in India – be it the never ending war between Cola giants or the strife between Telecommunication players. But now looks like with increasing number of players the same trend is observed in DTH industry as well. Nothing majorly wrong strategy wise but somehow I didn’t like this counter movement of BigTV at all – first they launch their service with a terrible campaign like “Ho toh BIG ho” and now this force fitted spoof using that red sofa needlessly. Wish instead of thinking of spoiling Airtel’s ad campaign if the creative agency of BigTV would have thought of some other original idea then chances are that they might have come out with something more sensible than nonsensical “Ho toh BIG ho”…

Aamir in Tata Sky Ad

September 16, 2008

I had written earlier in July about Jhingala’s counter strategy and now that Aamir’s ad is out, I have a mixed reaction. Not that I didn’t like the same but at the same time it’s not something which made me say wow! The ad as we have seen features Aamir Khan in a half man half woman (ardhnarishwar) role. Here is a short description of the ad & the video from youtube:

Aamir plays the role of a Punjabi bride AND groom who are fighting over which satellite connection to have? Bride says if he will not get the SKY connection for her, she will go back to her house in London. They fight over TATA or SKY and then dramatically groom says, its India where Tata and Sky are already married to each other and hence by having TATA SKY the consumer not only gets the world class technology from SKY but also reliability and best service from TATA.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUv9HlMpkI]

Well, as a consumer I think it has definitely caught my attention but I think it has its plus and minuses.

  • Message: I think the message is clear and emphasizes the strength of brand very clearly. I’m sure not many people were aware that TATA SKY is a 80:20 joint venture between Tata Sons and BSkyB, a Rupert Murdoch company and this ad very subtly conveys this message thereby accentuating the tech supremacy of the product.

  • Creative Idea: Hmmm, for this I do have a mixed reaction…Am wondering if there could have been any better creative idea for this campaign. Well, starting was sort of ok but I didn’t like the cheesy bollywoodish style ending of the same and the ending line which sounded something like “jo family dekhe Tata Sky saath who rahe hamesha saath saath”! Ummm knowing the excellent creative ideas which Rediffusion DY&R comes up with, I think it could have been bettered up.

  • Execution elements: I think this was brilliant! Whatever the creative idea was Aamir has lived upto it beautifully. Once again you can’t resist from praising Aamir’s acting and performance in this half man half woman role. BTW I think he is looking quite cute as Punjabi bride, LOL :). The ad definitely has got a recall value because of its execution and presentation style.

The ad is making noise all across, now its time to wait and watch if this brand campaign boosts up the figures of Tata Sky as against DishTV whose last campaign (SRK announcing Set Top Box Free!) was pure n pure sales promo campaign.

Aamir in Tata Sky Ad

September 16, 2008

I had written earlier in July about Jhingala’s counter strategy and now that Aamir’s ad is out, I have a mixed reaction. Not that I didn’t like the same but at the same time it’s not something which made me say wow! The ad as we have seen features Aamir Khan in a half man half woman (ardhnarishwar) role. Here is a short description of the ad & the video from youtube:
Aamir plays the role of a Punjabi bride AND groom who are fighting over which satellite connection to have? Bride says if he will not get the SKY connection for her, she will go back to her house in London. They fight over TATA or SKY and then dramatically groom says, its India where Tata and Sky are already married to each other and hence by having TATA SKY the consumer not only gets the world class technology from SKY but also reliability and best service from TATA.

Well, as a consumer I think it has definitely caught my attention but I think it has its plus and minuses.

Message: I think the message is clear and emphasizes the strength of brand very clearly. I’m sure not many people were aware that TATA SKY is a 80:20 joint venture between Tata Sons and BSkyB, a Rupert Murdoch company and this ad very subtly conveys this message thereby accentuating the tech supremacy of the product.

Creative Idea: Hmmm, for this I do have a mixed reaction…Am wondering if there could have been any better creative idea for this campaign. Well, starting was sort of ok but I didn’t like the cheesy bollywoodish style ending of the same and the ending line which sounded something like “jo family dekhe Tata Sky saath who rahe hamesha saath saath”! Ummm knowing the excellent creative ideas which Rediffusion DY&R comes up with, I think it could have been bettered up.

Execution elements: I think this was brilliant! Whatever the creative idea was Aamir has lived upto it beautifully. Once again you can’t resist from praising Aamir’s acting and performance in this half man half woman role. BTW I think he is looking quite cute as Punjabi bride, LOL :D. The ad definitely has got a recall value because of its execution and presentation style.

The ad is making noise all across, now its time to wait and watch if this brand campaign boosts up the figures of Tata Sky as against DishTV whose last campaign (SRK announcing Set Top Box Free!) was pure n pure sales promo campaign.

Ad zara hat ke

April 13, 2008

Few years back when I was a student, I remember the first mobile phone which I used to have…I guess I used to pay Rs. 4/- per minute for an incoming call to the service provider Essar and approx Rs. 8/- per min for an outgoing call! Mobile phones were absolute luxury that time and were used only in case of utmost urgencies. Slowly mobile phones started getting accepted in India but when Reliance entered the telecom market with its phenomenally low price offerings, the whole of telecom industry dynamics changed & mobile phones became a revolution in India. Then came Tata Indicom’s price challenge and very soon almost all service providers joined the bandwagon and were fighting the same price war. Mobile phones became the commodity of basic necessity instead of absolute luxury for majority of Indians.

Now since last 1 year telecom service providers have gone super aggressive in their selling. A consumer is now literally tired of everyday a new price plan communication, bombardment of ads offering free lifetime incoming, free mobile handsets with every new connection, almost nil kind of price plan promotions etc etc. I remember chatting with a friend just few months back wherein I had said, looks like a day will come in next 2 to 3 years when instead of charging us telecom service providers will actually pay us for talking on phone. Well, the day has come & whoa it has come pretty soon than expected with Sir Richard Branson deciding to capture the exponentially booming Indian mobile market as well. Yeah, we all know the new telecom service provider in India now…Virgin mobile which thinks “Zara hat Ke”.

Instead of debiting money from your balance, this company is actually crediting money for every minute you talk on phone. Though the money credited is not something great but still I would say it’s different and Hat ke J…The best part is the commercial which is being aired across mediums…no more communication with 999 plan and free lifetime incoming calls…rather quite unique and creative advertisements so to say. Of all the different advertisements on air these days, I particularly liked this one the best:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROFaEycLs_0]

Here’s hoping that this hat ke telecom giant really lives upto its name and gives some “hak ke” good experience and customer service to Indian Consumer as well.

Good Step IB Ministry

July 30, 2007
Everytime I used to see those advertisements, I used to feel so exasperated by the content of those advertisements. Absolutely pathetic, indecent & suggestive. Yup, I am speaking of Amul Macho & Lux Cozy ad The Amul macho ad shows a woman washing a mans underwear at a dhobi ghat and by looking at the underwear she gets turned on. In the other Lux cozy ad, a washerwoman comes to the apartment to pick up laundry and she finds a man standing at the gate wearing a towel. Suddenly, his towel drops leaving him only in his undergarments and the washerwoman eyes him quite suggestively. I had read many reviews of these ads claiming that these are very creatively done sexy ads, well I dont know about creativity at all in these ads, rather I found these ads to be really vulgar esp. when these ads pop up between programs which you might be watching with family members & kids who will never stop being inquisitive about the ad or will keep on repeating the jingle later like they do for all other ads.

Hmmm for once I am in favor of I&B Ministry, this time I think they have done a very righteous act by banning these ads on prime channels in prime time slots. I can see lots of opposition from many people against banning these ads & people protesting as to why cant I&B ministry stop being moral police & let the public decide what do they want or dont want to watch on television? Well, I dont think in this case I&B is acting as unnecessary moral police, or has done anything wrong as by all parameters those ads were very much indecent & double meaning ones of course there is nothing wrong in so called such sexy or funny ads but what was wrong was the placement of those ads which was very much on all main channels at peak time. Also I heard & read some comments from people saying that before banning the ads I&B should have thought of music albums & movie scenes of Sawants & Sherawats. Yes I agree some of the music albums as well as other programs being shown on TV are also obscene, but if those are not banned then does this mean that nothing else can be banned? Its definitely a good start from I&B ministry & lets hope they continue doing justice to their existence. I strongly believe that there is nothing wrong in any kind of content / messaging in ads or TV programs or cinema provided they run at the right place & at the right time everything definitely cant be shown everywhere!!!

Ad or Mad : No more bombardment with nonsense ads please

June 7, 2006


Hey folks any gusses how many brands did BIG B endorse last year??? A dozen, two dozen??? Nah dear its more than three dozens. Yes, BIG B had endorsed 39 brands in the year 2005. Well, its not only BIG B who is being hooked by marketers, there are many others like Shahrukh Khan (endorsed 21 brands in 2005), Amir Khan, Preity Zinta, Sania Mirza & the list is endless… from Bollywood, Sports or Television who are being used in n numbers of commercials these days. As per Adex India, in 2005, the top seven entertainment stars, Amitabh Bachan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Aishwarya Rai, Smriti ‘Tulsi’ Irani, and Paresh Rawal endorsed a whopping 111 brands between themselves, featuring in 202 creative executions for 67 advertisers (Source of this info: Economic times).

Infact the easiest way out to advertise any product these days is just to get the product endorsed by some celebrity. So what if your commercial is having no message, nil creativity & absolutely no meaning, still it will be able to catch attention of consumers because of some glamorous celebrity singing & dancing in the commercial. For ex., the concept of “PEPSI TV”…Has anyone understood the same(If yes, plz explain me the same)? I think that’s the worst ad which any agency can make & I sometimes wonder on the marketing team of the company who approved such commercial. That ad makes no sense at all but the noticeable thing in that ad is the presence of three famous bollywood stars viz., Sharukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra & Kareena Kapoor. I wonder if that ad has made sense to anyone at all??? Wasteful clutter of celebrities, zero brand message & total bakwaas!!!

Now imagine a bollywood king like Shahrukh Khan using Navratna Talc as a substitute of AC!!! I wonder what Shahrukh Khan is upto – Pepsi TV, Chota AC!!! Lets see, what else will come from him. This ad is a total misfit between the product & the celebrity endorsing it. Come on guys, you are playing with the concept of celebrity endorsement itself as no consumer is foolish enough to believe that SRK will be using Navratna Talc & hence using him as your endorser is again a total waste.

Similarly there are ads like Navratna Oil, Boroplus etc. being endorsed by BIG B. These are the ads which have really misutilized the concept of celebrity endorsement & because of this nonsense & meaningless use of celebrities in advertisements, the concept of celebrity endorsement has lost its meaning at all. I can still understand BIG B endorsing Parker but why Navrtana Oil or Pudin Hara where the ad makes no sense at all except for the fact that BIG B is present over there.

The concept of Celebrity Endorsement has undergone phenomenal changes since 1936 when Addidas gave free shoes to Jesse Owens during Berlin Olympics. After that many marketers used this concept as a sure shot way to make their brands successful in the market. In India, perhaps the first brand to use celebrities was Lux but this concept picked up its pace in the field of advertising in 1980’s with Kapil Dev & Vinod Khanna endorsing some famous brands. However, those endorsements were quite appealing because of the right fit of the product as well as the right message being communicated to the consumers. But slowly-slowly the concept of celebrity endorsement started getting over exploited because of the myth of the marketers to consider it as a sure shot way to success. The consumers have evolved & now-a-days we all know that so & so is endorsing that brand not because he believes in that brand or has used that brand rather because he is being paid a heavy sum of money to do so.

Now-a-days celebrity endorsement is being used as a substitute to creativity & right advertisement ideas. Despite the presence of some very famous celebrities, there are advertisements which are total disaster & make people change the channel immediately & at the same time there are advertisements which are not using any celebrity at all but still manage to leave a smile & impact on consumer’s mind like Fevicol, Hutch etc. This over-exploitation & misusage of celebrity endorsement is slowly & slowly leading to the death of creativity in ad world. Its high time now that advertisers should wake up & relook the usage of celebrities in the ads!!!