Category: Advertising

  • Youngistunned

    Remember the fun we used to have with the Sprite vs Mountain Dew which used to be so entertaining –  the ‘I want to do’ version that Sprite did in response to ‘do the dew’, in addition to the various fwds it had spawned from ‘Mount and Do’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain – Do the Dude’? We also had the Cola wars with SRK taking shots at Hrithik. Guess what, we have more fun coming our way.

    This blog has already written about Youngistan. Allow me to introduce to you the latest entrant in the Cola-Uncola TVC wars, the all clear Sprite. (thanks to the tip from Balu)

    [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=0_N-FVryV1I]

    I think Sprite has gauged the public response to the Pepsi ad before taking such a step. I’ve not heard too many good comments about them, online or offline, and this must be a big factor in reviving the ad wars. I guess some agencies are in for sleepless nights trying to outwit each other. In fact these cola wars actually remind me of those UCB-Spring collection type stuff, this summer like the last couple of summers, we have the Pepsi/Coke – Summer 08 ad collection.

    Long before i was made aware of dental problems and pesticides, i used to be a Pepsi guy more than a Coke guy. During the first round of cola wars, I always wondered why Pepsico chooses Mountain Dew to do battle with the Coke products. Pepsi has a perfect weapon in its hand, if only they knew how to use it. What am i talking about? Remember this cool pencil thin character we used to love, he lived ‘cool’ long before cool became cool. These days he’s wasted sitting on elephants or jamming with Mallika Sherawat or relegated to taglines. He’s called Fido Dido. Research apparently says his ads don’t make sense anymore (thats because of the ads silly, not him), and when he does battle against ‘Clear Hain’, I’d want front row seats.

    until next time, youngistan main jashn mana le, clear hain?

  • Miscellaneous 2.0

    Since 2.0 has been liberally used to portray any improvement/new version, i thought it made a good post headline :). On a sidenote, i even saw ‘Family 2.0’ in a Yahoo study.

    This post is about a few brands that were part of my youngistan days. Of course, unlike these days, none of these brand made any efforts to lure us or even consider us their core audience, the youth were just considered well, young then, and not of any significant value. Why these brands? Because they are attempting 2.0.

    Melody – ‘Melody Khao Khud Jaan Jao’ rings a bell? Well, Melody is back with a new set of ads, using extreme situations to create a contrast with the line ‘Melody itni chocolaty kyun hai?’ One is set in an exam hall, with one student trying to get the attention of another, and finally asking this question in the end. The other had the cliched dark alley scene with a girl being followed, only to end up being asked…. With confectionary companies going way out of the product territory for the ads, Melody can’t be blamed for trying this stunt. It remains to be seen whether the old line still works.

    Flying Machine – I used to love the brand until their relaunch. I would’ve continued to love it if they hadn’t chosen kAbhi B (ready for an endorsement)  as the brand ambassador. Its not just a personal dislike, he’s just so wrong from my percpetion of the brand. I personally think they don’t need an ambassador with a name like that, all they need is to communicate the right attitude, but if they had to, it could’ve been any John (oops) or maybe Hrithik, speaking of whom..

    Cinthol – A long time, that green bar was the only option available, unless of course you wanted to try the sissy  Pears (no offence meant to them, but it was just a perception, and i’m guessing the kind they wanted) or washing soaps. So while half hearted attempts were made with C Fresh,Lime, Deo etc, this time they’ve got Hrithik as the brand ambassador, and a whole new look. He’s right when he calls it an apology for a site. The product also looks very ‘Close Up’ with those three colors, but hey there are only so many colors, i guess. I have only one recommendation, and thats in packaging/ditribution – please stop selling only that lousy four pack combo, and let the customer also have a ‘1/2/3 only option’. Even if you have to sell 4 packs, please have different ones so that i dont have to hate you for making me finish all 4 before i can buy another soap!!

    until next time, me too or me 2.0

  • Knowing the Pulse

    Saw the new Bajaj Pulsar ad? I did too, and exept for the music, it didn’t do too much to me. So i asked a few guys who like bikes how they felt about the ad. And they all seemed to love it, and hence the post.

    Pulsar will never get my attention, only because i am not interested in bikes, but for its target audience, I think it has done a remarkable job. I did a quick google for their website, and found it quite easily, the video is available for download. Good. But what’s great is that they have loaded the video on YouTube and has (the last time i checked) got almost a lakh views.

    Why is it great? Because these are not people who are forced to see it on television because they couldn’t find the remote in time (or are too lazy to flip the channel), these are people who have actively searched for it and then, maybe even forwarded it to their friends. There will also be people like me who went to see where that neat soundtrack came from.

    So, the cynic asks, will it actually sell more bikes, especially if the crowd is made up of people like me you who go there to get a soundtrack. Yeah, i still wouldn’t buy it, but I’d rave about the ad to a dozen friends, I will post about it here (even though this is hardly read 🙂 ), and the bikers who don’t know about this will know about it, and when they consider a bike change (maybe this will make them), they will remember the ad. The price, the mileage, the chips inside, all can be shared through the brochure, but not the soul and passion, and thats where I think, the ad scores. Because the rest have become a commodity, that creates a differentiation. Its a good lesson on how social media/web 2.0 can work for ‘even’ bike companies.

    And they are right, this is how virals get made, sorry happen.

    until next time, pulsating

  • Dotty

    There was this nice game we used to play as kids – join the dots. The context? Unless you’ve been living in a cave without a cable connection, the new Airtel ad should be coming out of your ears by now. No, not the ‘Having a ball at the border’ one, the new one where Papa is getting laid, sorry, getting the tracks laid, and the daughter just can’t do without his help in joining the dots.

    So papa dearest excuses himself and concentrates on the task at hand, going dotty. Its a wonderful insight on why Indian Railways is the way it is. This is what they do when they’re supposed to lay the damn rails. I have a few questions – why can’t mommy help? Why does poor daddy, who is anyway having to work at night, get to do child care also? What kind of stupid dad asks a young daughter to go to the balcony alone? Unless the kid is an astronomer’s reincarnation (with full knowledge of her previous birth), how the h*** did she manage to understand the exact stars her daddy was talking about? Most importantly, what the h*** was this ad trying to say?

    Kuch bandhan atoot hote hain, you can bet they weren’t talking about the damn rails!!

    until next time, dotted for extra pleasure? 😀

  • There’s a little bit of social networking in….

    For all those who’ve been good and watching TV, the source of that one should be a lollipop. There are some 4-5 ads of AOL doing the rounds, which you really couldn’t have missed. What’s the context? Well, i read here, that AOL is buying out Bebo for $850 million. Oops, I should’ve told you to hold on to something. Bebo is UK’s #2 social networking site (after Facebook) with a claimed base of 40 million users. Put this in perspective with the eyes  that popped when Desi Martini was picked up for $10 million. I really woudnt be able to offer any intelligence on the valuation, so lets stick to the core competency of this blog – brand +internet.

    Now, Indian online entities have picked up this strange habit of using the reach of TV to sell the concept of email. Remember rediff’s infamous Hoohaa ad, followed by the unlimited ones. Zapak has also been a big TV advertiser. Indiatimes has been making me suspect if i have jaundice for sometime now. Strange, because, while i understand the reach of TV, I’ve never seen the big guys ever do TV (or have i missed something). Its only the locals + AOL who have been eating up TVC time. And except for rediff, I have never used any of them for my email use. (and that was before the ad) I’m quite happy with yahoo and gmail. More importantly, I’ve seen their advertising in the place where it matters – the web. Context, anyone?

    So, I’m guessing, that AOL with those ‘young’ attitude ads was looking at reaching out to the youth audience (isn’t that who everyone’s after?) by showcasing its features in a fun way. While e-mail is the one of the best utlities to use as a carrot, I’ve a different idea for them. Bring Bebo here, lets have a solid ‘fatal fourway’ match with Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. If we include Big Adda, Minglebox, Yaari etc, its a royal rumble. Meanwhile, what AOL has to do is rope in Kareena Kapoor as brand evangelist.

    Did i just catch a ‘Huh?’ from you? Okay, for those of you who look down on Bollywood gossip, Bebo happens to be Kareena’s (quite well known) nickname. Kareena would anyway make a good icon (for the guys because she’s hot, for the girls because she’s smart). Add to that her name connection and the Bollywood effect, and i think we might have some fun here. Imagine weaving in hits like ‘Jab we met’ (in her filmi life) and things like the Shahid Kapur mouth to mouth resuscitation MMS, the Saif gossip being exclusive content on the site, do you need to do extra things to get hits?

    Meanwhile, to increase this weekend’s productivity, you can read a very neat post on SEO and SEM right here.

    until next time, anyone expressing Aitraaz? 😀