Brand Recall

The mother brand Godrej just went through a revamp and has by now been well documented. A few articles. Here and here. Cinthol - part of the Godrej portfolio also went through a make-over. Margo has changed its strategy after 85 long years. Has roped in Rani Mukherjee as a brand ambassador. VLCC has not spared itself too!!! They too seem to be in a make-over mode! What’s with the market? Too much money to spend?

Very recently, Godrej has given itself a new look. The idea as I understand (more as a consumer and less as a marketing professional) is to make it look young and relate the current day’s audience.

The now colourful logo was launched during IPL. A religion which I guess is followed by every Indian consumer! The rebranding exercise quite predictably was led by Tanya Dubash, the enterprising young member of the Godrej family and if I have to go by people who have worked with her, she is a real tough person to convince. The result shows in the rebranding. The logo is now vibrant and relates to the average ‘colour loving’ consumer that we all are. I promise to put up the images soon of the logo. You can find all articles collated by their website which covers the rebranding exercise here.

The rebranding exercise has been done by Interbrand. The details of the Godrej portfolio is presented on the Interbrand website here.

To that effect, even Cinthol has given itself a new look. The new look on Cinthol starts with the pack and the way it has communicated itself. From the sauve Imran Khan commercial to the sporty and hunky Hritik’s version today, I guess Cinthol has come a long way! But I think the first in line to change its look and present itself with a new look from the Godrej stable was Godrej Renew. The hair care brand from the Godrej Stable. The ad featured Katrina Kaif and was done by Mudra. The film was produced by Happy Dog Films and they had brought in the director from France to work on this film. I don’t however see it very often on TV. Maybe, I am not watching as much TV!

Very recently, Sam Balsara acquired a major stake in Mediacom making him more powerful when it comes to media and advertising in India (as if he was not powerful enough!). Agencyfaqs! has now done a two-part feature on Sam. Here is part 1 and part 2 of this feature.

Honestly, I feel elated and honoured to say that I am his contemporary and have also had the good fortune of working with such an individual.

I was at awe when I first met him. A man of his stature does not show his power when it comes to handling people. Humility at its best has decided to stay with him. For all those people who look up to him, he is never too far. One of the most approachable and affable human beings that I have come across. Happy that my path crossed yours Sam! God bless you with a long healthy life!!!

If you notice, I haven’t spoken much about his work. Guess it has been documented enough else he wouldn’t be featuring here and in all those publications / websites in the first place! This post is for Sam the man… oops! GOD

This is a slideshow worth reading. Does not connect greatly with branding as a subject, but Sarathkumar as a brand is unforgettable

Check this out. How many of these campaigns have we seen in popular media? I rest my case

I had, a little while back, written about spam ads clogging bandwidth during Advertising Awards. I am led to believe that this is an issue dogging not just the Indian Advertising Industry, but the world over.

The recently concluded Goa Fest was a victim of scam ads too! The issue has been well documented by Sreekant Khandekar in agencyfaqs!

If all that the industry needs is a networking arena to drink, make merry, smoke up and be happy, I don’t seem to understand why they should hide behind a skirt called ‘ad awards’?

I would not be surprised if we found that almost all the awards doled out during the fest were scams released in some obscure newspaper in Assam or some channel watched (!!?!?!!) by people living in a tribal location serving no purpose. I cannot agree less when he says that the industry should exhibit honesty. Let us be clear that the ad awards functions conducted by spending a lot of money is to showcase campaigns that may or may not have seen the light of day and segregate them. Let us see how many agencies come up with great selling campaigns and how many of them are working towards giving a vent to their creativity. I am sure the industry will be much appreciated for such a move and the clients (me included from the other side of the table now!) would really appreciate such honesty.

I heard in one of the interviews where Mr. Madhukar Kamat said that he would like to change the pitching process in this country. With all due respects sir, the clients would be very happy to do so. But would it be possible for the agencies also to showcase ONLY those campaigns which have been great in terms of its selling capabilities and not just high on the creative quotient.

Having been on the clients’ side for a while now, I find that quite a few agencies (including the big ones) lack the selling quotient in their campaigns and it reflects starting from the pitch process. Agencies should function as partners (in crime or glory) and to always state that the client does not have the (pardon me) ‘balls’ to release an award winning campaign is a pathetic excuse. As a client, my job is to identify selling communication work and not feed the frenzy of the advertising fraternity to satisfy their creative needs.

This is not true only in advertising. I am sure anyone reading this would agree that this is a fact for any creative industry. Take feature films. Some excellent creative work does not sell. Have we ever wondered why? An author is as good as the sales of his / her book. Which is why they are called ‘Best selling authors’ and not ‘Best writing authors’ !!!

Hope floats… still !!!! Stop blaming the client for all that does not happen and start working together. I am sure the advertising industry could do much better without these awards which to my mind is just a farce.

We had just completed the process of creative agency selection for our organisation Bharti AXA Investment Managers. I was interviewed by Agency Faqs and Exchange4media to announce this event. Hera are the interviews from Agencyfaqs and Exchange4media.

Living Branding here.

Read this article in agencyfaqs.

http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19875

Must read for anyone in advertising / marketing! We don’t need to look westward for marketing and advertising concepts. We have some from our own past which might prove extremely useful! If only Mr. Gandhi had the kind of communication tools available now, freedom would have been faster and would have been more useful to us unlike now!

Found an interesting article which highlights the ‘tussle’ between the creative and the servicing teams in the advertising world. Unable to link it and hence have given the link below!

http://www.agencyfaqs.com/perl/news/index.html?sid=19822

Somehow, I personally think that advertising is still a ‘business’. Just as much as someone peddles a product, the advertising industry peddles its ‘creative services’. Over time, it is true that the industry evolved to provide ’rounded solutions’ with a 360 degree approach towards ‘communication’ as the center piece. However, the recent times have seen the creative teams take over meetings (including pitches). I don’t think this relegates the servicing world in any way. The business of advertising will work only if all the horses are running towards the same goal. Krishna - Arjuna’s charioteer in Mahabharatha would never have been able to help Pandavas win their cause if the horses that he was maneuvering ran in different directions! The business doesn’t win if all the employees are not going for the same ‘goal’.

I think that the leadership quality which is there in most individuals would make the difference when it comes to choosing a head. One needs to put their people before the business and I am sure the business will come along fine. But we very seldom find it happening.

Another analogy I can think of is the ‘captaincy’ role in cricket. Most captains have failed as cricketers. Uneasy is the head on which rests the crown is not a joke. Which is why I guess the creative ‘leaders’ were insulated from business pressures lest they end up fumbling on their core competence. (This statement comes from a servicing person). I would be very happy to work under a creative guy, but would it do him good? I guess creatives are better if they are only creators. Let the lesser mortals (as most creatives call the servicing blokes!) handle the rest!

While in advertising, I have worked with both creative & business leaders. I think that just like Azhar, Dravid or even the immortal Sachin buckled under the pressure of captaincy which spoilt their natural game, many creative minds have stepped into the thorny world of ‘business’ and have had very forgettable experiences. Views however are very personal, but I guess each person performing their role best leads to a stronger and vibrant organisation than letting one step into another and finding the going difficult. While one should never resist change, it also makes sense not to do away with the importance of one with another. Somehow I get a feeling that we are comparing the job of a music director with the editor here! This comparison doesn’t work!!!