Brand Recall

My professor once made a classic statement and it stuck in my mind.

“Almost any product can be sold if we involve Sex OR Religion OR both”

I happened to believe him. And Indian advertising reiterated that statement way too many times. Many brands in our country have stepped on this path and have been successful either purely through creative representation or through the controversy that it created.

Many brands have used places of worship as a fantastic medium to promote themselves. Many temple festivals are awesome media opportunities for brands. The current Kumbh Mela is one of the largest outdoor opportunities in India today. FMCG brands up their budgets around this period. Many outdoor agencies erect makeshift hoarding sites and also purchase rights for the archaic bamboo stick queueing systems that are created. Large and famous temples have permanent spots allotted for brands who have helped (read sponsored) building / renovating the temple structures. Churches and mosques are no different when it comes to accepting and proudly displaying brand names for generous donations.

I do believe very strongly that the ancient kings of India used religion to promote economy. A non-descript town becomes a pilgrimage spot once there is a ‘huge’ temple comes up. Locals set up shops selling their wares and cash flows were thus enhanced. Today, it has gone a bit out of hand.

On the other extreme, I vividly remember the MR Coffee TVC, Milind Soman & Madhu Sapre for the Tuff Shoes ad with a python gracefully draped to cover their privates or very recently, the ever popular JK Cements Red Bikini Babe.

However, the situation has turned its tide today. We have reached a stage where even religion and sex as an activity requires re-branding. Overused and mis-used, both these natural emotions (viz., devotion and the need to reproduce) are in serious need to be re-looked at with a brand managers eyes.

Religion is suffering – irrespective of what it is called. Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi, Jew, Sikh or whichever religion one belongs to – there is a sense of despair. Almost all religions are faced with either depleting faithfuls, increase in cheats under a religious garb, or malignant views owing to terrorism. Religions need a fresh lease of life.

There needs to be fresh ideas and open-mindedness when it comes to tweaking the rules to accept fresh thought. Also, religion must be open enough to explain every tradition being followed (or otherwise) else face the fact that they may be lost forever. In this ever-changing world, it is impossible to not provide a logical reason for every religious act and expect blind faith. If possible, one needs to provide such explanations in 140 characters else face certain death.

And when it comes to sex, we have increasing number of teen pregnancies, pregnancies out of wedlock or promiscuous behavior. Not that I have anything against it, but I certainly prefer to live in a world where there are relatively lesser number of bastards.

Sex needs a fresh lease too. Think communism here. What happened when the United Soviet Socialistic Republic failed? A sudden lease of freedom and people didn’t know what to do with it. Almost all the countries that split from the erstwhile USSR – other than Russia – remain third world. And Russia is not in great shape either. Russia today is considered among ‘emerging economies’ alongside Brazil, India & China. Not progress right? Sex today is going through a similar phase. As easily available as cigarettes, this has become an addiction, which as in many recent occasions, have not spared even the so called God-men.

Lack of sex education has led to early experimentation of the wrong kind. And this from the land of Kamasutra is a dichotomy, but nonetheless. Reel life blaming real life and vice versa compounds the problem. In this age of instant gratification, suggestive communication has led to sex not just being considered a joke, but a serious problem. And to add this, we have education of the wrong kind reaching our homes without our realizing it. Think of this… Prime time viewing, relatively (or at least supposed to be) conservative south Indian society, news channel (read Sun TV)… airs real life bedroom sequences between a ‘God-man’ and ‘a leading (huh!?!) actress’. It is not surprising to see reports that there are many thronging ‘Burma Bazaar’ – the place where you get almost every kind of porn for the ‘unedited’ version of this video. It is not possible to be ‘holier than thou’ when you instigate by showing suggestive visuals and expect unassuming publics to be naïve and not hunt for the unedited video.

I might sound defeatist if I say that there is no solution and an idealist if I say that there is. But I do believe that small steps can help. Any views?

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