So this time  around, I am committing to dates. I have been working in the background, but I think I could have done a bit more to ensure that this effort culminate as activity. So this time around, by committing myself to dates, I hope to live up to it. So here goes…

Blogathon start date: 22-July-2010
Blogathon end date: 21-August-2010

So that’s that! I hope to achieve this milestone if not for anyone else, at least for my own benefit! Cheers

Related posts:

1. Blogathon I am planning a blogathon. Have not fixed the dates...
2. MTV changed the world? Eat this! It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the...
3. Be a conversation Creator – Anil Nair (Senior) So, we have the next interview lined up. Some people may...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• There will be one post a day.
• Decently researched posts. No pfaff
• There must be a mix of online & offline marketing topics (at least that’s the idea)
• There must be a mix of Indian and International brands
• At least two interviews (prominent people in the online and offline world)
• At least two topical pieces. Based on events in recent past or events that are about to hit us.

I don’t know yet about the rest. But this is a discipline I am planning to set on myself. I hope to succeed!

Related posts:

1. Blogathon Dates Having committed myself to a blogathon on Brand Recall wasn’t enough....
2. Be a conversation Creator – Anil Nair (Senior) So, we have the next interview lined up. Some people may...
3. MTV changed the world? Eat this! It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

“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?

Related posts:

1. Why I would love to work with HUL! – Updated One more time, one more occasion, one more killer activity!...
2. MTV changed the world? Eat this! It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the...
3. Online presence – an oxymoron. Look for the written word Many marketers still suffer from the ‘I want a web...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Related posts:

1. Biggest Online Advertiser – not necessarily best user of online space! Using the internet as a medium to promote offerings is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

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.

Related posts:

1. Advertising Agencies – A series to understand their functioning Most graduates getting out of premium B-Schools in India would...
2. Advertising Agencies – II – Account Planning Account Planning is almost being on the other side of...
3. How to evaluate a creative? One of the biggest problems that most marketers on the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.