Just check this Coca-cola ad for Beijing Olympics 2009 here.

What do we lack in India? Creativity? Or the will to accept new ideas? This is something which has always been eating my head since my advertising days and now on the other side of the table! I interact with a lot of advertising professionals offline and online and I do not see ANY dearth of creativity, thinking out of the box, innovative ideation or any other phrase you want to call it by. But we always end up seeing totally ‘lifted’ and plagiarised stuff from other countries. Big or small, developed or third world, doesn’t matter. We just COPY. It is shameful on part of the advertising community, the clients and whoever is part of this system to allow such blatant plagiarism.

I am just wondering if anyone has a different point of view on this! I would be very happy to listen to each one of you!

No related posts.

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. It pays to be quick! It is a very important characteristic in Marketing to be...
2. Zoozoo on my Tee! Ahoy! Read about this yesterday. You can now wear your favourite...
3. Lazy marketing – A new high I have not been a great fan of celebrity endorsements....

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

Showing competition is always a relative issue. Unless there is a clear demarcation on why a product is better than another or issued in ‘public interest’ (rather than in the interest of ‘RIN users’), I believe that this kind of brazen communication will only do damage. Almost all cars have done comparisons if not ATL at least on brochures and other BTL campaigns. Almost all financial services do the same. But to take it on national television over a long weekend with a hefty budget is actually stepping over the line. If Darryl Harper was around, he would have ‘no-balled’ RIN out of the playing field.

Comparative advertising has always remained and always will. Leaving professionalism aside, the brand manager’s job is also to find out (almost predict) whether the communication would result in a positive outcome or otherwise.

Not that I am a consumer of the category, but I am yet to figure out who will grow taller – a Horlicks kid OR a Complan Boy. Frankly, I believe in neither now. What happened in the detergents category is yet another saga of Tu Tu Mein Mein.

Having said that, living in these times leaves you with the strange feeling that this could be one more of these publicity stunts. Pretty much like the Shiv Sena Vs SRK types. However, to actually believe that this could be a collusion between HUL and P&G is asking for too much. Do you believe so?

Related posts:

1. It pays to be quick! It is a very important characteristic in Marketing to be...
2. Lazy marketing – A new high I have not been a great fan of celebrity endorsements....

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

While the article highlights the importance of what I crudely call as ‘online PR’ with a mix of ‘online marketing’, I would tend to believe that examples like the iPad, Google Wave etc, is possible only for brands which have already been established overa  period of time. Today, when these brands do a hush-hush selective release of information to create the curiosity value (like Google Wave), the world picks it up in no time, with a lot of print and air-time donated to the cause of these launches. Take the case of the iPhone. There were enough instances of images showing people waiting outside the Apple stores etc. Same was the case with Google Wave. There were so many ‘polished beggars’ (including yours truly) who shamelessly self pimped to get an invite. I am yet to see an instance of a ‘new brand’ getting such fantastic written word about them (online or offline).

However, these brands also have a small problem that they need to live with. Take the case of Google Wave. So much written about, over-hyped and fell flat on its face like a damp squib. Online is a space where once the arrow is fired, it multiplies itself and spirals out of control. One must also be really sure of how much can we let the brand spiral out of control to ensure that the results are palatable!

Aside note: Google probably saw through this problem and didn’t create much buzz about Google BUZZ. Result? Not much buzz and not much fizz either.

I believe in all this that finding the right balance and ensuring a bit of control to steer the brand / offering / product towards the desired goal is of paramount importance.

Related posts:

1. Online Advertising 102? My colleague on this blog Mr. Karthik Kumar had written...
2. World Brand Congress – A report I was supposed to write about it earlier. Preoccupations and...
3. Google Wave – Pulp Fiction This is how one creates curiosity and WOW (Word of...

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

BTW, sorry Airtel

Related posts:

1. Interbrand – Best Global Brands – 2009 Interbrand has released the best Global Brands for the year...
2. Lazy Marketing Worked! :) I had in my last post chided a financial services...
3. An interesting article by Mahesh Murthy of Pinstorm in WSJ Just bumped into this article by Mahesh Murthy (through his...

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

“The account planner is that member of the agency’s team who is the expert, through background, training, experience, and attitudes, at working with information and getting it used – not just marketing research but all the information available to help solve a client’s advertising problems.” – Stanley Pollitt

To put it simply, planners need to study the market, the product category and the consumer and translate it as insights / briefs to the creative and the media teams to arrive at solutions that will achieve the marketing and advertising objectives.

Typically, it is the account planners’ job to write the creative and the media brief documents (which will be discussed in a latter section). The brief must contain the marketing and advertising objective, the proposed media used, the key consumer insight, key pointers from any research undertaken and finally the take-away that the communication should leave the consumer with.

Account planners must have the necessary skills and attitude to organize information about the consumer and the brand. The data can be derived from primary or secondary research, discussions with the client etc. This helps in the brand arriving at a proper positioning statement. The planner must also be involved in the creative development. This helps in meeting two objectives. First, to be convinced about the message, the take-away from the creative piece arrived at. This includes analyzing the creative from a consumer’s point of view. And second, to be in a position to convince the client about the creative produced by the agency.

Most account planning departments are also responsible for tracking the advertising campaigns taken up for a brand. The tracking of a campaign’s performance is by employing follow-up research with consumers and coordinate tweaking of the creative message (if necessary).

What is the planning process? Well, have tried to make this as a small diagram to ensure that this is understood easily.

In the Indian Advertising industry, you tend to always find the planner having ‘servicing’ executives reporting into them. The concepts of marketing, branding, research and case studies learnt during the B-school days get to be used here. However, a good part of the theory and life in real may be very different. Hence, on-the-feet thinking, quick response time etc, are key requirements of a professional playing this role. Though this job may sound ‘research intensive’, one would tend to encounter a lot of thinking and finding solutions the creative way.

This same process is also applicable for decision making on the media selection. Today, with the innovations in media including Outdoor and digital media and the convergence of different media vehicles, it is important that the above process is followed for media planning as well. All media agencies have ‘planning’ divisions which help in identifying the correct vehicles and the frequency to achieve the advertising and marketing objectives.

In subsequent posts, I will try to add examples from my experiences on each of these functions.

Related posts:

1. Advertising Agencies – A series to understand their functioning Most graduates getting out of premium B-Schools in India would...
2. Online Advertising 102? My colleague on this blog Mr. Karthik Kumar had written...
3. Agency compensation There is a raging debate going on following JWT’s withdrawal...

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

All agencies have the following departments:

• Client servicing / Account servicing
• Account Planning
• Creative copy
• Creative art
• Print Production
• Films Production
• Media Planning
• Media Buying
• Finance
• HR
• Admin

Some have specialized teams for:

• Events & activation
• Online and digital marketing
• PR (Though this has now become a separate industry in itself)
• Media Planning & Buying (Though part of the ‘Agency’ in traditional days, this has become a huge industry in itself)

Update: A good friend Ravi chose to correct me (see comment)! The past few years have seen Media houses spun out as separate entities and within media, Outdoor advertising (Out-of-home advertising) has become a specialised business.

Client Servicing: Simply, any individual in this department is the bridge between the agency and the client. So in front of the agency, the servicing person is the client and in front of the client, (s)he is the agency. Typically, this is the department in which most freshers from B-Schools join. These guys also are the ‘brand custodians’ for all the brands they handle. The servicing executive has to understand a bit of everything including media, art, print production, films, finances etc. So this series is focused on servicing executives to be the jack of all functions in advertising. And with fresh perspectives and lots of uncommon thinking with respect to branding, the servicing executive is bound to be a great communication professional. Good understanding of these basics, will help servicing executives manage every other department within the agency to provide the best results to the client. After all, happy client’s lead to great relationships and successful career! So watch this space…

Related posts:

1. Advertising Agencies – II – Account Planning Account Planning is almost being on the other side of...
2. Agency compensation There is a raging debate going on following JWT’s withdrawal...
3. It pays to be quick! It is a very important characteristic in Marketing to be...

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

I witnessed the chopper flying over the (maxi)Mumbai city with a HUGE (I really mean it kind of huge) banner of the Volkswagen (pronounced Folks Wagon) Beetle. Cute car! Meant to be a small car! Big pricing! And a BIG banner! It was a pleasant surprise when a few colleagues yelled out to me just to show this banner carrying chopper!

I took some pictures and also tweeted about it. Here’s proof:

Tweets on VW Beetle

Since the above is a print screen image, you can access the pictures I took from here. I wanted to write about it the same day and become the ‘first person’ to break this news to the blogosphere, but work kept me away. What could have been a coup of sorts for this very rare occurance in India, was broken by traditional online magazines. Read here.

Though this may be a small event, I believe that there are some lessons from this incident:

1. Waiting for the right moment most of the times don’t work. I have experienced this many times with clients belaboring for the ‘best’ output, while the competition is having a field day killing the very ideas that we had carefully hidden till then!
2. This is a slightly controversial lesson. But lesson none-the-less. “Quality is a mind thing“. What we believe is sub-standard quality may be good enough for the receiver of the communication. Just take any of the family planning communication by the Government for instance. The quality of the production is actually abysmal. But the target audience would certainly be able to relate to it. No point in adding jazz when the user is not expecting it!
3. Quick decision making: Many times we may not have all the inputs that are required to take a decision. But as professionals, it is important to exercise our judgement and ensure quick decision and availability in the market. This is a problem which many PSUs and large process-oriented organisations suffer from. HLL vs P&G is a classic example. However, that would require a separate post for itself.
4. Once a decision is taken, it is important to stick to it. I could have posted the article and reached the market using Twitter, Facebook and other such social media. But I didn’t. Well, the blog post has now taken a differnt angle and is not a coup anymore

Some of these may sound very generic, but I believe that these are lessons which are very relevant for most Marketing Professionals. And these are skills that are not available in many Marketing Professionals too.

Related posts:

1. Online Advertising 102? My colleague on this blog Mr. Karthik Kumar had written...
2. Lazy Marketing Worked! :) I had in my last post chided a financial services...
3. Lazy marketing – A new high I have not been a great fan of celebrity endorsements....

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

I find the phrase ‘aall eeej welll’ across FB & Twitter and it seems to have clicked for them. Well, they seemed to have placed their bet on the winning horse and no wonder these guys will certainly take a fat bonus this coming year!

However, I would be curious to see how this success pans out to benefit the brand. That my friends, is a continuous arduous task. Success of the film does not mean success of the brand! So the wait and watch must happen!

However, all the best to you guys! And congratulations on a fantastic pick! Cheers

Related posts:

1. Lazy marketing – A new high I have not been a great fan of celebrity endorsements....
2. Online Advertising 102? My colleague on this blog Mr. Karthik Kumar had written...
3. Tribute to one of the greatest person brand ever! I am just sitting in a dome theatre and blogging...

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

But here’s taking lazy marketing and riding the celebrity (celebrities in this case) to a ‘brand’ new high! Reliance Life Insurance expects to make a song from the movie ‘3 idiots’ as the brand proposition. Read about it here.

I have great respect for Reliance as a brand and they have actually ‘bought’ brand recall amongst the average Indian consumer. Someone tweeted today and I have a screenshot here:

Don't actually take this as a threat!

Just as much as the tweet states that not watching Avatar demands execution, one can say that Reliance with all their businesses have touched almost every Indian’s life. But does that give them the authority to get lazy? I beg to differ.

How can an entire Marketing team get this lazy? This may just end up having binary results.

If the film performs at the box office… good. What if it doesn’t? Do you ride your entire organisation and its pride on the wise shoulders of Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi (wowowow!) and Maddy boy?

What if the film fails? My views…

• Reliance Life will be forced to think of executing another set of creatives and unfortunately, ‘all may not be well’ then
• They would be forced to spend further sums of marketing Rupees behind another campaign.
• Not realising that this is around time when the average man on the road wakes up to ’save tax’, this strategy may prove to be scarily wrong. So they will have to run a parallel campaign on tax saving
• However they try to convince that this is not a promotion for the film, they should realise this and I quote myself here…

The average human being is lazy, however very intelligent. (S)He does not have the time to process your message the way you want it. Aamir, Sharman & Maddy not necessarily in that order are more liked and discussed about by them as against any ‘brand’. So, having ‘3 idiots’ as your campaign mainstay would make better promotion for the film than the brand itself.

• If this (All is well!) was a great proposition, then why wasn’t it thought of earlier? Why were we always doing this soppy, emotion stringing, tissue paper wetting commercials that claim that Insurance would take care of your family whether or not you are alive nonsense!

Ain’t we just lazy?

Disclaimer: Many years in financial services has led me to do this! I do not blog about financial services brands as a policy since I work in a financial services organisation (NOT in a Life Insurance company though!). However, this is just an exception. All views are strictly personal and does not reflect the views of my organisation / brand.

Related posts:

1. Lazy Marketing Worked! :) I had in my last post chided a financial services...
2. Online Advertising 102? My colleague on this blog Mr. Karthik Kumar had written...
3. It pays to be quick! It is a very important characteristic in Marketing to be...

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