If you can't write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don't have a clear idea. ~David Belasco
The client sold chocolates and candies...and was good in that...We ( My second agency which took me to Europe) handled the creatives and the going was smooth..they werent a trouble making client ..No IKE 's.. no shocking surprises... no tantrums.. a dream client....
They came up with a new type of candy which would cause a "revolution" as per their brand manager ..It was as normal as any other candy form out side and when one starts eating but as you go in.. voilaaaaaaaaa it rocks..it turns sour...funny...shocking.. and then slowly you start liking it...that unconventional taste of this new candy starts slowly tickling you, and by the time you finish it you fall in love with it......oooppppssss..... you even feel that all those sweet candies which you had been having all these years were bland and insipid.
The agency went celebrating...the product as described by the client ( for every crow and for even a crow, its baby would be the most charming, the most attractive thing in the world).. and before we guys could troop to the nearest bar for the success that was going to be ours ( the ad guys are bad guys---we celebrate the success that may come, will come , most likely come, shall come ,is coming, come, ohhhhh it didnt come...anything is a reason to celebrate..), the client gave the One liner that was what was going to be the brief....
Expect the unexpected...It said simply...
The brains cluttered together, confused, confessed and confined, astray and astute, wild and vivid, varied and voracious, vocal and vociferous....everyone thought thought and thought..but nothing evolved except crap and holy crap......
Finally the one evolved, did so from a junior client service guy who had just joined, who had an Egyptian father and a Danish mother ( he looked like Menses 2 the Pharoah of Egypt..and we called him MUMMY...) it was some story which some one somewhere had told him which had this climax.....
It was simply stunning....
( to be continued)..................
Monday, July 31, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
an ad a day..
This is the day when the Idiots who rule India from Delhi lived up to the classic definition of politicians and thought that they could scuttle the freedom of speech by stifling blogging...whatever the reasons may be..terrorism or no terrorism India is no China and Sonia is no Indira....
now this ad....isnt it amazing....?
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Smile... Happydent 'white is here
For those who thought that I am an ever pessimistic animal, who seems to have lost all hopes of life... here is an exception.... I saw an ad ,today and the brand that is discussed is Happydent...
Well... they are into exaggerted copies, with melodrama and hype spicing up and rightfully so as they are selling a product of the low involvement category... the cow that smiles with sparkling white teeth amused many of us but ..well... it didnt clean bowl us...
This new one is set in eastman colour, a palace and the Raja and Rani's in frame.. the trappings of royality....A guywhose cycle gets off road in the centre of a bridge and he runs and runs..over the fence, climbing locked gates..runs and runs through long winding corridors, passing massive doors, a tennis court where the ranis are playing, a magnificient ball room where a slow dance is going on.with amazing sufi music with the jingle (tere man roshan mere man roshan..Im told Prasoon Joshi wrote the lyrics..).....and he runs and runs....
Curious?...I too was... a long ad this one but worth waiting...so the guy runs and runs.. slowly dusk setttles in... and the guy jumps down though the center of a huge chandlier ,sqeezes himself down till he reaches the centre light... no lights there..you see many guys hanging in the chandlier ,all having replaced lights...the Raja sits for dinner under the chandlier, and the hero smiles.... dummmmmm................. all the other guys reflect..the place is lit up.....
Happydent.... the tennis courts... the ball rooms..the palace gates.. the cars are all lighted up....
Happydent white....
No great strategy but amazing visualisation and brilliant execution.....
Hats off to the Mccann -Erickson guys -Prasoon joshi for amazing visualisation and daring execution.. Ram Madhvani for making the film ..it is no small job..for Shantanu moitra for the background score...wonderful sufiyana stuff.... for Kailash Kher, Pranav Biswas, Shantanu Moitra and Prasoon Joshi for singing it...hope we had more ads that could evoke such recall in the TG ( I am one of them...)
Hats off to perfetti van melle simply for letting this happen ..for trusting the agency in this rare act of daredevilry....
I would buy a Happydent today...the recall is so much...
That is what Advertising is supposed to do...
Am I right?
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
Father and the son....
An 80 year old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 years old highly educated son.
Suddenly a crow perched on their window.The Father asked his Son, "What is this?" The Son replied "It is a crow".
After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time, "What is this."The Son said "Father, I have just now told you "It's a crow".
After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, "What is this?"At this time some strange expression of irritation was felt in the Son's tone when he said to his Father with a rebuff. "It's a crow, a crow".
A little after, the Father again asked his Son the 4th time, "What is this?"This time the Son shouted at his Father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times 'IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?"
A little later the Father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his Son was born. On opening a page, he asked his Son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary :- "Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My Son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a Crow. Each time it was a pleasure.... my lovely one..the gift of god.... to teach him..slowly help him know the world,walk along with it and later be brave enough to walk , and swim against it if needed . It is the best thing to do as a father"....
************************************************************************
Father and the son...
a beautiful relationship.......
I dont have to explain the role of a father in shaping our lives.. you just have to go back..and yet when we are grown up we feel that they are not "modern" or "trendy"... "communication gaps"...they are simply hesitating to "evolve"...they are not what we want them to be.......they are not....
May be true..they are not what we want them to be.. no longer they are able to match our wave length..but they dont cease to be our fathers..right?
They may not be thinking outside the box....as we want them to do... but they helped you to think outside your box ..right?
let me not wax and give an emotional diorrhea here...
Assuming that most of client agency relationships in advertising are of the Parent child type..., it and it fails after the " child "have grown up.. We saw Liril and Rasna walking off their parents.... Lowe and Mudra.. Many more have done that..many more are yet to do that..
Future is in such awesome agreement with history ,when it comes to clients walking away from agencies ,afterlong years of togetherness, brand building, triumphs, miracles, happy smiles...the joy of growing up..when the client one fine morning claims " incompatibility" as the issue and decides for a new agency..... the incumbent gets a shock...
I am told that Lowe hasnt yet recovered from the loss of Liril...I am told that O& M is upbeat of the Pulsars come back....
Advertising is business... and business is money..... in business, no role for emotions...I agree...
Still... is there a room for making things better... ??
Suddenly a crow perched on their window.The Father asked his Son, "What is this?" The Son replied "It is a crow".
After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time, "What is this."The Son said "Father, I have just now told you "It's a crow".
After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, "What is this?"At this time some strange expression of irritation was felt in the Son's tone when he said to his Father with a rebuff. "It's a crow, a crow".
A little after, the Father again asked his Son the 4th time, "What is this?"This time the Son shouted at his Father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times 'IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this?"
A little later the Father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his Son was born. On opening a page, he asked his Son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary :- "Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My Son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a Crow. Each time it was a pleasure.... my lovely one..the gift of god.... to teach him..slowly help him know the world,walk along with it and later be brave enough to walk , and swim against it if needed . It is the best thing to do as a father"....
************************************************************************
Father and the son...
a beautiful relationship.......
I dont have to explain the role of a father in shaping our lives.. you just have to go back..and yet when we are grown up we feel that they are not "modern" or "trendy"... "communication gaps"...they are simply hesitating to "evolve"...they are not what we want them to be.......they are not....
May be true..they are not what we want them to be.. no longer they are able to match our wave length..but they dont cease to be our fathers..right?
They may not be thinking outside the box....as we want them to do... but they helped you to think outside your box ..right?
let me not wax and give an emotional diorrhea here...
Assuming that most of client agency relationships in advertising are of the Parent child type..., it and it fails after the " child "have grown up.. We saw Liril and Rasna walking off their parents.... Lowe and Mudra.. Many more have done that..many more are yet to do that..
Future is in such awesome agreement with history ,when it comes to clients walking away from agencies ,afterlong years of togetherness, brand building, triumphs, miracles, happy smiles...the joy of growing up..when the client one fine morning claims " incompatibility" as the issue and decides for a new agency..... the incumbent gets a shock...
I am told that Lowe hasnt yet recovered from the loss of Liril...I am told that O& M is upbeat of the Pulsars come back....
Advertising is business... and business is money..... in business, no role for emotions...I agree...
Still... is there a room for making things better... ??
Saturday, July 08, 2006
I Fall..I bleed..I weep
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him, but was moved by Arthur's youthful happiness. So he offered him freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer; if, after a year, he still had no answer, he would be killed.
The question was: What do women really want?
Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and, to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. Well, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end. He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everybody: the princess, the prostitutes, the priests, the wise men, the court jester. In all, he spoke with everyone but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.
What most people did tell him was to consult the old witch, as only she would know the answer. The price would be high, since the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept her price first: The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!
Young Arthur was horrified: she was hunchbacked and awfully hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage water, often made obscene noises. He had never run across such a repugnant creature. He refused to force his friend to marry her and have to endure such a burden.
Gawain, upon learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He told him that nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.
Hence, their wedding was proclaimed, and the witch answered Arthur's question:
What a woman really wants is to be able to be in charge of her own life.
Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared. And so it went. The neighboring monarch spared Arthur's life and granted him total freedom.
What a wedding Gawain and the witch had! Arthur was torn between relief and anguish. Gawain was proper as always, gentle and courteous. The old witch put her worst manners on display. She ate with her hands, belched and farted, and made everyone uncomfortable.
The wedding night approached: Gawain, steeling himself for a horrific night, entered the bedroom. What a sight awaited! The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen lay before him! Gawain was astounded and asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her (when she'd been a witch), half the time she would be her horrible, deformed self, and the other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self.
She asked him which would he want her to be during the day and which during the night?
What a cruel question? Gawain began to think of his predicament: During the day a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his home, an old spooky witch? Or would he prefer having by day a hideous witch, but by night a beautiful woman to enjoy many intimate moments?
What would you do? What Gawain chose follows below, but don't read until you've made your own choice.
Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself. Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time, because he had respected her and had let her be in charge of her own life.
The Moral of the Story: It doesn't matter if your woman is pretty or ugly, underneath it all, she's still a witch!
*****************************************************************
I am reminded of this old "almost fairy tale" when I heard the latest fight in the Agency -Client world between our good old Rasna and Good old Mudra. Mudra never got paid and Rasna was never happy it seems...going by the tantrums that they now seem to be throwing at each other,after 25 years of happy married life- at least when one saw from out side. All the old skeltons are falling of dusty cupboards..... all the dirst linen accumulated for the last 25 years is there, washed in public, for you and me to see and be entertained...a sample from the internet.."Mudra, which was also silent about the development, has released an official communication saying that its decision to stop working on the Rasna business stems from irreconcilable differences both on the strategic direction for the brand and on agency remuneration" Finance ..retainer fee, cuts commission..the reasons are the same..the very old ones, which always rocked relations in Advertising...The chemistry which was touted has all gone..
Recently I read that love is entirely a matter of ‘chemistry’.That must be why many clients treat their agencies like toxic waste ...
I fall,.... I bleed..... I weep....
The question was: What do women really want?
Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and, to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. Well, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end. He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everybody: the princess, the prostitutes, the priests, the wise men, the court jester. In all, he spoke with everyone but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.
What most people did tell him was to consult the old witch, as only she would know the answer. The price would be high, since the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept her price first: The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!
Young Arthur was horrified: she was hunchbacked and awfully hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage water, often made obscene noises. He had never run across such a repugnant creature. He refused to force his friend to marry her and have to endure such a burden.
Gawain, upon learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He told him that nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.
Hence, their wedding was proclaimed, and the witch answered Arthur's question:
What a woman really wants is to be able to be in charge of her own life.
Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared. And so it went. The neighboring monarch spared Arthur's life and granted him total freedom.
What a wedding Gawain and the witch had! Arthur was torn between relief and anguish. Gawain was proper as always, gentle and courteous. The old witch put her worst manners on display. She ate with her hands, belched and farted, and made everyone uncomfortable.
The wedding night approached: Gawain, steeling himself for a horrific night, entered the bedroom. What a sight awaited! The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen lay before him! Gawain was astounded and asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her (when she'd been a witch), half the time she would be her horrible, deformed self, and the other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self.
She asked him which would he want her to be during the day and which during the night?
What a cruel question? Gawain began to think of his predicament: During the day a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his home, an old spooky witch? Or would he prefer having by day a hideous witch, but by night a beautiful woman to enjoy many intimate moments?
What would you do? What Gawain chose follows below, but don't read until you've made your own choice.
Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself. Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time, because he had respected her and had let her be in charge of her own life.
The Moral of the Story: It doesn't matter if your woman is pretty or ugly, underneath it all, she's still a witch!
*****************************************************************
I am reminded of this old "almost fairy tale" when I heard the latest fight in the Agency -Client world between our good old Rasna and Good old Mudra. Mudra never got paid and Rasna was never happy it seems...going by the tantrums that they now seem to be throwing at each other,after 25 years of happy married life- at least when one saw from out side. All the old skeltons are falling of dusty cupboards..... all the dirst linen accumulated for the last 25 years is there, washed in public, for you and me to see and be entertained...a sample from the internet.."Mudra, which was also silent about the development, has released an official communication saying that its decision to stop working on the Rasna business stems from irreconcilable differences both on the strategic direction for the brand and on agency remuneration" Finance ..retainer fee, cuts commission..the reasons are the same..the very old ones, which always rocked relations in Advertising...The chemistry which was touted has all gone..
Recently I read that love is entirely a matter of ‘chemistry’.That must be why many clients treat their agencies like toxic waste ...
I fall,.... I bleed..... I weep....
Thursday, July 06, 2006
an ad a day..
gooooshhhhhh... a bit of hype... but see the creativity, which could break any clutter..?
Monday, July 03, 2006
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