Advertising ...the art of Client Agency Relationships... (part 3)

continued from part 2....

Common factors that sour Client Agency Relationships....

Creativity

Agencies say that many a times,Clients brief is not clear, undue importance is given to media plans and media planning agencies and hence forced to compromise on creativity....

clients on the otherhand accuse that agencies lack creativity/many confuse between cute and creative, could not symbolize our USP / agency thought too small or awards is the soul motive

Account people

Not every client can be given the top people to work on the account, according to the agency.....Some clients will get exclusive teams some will have to share a team. After all size does matter.

Poor account people /lack of knowledge and experience / at least at the frontlines, client service professional are ‘legs’ and not ‘brains’as per the clients lamenting....

Client servicing and follow up

They keep us hanging / never responding properly and violate the pre-decided communications map. Too much of red tapism also is what ails the relation as per the agencies....

Clients feel that their job is left to juniors who are legs and who lacks basic marketing knowledge and many times are mere postmen. Follow up is virtually non-existent.



Senior management participation

No strategy / big or small the client, is finalized without key people approving it. However, their physical presence may not be possible always( that is how the agency justifies itself).

The key people working on the account is the right of every client, big or small. Agencies are biased in favor of rich /big clients( that obviously is a grouse that clients have against agencies...

Special skills

Most agencies seem to agree to an extent about their lack of expertise in special skills like virals but what about advertising which is the main element of Integrated Marketing Communication? Are the so-called small shops able to do it? Is it not true that almost all main agencies today cater to almost all the clients’ communication needs?

Clients but say "We want PR/ direct marketing and other 360 communication elements but many agencies aren’t equipped to cater"....

Agency size

It is the business of creativity, and here only the talent matters(agency version of course) ...
Size does matter.

Clients say that they,especially the smaller ones, get scant attention due to lack of enough talents.

Greed

For many clients late payment is an art, and blocks cash flow ....

Agencies squeeze every rupee possible out of the account and are greedy to the core...

Strategic thinking

On the clients side, either the marketing personnel who is in charge of advertising are ignorant, or if they are good gets promoted and vanish thereby resulting in discontinuity .

Agencies on the other hand according to clients,talk big things in the name of strategy, jargonising unnecessarily with a motto ‘convince, if not possible -confuse’......

the list seems to be endless, but from a mere relation of sorts, for the sake of good advertising,it should move into a"a state where both the partners enjoy the relation, and simply feel incomplete in the absence of the other and are in a state of bliss being together”.....

Sounds Utopian ?

Well if it does.., that it is because few people, even those who profess the need for good CAR, believe that a state like that is simply impossible inspite of a parade of bold and longlasting examples from the past..... !!!

The world is flat !!!!

After some gap here is a good piece from the 'world is flat'.. I found a good review of the recent Coke ads in this blog.... good insights as I see them and refreshing too.. Enjoy !!!

The fun gun !!!

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked.

As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story?

In Marketing & advertising, if you try to please everyone, you might as well...
Kiss your ass good-bye.........

Rock your week end folks!!!!

Harry Potter and Bookworms from the Muggle-world

Who will be awake in dark hours of the night, with gold rimmed glasses, reading a book heavier than bible, covering herself, with thick jackets, under a mosquito net? Definitely, not my sister, I thought. The girl who would throw the broom stick and walk away has started giving it due respects. The fairy tale had given an added zing to everything she does now.

But ten years ago, a lady sat, gloomy and focused, along with her daughter at Nicholson's café at Edinburgh, and was busy scribbling in her notebook, whenever a spurt of creative imagination entered her mind.

In her own words,

"The feeling of who I was badly damaged by suddenly finding myself a single parent on benefits". "So I wrote to protect my sanity. I have always written and so it was a way of continuing to be me, despite all the ghastly circumstances."

Joanne Rowling and her daughter Jessica became regulars in the café. It was difficult for her to get the first copy of the book printed and published. Now, when the record-books swell, counting the numbers, of Harry Potter books sold, the smile never fades, from her face.

The "Harry Potter" fans where waiting for a climax between Lord Voldemort and him. The loose threads in the story slowly began to entangle themselves in the web, when the 4th book in the series came out.

The magical characters in the book became characters in reel and the films became Hollywood money grossers. Jo, as J.K Rowling is often called, was basking in the warmth of fans, and had already been a billionaire. But the plot was already laid in the spoiled curse. A speculation was created before the launch of the penultimate book that Harry would die! - How clever was the publishers! It raised the anxiety level and curiosity of Potter fans.

The 7th and penultimate book in the "Potter series" was selling at the rate of 220 copies a minute, during the first 24 hours of its launch in Tesco stalls in UK. All the other books in the series had been in best sellers' list, with more than 300 million copies being sold. they were also translated into more than 60 languages. Out of 13 million printed copies of " Deathly Hallows", more than 2 million copies are now in the possession of the book fans.

The launch of " Harry Potter" books were often backed with promotional campaigns. A host of celebrations ( 300 events in Canada alone ) were also conducted to promote the books. The fans have also become crazy about "Hogwarts School" apparatus, that many toys were also made on the basis of story line. Being sceptical about the fame, it was also alleged to be promoting witchcraft.

Chrysler, which was finding it quite interesting had launched a combined promotion in 2001. Coke, which did not want fall behind came out with "Live the Magic" campaign with Harry, which attracted criticism. Gary Ruskin, executive director at advertising monitor Commercial Alert, remarked "Coke has transformed Harry Potter into a marketing wizard."

All said and done, what is in it for us to learn?

We have to believe in our inner talents. Our imagination is worth our life. If it isn't a book, it can be a popular advertising campaign. A word from mouth! - Yes, word of mouth marketing has to be taken seriously. Understand the senses, if it gives you, hardly any vibration, it is neither likely to influence others. Go forward to meet your customers (Rowling set an example by reaching out to the kids, making them happy); they are the best friends. Will media, won't media? If you are runaway success, media is likely to follow you!

And what else like "Sherlock Holmes" of Arthur Conan Doyle, is "Harry" likely to be reborn?

aquafresh... flexibility to its limits??

limits of exaggeration but when it is an ad it is cool!!!

courtesy:- adverbox, which has taken me in, as an editor !!!!

I Blog ..but do you care...?

I have written about my experiences in the past as a consumer/customer and how bad or good I have felt with them !!! I have had even more experiences after that but very rarely wanting to write and feel bad for the knowledge that no one cares. It is all in advertising only as a co passenger quipped during a flight, last week in Air Sahara ( renamed as Jetlite) to Hyderabad... this part of the customer feel irritates me and pains me for the point raised here...

You only advertise and not deliver, or in other terms, advertising is your tool for telling lies and making tall claims...

isnt that pitiable???

Well the Marketing after effects of customer apathy and later antipathy is often discussed and debated, bloggers for instance have been very active and voicing when it comes to such issues, but so charecetrestically ,the companies in question seem to be ignorant either intentionally or otherwise... Leave me and this small ,insignificant blog and the blabberings, how about blogs like wonderbranding -marketing to women, which recently wrote a piece on revlon and how a product strategy ( or rather the lack of it) is going to play death bell for the company.... she laments that " Total number of comments: 117 and counting...Total number of emails: 50+....Response from Revlon to me or any other interested party: ZERO " well im surprised too, not thet revlon never bothered to respond ,but that the blogger expected a response....

It is ironical that while everyone, even the corporates, talk about consumer generated media and consumer evangelists, what happens on ground zero is quite the opposite in many a cases.. many end up creating consumer terrorists instead... no amount of advertising can nullify this effect ....

How does one ,otherwise justify the horse eye view in which a company could ignore some 117 comments, from users, customers.. the so called probable evangelists...??

While many companies have their own blogs and with corporate blogs they seem to be recognising the power of blogging and anything and everything to do with this kind of mass media which could be of enough help to them ( how much , through their nose and otherwise, do these guys spend on research? nick named dipstick and all that and end up getting iceberg research...) why dont they get some insights from the large large blogging world...?

While all the hype and hibernation in the Marcomm world is about getting to consumer insights, why the hell is the obvious so unseen...?

Paul Gillin of the b2b magazine seems to have searched a lot for companies who use blogging for market research and found them as abundant as hen's teeth ....

Jill fallon innocently asks....why dont companies like Revlon atleast have a blog for themselves and discuss things there???

Next time some one blame Advertising as the reason for the state of things, think twice !!!


Tail piece: Q.what is the difference between ignorance and apathy?
A. I dont know and I dont care !!!

Dentyne...the power of hyperbole!!!

Hyperbole for sure it is ,but for low involvement and habitual buying categories they have to be so in advertising ..right??

Cool ad... rrrr I shud say funny and to the point !!!

insurance ad....the game of probability !!!!

Its is mindblowing campaign and each one retains the suspense till the last minute as to what is going to be the climax? For those who have seen this ad already,please think over, for others think you can later on , as of now ,just enjoy it.......

The fun gun !!!

Do you think all creatives look alike?...

Fun@ Cannes- Advertising Extravaganza

Advertising ...the art of Client Agency Relationships... (part 2)

Dynamics of client – agency relation ships

The reasons for turmoil in client agency relation can be as vivid as the stars are but they all stem from the type of relation that they enjoy or suffer from .....

Relations where clients are the kids and agencies mantle the role of parents(parent child relation) work in evolving markets or when the client is new or naive as far as the market is concerned or when the client is new in business. In evolved CARs the parent- child type of CAR graduates naturally into an equal type of relation. Anyway the MTV generation Kid is smarter that his parent and wise agencies recognize this and are more than glad to be equal partners in progress(remember the quote...Parents often talk about the younger generations as if they didn't have anything to do with it).....
.

A P&G and Leo Burnett and a Hutch and O&M are often quoted as the best happening examples of an equal relation. As per media reports, there is no marketing meeting or decision in Hutch, taken without the O & M participation in it. And the result is obvious. The Hutch user base went up by 70% after the dog and the boy campaign broke.

But everywhere and with everyone it is not that rosy. Many clients, who mature take a prominent position and start dominating relationship. Some dictate terms, some even predefine ad creative, and worse, some start thinking, their ad agency as a DTP center. The agency, in this unequal relation, as the suffering partner either remain a silent spectator with forever an‘ Yes minister’ affirmation or leave in disgust. Levers, for example is the biggest marketing juggernaut, and they cannot be given lectures on how marketing should be done, but it is also recorded in history that they, to their credit have the highest number of marketing blunders, thanks mainly to the formula advertising that many HLL brands religiously seem to be following(think the latest Lux ads where they send to air millions of rupees along with the baloons).....
Such relations can be a nightmare for any agency but these days, cash strapped, client-starved agencies take up, tolerate and retain even such clients. Such non-committal, short-term relations usually end up with cabals, castigation and cacophony. No sooner than such “deliver and out” relations have started the honeymoon ends, abruptly. Smarter clients (read, clients with no strategic thinking) love such short-term affairs but agencies rarely like to be in such a predicament (Let us not term it, a ‘relation’). Some believe that D & O stands for Devil and the Ocean. Worst of all, D & O also symbolize Dog and the Owner, for some....one night stance as a common man would call it...

.... now on a lighter side.....

Things Mom Would Never Say


"How on earth can you see the TV sitting so far back?"

"Yeah, I used to skip school a lot, too"

"Just leave all the lights on ... it makes the house look more cheery"

"Let me smell that shirt -- Yeah, it's good for another week"

"Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I'll be glad to feed and walk him every day"

"Well, if Timmy's mom says it's OK, that's good enough for me."

"The curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It's not like I'm running a prison around here."

"I don't have a tissue with me ... just use your sleeve"

"Don't bother wearing a jacket - the wind-chill is bound to improve"
To be continued>>>>>>

Grr...The Missing Link

Oh!......are you trying to remember something?..you wouldn't definitely miss it ( in the advertising campaign, I mean ). Think about the MGM trade mark again.

PS: Although we would not find animals in the wilderness, are there many among ourselves ?..a nice question to ponder over..hmm I'm loving it!.

Pepsi the game of hype !!!

The hype is obvious as though advertising is only about hype and hoopla, and it makes me think of the famous anne lennox quote, there are only two types of artistes.. those who have endorsed pepsi and those who have not... still its is worth watching for the massive construction it employs !!!!

Dont be stupid!!!

this is why I love advertising so much !!! its so simple...
cover up and save yourselves... wow !!!

Advertising ...the art of Client Agency Relationships (Part 1)

"Observing The Baby One night a wife found her husband standing over their baby's crib.

Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, scepticism. Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband.

"Love you darling for the care that you show ," she said.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only 500 rupees."

*************************************************


The client agency relationship (CAR) in advertising has always been a subject of debate and curiosity for academic researchers, industry observers and practitioners. The ups and downs of CAR, the social implications, the behavioral reasons, the financial after effects, all have been studied in depth by many academic researchers.

Here I am making a humble attempt to probe the issue, also in the Indian context, to estimate the factors that contribute to success and failure of CAR and to suggest a suitable model, for both parties to graduate CAR, as it exists today to what can be called as Client – Agency Synergy (CAS) for tomorrow.

‘The only worse thing than CAR as it exists today, can be marriages of Elizabeth Taylor’ – quipped some dissatisfied advertising manager or client servicing personnel, somewhere in the annals of advertising history. This bitter reality remains as the most ravaging problem in the wonderful arena of advertising. History of advertising is witness to many a client agency relationships plunging to disarray, touching the rock bottom of the graph ending up in deepened cleft and bitter separation. The climax is a lot of cacophony and the client calling for a new pitch and the agency desperate to woo some competitor of the just divorced partner.

Of course CAR rules are no ‘Codex Juris Canonici’ (The Law of Canon, of the Roman Catholic Church) but there are some of them, the non-observance of which leads to such bitter state of affairs that the once communications partners (supposedly) have to take it to the street and wash all the dirty linen in public. This shakes the confidence of the stakeholders (of both the clients, as well as the agencies), affecting market share and in the long term, even changing the product positioning and image that the partnership has carefully cultivated after heavy investments.

The agencies’ role
Let us not dispute the fact that almost every successful brand has a professional ad agency behind it. Marlboro wouldn’t have been the Macho Cowboy without a Leo Burnett. Can any one ignore the role of Carmichael Lynch in elevating the Harley Davidson as the cult that it is today?
In India too the Lowe signature is obvious in Surf and Saint Gobain and can we even think of Fevicol, and Cadbury’s with out bowing in reverence, the creative brains of O & M?

So what?
Three Major happenings in the past decade made the change in CAR from a love-hate scenario to a full strife-torn one and there will be no disagreement on these facts...

1.Global communication companies

A global communication company today owns almost every major advertising agency. Bates, O & M and JWT among others are part of the WPP network, Lowe and McCann is with the InterPublic, TBWA and BBDO are owned by Omnicom and so on. These global communication companies, it is alleged by observers, have changed the orientation of the business of advertising from creative to monetary. Particularly Martin Sorrel’s WPP is accused of pioneering the theory of building the financial muscle and display it to get it done, in many cases bullying the small agencies and outrunning them. Of course clients have their sales targets and advertising has to be helping it, but some clients are penny-pinching to believe that their agency should make money on other accounts they handle and not from theirs, or even worse, for an agency ‘creative satisfaction should be the profit’. But that doesn’t neutralize the fact that the global communication majors, who swallowed the advertising agencies, have commercialized the once creative business of advertising beyond recognition. A fact is a fact. It is the biggest burden on advertising and let us not deceive ourselves by calling it a backbone.

2.Consolidation of international advertising

Global brands started kicking out different agencies that they were doing business with, in different countries in an attempt to consolidate the communication made to the outside world. The trend perhaps started with IBM, the computer major deciding in favor of O & M, in 1994, in the process of throwing out almost 40 agencies in as many countries. Philips was one giant which decided against about 70 agencies through whom they advertised, in favor of DDB worldwide as part of their policy of “Convergence”. Some worked, some didn’t. Regional ad agency heads resented the idea of their New York or London head quarters telling them what to do and how. But owners of big ad group vouch for this as a policy that clients should follow.

3.Glocalisation

Coca-Cola practices it beautifully well, what we call as glocalisation. Think globally and act locally. Coke and Colgate are the same everywhere in terms of the concept that the brand stands for, so is Master Card. But the execution caters to the palate of the local markets. But it wasn’t that easy for them. Coke for instance when it re- entered India, decided to bring in an American Indian to head Indian operation, who in a poor attempt of glocalisation even recreated the hill top campaign, that was a huge success there, only to find that for Indians it meant nothing .For those who went for consolidation sans glocalisation, their hands were burnt and generally their agencies lost business by way of client turnover.

T0 be continued>>>>>

Well done Marketing Practice...

My friend and co blogger Harish and his blog is rocking !!! success seems to be raining like the monsoon showers here in Kerala. Salutes and Three cheers from the the Advertising team of Adformula......

Clinic All clear...Kiss of good bye !!!

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know. ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955


Didn't you follow my advice about kissing your girlfriend when she least expects it?'
asked the older brother.

'Oh hell!' replied the younger sibling with the swollen eye.....

I thought you said 'where'.'
**************************************************
How much is a kiss worth? It depends?
Well how much disaster can a kiss create..?
Again it depends… right..?

Well no prices for guessing the story, which made me, write this piece after a long gap…. It’s the now well known, or rather infamous lip lock which Bipasha had with Ronaldo, which she claimed as a chat which happened to be ‘close’ as it was a party room (Remember Chico Marx who famously said…I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth,) which media celebrated as a kiss, as people talk from mouth to ears and not from mouth to mouth, John seems to have got convinced ( he would know, and only he would know, how she lip locks and how she chats and could clearly make it clear that all is clear between him and the lady whom he ‘was with’ for ten long years and had announced ‘I am going to marry’.

“May I print a kiss on your lips?" I said,

And she nodded her full permission:

So we went to press and I rather guess

We printed a full edition”

For John , it seems that is what Christiano Ronaldo said and did with his heartthrobe…

So what? Well The swiftness with which Lowe lintas seems to have realize this rift is amusing me…. Clinic all clear has already come up with ads where John is in all alone and Bipasha is out....( already because its only a matter of three days since officially the couple has got split) thanks to the joint endorsements that they had , especially the all clear one, they glued together and now with the infamous kiss, even that is lost. Or is it that the agency knew all this early and was ready for the bang…?

The off screen chemistry and physics that they had helped the otherwise lousy creatives do survive and even get to be liked people..well that seems to the past now..While John will continue with his brands that he endorsed unaided, including wrangler, he now is gonna be alone in all clear too, while Bipasha will go on with her levis and others, it seems now kinetic group has come to her rescue ,claiming that she fits into their brand profile 100% … see this…

Says Ajinkya Firodia, V-P, sales and marketing, Kinetic Motor Company, “Kinetic has been very selective about working with brand ambassadors. We look for perfect synergy between product attributes and ambassador personality. Our upcoming Kinetic-SYM scooter will appeal to women riders, and is being positioned accordingly.” On being asked if the decision to rope in Basu had anything to do with her ability to attract controversy, Firodia answers, “Our market research showed that Bipasha Basu, perceived as a modern and independent high achiever, is the role model for many young girls who admire her style and success. In fact, the support for her was unanimous, with a 100 per cent perfect brand fit.”

Now that reminds me the Sansui ad where Rahul dravid, (for the first time probably in history of celebrity endorsements) sits and explains why and how he fits into the brand image of Sansui…dull and dreary ad it is , but the attempt to find a logic is commendable.. at last brands seems to have woken up to the reality that people don’t buy simply because a tom dick or harry tells them to, or claims that they have one and why not you too, however well known and famous they are…

Next what?

John may rope in Vidya balan while Bipasha may ride (in the Kinetic scooters, I mean) Dino Morrea or even Saif ali khan, as the media claims… Let us keep watching kisses and hisses while the ridiculous world of advertising searches and keeps itself locked and ‘safe’ in formulas and time tested clichés.....

After all it takes guts and fortitude to try new things……

foot note:The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer….Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., the Professor at the Breakfast-Table

what do u expect in a real estate ad?

What all you can expect in a real estate
ad? Layout plans, Landscapes, List of amenities, Location advantages Aren't your balls (I mean eye balls ) tired of seeing this? Have a look at this ad, taking this category to a new level

the licking dog .... what an insight!!!

no doubt its absolute fun , but it is real too... an insight ever so existing and when put in an ad can be a stark realisation.. a shocking revalation... cool ad....!!!

Incity Romania construction company...

why this ads? I found them humble and yet hiting right their on the target..... cheers to the team behind it and to Erhan Ali Yilmaz from whose blog I lifted these works

visa power .... now this is what an ad should be...

great work..... may be you have seen this visa ad before but not me and couldnt resist from putting it here... it means what it says and it says what it means...lucid and luring.... great work....

RGX Life : Beware of a Sniffing Mouse

Some of us are good at using our nose. Most of us often like to escape from comments like - " Oh! sweat, it stinks!". We often fall prey to deodorant brands like Axe, Adidas, Set Wet Zetak and like. Men like being cajoled, being a "treat" in between a swarm of girlfriends- freudian instincts, friends!. The perfumed deodorant brands know your late night dream vagaries and put you in their ploy.

RGX life do something more. They talk about those sniffing mouses among your friends, who would like to say, "I want to smell you from right here.. and so on" . This is what the enticing lady does in the commercial.

See the different takes here. .......

She says young men should grow up, and if you are curious to know more about her, then delve into this MTV report.

But I have a suggestion to the makers of this advertisement, Would you like to know that "Men don't like to take orders". Most of them are chivalrous, but chauvinistic too......

The Print Speaks!

Some print advertisements do not usually catch our eye, some may not hold your attention and most of them are not recalled.

Some of them consistently disturb our eyes, and a familiarity leads to liking. But here is a list of advertisements that we would like, with an uncommon touch.

This advertisement for Australian Post says "If you really want to touch someone. send them a letter"

















The bewitching eyes !- The Unicef advertisement says, " Education for women in Islamic Countries ". A creation of FCB Kobza.





















Unbelievable- The hair is what the police department remembers, a Sunsilk advertisement!















From zzzzzzz...... to hmm Nescafe........it wakes you up everyday!..













We would dance on chairs.. a Hungarian Dance Academy advertisement!. What's the rat doing in the ad?

learn English !!!

Learn English. It's rewarding.Call 06 1 478 4700 http://www.britishcouncil.hu/

Originally the ad was in Hungarian......

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Budapest, Hungary

Executive Creative Director: Dalbir Singh

Creative Director: Gabor Spielmann

Art Director: Eric Napier, Dalbir Singh

Copywriter: Dalbir Singh

Illustrator: Melinda Szentpetry, Amsterdam

beautiful ad..so simple and yet so amazing... i loved it...................

The fun gun...!!!

This are the times ..... when advertising guys are allways in search of new media to advertise... how about some assvertising???

autopilot... drunkards are welcome

Autopilot is a service that will drive you and your prestige vehicle home when you have had too much to drink....

what better way can you say this... hope the TG is not gonna read it when they are already drunk !!!!

Advertising Agency: Mint, Australia

Published: 2007

guilt advertising !!!

Guilt or our inabilty to do some thing for the needy has been used cleverly, in advertising..particulary when charity is the product.... here this one from saatchi&saatchi makes an impact ......

A punch on the spendthrifts....

give me my daily bread !!!

Advertising Agency: Tropa, Curitiba, Brazil
Creative Director: Juarez Zaleski Jr, George Stein
Producers: Jeferson Thauny, Zaza
Additional credits: Juarez Salvador Jr
Released : June 2007

HCL ...touching my antipathy !!!

HCL is in a repositioning spree… and FCB ulka (yes the one who earler did the talking numbers campaign)is the advertising partner in its attempt to” connect with the public”…….

Now that you have seen the ad…….here are some doubts…..

You work for a $4B company (according to the Ad), they are sending you in a helicopter to go “overseas for a “life sciences project”…

* Why does the helicopter wait for you in the middle of wilderness ?

* Why does the company expect you to beseech a ride? Can they not send you a cab?

* Can you fly overseas in a Helicopter? (from India at least)

* When he has an internet connection is getting a taxi so difficult for the “intelligent “HCL guy?

* The i-banker guy is driving a SUV which in this story is a sign of prosperity from stocks and shares and yet he reacts like a kid when the gifted and sharp hero tells him about the stock crash?

"As a technology company, we had a tendency to be nerdy and it reflected in our past ad campaigns. But we wanted our ads to connect with the public." This is what the present ad, labelled the `Touch Technology' campaign, attempts to do”, said HCL Corporate Vice-President - Strategy, Mr Saurav Adhikari.

Good thought sir, late but good, but I guess you still have a tendency, the hero at the end simply turns out to be a nerd, a geeky egoist who will take the brand to nowhere better…..You come back to square one…..

Its there everywhere and in every channel and the more I see it, the more I feel bad about HCL, about whom I didn’t know anything. I have started to feel that it obviously is a group of self appreciating morons……

Is that what you are spending your millions for?

To buy the viewers antipathy?

Branding Countries! Branding Ourselves!

During the last decade, we have seen major initiatives by nation states to advertise themselves. In order to distinguish themselves, and to project a halo of attraction globally, they advertise themselves as a paradise with several features like- vivid culture, friendly people, safer nation, panacea for all illnesses ( am referring to health tourism), growing economy and like.

Here we see, Claudia Schiffer, adorned in German flag, a feast for our eyes, projecting Germany as a place for safer investments. Some of these advertisements have appeared in magazines like The Economist and Fortune . It says Germany- A Land of Ideas!

La, la Brazil- the Vengaboys song is quite a memorable one. This commercial for brazil tourism speaks of the Carnivals, the culture, its samba dance wersions, the freedom and joy that this latin American country proudly posseses. Some of us do know that Lula's land had become a major attraction due its bio-fuel ventures.

Malaysia- Truly Asia- This small piece of landscape, a nation which projects itself as a place - where we would find a mixture of all Asian cultures is one of the cheaper tourist destinations.

Thailand- the small Asian nation, also called the 'Land of White Elephants' is one of those countries in Asia with a rverberating culture, ethnic dance forms and a land of hospitality. A land where we find pagodas, chaityas and stupas is mainly known for its hospitality!

And India, a place where I live, is a land of different cultures, staying tolerant with each other, existing and growing- a culture which normally finds ways for evolution!. Here, we project our nation for its sustaining vivid culture, growing economy for investments and a place where you would get rejuvenated. A different experience altogether giving a spiritual consciousness too.