SBI - Proud to be Indian - again !!!

SBI with its “we are India” ad again… its an age old and time tested attempt (premise or formula) that many big players (many a times the first movers, the big elephants who later fell asleep, did nothing for years, resting on the laurels and past work, waking up one fine morn to realise that others are stealing the show) resort to when they see some soil from under the feet washed and gone…

SBI wants to own the category of Banking in India, and right fully so had it done some good home work and did what they do now some years back … Now with the private banks influx and with the repositioning and re branding of almost every bank we know, it is a bit late.. At least that is what I feel as a bank customer, an ad enthusiast and a marketing reviewer…

Why is this ad relevant and why now?

It not only shows that SBI is in an attempt to own the category ( that is, in spite of all those not so great art works that spoke of being” every Indians banker” that attacked us for the past two years or so) it some how is frantic to be seen as the category owner. The fact of the matter is that no one, not even SBI will be believing that they do actually own the category (alas!).. They could have but their own fallacies have made the gap so huge that others have grown up there and now it’s too hard to make a come back. They had become complacent, looking to the past, and have showed tunnel vision. (still if you walk into an SBI branch you will see how arrogance is a common trait among its staff) This became a seedbed of opportunity for innovators and new players to redefine the business, the products, and establish a new category and, possibly, brand leadership within it… New gen banking is what I am talking about…

This ad fails to show the banks technical expertise, it totally fails to establish its credentials (if any) as an employer and as a bank to the ordinary (?) and its reach in the core insides of India.. Had they done it, it could have been better rated.

There is nothing really fresh about this ad…. The India element fails to enthuse as we have seen it all better and brighter and well executed in all those Bharatbala productions (Remember Mile sur mera tumhara, Vande mataram by AR Rahman etc etc…) A lot of creative liberation could have been taken to emphasize the reach and network of the bank that makes the real difference but they some how chose to keep it really a plain and morbid ad hoping that India will fall in love with the INDIAN stuff.. India is now prudent enough to be duped by such inanity. I don’t call it boring & monotonous all the way through but yes it fails to inspire..

I didn't bother to find out who the ad agency is .. whoever it is, there is a lot more to go guys !!!!

Having said that, one must also admit that this ad is easy to remember. That seems to be one plus of this ad… The magnitude and the scale, the colours and the imagery will and could be remembered not because of great ideation or execution but because not many have attempted it in the Indian landscape.. It is not ever ones cup of tea.. Not a Canara bank or an Axis bank tomorrow can say and make such an ad.. It will look funny if they do so, but when and SBI does it, it becomes believable...

Ads as Jack Trout put it, if it is only about getting laughs, or giving shock or creating a wow; it’s about theater and not marketing!!!