Bingo masala remix - awesome !!!

Now that is an ad... I would call it tangy and tasty to the core and serves all that an ad is supposed to be... no rocket science here but this guys have made me ( I am sure everyone of the TG) get stunned for a moment, then awed by the gun men, the kidnap ,the gun fight and the police and then shocked by the sudden breaking and then laugh when the whole MASALA drama starts again with the Bachaooooo sound reverberating .... No logic here and thankfully the makers of this ad hasnt analysed the idea and killed it... Ideas like this are funny, or it's not.... As Mark Twain said, "Trying to figure out why something is funny is like dissecting a frog. You'll come up with answers, but the frog always dies."... I loved this ad for the same reason and more...

Bingo and O&M team believes in entertaining and here again they have done that .. who does not love to be entertained? And that too, thought provokingly and without being offensive to any one ... This ad respects the imagination of the viewer and the fact that their imagination may be bigger and better than the ad makers... Even when one laughs , the fact that is clear is that- the business of snacking thrives on constant insertion of excitement and thrill on the image value of the brand. . I love this ad for all this, plus still managing to stay in track ( with all the guns, thieves and bachaooo)and sell the product idea.. at the end of all the laughing if the brand and its images are not staying in the mind of the TG , what is the great fun in making ads?

Finally this ad , as many of the previous Bingo ads, breaks the limit... they know for sure that the best of humour comes from the edge,where simply there is no limits...

Kudos BINGO and O&M....

Titan & Aamir Khan - perfect couple !

Titan is the other name for watches in India…for the one follower who came in to the monopoly of the Indian market in 1987-88 fully diversifying into jewelry as well in 1994 by 2003 had upset the apple cart.. Changed the rules of the game.. huh why rules.. change the game it self …Now that is not the reason why the new ad finds a place in adformula … in fact whenever I found celebrity endorsement I have (most of the time) found myself scathing in my attack on laziness as a strategy that ad makers employ when they make a star sit (stand/bath/run/drink/wear/dress) lift the produce (soap/shampoo/energy drink/petrol/pen) or whatever and say I am this and that because I used this…. In class I give the example of Dyna soap and Kathrina Kaif to prove my point…..

Aamir and his association with titan is really endearing… it proves the ten commandments* that I strongly hold dear and think as must for advertising guys to adhere to whenever they have a famous face to help you sell the product in the short term and build your brand in the long term…

1. Thou shall not take into service a celebrity, for want of other choices.

2. Thou shall not employ a celebrity, who is there, everywhere.

3. Thou shall not appoint a celebrity who is outdated/ controversial.

4. Thou shall not sign up a celebrity who doesn’t really connect.

5. Thou shall not hire a celebrity who lacks expertise in the category or at least who is a total misnomer.

6. Thou shall not engage a celebrity because everyone else is behind him/her.

7. Thou shall not hire a celebrity, just because the competitor has one.

8. Thou shall not assign a celebrity with every brand in your product mix.

9. Thou shall not utilize a celebrity without the advertising strategy in mind.

10. Thou shall not slot in a celebrity without a personality study of the
Celebrity and the brand(s).

*From “mechanics of celebrity endorsements” Advertising express- August 2006- Sabu M Nair

Now having said that it is not only the gelling that the brand and the celebrity is having in this ad, it is also about the equal weightage given to both so that the star do not eat on the brand (vampire effect) . It is also about the continuity that the stars persona is enjoying and such continuity being consistently taken in by the brand for its prosperity.( Remember the Ghajni ads and the Mangal Pandey ads). It’s about the celebrity not being seen for too many brands and in discontinuous intervals and when seen in all fun and fancy that fits his image…It is like a perfect marriage, even though there is nothing in real life called a perfect marriage…

A watch is not just a time device now…it is not just an electronic device that covers a small part of a man’s framework…. It is not even an essential part of your wardrobe if I may say it. Thanks to Titan and the first set of Aamir ads which made it look like “if you do not have a set of watches in your wardrobe, you are a looser” feel and the feel stayed through out the “be born every day”ads to “what’s your style” and to “be more”.. The sales figures of the past decade talks…..Titan as a category leader for sure has done its job- both of category development and its own brand development … their ads always had been simple, strikingly different and leaving a smile on the viewer.. this one is strictly in the same mould and the most striking feature is the consistency… brands and their managers who get bored of their advertising and strategy even before the TG does, have to learn a lesson or two from this partnership…

Kudos to the team at O&M and Titan for being consistent, continuous and creative ! ( this is not forgetting the latest brand extensions of Titan like the eye+ the worth and value of which is yet to be decided and the fact that O&M handles its advertising as well)

Cadbury's Diary Milk- In No man's Land... !

What are the different ways of experimenting with a brand and taking it from place to place and market to market…? Ask O&M, or just sit and watch the ads they make time and again for Cadburys Diary Milk, which once was good in connecting to its right TG but has slowly lost both, the idea of who is their TG and how to connect to them….

The new ad is about celebration again (that has been the platform for years now and it is extended here again) with a song 'Khush hai zamana aaj pehli tarikh hai, Meetha hai khana aaj pehli tarikh hai” which just means sing and rejoice, it's salary day today… this ad is getting a lot of recall for the money being spend… the media agency is doing its job(!) .. a hell lot of road blocking and the ad is there everywhere....... the idea stares from the newspaper and blares its horn from the TV of course….from FM radio’s and as SMS’s every first day it pooh-pooh’s ( they have tied up with BSNL, MTV, Star channels, with HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank to send out text messages to account holders on pay day etc etc)….. But the big question is: - what is the big Idea?

Cadbury’s is the undisputed leader in the Rs 2,000-crore per annum chocolate market and Cadbury Dairy Milk is its warhorse with some 34-35 % market share….. Though it is strong in bars (Five Star) and tablets (Cadbury Dairy Milk), Nestle has made inroads with its light offerings like KitKat and Munch. Worse now is an increasing health awareness, among the larger public which is attracting consumers towards lighter chocolates — a trend that will only get stronger in the days to come.

In this given scenario is this a strategy?

The conception of this new ad relates more to the old India which was socialist, stupid and loved the license Raj and famed protectionism….. Come on guys….. Take a long walk….…. The India of today doesn't wait for salary day to do a bit of indulge and that too on a piece of chocolate…. I have nothing against any brand going down the socio economic ladder as DM is doing with every new ad trying to sell to more masses, but the question is- are you retaining the original buyers..?

Is this an endeavor to move this product which is of variety seeking nature to a habitual category… Can it happen?

Is it just an effort to break the clutter? Then yes they have broken it.. but what next… is it making more people buy more than they bought before?

Is it an attempt to get synonymous with the Mithai category after being generic with the name chcolates…? If yes ALAS.. God save you guys….

Pay day is surely an occasion to celebrate but that is all? You want people to stop buying on other days… ? like I do.. every week end.. every time I walk in to a friends home, every time I visit a super market with my Kids… From every day buying to one day (JUST ONE DAY) buying? I sure don’t belong to the SEC to which you now talk to, but does that mean that I cannot be your buyer…..?

Diary milk and its ads by O&M have enchanted an entire generation and that provokes this outburst when I see the world’s most creative agency parading the wonderful brand as Radha and Miss Palampur ( in a gross under utilisation of the great Big B) and now this one.. This one for sure is better than the Radha and the Big B ads which was probably the biggest disservice to the brand….here at least (as compared to Radha) there seems to be an idea (no Big Idea still) which is let out half baked and it will lead to indigestion…..The celebration platform was and is kept intact all this years but….. See these ads from the past and then let us continue….






Now….can one compare these ads made in 1993 (or 94?) with the Radha ads? With the Big B ads where Pappu passes his 12’th grade, the Kenya ads? With the new Pehli tarikh ones?… The celebration platform is intact but isn’t the big idea missing….?

Pehli taarikh (the first day of the month= salary day) is important, I admit......I am a salaried guy and live life on the first week of ever month.. But I would rather plan, prepare and purchase a pair of jeans or a shoe on the Pehli taarikh and sing a song when I buy it…… a bar of chocolate is intuitive for me… and it has to be that way for the seller.. Or is it not..?

When you feel like eating chocolate you will have it & you wouldn't for sure wait for the pay to come to buy the chocolate......it is not such a big deal to buy a chocolate and no decision or planning is required for it….

It is surely a big deal to market chocolates.. the big players have bigger headaches... Next time when I have a celebration -Will I buy a diary milk? is the question.

Pulsar 220 DTS-i -The Fastest and confused Indian ...

The wife came home early to find her husband making love to a beautiful sexy young woman.

"You unfaithful, disrespectful jerk! What are you doing? How dare you do this to me the faithful wife, the mother of your children! I'm leaving this house and I want a divorce!"

The husband, replied, "Wait! Wait a minute! Before you leave, at least listen to what happened."

"It'll be the last thing I will hear from you so make it fast, you cheating creep."

"While driving home this young lady asked for a ride. I saw her so defenseless that I went ahead and allowed her into my car. I noticed she was very thin, not well dressed and dirty. She mentioned she had not eaten for three days. Out of compassion, I brought her home and
warmed up the food I made for you last night that you wouldn't eat because you're afraid you'll
gain more weight".

"When I served them to her, the poor young thing, practically inhaled them. Since she was dirty I asked her if she'd like to bathe. While she was showering, I noticed her clothes were worn-out and full of holes so I threw them away. Since she needed clothes, I gave her the pair of jeans
that you no longer wear because they're too tight on you; I also gave her the blouse that I gave you on our anniversary and you don’t wear because I don't have good taste. "

"I gave her the pullover that my sister gave you for Christmas that you won't wear just to bother my sister and I also gave her the boots that you bought at the expensive boutique that you never wore again after you saw your co-worker wearing the same pair. "

"After she dressed, I walked the young woman to the door where she turned around and with tears of gratitude streaming down her cheeks, she asked me,

"Sir, do you have anything else your wife doesn't use?"

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The above said story strikes me every time I see this Fastest Indian ad from Pulsar 220 DTS-i bike, which is the latest evolution from the good old Pulsar that put our very own Bajaj back in the two wheeler map of India.

For some one who saw the definitely male postitioning and was awed by its total difference (points of parity and yet the points of difference) with which it was conceived and positioned and storm that it created in the Indian two wheeler market, and in the process churning up the so called performance segment which was lying underperforming with the hero Honda CBZ, this new ad is not that striking…

For some one who saw the macho ness in the pulsar design ,the tagline, the ads and the sales rocketing, for some one who saw the client ( Bajaj) jumping from O&M to Leo Burnett who screwed up the positioning and the ads (Digital Biking was the new tag I guess and then to distinctly ahead and then to.. OOF!) which was a big disservice to the old one (the best in the two wheeler industry I believe)

For some one who have seen the Pulsar and the DTSI and then the Pulsar 200 and the 200 DTS-Fi and now this and having had a ride in all of them, the old one still is the best…Not the product ,its evolution is wonderful, I am here talking of the communication..... Not because I have suddenly joined the old school of advertising but cannot understand why a brand should oscillate its positioning and confuse people, with no valid reason.

If competition from the likes of YZF-R15 and the FZ-16 TVS and Apache RTR 180 etc is the reason, I would say… take a break and take a long walk.. Oscillation is not the answer….

As a product Pulsar is doing well and is constantly upgrading itself … and I love Pulsar than the Yamaha FZ that I get to drive from my brother every time I want to feel young… and why not? Bajaj Pulsar 220 cc with 21.04 PS of power and priced at Rs. 70,000 is nothing less than a wonderful product (Mind you FZ will take some 74000 Indian rupees..)…. It is the communication that is screwed up …

Where is the product shown?
Why not the product which is the best and hence showable..
Why not the product which the market would love to see at least in a frame running for 5 seconds?
Why the Psychological positioning which totally ignores the added features of the product that makes it class apart?

The ad that we saw here makes no sense… it may get a metal in some ad fest where equally arrogant creative guys will celebrate their ignorance but for the common man, who has to buy his bike, this is simply a non seller….. the tag line rocks- the fastest Indian -but clubbed with the ad it fails… it doesn’t connect .. it simply evades my common sense…. From Pulsar mania to Pulsar vacillation?

In spite of the ad screw up’s Pulsar sales are still on the high side… the proof…? Read this latest industry review …..

Bajaj Auto, which recently launched their flagship product, revamped Pulsar 220 DTSi, which is India’s fastest bike currently, along with revamped Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180, are also going great guns selling 1,68,471 two wheelers this month (June 09) . Although there was a decline of 4.52 percent in sales compared to June 2008 sales (which were 1, 77,112), the sales are growing month after month. The company sold 1,65,697 two wheelers last month and the sales grew 29 percent Quarter on Quarter, primarily due to the successful launches since February 2009 of the XCD 135 DTS-Si, Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180 DTSi 2009 editions.

Moral of the story…..?

Advertising beware….

People don’t essentially buy seeing ads… and worse they buy in spite of seeing bad ads.. They buy in spite of your screwing up and offering funny reasons for the screwing up….

Isn’t that a bad news for the industry?

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also read :- the b school blog and continuous confusion...

Vodafone- Happy to help....

Amazingly simple and as usual to the point.. Now I love Vodafone ads more after seeing the empty vessels and noises in their market....



It is a different thing whether they are actually so happy to help... I beg to differ here as a vodafone customer but still it is great ,,,this communication ....



and this one........



and another one which makes us smile...



and this one which is truly cool...