Its now ages since Kerala Tourism has come out with its new international campaign ( this is the digital world every day is a month,and every month is year ,) so I am like a year late with my take on the ‘Your moment is waiting’ video that has demonstrated intense reactions like a swaying coconut tree caught in thunder storm….. .
I belong to Kerala and have always felt proud of the fact… It was always a blissful feeling to hear and see praises heaped on your home by people, especially when one lived abroad and I have felt it more often than I could afford...
Yardley as a brand is one of the oldest in the world .Established in 1770, with its classic promise of exquisite beauty, lingering fragrance of English Lavender and English Rose, it has everlastingly enthralled men and women alike with it’s well-mannered, old world charisma, so pleasing yet indefinable…. Yardley in India and its roping in of Katrina Kaif seems to have raised many a blogger eyebrows but I insist that I have to write a piece on it as well.. So here I go…
The London bred Katrina, who will be the first Asian celebrity endorser of the age old brand, is supposed to have sophistication, eyebrow-raising magic weaved into her, poise, and some English royalty like refinement that makes her a perfect choice .. a perfect marriage when one sees it all of a sudden…or is it not?
Katrina has in the past endorsed brands like Pantene shampoo, Slice juice, Oil of Olay, Kodak and Panasonic and now she is seen selling Yardley. If it gives the impression of being an expected choice then I guess the Yardley guys {WIPRO is its new owner,.. to be precise Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL)}haven’t done some home work before the actual marriage took place…
The reason for the flop show as I see it are as follows..
1) The actress has lend her name and face to an umpteen number of brands and her face has got so diluted , that this new one even fails to register… Yardley and the mere mention of Katrina's name will NOT have fans flock to stores to purchase the stuff….her name and face still will be associated with other brands that she is with…. Remember the rule.. Thou shall not employ a celebrity, who is there, everywhere.
2) They say, thou shall not engage a celebrity because everyone else is behind him/her…. Here again the brand owners have coined a huge jumbo-bumbo in support of their reason to choose the lady which sounds so very same, clichéd and heard for ages. In fact, the reality that Katrina was chosen for Yardley had raised some positive interest but the actual ads make me think otherwise.
3) Katrina connect with the brand for sure (the London connection and the connection with the youth) and her persona and the brands match but, it is not only the gelling between the brand and the celebrity that matters, it is also about the equal weightage given to both so that the star do not eat on the brand (vampire effect) … here alas, due to poor execution (plus other factors), Katrina remains but not the brand…
4) Yardley is in an attempt to build up on its aspirational brand position.. (A brand that people think is a very high quality brand, which will give them a higher position in society if they buy it is called an Aspirational brand) this ad but is a vain and poor attempt in that direction.. It doesn’t give the premium feel, the first step to achieve aspirational equity , even for people who have used the original Yardley for years now…. As my friend from London says, In spite of this ad, IF the guys who already know Yardley buys it, it would be a miracle……
5) Before aspirational positioning, brands should think of achievable positioning … Wipro already holds Santhoor and in its category it has some real good locus of positioning.. Yardley first have to find its locus, know the people who are there, get their permission and then fit in.. A Katrina may not be required (or may be) which depends on what you see in that locus.. The brand is more important, it existing charm is, and not the face that will today launch a million ships, and tomorrow forget into oblivion…
Some right media planning by Zenith Optimedia Mumbai, is taking it to the right people in some right dose and cheers for them , but for thelazy execution, thumbs down to Situations advertising Mumbai, the agency that made it .....
The rest is said and hence, I rest my case..
Foot note:- Hard work never killed anyone, but why chance it?
The sensitive music, the topless guy ironing (with a pink iron), making a 6 month anniversary reservation…”it’s useful, it’s beautiful, it’s everything you ever wished for and then some” gones the music and the shot is cut to the guy cleaning a toilet. Ladies, is this really the perfect male? It is the question that bloggers and critics have flooded the American air space with during the last two weeks... male chauvinsim -said the women who found the ad cute and why not.. the guy ( hot one, that too) doing all the ironing and cleaning is a clear welcome proposition for them albeit in real it may be a bit too hard to ask for.. The men (predictably)found it hard ,creepy and too GAYISH to be true and got offended by women who said it is cute... Reverse gender stereotyping - the analyst will call it but for the common man its like two ends that simply wouldnt connect...... Chevy went on air during olympics and have for sure got a lot of eye balls to see it again and again thanks also to the discussion ...In fact this is an ad which is much ado about nothing and yet being seen like it is something great..... Will people buy a chevy traverse after the ad? Or atleast get induced..? Is their information about the product any better after so much of repeated exposure to the advertising? who knows and who cares??? As of now the pink guys and the ad is hot and Chevy is having a laugh.....
Last heard some where in the net :- Don't know who the actor is -- but the commercial is VERY effective. A hunky guy who does laundry and cleans the bathroom! Every woman's fantasy. Makes me want to buy the car even though I know the guy doesn't come with it. Sigh. offensive or not , when the auto guys every where seem to be bothered and want to sell their stuff of fuel and its efficiency, this is a shock that Chevy gave America and they shall remember it... so will be the guy but was that the objective...???
I wonder ,would be there any one who have not loved this ad... and even went for the brand seeing it.. its power of communication.. and the sheer magic with which it hooked us as made us flabbergasted.. saw a wow.. now that is touching my soul and senses... and this one.... which was a sequel which still stayed good and enriching...
And this one with the Rahman magic, which was one rare ad which the folks wanted and see..again and again...shifted channels and reached channels where the ad is shown....
and now this one.... what can I say....you would have seen it and may be have got shocked by the sheer callousness with which the whole advertising is conceived and made...If you have a celebrity, then any things seems to be ok,the market will have to sit and watch...
What a fall ... From class to crap.. from creatives to crass.. and the latest, from novelty to the no mans land ads....keep watching...!!!
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.
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......
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……
