IndusInd Bank ad- just spilt milk !!!

Indus Ind bank and its three ads (one each for Mobile Alerts, Online Payments and Ready2Use Savings Account kit) that is on air for a week plus now has amused me for three reasons…

1. It was surprising to see this from a bank which was a non advertiser as compared to the big wigs of the category.

2. It has Omi Vaidya (Chatur of 3 Idiots fame) and Shruti Seth (TV actress of Comedy Circus & Ristey.com fame), the ads are visualized and made by the big brains (PS Mann, Creative Director, RK Swamy and the script has been put to light by Ankur Suman, Creative Group Head of the agency) and directed by Imtiaz Ali, (the same director who took 'Jab We Met' to a success)

3. The media spend is awesome (about 50 million) and that explains to me why I get to see these ads now and then, in any channel I watch or flip through.



This is just one of the ads and the rest of the three you can see here….

Now having said and seen it, I must also confess that in spite of all this factors that seem to favour the brand and its 'could have been path breaking advertising', nothing much has happened with the reaction that such an ad would have generated. I know its easy to review but when it is done, it has to be done in all perfection…so let me take it in the same 1, 2 and 3 order…

1.It could have been different considering the fact that the bank in question is a minor player in its market, no matter what ever the claim other wise is.. (2 million customers and has a network of 209 branches and 427 ATM's spread over 168 geographical locations in 28 states and union territories across the country) .. vis-à-vis and ICICI and SBI and HDFC, Indus Ind bank is still small which but could have been used as an opportunity .. Remember the Avis care rentals ad which said “we are number two but we try harder”.. some thing of that angle would have been perfect for this.. but then obviously the Indus ind bank guys are no Robert Townsend and the RK Swamy guys aren’t of the Bill Bern Bach genre… I don’t mean that only the biggies should go brouhaha but the small ones should do it differently if they expect to be noticed..

2.The choice of casting & humor should have definitely helped then to break the clutter and create some disruptive communication… they seemed to have hoped it-both the brand and its agency….. but then getting Omi to speak like Chatur isn’t humour , at least talking in that accent but no great joke delivered will not make people laugh and laugh and run all the way to the nearest Indusind bank and open an account.,,,, Or else they could have continued with Chatur and not make him Mr Chowgle who speaks like Omi.... No doubt the mobile alert ad has a bit of humour in it but was it the maximum?

How does the other two ad look so plain ,naive and lacks creatives in it? Indusind Bank as a brand will for sure get some recall but then after that? Can Chatur-Imtiaz magic convert the recall into action…?

3.With slight modification to the famous Bernbach quote…'Nobody counts the number of ads you run; or the number of channels you run, they just remember the impression you make…'. Frankly, in terms of creating an impression I guess Chatur (thanks to three idiots) remain in the minds of the TG but not connected with this brand in question, nor in any relevance to this brand in question, nor again for any humour that he delivered here but in his film- the clasic three idiots... ! this is not forgetting the fact that from a marketing communication angle Indusind bank has done a lot last one year… As part of a new and vigorous brand building exercise, the bank has taken many initiatives which has helped the brand connect up with the customers & enhance the visibility quotient…. But does this series of ads contribute? Have they thought of the idea that opportunities dance only with those who already are on the dance floor?At least justify the kind of spend that it seems to have incurred?

Mr & Mrs Chowgle could have been used with more sense and with more fun , so that the desired clutter break would have happened like a cake walk. Lost opportunities but are like spilt milk.. now the question is what next?


" Opportunities come; we do not perceive them, or we tarry or hesitate, and they pass away. Often it happens, too, that a lost opportunity is a last opportunity!"

My Pepsi... My way !!!

Dhoni, Sehwag, Uthappa, Robin Sharma and another cricketer together doing what they are the best in doing....no no.... not playing cricket but acting in an ad film… Dhoni after being voted as the richest celebrity from endorsements has become a better actor, no matter what and how his talent in the cricket field goes… The setting is rural Kerala and the young (?) Icons (?) of Indian cricket plays cricket with a group of local kiddos on top of a kettuvallam ( a boat which is big and has large flat surface)…. The plot is simple.. the kiddos get to see the holidaying Indian cricketers and challenge them to play a game of cricket on the boat ,much to the arrogance of they masters of cricket , but much to their disappointment later as the kids win by getting all the Pepsi in a cheap but smart trick !!!!

Ahem !!! From the Pepsi 'Youngistan campaign that featured Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor( and also and ageing SRK as Deepika’s Brother ) in an attempt to create a nation called Youngistan on the lines of the classic Marlboro country. Marlboro made it for sure while the Youngistan is still a doubt… Remember that Sachin Tendulkar was dropped by Pepsi as its brand ambassador after fifteen years. On the reason that “Sachin does not fit into our brand value and our Youngistaan campaign anymore.”….The younger the better, and there came in the Kapoor boy with his sexy looks, shape age and what not… the Saavariya dance made him a national icon (?) and yet the youngistan campaign wouldn’t take off from that butt show…

It was but (not butt) fun, not the Ranbir, SRK, deepika show but the spoofs, thanks to the Pepsi/JWT idea bankruptcy India had a laugh courtesy Sprite… see it here…

Well getting back to this new piece…which is called as My Pepsi My way which I assume is a passing out of the youngistan campaign....is more expensive ( all the stars, their trip to Kerala, stay in 5 star resorts, shooting in a lake, the boats, the security the blabla, the crowd.. ) unimaginable and one should say seeing all the efforts and the brouhaha this one is not better than the first one… J ust W asting T ime is a passion for certain agencies and with clients who are never cash stripped, why not… eat drink and enjoy.... tomorrow you may die.. !

The team who made it :-

Agency: JWT

Creative team:

Team JWT - Soumitra Karnik Executive Creative Director;Amit Wadhwa, Client Services Director

Production House- Corcoise Films

Director - Prasoon Pandey

Producer - Cyrus Pagdiwallah

Just to copy an old slogan of Pepsi with a slight variation….

This ad is nothing .. Nothing overwhelming about it …. Just another ship that will pass, in the night silent and unnoticed….

BSNL.. where ignorance is a bliss !!!

The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has happened !!!!

It is basic stuff and no great thing I am going to reveal here in today's sermon.....

You can't persuade your audience if you don't know much about them..... Knowing your TG helps you to shape your message in a way that's most likely to gain their acceptance. That's all the more important when your goal is to persuade, and not simply to inform, your audience.....
So what.. you say?? we all know this ...you say??? ... well read on...

Persuasive communication aims to convince people to take some form of action says the text books...after all, you must get your TG to change their attitudes and belief or you must reinforce the attitudes and beliefs they already hold. That means you must have a thorough knowledge of your audience before you prepare your communication.rite? They should feel like...yup.... wow... they r talkin to me....

The series of BSNL advertising that have been going round the air, for quitesome time,made me think...
What do they mean? Do they know what they want to sell, say and sit at home relaxed after that? A celebrity can make half your job done, but in this case, the atrocious waste of that resource, is so appaling and awful that one shudders to think that the industry isnt aware of the basics...?
The guys at the agencies that made them should go back to their schools, at the earliest....


Of course the pretty Zinta gal had been there , an unmatch though, jumping ,dancing and singing, holding phones with funny BSNL sub brands glaring out of them vying for attention in the previous ads (?), now here celebrating stupidity,refusing to marry a guy who dont have a BSNL at home ( That is the latest in the series of " Be Indian Buy Indian" tamasha) and alas.. telling the Indian folks dat BSNL is the best (oh yeh...?)It is an abysmal ad.. like all of the predecessors and if one goes by the anticedents, it isnt going to get any better.....
Any number of factors can affect how your TG will react. These can include their experience, education, job or professional background, age, gender, ethnic background, cultural differences, and more..... more and more... competition for eg...
How long can BSNL ASSUME that they are superior and worse they are the only player???
How long can they keep self admiring about the reach and network ( forget the GSM to CDMA transition and the delay that is so typically public sector like and the capacity crunch that adds to the pandemonium) and stop being innovative and inspired?
How long can Grey world wide and EURO RSCG keeps their eyes shut to the reality that the PUBLIC SECTOR scene is changing and hence discern the need to be sensible and creative ?
And that they now are and will have to compete with the private players????


You'll need to address your listeners at the level of their existing knowledge and that is just basic stuff boss... in this game of marketing communication, the right quantity and quality is the game and the rule of the game... Yes the rules havent changed dude but the game has changed..
See the above market pie for instance.. see the complexity, the number of eaters, and the way the cake is divided... see the way its growing and growing.. see for Gods sake, how its getting murkier and murkier.. and see how your brands (BSNL broad band, BSNL landline,BSNL internet,BSNL mobile,BSNL MPLS-VPN,PCO,Shoppe, TRIPLAY ,VSAT, Connecting india.. oooophhhhh) sounds stale, slow and slouching..... see the CDI and the BDI ...jargons they are, just in case simple talk dont make eyes open......
Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear said Gandhi the Mahatma, but who cares... eh..?
It is plain... sit and watch all the ads that are on air in the category and then see also yours...
Still if you think urs is some thing WATCHABLE then go on....
After all the truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.......
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Tail piece: What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy??
I don’t know and I don’t care

Airtel.. from novelty to nomans land..!!!

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...!!!