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!"

The Fun Gun !!!

Old man Joe limped into the doctor's office and said, "Doctor, my knee hurts so bad, I can hardly walk!"

The doctor slowly eyed him from head to toe, paused and then said, "Mr. Joe, just how old are you?"

"98!" Joe announced proudly.

The doctor just sighed, and looked at him again. . .Finally he said, "Sir, I'm sorry. I mean, just look at you. You're practically one hundred years old, and you're complaining that your knee hurts? Well, what did you expect?"

The old Joe said, "Well, my other knee is 98 years old too, and it don't hurt!!!!!!!!

Logically yes, but then as in life in advertising too Logic do not have a place often !!!

Enjoy the week end folks !!!

Peugeot607- Giving shivers !!!

Peugeot 607 , the executive car which rolled out in 1999 to replace the 605 was a brilliant car in its styling and function... Both the 605 and this new version was a hit and was admired of rits executive style and looks.. (Except in some parts of Europe where I have seen it being run as a taxi) I love this ad for its attitude, and for the shivers that it gave to others... After the ad many copy cats came , not only in the business of making and selling cars but also in other businesses.But then that itself is the biggest testimony to this ad !

Its nostalgia for me to see this ad again and my appreciation to the creatives that thought this idea and for the brilliant execution... Proud that I too had a past in Euro RSCG Europe and have seen this ad in the making !

Adspeak- BOGOF..!!!

"Buy one, get one free", or "Buy one, get one" is probably one of the most common forms of sales promotion… If out of 10 ads, today 7 are of sales promotion type( three of the brand building type), atleast 5 would be of the buy one get one type… Customers may not know this acronym but every where and in every shoping situation, they come across this format of sales promotion….. It is regarded as one of the most effective forms of special offers for goods but only as long as your competetors don’t copy you ( which they often do) ...

It would have started off as an abrupt end of the season stock clearance method used by shops and merchants who were still with a large quantity of stock that they were looking to sell quicklyfor want of stocking space and changing season… But as in various practices in Marketing, later on it become a popular, planned and considered marketing method...

I think the pioneers had been the gramaphone record companies right from the older days to the DVD/CD guys of today. Last day I was buying a DVD and it said free DVD inside.. When I asked the shop sales man can I know which is that INSIDE DVD , he stared at me as if I had asked him something quite strange..

Why should you know.. It is anyway free.. You are buying one and you are getting one free…

The success of this promotion lies in the fact that for the price of one, two items are being sold. The price of "one" is somewhat nominal and is typically raised when used as part of a buy one get one free deal. Whilst the cost per item is proportionately cheaper than if bought on its own, it is not actually half price…. But who cares.. I guess people fall easily into the trap… My friend who is a Market research analyst was telling me that most people buy things that they don’t want just because they think they are getting it free….

Buy one get one free is neverthless a popular sales technique because it can be used legally at any time, unlike many other offers…. It is a great tool to attract new users but to retain them , this may not be enough ….

Tail piece: BOGOF sounds so very similar to BOGUS as in fake… Now , is that just a coincidence?

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A salesman was demonstrating unbreakable comb combo sets in a department store. He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress.... HE held both (BOGOF) combs and did all the tricks... Some protested and said when two combs are held together, it will not break in any case.. so to impress the skeptics in the crowd, he took one comb out, bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack. Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside."