Nescafe VS Bru - celebrity Parade !!!

Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra fans world can soon see the star couple together on the small screen as they are going to be brand ambassadors of Bru Coffee… it is told that the shoot is on and soon the bubbly duo will sell Bru to us..

The two are on board because the company feels that the couple can do total justice to the brand (!). “Bru has been under  pressure” to bring in some star endorser because Deepika Padukone, Director Karan Johar and actor Purab Kohli were brand ambassadors for Nescafe… Now it is a strange but true reason to hire stars to endorse brands .......So the final picture is that while Deepika is busy Nescafe-ing for KJo and Purab, Priyanka will be Bru-ing it up for Shahid…or is it that picture abhi baaki hai?

And the logic from HUL which owns Bru- (it sounds the usual clichéd stuff which goes on air, whenever companies sign up a star to endorse)  “We are delighted to have Priyanka and Shahid on board as our brand ambassadors. We feel that the duo best brings alive Bru’s philosophy of 'Coffee livening-up every moment by stimulating conversation'." ……..

 “A great cup of coffee is my constant companion whether it's at work or at play” said Priyanka and not to be left behind Shahid says - “I am a coffee addict and Bru is my favourite ”… Now isn’t that picture perfect? 

Bru is my favourite as well, not because I am a “coffee addict” but because of the marketing intelligence that it has displayed in the past.. The innovation and push with which it pushed a leading Nescafe to number two position , the new packaging, the price points that came down with the new small packets that anyone would buy, the good ads that made the brand look happy, the product up gradation ( flavour-lock for instance) were all admirable.. Guess Nescafe when it finally woke up from its classic slumber and roped in Deepika and co, Bru was caught unawares (?) and now want to respond… 

In spite of Deepika and Purab, Nescafe ads were dull and not so great..And that makes the tough coffee war even more interesting... I hope and pray that Bru brings us some great ads, just like a hot cup of Bru coffee..!!!

Coca-Cola - fresh and new...

Imran khan and his freshness has added value and reason to this new Coca Cola commercial...  good idea, and great execution..!

Tiger Woods-The worst a man can get !!!

Every time I decide that I will not again write on celebrities and their role as brand ambassadors, some one comes out of the woods and drag me into this.. Well there is a pun there and I must confess that it just came in a flow.. The topic is Woods and all the brouhaha that surrounds him as more and more women appear from the woods ( ohh the pun again) proving that the ace golfer had a huge fascination for holes, on the green turf and otherwise..

It’s a classic case of brands failing… Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods or simply Tiger woods was a brand by himself – a great performer and a real consistent one at that and no matter what now his play boy like image is, till last month he was the most revered icon for the sports world… … High performance delivered every time and for years now.. and that is the profit that his brands (the ones he endorsed) reaped from his aura.. Accenture for years bet on him and him only, portraying his ability to key putt or chip out of the rough and said “High performance delivered” ….Accenture has successfully used Woods to personify its claimed attributes of integrity and high performance.… Now Accenture was the first to forsake the star whose one flaw ( integrity was his other name !) seemingly has become the single most rallying point for the whole world…

It is not woods alone.. History of endorsements is laden with examples of erring celebrities putting brands that depend on them (some cases entirely on them) into disarray… Michael Jackson, and Mike Tyson , to Ben Johnson and Hanse cronje , Britney spears to as recently Micheal Phelps ( for smoking bong -a variant of marijuana, Kellogs dropped him from its endorser list) .. Phelps was dropped not withstanding the fact that the packets of Kellogs with his pics were an instant hit and became a collectors item..

For Accenture the golfer is "no longer the right representative" after the "circumstances of the last two weeks." Said the embarrassed Accenture…The move ends a six-year relationship during which the firm credited its "Go on, be a Tiger" campaign with boosting its image significantly…. Woods was an exception to the serious brand dilution that celebrities were going through.. Not that he was very choosy.. he came for Nike ,American Express, Gillette,General Motors' Buick, Electronic Arts and Tag Heuer watches but for Accenture he stood tall and almost the axis of its entire advertising and when in bad times, this sole dependence has landed the brand and its agency Young and Rubicam, in a tight soup.. they now want to replace all the Woods ads- Tvc’s , hoardings etc… but with what? No alternate strategy was ever in place, with Woods in ….

Woods was so special for his brand owners.. so much so that he appeared with the Nike Swoosh on Accenture ads, his golf bag features a Buick logo even while he endorses Nike and so on… whether this was a proof of brilliance of Nike's Tiger Woods arrangement that other advertisers didn’t mind the presence of the swoosh in their ads or was it simply because they had no option and if they want to use Tiger, they had to turn blind, is still debatable but in the new and changed Wood world it all seems irrelevant..

Gillette and its ads said “the best a man can get” and again Woods was the right match… Now that he has reached a point which certainly is not the best a man can get and where no man ever will want to be, brands one by one are dropping him like hot potato… this is the peril of celebrity endorsements ….

Forbes just a month back described tiger woods as “it's no secret that Tiger Woods is a marketer's dream. The appeal of the good looking, clean-cut, articulate, scandal-free golf whiz is just amazing”…. Now with this fall, which is more personal than professional, (Remember Woods haven’t cheated in his game of golf like a Hanse cronje or Ben Johnson) ads and brands that bet their entire purse on one person, simply because he/ she is a celebrity will think twice .. at least more and serious thoughts of clubbing such endorsement deals with moral clauses attached would be seriously talked about..

Not that a moral clause would have made a Woods to think twice every time he went for an escapade, but that the brands will have lesser losses , financially ,when the enodorses errs… (For the uninitiated, Morals clauses are standard contract terms that allow advertisers to renege on their deals with celebrities if the stars behave badly and ruin their ad plans — as Tiger has done.)…

Wishing Woods a recovery from this personal calamity and hoping to see him again in his turf, playing Golf and endorsing brands.. after all coming back can be more sweeter… and as per his own statement “You can always become better.”

Wishing all the brands that he was with, a smooth transition period …

CelebTrack- the game of endorser ranking!!!

Percept talent management and Hansa research has done it again – their second leg of the survey tracking India's most powerful celebrities which they call as Celeb Track….

CelebTrack first phase in April 2009, happened with inputs from 6,000 people, rated celebrities on attributes like media presence,physique, popularity, power of persuasion and exposure had put Amitabh Bachan as the most powerful celebrity in India scoring high in most of the attributes that was studied…

Now Celeb Track second phase has come out with the results and MS Dhoni has taken over others as the most liked celebrity in India ,thanks partly due to the survey which happened soon after IPL and partly due to the lackluster show by his other team mates and the over exposure of celebs like SRK ….Dhoni has pushed Shah Rukh Khan to the second place and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to the third. Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar have moved down many places compared to the last round of survey….

Ahem !

Well ….for the uninitiated, the research measured more than 400 celebrities across the country to generate a celebrity power score (CPS) by ranking them on the above said parameters .

The main facets of the latest study goes like this …

“Among the male actors, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan feature in that order in the power list. Among the female actors, it is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Hema Malini and Kareena Kapoor. Among cricketers, the list includes MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

According to the wave 2 (phase 2)of the study, Salman Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sania Mirza top their respective genres as the most recognised stars. In terms of likeability, Amitabh Bachchan replaces Salman Khan. The latter scores low on persuasion, exposure and image parameters. In terms of popularity, cricketers score among the classes while actors score higher among the masses.

The top five most persuasive stars are Amitabh Bachchan among male actors, Yuvraj Singh among cricketers, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan among female actors and Sania Mirza among other sports personalities. Higher classes and men get more influenced by the top ten stars, while the masses get more influenced by women, the study suggests.

While Sachin Tendulkar falls below Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in terms of power of persuasion, he still holds on for products needing maturity and stature, such as financial products.

The respondents did not wish to read more about Rakhi Sawant, Mallika Sherawat and Sreesanth, while they wished to read more about celebrities such as Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar and Sachin Tendulkar”

I wouldn’t agree with the rakhi thing here ( lol) but for sure sree santh I know more and enough.. Please stop glorifying the lil lad media folks!!!!..

Now brands can make informed and learned decisions, as per the percept team who is behind this work, and no longer the big brands who bet huge money on stars have to rely on gut feeling and anecdotal learning. Also, celebrities can yardstick themselves in comparison with their viewers and for that reason price their participation with brands.

Males and the ones of the higher SEC’s seems to be liking the cricketers more than the cinema stars but then cricket in India seems to be revolving around Dhoni, Tendulkar and Yuvaraj . And for me one shocker is the study fact which says that most people have heard most of the cricketers names but wouldn’t connect their faces with names.. if that is the case, what would happen to an Abhinav Bindra?

I mean people would have for sure heard the name but if they don’t know that he is HE when they se him on screen, will the brands that he endorse benefit?

It's all a game.. I mean the whole game of a celebrity choice…. Marketers, their agencies (like Percept) often ignore the key factors in the choice of the celebrity whom they select with fanfare and with all the logic of "his persona matching with our brands" et al….

Is the audience traits vis-à-vis persuasibility of the endorser taken care off?

Is there a study on the Monopoly of Communication source and its influence, Messages that is conveyed and its compatibility with the the belief /opinions/values of the receiver and the extent to which the Source is believed to have, expertise status/objectivity in the area of endorsement done?

Remember Rahul Dravid was a failure when he came for Bank of Baroda, so was Sania Mirza when she came for HP.. Dhoni and Mysore sandal is a classic case…

And in any case the risk of the celebrity becoming a scoundrel overnight threatens brands,,, not that it happens often but when it happens as percept would know it would be Horrible Mess…. Hansie Cronje was the key celebrity endorsers for Siyaram's J.Hampstead brand of clothing when he got caught in the max fixing scandal…..The campaign featuring Cronje had been running on the print, electronic and outdoor media and Siyaram and its advertising agency, Percept, watched in consternation and utter sadness as their celebrity endorser turned into an internationally detested sportsman during the night. Now that is quite an extreme case and let God forbid.. But the point is .. is it a safe bet to hang a brands future (entirely)to another brand whose brand value is quite volatile?

Having said that let me also add (quickly) that some study and some statistics is good... as the good old saying goes ,'something is better than nothing'!!!

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Garnier men- perfect match !

What is so great about this ad?

I would say nothing except that it has John Abraham in it….. But that makes all the difference. Garnier for men ( a new extension from Garnier ) from International cosmetic giant L'Oreal has roped in Bollywood hunk John Abraham as the brand ambassador for its new product Garnier Men and the ads are going around catching the eye balls everywhere and everytime .( good media planning I must say)… Garnier MEN will "take care” of the tough male skin with a line of products that combine a high performance and unique formulae that fuse nature, science and technology.. ahem.. sounds great….

Why John?

Its simple..

The brand stands for “natural energy that fuels your skin”.

The brand want to be seen as “youthful and edgy” (in a positive sense I guess !), “that emanates positive energy”. It believes in “Taking Care – taking care of yourself and the world around”. John Abraham represents this value (and why not!) for Garnier. He’s got the charisma, and the attitude. He is the face of the new Indian man who is confident and has got tremendous self-belief. I know many young lads in my GYM where they come for working out just because their Girl friends LOVE JOHN…

Garnier is young and edgy, and John is an icon for the youth who is edgy as well. He wants the best for himself but he is also fun, someone who enjoys being himself, and same with the youth the GEN Y kids……. I feel a right connect and the celebrity-brand match looks perfect …

Where is this taking us?

A tremendous launch and then an expansion and surge in grooming products for men, happened in the last few years with the launch of brands such as Elder Pharmaceuticals’ Fair One Man, Saka Bleach Cream for Men, Emami’s Fair and Handsome, HUL’s Menz Activ, and Nivea for Men and the likes… (Have I left out anything…? ). Not that men didn’t care about looks before but largely had to depend on products aimed for the fairer sex…The Indian male grooming market now is growing faster than the global cosmetic market,and as per the industries estimate, the Indian male grooming market is around Rs 750 crore (without the shaving gels and brushes that is !)..,,,, The market is growing at a rate of 30-40 per cent annually and could keep growing at the rate and with increasing number of men wanting to look and feel good its just a non stop express. Now that is quite phenomenal for a category that didn’t exist some 10 years back.. aint it?

…Last to, jump into the male narcissism bandwagon is Garnier Men…. the market is tough, if not saturated and one will have to wait and see how far the new brand will capture the share of the voice and the noise and the market….If my knowledge is right, John is the first major celebrity and the first one to make a connect with its intended target audience and the brand. What more does a brand need? ( It is not that I did not see Bipasha basu and her miserable endorsement of Fa men, I prefer to ignore the ignorance of the agency and the apathy of the client and the perfect mismatch) . Now I am told that, Surya the Tamil actor and the King Khan SRK have endorsed male products well before John did, but the match factor still remains a question

Last but not the least: -

John is an icon for the Gen Y and the modern kids for sure,

…..and an icon to the metro sexual (fashionable guys who live in clean apartments, they have chiseled abs and thighs, they are mom loving, man scaping but not a gay himself, they are hair styled- cant live without gels, creams and the stuff and groomed to perfection and likes to be noted and admired by all ,including men )

……and an icon to gays as well.. (With the repelling of the controversial article 377 the LGBT movements will be more active and more faces will move out of the closet and for them john is the ultimate sex symbol) … Remember Dostana and the awe it created. Being a metro sexual himself, John loves the attention he gets, including from gays….

Simple and good !! Kudos to Garnier and Publicis India for the great marketing communication !!!

Also read :-

Hire the star..Rent a bath tub..

Jyotika weds Surya...ahhaaaa...!!!!!

The Bermuda Triangle !!!!

Lights...camera..action....

Abhi, ash and all the cash!!!

Clinic All clear...Kiss of good bye !!!

Wow! Wow Sports Brands!

celebrity circus...

Tail piece:-

In a hospital, a gentleman had made several attempts to get into the men's restroom, but it had always been occupied. A nurse noticed his predicament.

Sir, she said "You may use the ladies room if you promise not to touch any of the buttons on the wall."

He did what he needed to, and as he sat there he noticed the buttons he had promised not to touch.

Each button was identified by letters: WW, WA, PP, and a red one labeled ATR.

Who would know if he touched them?

He couldn't resist.. He pushed WW. Warm water was sprayed gently upon his bottom.

What a nice feeling, he thought. Men restrooms don't have nice things like this. Anticipating greater pleasure, he pushed the WA button. Warm air replaced the warm water, gently drying his underside.

When this stopped, he pushed the PP button. A large powder puff caressed his bottom adding a fragile scent of spring flower to this unbelievable pleasure.. The ladies restroom was more than a restroom, it is tender loving pleasure.

When the powder puff completed its pleasure, he couldn't wait to push the ATR button which he knew would be supreme ecstasy.

Next thing he knew he opened his eyes, he was in a hospital bed, and a nurse was staring down at him.

"What happened?" he exclaimed. The last thing I remember was pushing the ATR button.

The nurse said softly ..."The button ATR is an Automatic Tampon Remover. Your penis is under your pillow."

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See my other blogs as well :- chicken curry & continuous confusion...

Celebrity circus.... Recession time Advertising....

Recession has hit all of us as different reasons, for most of us as an excuse or a pretext ....

It’s a mad rush for young blood in the celebrity endorsement scene….the recession that has hit the world so badly seems to have chucked the age old celebrity circus that ruled the roost .The Venerable guys who sat on the thrones of the Indian celebrity endorsement empire are all now slowly being shaken… some are already our and some are there in the queue…

Post March ,the new financial year has given the brand owners a lot of scope to rethink on the wrinkled faces that sold their wares… recession as some one said is a reason, and excuse and an apology for anyone to do anything….and here we are seeing the likes to the great SRK, Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee, Sushmita Sen, Priety Zinta etc etc etc giving way to the likes of Katrina, Deepika, Priyanka, Genilia ( the stupid Cadbury’s perks ad is disgusting though!!) and the hot Dhoni who sells anything from Bikes to Fans…

The Pepsi youngistan campaign was a bit odd considering the fact that it was led by an SRK who was 40 plus… Recession has taken its toll on the deal when Pepsi refused to renew the contract and instead felt happy and YOUNG with Deepika, Ranbir Kapoor and Dhioni….Sachin got out from Pepsi as well, and so did Hrithik Roshan from Coke…

It seems the bad times for SRK is giving him sleepless nights.. Hyundai ended the long association with the Fauji Guy whilst Toyota said a sweet goodbye to Amir khan…Katrina Kaif has deseated the most beautiful Aishwarya in Nakhstara diamonds while she did the same with Sushmita in Pantene..L’ oreal is now with Sonam Kapoor, loss Aishwarya, and BSNL ( the amazingly rich and blissfully boring ) is now with Deepika, loss Priety Zinta…

Genelia displaced the old Rani from Perks ( her ads were better I guess ) and from Fanta (no comments !)…Asin ( the slim mallu girl) who shot to fame after Gajni is now with every brand and every market, so much so that her brand is under dilution than the brands that she endorses.. but who cares? When the sun shines, the clever ones make the hay!!!

Now this is definitely eye catching and attention grabbing but is it going to be a change that the ad industry was looking for?

The money part, is the same… considering the fact that a Deepika will charge no less than a Rani, if not more…

The old faces are too familiar and hence people may not have the charm in spite of the brand spending crores on the contract is an argument that I thought will stand closer to reality..But hey…. Isn’t Deepika over exposed…? Isn’t Dhoni seen everywhere? Every damn product and brand..? (Thank God he don’t sell Mysore sandal soap any more)….

Is this the change the ad world wanted?

Will this oscillation from Tom and Dick to Harry and Martha help??

The comfort zones in which the people in Advertising (the agency, the clients and the others) is often a no entry zone for others…. Its often known to everyone that there could be a better solution and a better option but what is it?

In normal circumstances, normal actions would do…. But in abnormal circumstances………., should people go MAD?

Need not be, for sure but people got to think really really abnormal… For me at least for God’s sake it doesn’t make a bloody difference whether it is Genelia, Deepika or Preity Zinta who cries, convinces ,cajoles ,seduces and stops me to buy what they sell…

I am living with a cut in my salary … Damn it !!!!

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Tail Piece :-

A rich, dying man, laid on his deathbed, requested to be joined at his bedside by his vicar, his bank manager and his lawyer.

He instructed them that he wished to be buried, when he finally passed away, along with all his money. He gave each of them fifty thousand pounds and asked them to throw the money on top of his coffin, in the burial plot, when he died.

A couple of days later the old man passed away and was buried within the week. At the wake, the three men were chatting and the vicar was suddenly overcome with guilt. He confessed to the other two that he had only thrown only half of the money onto the coffin, as the church needed urgent repairs to the roof.

The bank manager thought, ‘What the heck if we are having a confession,’ and told the other two men that he had also only thrown half the money in, as the ‘Credit Crunch’ was hitting hard and he needed some money for the bank to stop it going bust.

The lawyer jumped up and said to the other two, ‘I think that is a shameful act on both of you. I threw a cheque in for the full amount!”......

Airtel DTH.. enough is little !!!

"Doctor, are you sure I'm suffering from pneumonia? I've heard once about a doctor treating someone with pneumonia and finally he died of typhus."
"Don't worry, it won't happen to me. If I treat someone with pneumonia he will die of pneumonia only."

How clear right???

It is a fact that the charisma of a well-known persona helps in tiding over the difficulty of over-communication and clutter that is an issue for the marketer these days….It however is no easy route to success.. It if often discussed and even in adformula I have time and again deliberated in various posts about the ifs and buts and the uninvited brunt that this practice can have on the brand.

The theories like 'Source Credibility Theory, Source Attractiveness Theory and Meaning Transfer Theory' provide the foundation on which the whole celebrity endorsement business works and also explains how the process of the celebrity endorsement influences the minds of the consumers. Having said that it also has to be said that today it seems the theory have all disappeared because it is no longer the one celebrity for one brand thing that is happening.. it looks like the era of multiple endorsers for a single brand or brand variant has arrived…

To proove the point there has been many brands that offlate has been lining up a host of faces well known and the more seems to be the better...

See this one....



Madhavan and his smile, and Vidya balan and her homeliness and the ads that featured them in the past have made the headlines for all the right reasons..
The campaign did a stupendous job and why not .. they roped in the right people and the gel was right… right fit… almost perfect… but two is not enough … we need a herd of them goes the trend and the logic behind the multi starrer ads that off late is hitting the screens is simple…

Madhavan plus Vidya Balan is better than no known face at all , but imagine Madhavan plus Vidya Balan plus A R Rahman plus Saheer khan Plus Kareena Kapoor plus Deepika Padukone Plus Saif Ali khan plus …oofff…. I am exhausted…

Unlike the Hero Honda Dhak Dhak misadventure this one doesn’t put one off in spite of the profligacy that glares on your face the first time you see it…

It is an awareness ad for a DTH service from a Airtel… This is a new category for most of the viewers and hence confusing with a host of players and almost every ad looking the same . Clutter.. confusion and to add it the celebrities…

This one communication but is clearly a clutter breaker with the opulent parade of well known people and the craft with which the faces are woven into the script as if it is just natural… it is not an easy job and kudos for the effort… and also for standing out in the muddle….

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little goes the saying and how true if one sit and ponder....

The credits :-

Agency: JWT Delhi
Creative: Agnello Dias aka Aggi
Production House:Ramesh Deo Productions (RDP)
Director: Abhinay Deo
Music: Ram Sampath

Also read :-
Hire the star..Rent a bath tub..
Jyotika weds Surya...ahhaaaa...!!!!!
The Bermuda Triangle !!!!
Lights...camera..action....
Abhi, ash and all the cash!!!
Clinic All clear...Kiss of good bye !!!
Wow! Wow Sports Brands!

10 commandments of celebrity endorsements according to adformula...

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.
6. Thou shall not engage a celebrity because everyone else is behind him/her.
7. Thou shall not take on a celebrity, because the competitor has one.
8. Thou shall not assign a celebrity, 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...

The Assvertising industry!

What takes a model to be the ultimate celebrity, with whom everyone from the captain of the nations cricket team to the hottest of co stars want to be seen?

What makes her the most sought after endorser for whose presence brands can wait for, reinvent themselves for, or even die for?

Well see this ad and let us discuss our question after this...

Well this ad I am sure would have caught your eye balls (oof... EYE balls I mean) if not for the ass of a creative it is , but for the ass in the creative. The model is Deepika padukone ( for the 0.00001 % of ignorants who still dont know who she is, blasphemy though !) Just 21-year-old Deepika is the daughter of former World badminton champion and a legend Prakash Padukone.and no prices for guessing ,the star who rose into prominence with her debut film ,OSO as they call it with King Khan or SRK, in the chart buster . It now seems that for every one ....just almost every one, she seems to be the apple of their eyes and even more.....
Not to be left behind, our poor world of advertising too is in the fray.. every brand wants her to be the endorser horse to pull the brand cart from nothing, something,or even everything, to where she goes, wherever it may be... It looks like a pity to an outsider but news reports suggest that the gal is smiling with the long queue outside her home inspite of her raising her price from mere 10 -15 lakhs per ad to some 5 times the amount close to her OSO association. She has been an endorser (even before OSO) for a range of brands like Liril, Close-Up, Levi’s Strauss Signature ( the ad that you saw up there ), Limca and Maybelline. Parachute advansed used her in a reasonabily good move via a campaign titled Gorgeous Hamesha which now has ran into uncertainity with the stars new reach and range....

Kingfisher Airlines got recently added to her portfolio , with Dr Mallya jumping in to sign her as the second face after Yana gupta ( Yana is old ,this is fresh) and Mallya can smell ( not literally I guess ..or is it..? im not sure ...) success when it is associated with women and Deepika is not new for him, she was one hot property used in Kingfisher newyear calender.

While along with the star,Bling Entertainment, celebrity management agency for Deepika Padukone also has all the reasons to smile, how healthy is the trend? well I know, as long as it is hot now, it sells now and as long as it sells now, it does bring smiles... but what later? no one seems to be bothered..... except the fact that ,what is getting the ad worlds attention more than just the curiosity over a rising star, seems to be her pedigree.. Her being the daughter of the legendary Prakash padukone and she almost being one, and both succesful by their own right and merit in two totally different fields ( now I know what you are thinking... Tiger pataudi, Saif, Sharmila.... Am I right? ) well nothing is wrong but I guess the art of Marketing communications should be more creative and bit more out of the box....

While keeping sniffing around the starlet, who can even be just a one film wonder, I hope my beloved industry is not loosing smell of better things around....

Garden Vareli!..A Brand that Was!

Garden Silks, were just another apparel store selling sarees. Instead of showing the traditional values associated with sarees, to sell themselves, its ads had always been showing trendy and beautiful women in sarees, quite emotionally attached to them. As they innovated with materials and designs, they made a brand name for themselves.

The noticeable traits that differentiated their ads were

moving images of beautiful women in flowing designer sarees made it look more trendier- it gave an image that sarees are not always traditional, but very contemporary too! It became a normal choice for the working woman during 80s and 90s. Further, it matched with social transformation, as more women were encouraged to look out for jobs then. Its advertisementis still a remarkable model for silk apparels especially sarees!.

Check the ad here! Although sarees are uncommon in 2000s, Garden Vareli ads positioned "saree" as a trendy, stylish and appealing attire!

When Tennis Became Pretty After Kournikova

When Maria will win all the four grand slams this year, she will be gifted with 100 million dollars. But she's already one of the wealthiest sports person earning 25 million US dollars a year and she is one of the favourites of the advertising firms and media. She was one of the sexy faces which appeared in Sports Illustrated. Now as the Nike Ad says " She's so Pretty" . She's also featured in Palmolive Deodorant advertisement, Hyundai Getz and many others. She does not seem to be lost like "Anna Kournikova". Even though she knows, she has become popular among viewers, she doesn't agree herself to be just a "Sports Diva" , but a little more. But yet Sharapova era has begun.

But for us,

Celebrities cost a lot! They make it easy to maintain ad recall!

They grab the attention of the viewers more than the message!

Finally we pay the price for our admiration, by becoming lovers of those things that they use to carry themselves to differentiate from the crowd.

Meow, Meow, Meow Mix...Going against tradition

Meow Mix, a brand which is owned by Del Monte Foods, is working on an online campaign now. The pet food retailers, who were confining themselves to print or television advertising, were adopting offbeat methods to get curious eyes and customers.

The brand Meow Mix had developed affinity do something different in advertising.
It was born with a campaign “the cat food cats ask for by name”. There are many jingles sung for cats. Earlier, when Meow Mix was in the hands of Cypress group, they opened many pop-up retail outlets – Meow Mix Café and reality TV shows Like “Meow Mix House.” Then the next effort was much more interesting. Under a new slogan called “Think like a cat” for Meow Mix, it published a promotional book, online video clips and a website- meowmix.com.

This campaign had lots to give to cat lovers. Meow Mix Acatemy, a faux cat academy, brainchild of a Del Monte’s agency – Grand Central Marketing (GCM) , guided them to learn about feline tastes, how to exercise like a cat and catnapping and a mock dean called “Cat Cora”. Catalogs, curriculum and other associated things were also available for use. Even celebrities like Kat DeLuna and Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore of “The Sopranos”) took part in promotional shows and they organized a quiz Cat Aptitude Test in meowmix.com. Read more about Meow Mix Acatemy here.

Mathew Glass at GCM says, “The goal of unconventional campaigns is to forge strong emotional bonds between cat owners and Meow Mix.” It identifies and interacts with “cat parents”- those who think cats as family members.

The Del Monte cat book- The Meaning of Meow: Understanding and Caring of your Cat, and it is likely to be into the “best sellers lists” as there are many cat lovers. Tracy Locke, the agency which Del Monte corresponds now, has developed customized programs for supermarkets, drugstores and discount stores, selling Meow Mix daily. These “impression generating events” are sure to captivate the cat lovers. Yes, a little bit about money now. Meow Mix spends more than $10 million a year on ads in media too, because they are competing with brands of Nestle Purina in the market.

The efforts are unique, innovative, off-beat attention catchers, like any advertising campaign should be. But, we cannot fancy this idea for all types of products. Further, each campaign must have a distinctive style of communication, but it highlights the importance of developing social as well as online network through campaigns.

PS: Now, they have done so much for the cat lovers. But are cats loyal to the owners, dogs are good pets, aren’t they?

Clinic All clear...Kiss of good bye !!!

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know. ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955


Didn't you follow my advice about kissing your girlfriend when she least expects it?'
asked the older brother.

'Oh hell!' replied the younger sibling with the swollen eye.....

I thought you said 'where'.'
**************************************************
How much is a kiss worth? It depends?
Well how much disaster can a kiss create..?
Again it depends… right..?

Well no prices for guessing the story, which made me, write this piece after a long gap…. It’s the now well known, or rather infamous lip lock which Bipasha had with Ronaldo, which she claimed as a chat which happened to be ‘close’ as it was a party room (Remember Chico Marx who famously said…I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering in her mouth,) which media celebrated as a kiss, as people talk from mouth to ears and not from mouth to mouth, John seems to have got convinced ( he would know, and only he would know, how she lip locks and how she chats and could clearly make it clear that all is clear between him and the lady whom he ‘was with’ for ten long years and had announced ‘I am going to marry’.

“May I print a kiss on your lips?" I said,

And she nodded her full permission:

So we went to press and I rather guess

We printed a full edition”

For John , it seems that is what Christiano Ronaldo said and did with his heartthrobe…

So what? Well The swiftness with which Lowe lintas seems to have realize this rift is amusing me…. Clinic all clear has already come up with ads where John is in all alone and Bipasha is out....( already because its only a matter of three days since officially the couple has got split) thanks to the joint endorsements that they had , especially the all clear one, they glued together and now with the infamous kiss, even that is lost. Or is it that the agency knew all this early and was ready for the bang…?

The off screen chemistry and physics that they had helped the otherwise lousy creatives do survive and even get to be liked people..well that seems to the past now..While John will continue with his brands that he endorsed unaided, including wrangler, he now is gonna be alone in all clear too, while Bipasha will go on with her levis and others, it seems now kinetic group has come to her rescue ,claiming that she fits into their brand profile 100% … see this…

Says Ajinkya Firodia, V-P, sales and marketing, Kinetic Motor Company, “Kinetic has been very selective about working with brand ambassadors. We look for perfect synergy between product attributes and ambassador personality. Our upcoming Kinetic-SYM scooter will appeal to women riders, and is being positioned accordingly.” On being asked if the decision to rope in Basu had anything to do with her ability to attract controversy, Firodia answers, “Our market research showed that Bipasha Basu, perceived as a modern and independent high achiever, is the role model for many young girls who admire her style and success. In fact, the support for her was unanimous, with a 100 per cent perfect brand fit.”

Now that reminds me the Sansui ad where Rahul dravid, (for the first time probably in history of celebrity endorsements) sits and explains why and how he fits into the brand image of Sansui…dull and dreary ad it is , but the attempt to find a logic is commendable.. at last brands seems to have woken up to the reality that people don’t buy simply because a tom dick or harry tells them to, or claims that they have one and why not you too, however well known and famous they are…

Next what?

John may rope in Vidya balan while Bipasha may ride (in the Kinetic scooters, I mean) Dino Morrea or even Saif ali khan, as the media claims… Let us keep watching kisses and hisses while the ridiculous world of advertising searches and keeps itself locked and ‘safe’ in formulas and time tested clichés.....

After all it takes guts and fortitude to try new things……

foot note:The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer….Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., the Professor at the Breakfast-Table

celebrity endorsement !!!

ad agencies please note !!!

La La Shakira........ its Money Spinning!

Shakira’s performance was second most expensive show in India, first being that of Michael Jackson’s. The young college going Indians, who didn’t have swelling pockets, had to shell out 2650 or 3650 for the show and these young things were begging literally to find free passes for the show. Over 20000 passes…oh that means around 100 million
rupees from the show. People also crowded around Shakira’s albums for a week at Planet Ms and Music Worlds…

The shows like these often generate huge revenue and fan following. Not only that, it often bring new offers for upcoming artists. When music would also go global, who knows.. We are likely to hear Latin music in hindi albums and movies too.. Choreographer Farah Khan was quite impressed! And even Shakira was so fond of her that, she personally invited Farah to her show. She was also likely to sing in “ Om-Shanthi-Om”, an upcoming bollywood movie.


From her show for the American Idol program, it was believed that it boosted sales of “Oral Fixation vol.2” , from 50000 copies a week to to 81,000 copies a week.. So shows, are one of the best forms of promotion for cassettes and CD companies, for the performers, as it would boost sales, as they come in contact with more people and by the way creating huge fan following. Nokia, Reliance Industries, Kingfisher, Planet M etc were co- sponsors of the event.

Sometimes you may get lucky, bcoz Madonna did, Michael Jackson did, Shakira did, Kylie Minouge did…so why wouldn’t we?

Many companies seems to have fallen in love with the ‘events method’ like Virgin Airlines, Kingfisher and many others. Hey, advertising community, are you listening?

Abhi, ash and all the cash!!!

The most beautiful women who walked on earth was Helen, of Troy...... as per legends... Was this the face , that launched a thousand ships..?....... asked some one seeing her.... India but is all going aha over another pretty woman, named Aiswarya ,former Miss world and Cinema queen, reigning millions of hearts, even mine at a point of time ( she is just one day older to me..just one day...) now walking into the life of Abhishek bachan who is arguably the most eligible of bachelors of Indian cinema Industry........

The media celebrates online and otherwise....just outside the bachans home.....For them, as critics observe..... of course all this has been the big event for their TRPs......... Nauseating programmes are being aired discussing the details of Aishwarya’s horoscope, her ‘gunas’ (positive qualities) and ‘doshas’ (negative qualities), her personality and characteristics, what should her ideal match be like and such trivia... they even have taken upon itself to decide whether the Ash-Abhi Jodi will be a hit or a flop. NDTV went on to interview inconspicuous media personalities asking them to comment on whether this would be a successful pair in real life unlike their unsuccessful pairing on reel life! Even before this young couple has got married channels are airing programmes on successful and unsuccessful celeb marriages in Bollywood....MF Hussain paints the couple in a horse with a dejected Salman khan( you know why !!!) in the background........ Over indulgence ,as they say or simply the case of curiosity to peep into the neighbours bathroom????

For the uninitiated, let me tell you that Abhi is the only son of the legendary Amitabh bachan, and together the family , as celebrity endorsers are worth some 2700 crores as per some industry estimates.... Ash as the lady is called appears for L'oreal, Lux, Nakshatra, Cocacola ,Longinesand what not...and L'oreal is planning to/or has already launched a special edition of lipstick for the dream girl, to add colour to her wedding apparels....Marketers remain Marketers I should say....
Coke can think of a new variant like its nearest competetor who went all the way out with World cup co la.... and so can nakshtara and all the brands that Big B and his son endorses too...

Abhishek ,the son,appears for Ford fiesta,Motorola, Omega watches,Ford Fiesta,LG Electronics
Big 92.7 FM and a host of other brands.. The big B is there everywhere and let me not repeat it again.... together the family seems to be all set to monopolise the endorsements scene but who is bothered...? as long as they entertain and sell everyone ( the seller , the buyer and the agency..) is happy.......

Motorola for instance is one happy brand, inspite of having had to paid through the nose, for all that clutter breaking ads that the Abhi boy has given them... With his cute charm and the door next boy pranky looks ,married to the creative brains of O &M , they have all made me( and hope you too) sit and watch the cool ads , even the latest ones where he plays pranks at the typical bollywood cliches....(a king, for example....reminiscent of Akbar in ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, instructing AB: “Jung ka eilaan kiya jaaye (Declare war).” To this, Bachchan starts dancing to a jingle built around the word ‘jung’"). It is cheeky, irreverent in tone, with a creative idea that once again has Abhishek at the butt end of the joke...and see it here

The on screen chemistry of the pair has had its ups and downs while the real life one ,is outside the scope of our review...... Together they create a feeling that is simply admirable and for marketers, if it works to their advantage it shall be great news, especially when we are living in times where celebrity endorsements as a strategy is turning out to be a burden and bondage....

The celebrations have begun and let us wishe from the Adformula team a fruitful life ,together and forever and of course to give us some good advertising too !!!! After all .....Abhi.....hereafter you own the face that launched a thousand ad campaigns !!!!

Midweek Musing !!!

"Advertising is legalized lying."

- H.G. Wells, quoted in Michael Jackman, Crown's Book of Political Quotations, 1982, New York: Crown Publishing Inc., p. 2.