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..!!!

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!”......

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.

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

One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came up -- businessman, doctor, lawyer, and so forth. However, a little boy was being uncharacteristically quiet, so when the teacher prodded him about his father, he replied,

"My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men and they put money in his underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, he will go home with some guy and stay with him all night for money."
The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took the little boy aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?"

"Not really," the boy said, "He actually plays cricket for India but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids .......

Just one of the cricketer joke thats spreading in the net....... We, especially the ones who are immersed in the internet had been cruel with the men in blue who put us to shame , immersing all the hopes in the sea at the Carribean ...debating, joking, rumouring. and even dying for it........ it is unforgettable .......this outrage about cricket... the religion, hope and aspiration of millions... but what is shocking is the sudden enlightenment , and regaining of sanity with all the fury and fire and all the analysis as to why they ditched us and why they couldnt perform the way they should have??

It seems all the analysts have reached so far at the same conclusion... the reason for the ailing Indian cricket... the virus for the dreaded disease...ENDORSEMENTS....

Suddenly it has turned into a bad word... and some thing from which every body has to keep away from... The BCCI or the circus team as many call it, has decided to limit the number of endorsements from the infinity to three, as if it is going to be the formula for success. The seemingly eccentric voices which said that they murdered the wrong coach in the hotel room there... is unheard .... the other reasons are simply unattended to..Cricket managers in the country have, flogged the game a bit too much. Fewer the number of games, more the interest but who cares...its all about money.... The reasons for the non performance,however, is not the purpose of this blog, its not my job, I am here to peep into the facts of cricketers and their endorsements and the whole tangle involved....

It is true that our men in blue were seen everywhere and some even went to the extent of endorsing even ten or eleven brands at the same time...... ending the consumer in big confusion,,, that is true and no one can deny that.. there should be a check on the type of brands that each one endorses and not on the numbers.. a check on numbers have invited a lot of wrath and scum from cricketers and others... 'It is a joke the way the board is limiting players from signing endorsements. You can't be treating senior players like Sachin Tendulkar as kids,' said WasimAkram in an interview to a sports channel....as reported by online media...If some senior players have advised the board to stop endorsements, then it is wrong...the jealousy factor is very clear....

Now that the bickering and jealousy is clear, the politics and pressure games are more than out in the open, why blame endorsements as if it is a crime?...

Is it not the right of every one to earn money for a decent living..? Just because one is a cricketer, is it a shame to be earning money..? Why is it that loss in a match, suddenly degrades them as jokers and good for nothing entertainers, forgetting the fact that they with their bats and balls have thrilled us... elevated us to the unseen shores of joy,,united this federation of nations into one...?

The sensation driven media( even South africa got out of the world cup and the media and hence the public cry there was limited and more decent... no walls where broken atleast..) fuels and fans the image that, an average cricketer spends all his time before the arc light and obeying the lights, camera and action directives than being in the field and listen to what his coach will have to say..? Is it not really the case... Not a bulk of time is spend on the shoots and really they dont have to skip their net and other practise sessions to be for shoots even when they endorse multiple products at the same time... may be if they skip for other reasons, endorsements as a type of advertising strategy is not to be blamed......

Performance is the key word for a cricketer to be choosen as an endorser for a brand..so it is not true that they fail to perform as they are into ad shoots, it rather should be the other way round... atleast to make money from endorsements ,cricketers have to perform for sure..... and in extreme cases where the cricketers has endorsed and the ads are on air and the performance dipped after that, any time he can go off air as did the recent Videocon ads with Mahendra singh dhoni .......

Now you ask what about all the money that was wasted on cricket associated advertising?......Blame the hopeless advertising strategists ( on the agency side and the client side) and the media planners for betting too much on one sport , but not on endorsements as an advertising strategy.......The lesson is simple.....If the anguished cry of millions has not reached our cricketers, this one will.... Cheesed off by their poor performance, top cricket sponsors are about to snap their purses shut. ..... It is through the game that the cricketers name ,fame and identity is known and not the other way round. and the lazy agencies and their clueless clients, unless you stop killing this golden goose ,simply because you want returns without efforts, things are gonna get worse....

Too much of anything is bad... even if it is the best and time tested strategy.....

Critics.... are you listening?

Tail piece:-

After the shameful defeat of Team India,the team members were not able to show their faces to people and they chose not to go in public and rather just pack up in hotel rooms. Dravid could not resist for too long to be in the hotel room and still not be able to go out shopping. So he disguises himself as a Sardar and goes out.

He meets a woman at the exit of the hotel who greets him "Hi Dravid!"

Surprised for having been caught he comes back and makes himself up as a muslim woman - in Burkha etc and goes out.

Yet the same woman greets him "Hi Dravid!"

Dravid comes back determined to give it yet another try with the make up of a Hippie wig and shorts etc. All in vain, the same lady catches him again and greets him "Hi Dravid!".

Bewildered by now, he could not help asking, "How did you recognise me?"

The lady replied - "I am Sachin!"