Indigo - on time !!!

Passengers on a Lufthansa flight heard this announcement from the captain, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry to inform you that we have lost power to all of our engines and will shortly crash into the ocean."

The passengers were obviously very worried about this situation, but were somewhat comforted by the captain's next announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we at Lufthansa have prepared for such an emergency, and we would now like you to rearrange your seating so that all the non-swimmers are on the left side of the plane, and all the swimmers are on the right side."

After this announcement, all the passengers rearranged their seating to comply with the captain's request.

Two minutes later, the captain made a belly landing in the ocean.

The captain once again made an announcement, "Ladies and Gentlemen we have crashed into the ocean. All of the swimmers on the right side of the plane open your emergency exits and quickly swim away from the plane. For all of the non-swimmers on the left side of plane... "Thank You For Flying Lufthansa."

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I should begin with a confession…

I always thought that low price means low quality (when taking flights) and this thought came and later got deep rooted from my experiences with low fare carriers that always have messed up my travel (whenever I thought of saving a penny .. as they say penny wise, pound foolish ) .. Until once I missed a Jet flight to Hyderabad and was FORCED to travel in an Indigo, I didn’t know the beauty of it…the fact that low cost and low fares doesn't mean low quality dawned on me that day…( step-less stairs , Q-busters, boarding ramps and so on….).…..The biggest selling point for a flight is to be on time and if its taken care of, half the job is done..! My two experiences with Indigo so far had been proving this ‘on time factor’ and hence when I saw this new ad from Indigo which harps on the ON-TIME factor as a performance policy of the company and the efforts that lie behind such performance I couldn’t agree more…

On May 17 when the ad was released, I was amused for three reasons…

1. It came from Indigo, a small, low cost and unpretentious airline which (at least for me) flies on time.

2. It was from Wieden + Kennedy and having seen their marvels of work in the west I was wondering how and how far they will(can) bring the same here in India

3. It was different and refreshingly international if I may say so ( I am not meaning here that all international stuff are adorable)….

The fresh and cool idea that supports the basic selling proposition of the airline is so very clearly articulated and hence reaching the customer… If you have seen the TVC space in this category, every one ( almost ) brags about being number one or number two, forgetting the fact that, to the end user whether you are number one in this or that is not important, the only thing that matters is whether you take them for a number two ride (the pun intended). For some one who wants to position as a real leader in terms of customer experience, value and operational efficiency this ad does the work…. I even have a feel that the airline has a real and authentic adoration and admiration for its customers.

IndiGo is very aptly saying that they of course take you from here to there without tossing with your time and money, and without being made to feel low-priced in the process.( I have seen the disputes of the range of street fight in Air Deccan counters at a point of time when airports looked like railways stations)…All this in a cool, chic and friendly manner and that is a real price winner !!!

And let me add as a parting note.. I loved the VO ( in spite of the so called phoren accent which some critics believe that middleclass Indians may not understand) and the WE and US tone… kudos to the makers for the idea, the script and the execution!!!

The only doubt is whether this is on Time, I mean this ad… I really don’t know, may be Time will have an answer !!! Right now but next time I fly I will take an Indigo, for sure ..

Credits.

Title: On Time
Client: IndiGo Airlines
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy (Delhi)
Executive creative director: V. Sunil
Senior copywriter: Keshavan Naidu
Agency producer: Anil Sharma
Client servicing: Neha Puri
Production company: Bang Bang Films
Director: Harvey B Brown
Director of photography: Vikash Nowlakha
Produced by: Roopak Saluja, Kirk Dias & Amarjeet Kaur
Editor: Harshal Thakur
Post production: Pixion (Mumbai), Prime Focus (Mumbai)
Music: M Mat of Bhavishyavani Future Soundz in partnership with Tarun & Vinayak

Anti dote: - an agency friend of mine after seeing this ad, texts me.. “hey did you see the Indigo ad ? For me it sounds like a great work, had it been for an alarm clock…”

SBI - Proud to be Indian - again !!!

SBI with its “we are India” ad again… its an age old and time tested attempt (premise or formula) that many big players (many a times the first movers, the big elephants who later fell asleep, did nothing for years, resting on the laurels and past work, waking up one fine morn to realise that others are stealing the show) resort to when they see some soil from under the feet washed and gone…

SBI wants to own the category of Banking in India, and right fully so had it done some good home work and did what they do now some years back … Now with the private banks influx and with the repositioning and re branding of almost every bank we know, it is a bit late.. At least that is what I feel as a bank customer, an ad enthusiast and a marketing reviewer…

Why is this ad relevant and why now?

It not only shows that SBI is in an attempt to own the category ( that is, in spite of all those not so great art works that spoke of being” every Indians banker” that attacked us for the past two years or so) it some how is frantic to be seen as the category owner. The fact of the matter is that no one, not even SBI will be believing that they do actually own the category (alas!).. They could have but their own fallacies have made the gap so huge that others have grown up there and now it’s too hard to make a come back. They had become complacent, looking to the past, and have showed tunnel vision. (still if you walk into an SBI branch you will see how arrogance is a common trait among its staff) This became a seedbed of opportunity for innovators and new players to redefine the business, the products, and establish a new category and, possibly, brand leadership within it… New gen banking is what I am talking about…

This ad fails to show the banks technical expertise, it totally fails to establish its credentials (if any) as an employer and as a bank to the ordinary (?) and its reach in the core insides of India.. Had they done it, it could have been better rated.

There is nothing really fresh about this ad…. The India element fails to enthuse as we have seen it all better and brighter and well executed in all those Bharatbala productions (Remember Mile sur mera tumhara, Vande mataram by AR Rahman etc etc…) A lot of creative liberation could have been taken to emphasize the reach and network of the bank that makes the real difference but they some how chose to keep it really a plain and morbid ad hoping that India will fall in love with the INDIAN stuff.. India is now prudent enough to be duped by such inanity. I don’t call it boring & monotonous all the way through but yes it fails to inspire..

I didn't bother to find out who the ad agency is .. whoever it is, there is a lot more to go guys !!!!

Having said that, one must also admit that this ad is easy to remember. That seems to be one plus of this ad… The magnitude and the scale, the colours and the imagery will and could be remembered not because of great ideation or execution but because not many have attempted it in the Indian landscape.. It is not ever ones cup of tea.. Not a Canara bank or an Axis bank tomorrow can say and make such an ad.. It will look funny if they do so, but when and SBI does it, it becomes believable...

Ads as Jack Trout put it, if it is only about getting laughs, or giving shock or creating a wow; it’s about theater and not marketing!!!

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….

Videocon- Oscillate and be bald !

“Harsh necessity, and the newness of my kingdom, force me to do such things and to guard my frontiers everywhere.” Says an ancient quote…

It seems the latest in the new logo- new identity- me too modern bandwagon, Videocon is a bit confused…. Dull that they always were in their ads and communication, no matter the Shahrukhs and Dhoni’s who danced and exchanged their roles to promote the brand , now this new logo and the logo logic looks more boring and mundane than one could imagine….

In the past we have seen a parade of new logo unveilings and all the logo logic..Everytime I see a logo change, I laugh… the guys behind will have a tough time designing it, placing it, selling it, reaching it to the people, selling its logic and yet the general feel is the same.. all the banks who did such change in the past-Canara bank, South Indian bank etc etc are still the same as far as the customer is concerned…well leaving that and taking on the Logo logic part, the Uniliver logo logic was the biggest one and yet the most convincing… Union bank of India too did a reasonably fair job, Axis bank was wonderful .. Hutch to Vodafone was awesome.. Even India post did a better job than this VIDEOCON thing,,,,




Not that the new logo is bad, but the way the ads are made out, and the way the logo logic appears in media… Videocon ostensibly has poor PR, no media management and absolutely have never heard of 360 degree communication….

Aspiring to get international ..? ahem ahem… !


Until October 2006, Videocon called itself "the Indian multinational". When O&M came on board in January 2007 (taking over from R K Swamy BBDO), the agency opined that the tagline, although suitably corporate, did not strike a chord with consumers. ( New Agency as a matter of rule will replace everything and anything that the old agency has left behind... ) Thus the Indian MNC got the "Whatever role life gives you, play it big’'.. I doubt whether the guys at Videocon understood it because by May 2008 they started searching for a new bed partner.. O&M really became the mistress who fell out of the masters favour.

The reasons were plenty ,including an incredible amount of management churn at Videocon, with an exodus of sorts coming into play. In the midst of all that chaos, Videocon expressed dissatisfaction with its agency and called for a pitch. Even as the pitch progressed, Videocon was struggling to put its marketing team in place... and by the time they put a team in place O&M lost the account and Satchi& Satchi won it...The stud that Videocon is, now I am told that Satchi is sidelined into a few divisions and the corporate brand per se is handles my TAG Mccann... The rest is history...

The new symbol of Videocon asserts its passion for global impact, and the two ‘E’s on either side represent the Group’s wide spectrum of interests ranging from ‘Electronics to Energy’. Along with the steely glint, this communicates the group's global ambition, its strength, sterling credentials and innovative drive. A symbol that proclaims a paradigm shift. A sign that represents the new force that is Videocon. Thus recapitulating our principle of reaching out and touching the lives of millions of people. Worldwide.


Goes the Logo logic……. why is simple thing called life made complex by certain people..

What is that ad all about? What is it trying to say? Will some one from TAG or Satchi or some one new,,,(?) please explain...?


"The biggest challenge for the agency will be to retain the business,” told a friend at that point of time when Satchi won the 250 cr account, because “Videocon tends to be fickle with its agencies. ..."


My kids surely giggled and got amused seeing the cartoon stuff but is it why Videocon spend all the money through their bleeding ass to revamp its brand identity?


Who is to blame?


There was a rich old man...in his late 40's who got married the second time to a young beautiful but poor lady. After the initial rosy days the young lady started repenting....She wanted the old man to look a BIT more young... she plucked his white hairs one by one ,in what she thought as the best idea to make him look young.

The problem was just to begin. The man's first wife discovered this and thought that he should be really taught a lesson... strangely but ,she too saw the man's hair as the problem... she when he lay asleep pluck all his black hairs....

Oscillation, guys make people bald !!!

Some one is listening?

Also read... My previous post on Brand revamps...

Bank on me !!!