I love advertising but I am not creative ....

Advertising is not only about being creative but working on brand strategy

Over the last several years of teaching hundreds of management students, I have heard one common statement from students. ”I love advertising, but I am not sure if I will be successful in it because I am not creative.“ Do you think on those lines? Does advertising as a career interest you? What options are there in advertising? What are the career prospects? And who should come into advertising? Let me try to address some of these questions in this column. So hang in there.

Those were the days

Way back in the eighties, I came into advertising from IIM like several others of my time. Do the names Sam Balsara, Madhukar Dev, Santosh Desai, Ambi Parameswaran and Arvind Sharma mean anything to you?

Well they should if you want to get into advertising, because these are the doyens of the advertising industry who hold office in some of the largest advertising agencies and branding companies in India and lead the destiny of thousands. Why did we come into advertising after an MBA? We all came into advertising because the industry fascinated us. We were turned on by the creative ads we saw. All of us came from the major management institutes in the country like Bajaj, XLRI or IIM. Today, I can say with certainty that no one from a top flight management institute will come to advertising and the industry is poorer for it. A person from the lesser known management schools is all the industry can afford today it seems which is certainly hurting the industry.

But why advertising?

MBAs are unlikely to be the creators of advertising but they can certainly manage the advertising for brands and the relationships which come with it. Today after over three decades, I realize why I love this profession. In so many years I have done campaigns for motorcycles, tyres, shampoos, apparel, corporations, whiskey, beer and God knows how many more categories. And that is the greatest challenge of advertising. Every day you learn and unlearn about a new product, their competitors and keep researching different consumers - a house wife one day to someone buying health insurance the next. To sum it up there is never a dull moment in advertising. So do you want different things and never be bored at work, advertising is the business for you.

But advertising does not pay well does it?

You are absolutely right. Advertising despite all its glamour has not kept pace with the others. Today sectors like ecommerce, banking, software, financial services and several others pay more than advertising which means that most MBAs tend to look elsewhere and who is to blame them? While the salary in advertising in those days was certainly not as low as it is now comparatively, I must say in the same breath that the growth prospects are much better. One’s career growth path also can be much quicker. And a thought for the advertising barons of today, you too need to remember that if you pay peanuts as you are currently doing, you will end up only with monkeys. And though it will upset the people in the industry I must tell you that the quality of people overall in advertising is pretty sad. So if you are good, you will end up way ahead of the competition and that is certainly one of the reasons why you should look at advertising as a career.

But I am not creative

Yes let’s take the bull by the horns. What is being creative? It probably means you write poetry, write skits, paint or compose music. I can do none of these things but I owe what little success in life I have achieved to advertising. And why is that? That’s simply because more than being creative, what is required is an understanding of what will work and what won’t. We need an appreciation of creative and the process rather than merely being creative, as remember MBAs don’t write the ads. They are catalysts to the creative process working with the creative people and the clients; they can decide the strategy of brands and the tone of voice of the brands that they handle. And finally I remember what Bob Dylan said “If you get up in the morning and go to sleep at night and in between do what you like consider yourself a successful man .“

And believe me you, I am a successful man because over the last decades I have enjoyed every moment of my working life. So here is my invitation to you. Welcome to the madhouse! You won’t regret it!

The comic path to customers’ hearts

Raising some laughs: Appealing to the funny bone can make your advertising memorable. Voltas’ Murthy

A few brands are using comedians to connect with their target market

What is that grabs your attention in an advertisement or promotional campaign these days? Is it the much talked about Bollywood celebrity who seems to be endorsing every single product known to mankind? Is it the relatable situation being played out in the ad? Or is it the humour element?

In a phenomenon associated with the latter, of late a few brands in India have chosen to market themselves through a technique which is not as common as the others, but is still proving to be popular with the masses; humour that represents the ideals of the brand being promoted, while entertaining audiences and making it memorable.

Murthy and his journey 

Voltas is a name synonymous with air conditioners in India. In 2012, along with the launch of its Voltas All-Weather AC, it introduced everyman Madurai native Murthy (played by South Indian television actor DV Vivek).

Murthy, whose boss constantly transfers him to extreme climate zones, remains calm about the situation thanks to his All-Weather AC. Murthy was first featured in Mukteshwar, followed by Cherrapunji and Kota, all in the same year. The character continues to move across India to this day, followed by his wife who joined in his travels in 2013.

The product was improved, and so Murthy had to become smarter. In 2014, Murthy met his match in a battle of wits when his father-in-law, played by popular Tamil film actor Delhi Ganesh, decided to visit him wherever he was transferred.

Fast forward to the present day. With the introduction of Voltas All-Weather Smart AC, Murthy becomes smarter to tackle his father-in-law, thanks to his ‘smart’ air conditioner.

According to Deba Ghoshal, Head of Marketing at Voltas, Murthy represents their real consumer.

“The whole chemistry of Murthy and his boss, Mr. and Mrs. Murthy, and now Murthy and his father-in-law, is very consumer centric, and the target audience can easily relate to this. We have always believed that consumers are our biggest ambassadors, and with Murthy, our customer is right up there – right in the middle of action and gratification. The character of Murthy cuts across multiple segments, entry, mid-, and high-end, and appeals to a broad spectrum of customers.” Industry experts appear positive about Murthy as well. Ramanujam Sridhar, Founder and CEO of Brand-Comm, a communications consultancy, says that while humour is not a universal emotion, it has been successful in the case of Voltas.

“Humour only works in select categories. Brands keep changing strategy, and for a character like this to work and have the desired effect on audiences, it must be long-term, because it takes time to develop. The reason I like what Voltas is doing with the character of Murthy is that it continues to develop him year after year, bringing in new elements and characters to support his appearance.”

So how has Murthy translated into tangible monetary results for Voltas? According to Ghoshal, since the summer of 2012, Voltas has had the highest market share in the AC category.

“This success can be attributed to a combination of factors, such as our evolving product range, our revamped distribution network, increasing conversion and extraction from our point of sale, a distinct brand positioning, and our clutter-breaking campaign. Our market share stands at a high of 20.8 per cent, and as of FY 2014-15, it remains the highest in the category.”

A policeman’s advice 

Ordering a cab is easy. Simply download an app, tap at your smartphone’s screen, and you’re off! Taxi for Sure is one such relatively new player. Its latest campaign came in the form of traffic police inspector Constable Chowriappah, played by popular Bangalore-based radio jockey Danish Sait. (Sait also plays the role of Mr Nags, the RCB Insider in IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore’s videos.)

Chowriappah features in YouTube videos made for the cab company, and sees himself as a crusader for the public good, advising the public to not drink and drive, speed or give into road rage.

“We have always used humour to connect with our customers across all our communications, right from our first mass media campaign to our recent communications. Constable Chowriappah is a natural extension and execution of this strategy, where our brand spoke about the several advantages of taking a taxi, in a fun manner,” said Arvind Singhal, CEO of Taxi for Sure.

What impact has Constable Chowriappah had? “The campaign’s prime objective was to engage with our customers online and it did pretty well for us. The campaign showed fantastic results with the video reaching over 13 lakh viewers and having 2,500+ shares on Facebook. Business also experienced healthy growth across parameters during the time of this campaign,” said Singhal.

Today, stand-up comedy in India is becoming all the rage, be it to influence public opinion or to entertain. One prominent example of comedy the current generation of youth identifies with is the series Pretentious Movie Reviews, a YouTube series helmed by Bangalore-based stand-up comics Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan. In October last year, Channel [V] India collaborated with Gill and Kalyan as part of the promotional campaign for their show Dare 2 Date.

Gill and Kalyan reviewed the show by mocking several aspects of it, thereby taking the road of ‘even bad press is good press’.

Lure of comedy

Sridhar believes that this kind of branding is ideal for Channel [V]. “Channel [V] in itself is aimed at a younger audience, which is why such content works. The channel keeps making fun of itself and its customers, which is what makes it stay true to its character,” he said.

Brand strategy expert Harish Bijoor says there is both a good side and a bad side to having comics promote brands. “Comedians add allure to brands that desperately need it. However, the downside is that the comedian draws much more from this exposure than the brand. The moment a comedian is up endorsing a brand, customers expect the comic act and content. That is really a diversion from the brand, and so lesser known comics work better,” he says.

Microsoft's branding will be difficult after Nokia

Microsoft has officially dropped the Nokia brand name and is working on rebranding its mobile phones division. It continued launching the Windows based phones under the brand name Lumia and held on to the Nokia name for the other existing products. Last week, the company also killed the Nokia Asha branded low-end smartphones, and is now on its way to completely doing away with the Nokia brand in one country at a time, including India, where the phone was at one time ubiquitous.

Snake anyone?

The consumer is also getting promiscuous. The consumer wants a good product and even the most loyal ones are moving away from the brand, particularly of late since a lot of negativity has resulted from the news of the shutting of the manufacturing plant in Chennai and the resultant loss of jobs. Although Nokia was considered to be one of the most trusted bands in India, despite it still being on the list, it will require Microsoft being proactive to garner some of this trust.

You can read the full piece on the merger in the Times of India here.

Formality Hatao, Coke Pilao

I had been approached by Afaqs on the new campaign created for Coke India, by McCann Erickson. Coca Cola moves ahead of it's "open happiness" proposition and positions itself as the perfect drink for social gatherings.

I am of the opinion that there is nothing earth-shattering about the ad and it uses the old concept of family occasion or social gathering. It is just one more execution of the core theme of Coca-Cola on happiness, family, occasions and togetherness.

The old couple carrying a bottle of Coke is more like a 'Gift' or the joy of giving Coke. This isn't Coke trying to enter the tea/coffee space and I dont think they could make a dent there either.

You can read all my thoughts on the campaign and coke's over all strategy in this piece in Afaqs here.

RIP Time Machine: HMT

The announcement of HMT's imminent shutdown seems to have rejuvenated interest in the brand and its memorable timepieces. It definitely gave me a dose of nostalgia, having worked on the brand in the late 80s in my stint at Mudra in Bangalore.

The technology was then shared by Citizen

Somehow, the marketing division in HMT figured that quartz watches would not work in India and concentrated on manufacturing its mechanical range. Indians who were going to the Gulf to get their watches suddenly found alternatives in Titan, with its elegant range, and HMT failed to see that. The communication then positioned owning an HMT as a point of patriotism, but this did not work with the evolved Indian consumer. 

You can read more on my take on what set back HMT, in this piece in Open Magazine, here.

How Dare They?

Do you remember the Fair and Lovely air-hostess commercial? 

It was a commercial that hit complexion-conscious India in the gut as it also attacked the Indian predilection for a male child. Having grown up entirely in an environment where the colour of one’s skin was paramount, I could certainly relate to it. It did wonders for the brand and yet it raised the hackles of the educated, affluent Indian elite who had no use for the product.

“How dare they?” thundered the elite in their cocktail circuits. When I asked Balki (whose agency had created it), about the ad, he smilingly said “Pedder Road does not seem to like it”. I remember showing this to a delegation of international students and explained how the ad ran the risk of being banned because it had tackled sensitive issues head on. The global audience was really impressed as they believed controversy helped any ad and brand gain visibility by leaps and bounds.

Many of them were envious of the ad’s ability to evoke such strong reactions. “In the UK, if an ad is banned it is phenomenal, we would give an arm and leg for that,” said one very excitedly. I remembered this when I saw the new Airtel TV commercial.

Is the ad sexist?

 To my mind it is a needless controversy and probably an engineered one.

Why do I say this? I strongly believe in the communication principle “Either love me or hate me but for God’s sake don’t ignore me.” Today, with a smart social media strategy it is possible to ensure that an ad is not ignored. You can certainly pick up certain elements in the communication and create a controversy around it.

How can the wife be the boss? Why should she rush home to cook? Why are bosses like Hitler? We can certainly pick up enough angles and create a storm around a TV commercial, making even those who have not seen it go to YouTube to check it out.

Mobile ads set the tone

Having said all that, I still need to give credit where it is due. When I first entered advertising it was so long ago that I can’t even remember when cola advertising was the ‘hot’ category. Creative types yearned to work on Coke or Pepsi.

Today, mobile services are the colas of yesterday. Brands like Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Docomo keep us entertained with their charming, witty and, on occasion, controversial commercials. I am not complaining as often these commercials are a lot more interesting to watch than the programmes in which they are featured. But shouldn’t these companies that spend millions on advertising worry about their basic offering? Or is that asking for too much?

You can read the entire piece on the Hindu Business Line.

Lessons to learn from Infosys

“Wooing the press is an exercise roughly akin to picnicking with the tiger. You might enjoy the meal but the tiger always eats last.”

_ Maureen Dowd

Let me begin by clarifying that I am great admirer of Infosys, I have worked with them in their early days and have written about how Infosys has been built by PR and not by advertising. In that context, their taking the media to court has put them in the spotlight and I believe that there are lessons that can be learnt from this.

As the baton is passed

Was it the cold shoulder to advertising in their marketing initiatives or the PR strategy that could be faulted? From the days when the company made news thanks to the net worth of Narayan Murthy's driver to the current news items, that are focussed on the state of flux that the leadership is in, I look at what they need to implement to bring back the good old days, in the Hindu Business Line.

If you wish to read the whole story, you can find it here.

Brand "Amma" in the run up to the elections

I was interviewed on CNN-IBN on Jayalalitha and how she has built her brand in the run up to the upcoming elections and her PM aspirations on the eve of her 66th birthday.

You can see it here: Jayalalithaa makes her PM aspirations clearer

Publish Asia 2013

I recently took part in Publish Asia 2013, a three day conference on Print Media. I conducted a session on innovations in print advertising. From Air India and Amul print ads from the vault to implementing techniques like die-cutting, met pad printing, UV printing and other print enhancements. For a summary of the conference, do see the write up in PrintWeek here.

Made-in-India Globetrotters - Establishing international footprints

‘Jahan Jaaeyega Hamen Paaeyega’, meaning ‘wherever you go, you will find us’ – is the message sent across by our very own Made-in-India brands, who are making a mark in almost every part of the world. This is what Sharad Sarin, senior marketing professor from XLRI, has to say about ‘Globe Trotters’, one of the ten categories of the Pitch Brands 50 Awards – For Excellence in Marketing, presented by ABP News, in partnership with Percept to be held on June 12, 2013 at Leela Kempinski.

While more than 20 brands made it to the shortlist after going through investigative –scrutiny of the Pitch’s editorial team, 10 were selected to go to the next level. While the jury has locked five winners, let’s take a quick-peek look at the 10 names that went to the jury.

Sarin further said, “With changing times, Indian companies are establishing their presence almost anywhere and everywhere. Earlier, it meant geographies inhabited by ethnic Indians, societies with limited economic and social resources or countries near to India.”

While the jury was chaired by Ramesh Jude Thomas, President, Equitor Consulting, other jury members included marketing professionals and professors such as Rahul Sen, International Brand Advisor; Ramanajuam Sridhar, Founder and CEO, Integrated Brand Comm; Subroto Chattopadhyay, Chairman, Peninsula Foundation; Sunil Gupta, Marketing Partner, South Asia, Results International Group; Ashok Pratap Arora, Marketing Professor, MDI.

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All year round

It was the perfect battlefield. The enemy was there, the viewers had taken position, the ammunition was all ready, even the timing was right – a scorching summer. Only the two warriors refused to go to war. The sixth season of the Indian Premier League tournament with beverage maker PepsiCo India as the title sponsor would seem to have presented the perfect opportunity for Pepsi and its arch rival Coca-Cola to take digs at each other. After all, the ad war between the two is legendary with the two rivals brands known for their aggressive comparative advertising which poked fun at each other. But Pepsi has launched its marketing blitzkrieg at the start of the season sans any fireworks. Coke, in turn, seems to have given the tourney a cold shoulder and is quietly going about doing its own thing. So has the fizz gone?

The fizz is still there but it is now directed at the market instead of each other. In the last decade, as the market for aerated drinks matured, so did the manufacturers, who now prefer to concentrate on building the category. To start with, both the players are looking to reduce their dependency on the summer season, the peak season for their sales, so much so, that this year they began advertising as early as January. Coca-Cola India hit the first salvo with the launch of its brand campaign, ‘Crazy for happiness’.

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Figo controversy stirs ad industry

That social media is a double-edged sword is a fact well established. But the leak of the controversial Ford Figo advertisement and the fiasco around it has reiterated the power of the social media, which brings with it as many risks as advantages.

Advertisers have for long been celebrating the reach of the internet and viral marketing, but the extent of damage the medium could bring wasn't something that has hit advertising agencies on the forehead.

The leak of an ad for Ford Figo depicting former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a car trunk full of gagged and handcuffed women has created a fury to the extent that the head of the advertising agency JWT India has lost his job over the incident.

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Wrestlers endorsing brands on the mat after Olympic tackle

The new found fame of internationally acclaimed Indian wrestlers might be in commercial peril as talks signalling the demise of the ancient Greek game wrestling from the Olympics progress. According to marketing experts, the proposal to remove the sport from the world’s most celebrated athletic event may hold back companies from tying up or renewing endorsement deals with these wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, who have emerged from small towns as national brand icons.

While Kumar has represented for brands like Mountain Dew, Eicher tractors and National Egg Coordination Committee, Yogeshwar Dutt has been the government’s face in public awareness campaigns.

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Forgotten Brands: What went wrong

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Watch out: Titan targets 400 EBOs by fiscal end

The nation’s time-keeper, Titan Industries, is hoping to add 40 more exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) by the end of this fiscal year, in the country, to add to its current number of 350. It also plans to open 75 smaller format EBOs in Tier-III and -IV towns in the coming year.

According to Rajan Amba, Global Marketing Head, Titan Industries, the company has allocated 20 per cent of its Advertising and Promotion Plan (A&P) budget to strengthen the company’s ‘World of Titan’ chain. “This includes our investments in BTL activities to generate footfalls, advertising for new stores and product launches, new fixtures, and visual merchandising,” he says.

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Sports to get kick from e-commerce

Sports products as a category has been witnessing significant growth as far as online retailing is concerned. This trend has triggered the entry of sportsmen and marketers in this space and launch online product offerings for the Indian consumer. The latest to leverage the potential of ecommerce is one of India’s biggest cricket equipment manufacturers, SG Cricket. The company recently tied up exclusively with Jabong.com to unveil the VS319 range of cricket bats. The collection is inspired by Virender Sehwag’s record breaking score of 319 runs, scored in a test match against South Africa in Chennai in 2008. The VS 319 currently has five variations, which operate within a price range of Rs. 3,199 to Rs. 7,799.

Other than Sehwag, who has been associated with The Dasher Series of bats since the past five years, SG Cricket also has on board, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar associated with The Wall Series and The Legend Series of bats, respectively. The Dasher Series currently hosts eight bats, four of which are being retailed through jabong.com.

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Going national: Can Mother Dairy ‘milk’ success in new markets?

Mother Dairy, which has been a central player in the branded milk segment in Delhi and NCR for over three decades now, is all set to expand its market base in the country. Thus, the company has gone aggressive in its communication and marketing strategy. For instance, it recently introduced its milk packs in contemporary packaging. The six variants of the milk brand, which were earlier differentiated on the basis of colour, are now available in a single colour but with varying designs to display brand uniformity across markets. This has been followed by a new campaign launched in early October.

Created by Ogilvy India, the campaign titled ‘Maa Jaisa Koin Nahi’ is a considerable shift from the existing corporate tagline of ‘Sehat ka Saathi’. Describing the tribute that the brand intends to pay to mothers, Amitava Mukherjee, Business Head, Milk Division, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable, says, “We thought it was time for Mother Dairy to celebrate the biggest part of its name and pay a befitting tribute to the mothers of this country.”

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Tata Tea: A case of ‘social-cause’ marketing

From cartons to polypacks, heritage plantation to a branded beverage company, ‘Gaon Chalo’ to ‘Jaago Re’, Tata tea has come a long way since its inception in 1986 when the packaged tea market was dominated by one large player with over 70 per cent market share. Tata Tea claims to stand for a way of life for its consumers and has transformed the way beverages are marketed through its ‘Jaago Re’ campaigns. Striking a chord with the youth, the tea brand launched a series of campaigns over the last four years that wove in the theme of social issues.

Social stimulation
Tata Tea was launched with a communication on its product functionality of ‘garden fresh.’ From there it has moved to the current campaign since 2007, which is about bringing important social issues to the forefront of societal mindset. “The campaign has worked on two levels: by intertwining the themes of civic consciousness with that of the physical and psychological boost that a cup of tea delivers. The ‘Jaago Re’ campaign drives synergy by providing a common, unique umbrella message of ‘social awakening’ that brings its national brands together,” says Vikram Grover, Vice-President, Marketing, Tata Global Beverages.   He adds that, ‘Jaago Re’ has not just reflected the nation’s mood, in many ways, it has been ahead of the curve and in fact shaped the nations mood. “Causes like corruption etc were taken up far before they became popular topics of discussion,” he says. 

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Do "Black Sheep" subs affect parent brands?

What happens to the equity of brands when sub-brands fall on bad days.

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Ode to a Client

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