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Monday, October 22, 2012
Must Advertising be insensitive?
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Monday, October 1, 2012
Ode to a Client
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It can't all be buzz
For all its shock value, Volkswagen’s recent vibrating ad may not have people rushing out to buy its cars.
“Half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half.” - John Wanaker
In my years in advertising, agencies have been most persecuted by this particular statement which has been usually made out of context by clients. Leading the volley would be accountants (those days there were no chief financial officers but only accountants who continued to attack our business with great relish title or no title). And yet, when I saw the recent Volkswagen “vibrator” ad I wondered whether the great man who spoke about advertising wastage got his numbers wrong and whether the figure should be closer to a total waste. If ever I saw advertising money go down the drain, I think it must have been on Tuesday September 11th 2012. For on that day, the company released a four page ad in one of India’s leading English dailies which had a vibrator in it as the ad spoke about how the new models of Vento and Polo would make you shiver with excitement. Some shiver! And if they thought that it would send shivers down the competition they surely have another guess coming. I am sure the competitors are laughing all the way to the bank!!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Customer for life?
Take care of your clients and there’s a good chance they won't leave you. - M. VEDHAN
A smart marketer will not alienate existing customers in the quest for newer ones.
As I have often said, I spent six years of my life counting other people’s cash and writing other people’s fixed deposit receipts. Even after leaving the banking industry, I still talk about it as I am still a customer of one bank or the other.
Today, I am not merely a customer but someone who perhaps knows a little more about customers than when I was a callow youth in the banking counter hoping for a typhoon or a flood on Saturday morning so that I could leave in time to catch a movie rather than be flooded by customers! One of the first things I have since realised is something called “lifetime value of the customer”, which I knew nothing about or cared even less for in 1973 when I first started working with Grindlays Bank.
A smart marketer will not alienate existing customers in the quest for newer ones.
As I have often said, I spent six years of my life counting other people’s cash and writing other people’s fixed deposit receipts. Even after leaving the banking industry, I still talk about it as I am still a customer of one bank or the other.
Today, I am not merely a customer but someone who perhaps knows a little more about customers than when I was a callow youth in the banking counter hoping for a typhoon or a flood on Saturday morning so that I could leave in time to catch a movie rather than be flooded by customers! One of the first things I have since realised is something called “lifetime value of the customer”, which I knew nothing about or cared even less for in 1973 when I first started working with Grindlays Bank.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Picnic with the Tiger
Wooing the press is an exercise roughly akin to picnicking with the tiger. You might enjoy the meal but the tiger always eats last.
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Making the most of celebrities
Having a star endorser can be limiting, but not necessarily.
The simple fact is that celebrities are easily the most popular (often the only) communication strategy in India. Having decided on this none too distinctive course, brands are constantly trying to do different things to stand out within this ‘constraint’. Brands such as Coke have used an actor like Vijay for Tamil Nadu even when they have had a top star like Aamir Khan endorsing their brand nationally at the same time.
Recently a brand such as Thumps Up had an interesting ploy of using Telugu actor Mahesh Babu on its national campaign. In case you did not know his credentials, he nevertheless came across as someone who was a good model whereas to someone from Andhra Pradesh, he may have been closer to God than to an ordinary mortal. In the same vein Fastrack once used a budding cricketer in Virat Kohli and an established star in Genelia. Of course, Virat has moved to a different level of performance and hence recognition since. Those days, if you were not watching IPL and were not sure who he was, he still looked the part of a spoilt brat (whom he was portraying in the commercials) while today he is a spoilt brat who has become a celebrity thanks to his stylish batting. On the same lines, I recently saw an interesting interplay of celebrities for a jewellery brand from the South - Kalyan Jewelers which had the original ‘lambu’ Amitabh Bachchan and the southern character actor Prabhu, who has been an active champion of the brand for some time now. I like Prabhu not merely because I used to idolise his father Sivaji Ganesan but also for his histrionic ability.
The simple fact is that celebrities are easily the most popular (often the only) communication strategy in India. Having decided on this none too distinctive course, brands are constantly trying to do different things to stand out within this ‘constraint’. Brands such as Coke have used an actor like Vijay for Tamil Nadu even when they have had a top star like Aamir Khan endorsing their brand nationally at the same time.
Recently a brand such as Thumps Up had an interesting ploy of using Telugu actor Mahesh Babu on its national campaign. In case you did not know his credentials, he nevertheless came across as someone who was a good model whereas to someone from Andhra Pradesh, he may have been closer to God than to an ordinary mortal. In the same vein Fastrack once used a budding cricketer in Virat Kohli and an established star in Genelia. Of course, Virat has moved to a different level of performance and hence recognition since. Those days, if you were not watching IPL and were not sure who he was, he still looked the part of a spoilt brat (whom he was portraying in the commercials) while today he is a spoilt brat who has become a celebrity thanks to his stylish batting. On the same lines, I recently saw an interesting interplay of celebrities for a jewellery brand from the South - Kalyan Jewelers which had the original ‘lambu’ Amitabh Bachchan and the southern character actor Prabhu, who has been an active champion of the brand for some time now. I like Prabhu not merely because I used to idolise his father Sivaji Ganesan but also for his histrionic ability.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Oh? Madrasi...
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Friday, August 17, 2012
Travails of a lazy traveller
Whoever said flying today was luxury?
When our columnist was asked to clean up after himself on a flight, he began wondering whether on-time delivery was everything.
Some people are born lazy, some achieve laziness and some have laziness thrust upon them. I can humbly claim to have written the script, composed the music and continue to hold the worldwide rights to this admirable trait. I wonder to what I owe this state of body and soul that embraces this virtue so readily and the answer goes back to my childhood where I was the youngest child for a period of seven years (till my sister was born) and was thoroughly pampered.
When our columnist was asked to clean up after himself on a flight, he began wondering whether on-time delivery was everything.
Some people are born lazy, some achieve laziness and some have laziness thrust upon them. I can humbly claim to have written the script, composed the music and continue to hold the worldwide rights to this admirable trait. I wonder to what I owe this state of body and soul that embraces this virtue so readily and the answer goes back to my childhood where I was the youngest child for a period of seven years (till my sister was born) and was thoroughly pampered.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Bangalore Couples Turn to Cops for Counseling
As the three stars with a red-and-blue ribbon on his shoulder strap will tell you, M.L. Purushotham is a police inspector. But here’s his unofficial job description: redeemer of relationships and savior of marriages.
The description fits not just the inspector at the Yeshwantpur police station in west Bangalore but many of his fellow police officers in the city.
Meet a couple whose liaison the police inspector tried to salvage. She is from the eastern state of Orissa, and he from southern Tamil Nadu, both in their 20s, well-educated and working for different multinationals. The woman walked into the police station first.
The description fits not just the inspector at the Yeshwantpur police station in west Bangalore but many of his fellow police officers in the city.
Meet a couple whose liaison the police inspector tried to salvage. She is from the eastern state of Orissa, and he from southern Tamil Nadu, both in their 20s, well-educated and working for different multinationals. The woman walked into the police station first.
Friday, August 10, 2012
How good is your execution?
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