Monday Blues: Make wonderful choices

Sometimes we see so much positive messages in as that you are really touched. The brand in such a situation is really remembered. Choices are wonderful and it is a choice that determines you most of the time. Once in a while when faced with a seemingly tough question, make choices that make you better. Even if they might hurt you for a little while. Make choices that improve you, that help you excel. This Monday, make wonderful choices :)

Good job Titan.

Why you should watch KBC 2014

It is important to know that there is a man called Amitabh Bachchan in India. Note my words - Amitabh Bachchan and India! Amitabh is not a person but a legend and is well known for his gift of acting and more than that his phoenix like rise from the oblivion is well known.

What I am particularly interested and fascinated it his ability to touch the chord of a billion strong population with his charisma, literary ability, diction and his baritone voice. So when you are planning to skip his KBC 2014 version, I would suggest you wait and watch it for you are going to encounter some amazing snippets to his life and how he manages to sway the audience and play with your senses, emotions and the play is just an excuse for him to come to your home. With a promise of a celebration of cultures, unity, amicability and charm, this season is a must watch.

Respect women

This video by Havells has made my day and I couldn't help but share here with you all. Vasuda Sharma is natural and shining bright in this video where Havells and Vasudha and the other two gentlemen showcase how talent is important and not the stereotype roles.

Talk to your children

What marketing or marketers are teaching your kids today?




As a marketer, I am more inclined to ads that appeal and show how my product will solve your problem and how it is better. So all my communique is a result of such actions that trigger the need in you. Would I or any other marketer think otherwise when sending out the message? I don't think so. Because it is a tough world out there and not all are as lucky to have their own sweet time unless you are too high up in the organization or in a company that believes in responsible advertising.

As a parent I am on conflict and cynical about how I can reduce the unwanted content that my child is exposed to and forced to form opinions that are difficult and dangerous. I don't want my child to grow in that atmosphere. But can you or I actually control what they see? I don't think so. Children are being exposed to malicious content more easily these days and more importantly at a much younger age than you and me. So I would find time to be with my child and explain that it is important to look past the marketing or advertising gimmick and see the actual message. Explain why it is important to verify the claims, research the ingredients, look beyond the paid blogs, articles and huge mass of unrealistic content. More importantly I would teach her to respect her body and who she is.

And I would try and make a positive contribution to the marketing arena in whatever small way I can to make sure she grows up and is proud of what ads I am involved in. Would you?

Internet moms or normal moms: Moms are smarter than you

Handling pressures of this world on a daily basis is not easy. But handling pressures and you is not easy at all. However for thousands of years, parents, especially moms have successfully handled all the pressure and yet never complained.

Google depicts a wonderful story with its new ad and thus reaches my core. Loved the ad.

 

Celebrating freedom

For years women had to adjust or live up to the fact that jeans are men's domain. Not any more. I am looking at this beautiful ad and am loving it just for the fact that the need is deciphered and conveyed to you. So even if you didn't know that it existed, you now know and you are now aware.

I love the way it is shot, in different elements, shaded, leaving a lot to imagination and mystique look. It would go to the top of my best ads list for this year.

As a marketer your job doesn't end in showing how better your product is in comparison to x, y and z brands but it is in deducing the requirement and the hidden need and highlight that to showcase how your product fits in. Isn't it the most important element of your job? Isn't it the only one?

Is wife a gorilla?

Is wife a gorilla? No I am not hinting about the weight but is she angry, irritating and aggressive like a 1000 pound gorilla? I doubt so. But isn't some exaggerating good enough to ignore and smile about? After all everyone seems to love a wife joke once in a while.

Century ply came up with this ad campaign to commemorate the and to my surprise I found several people found it funny and not at all offensive and that it crossed a million views on youtube!

Though few of the reviews online talk about the durability, strength and finesse, the most it makes is focusing on the anger. I think it is fair enough to suggest that the ad made me remember the brand and hence won its share of my mindspace.

Ok here are the takeaways from this TVC:

1. You can be funny without hurting
2. Reality(or the lack of it) is accepted
3. Sometimes a twist is not needed
4. Subtle mentioning of the brand is good
5. Wife is not a gorilla! You are, if you forget your anniversary :)

Good job Century ply.

Rating: 2/5

Sorry Bips, I ain't walking

Not that my cabin is on the 15th floor or because I don't like walking, but because your message is lost on me. Being in marketing makes me look at all the ads for the hidden, marketing message that I should be subliminally accepting and adhering to. Now is that a boon or bane is for you to decide. I take both ways. I see what is good and bad in the ad. Now when I look at the ad, I ignore the sweets, the fact that I don't exercise and am found looking at the long legs and thinking how this can be achieved by someone who is busy and the message at the end is that she takes the stairs and sugar free???!!!

Hmmm... sounds good to listen but trust me only that is not going to help you. Taking to few friends, I am told that they remember the product and not the brand behind it. Now that is a problem for the brand in question as I do remember Bips and the fact that I need to cut down on sugar apart from a little exercise, but the brand skips my attention. The prominence is on the fact that people plan a lot but act only on a few. This is actually what happens with the ad. All I remember is the message bit and the brand skips me. I wouldn't remember picking up the brand when I am at store and that is a loss for the brand.

So I would follow Bips' advise and would choose the stairs but lemme get that ice cream on the way. Yes, make is sugar free and I don't care which brand.

Tanishq bowls me over

25 years and still learning?!!! True.

Yuna fever grips Korea

Kim Yuna is worth a million million now in Korea.

No one can escape Kim Yu-na in South Korea. The 19-year-old has just dominated the skating rink in Vancouver, and is now raising her share of the advertising market to another world-record level.

There was more than enough advertising and merchandise featuring the sensational figure skater even before her winning of the gold medal at the Winter Olympics; Yuna milk, Yuna bread, Yuna SUVs, Yuna air-conditioners, Yuna supermarkets, Yuna earrings, Yuna facial cream and Yuna teddy bears.

But now the competition for product endorsement is so high that firms are happily spending billions of won just to use her name.

Read full post here.

Women save!

From Business Standard: The campaign is an attempt by Kotak Mahindra Bank to break the clutter by invoking the housewife’s natural instinct to save and curb the profligate ways of the husband. In all their campaigns so far, state-owned as well as private banks have either talked of technology (and hence convenience), branch networks or special offers for target groups. Some have even roped in celebrities in the past. This is the first time a campaign has targeted the good sense of the housewife. It also acknowledges the wife’s important role in planning the finances of the household.

With this in mind, the brief given to the bank’s agency of one year, McCann Erickson, included two things. One was to increase the bank’s top-of-the-mind recall. The second but equally important part stemmed from the research findings, which indicated that while people had begun to take stock of their situation, they weren’t prepared to regress. “Between 2000 and 2007, consumers had extended themselves and now they are taking stock and seeking help,” says Kotak Mahindra Group head of retail liabilities K V S Manian.

The result was the “Let’s make money simple” campaign. Kotak has on its crosshairs the big category called “mass affluent” with an annual household income of above Rs 450,000. The focus, of course, is on urban and semi-urban markets. The television advertisements will be followed by a 360-degree campaign with on-ground, outdoor, radio and internet activities.

Stay out of the dog house

J.C. Penney Company Inc. is the recipient of this year's World Retail Award under the "Best Digital Retail Advertising" category for the mid-tier department store's "interactive viral marketing campaign" it calls Beware of the Doghouse, which targets younger shoppers.

The award was presented to JCPenney at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona in May for our innovative marketing efforts. Beware of the Doghouse has proven to be a fun and engaging campaign, building on our success of developing new and innovative strategies that connect with younger consumers on their terms.

Voted by industry experts from around the world, the Beware of the Doghouse campaign received high ratings for its creativity and multi-channel integration. Calling it “truly 360 degree" and one based on a “witty and intelligent” idea, the campaign was described by judges from the World Retail Congress as having “bubbled out into the media, creating great value for the money.Divided into four key media categories – traditional media, in-store advertising, direct marketing and new media – the retail advertising section of the World Retail Awards includes a diverse selection of campaigns. Across each of the categories, the awards annually go to companies that offer "the very best of retailing in all its key areas of operation, assisting retail businesses to secure a vital edge in winning business and gaining market share".

JCPenney, which operates 1,101 units in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, first launched Beware of the Doghouse – which centers on women who to comically reprimand their loved ones for bad gift choices – on November 21. Throughout last year's holiday season, the campaign logged more than 7 million visitors to www.BewareoftheDoghouse.com and more than 14 million total video views.

Sone ki chidia

Click here for a direct link.

Came across this Future Group ad. Loved the theme and concept. Planning ahead is definitely good. Hope the golden bird returns and stays here for good.

Women dominance

Bollywood stars featured in 47% of all the ads in 2008 of which only 13% is contributed by male stars. Kareena kapoor, Katrina Kapoor and Deepika are the big three, both in terms of earning and in terms of the number of ads. Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh and Sachin top the mens list. The acceptance level of women selling the products seems to be increasing and these figures speak for that.