Advertainment - an urgent need of the hour

Bucket of popcorn, cans of coke , comfortably tucked legs into your favourite comforter, lounging on the couch with a remote in the hand.

You are happily watching your favourite sitcom running on air. And then, just when things are getting very interesting there is a pause in that moment.

A pause that nags, annoys, irritates the hell out of you. Its an ad break. Each of those 30 seconders screaming for your time and attention when you are so not in the mood to let them into your life.

So, what should a smart marketeer do? Instead of ticking the consumer, turning him off, tuning him out - involve him/her. Make him a memorable and interesting commercial.

The commercial could move him, make him weep, laugh uncontrollably.essentially entertainment him.

An ad owes this to its end consumer. You have got to give him his time's worth of entertainment if you want him to take you seriously.

And you better give that to him.

A TVC must entertain.

:Lawyered" as Marshall from "How I met your mother" would say it!

I thus rest my case.

Jingle all the way...

"Lime and lemony Limca"... a brand that has believed in the power of music. It is the power of  a string of words set to music. Easy and catchy. Memorable more like it.

Limca may have changed its tune with time. Yet, the one constant is the fact that it still composes its own jingle. Charming.

The Titan music has remain unchanged through the passage of time. Frooti has retained its "mango frooti, fresh and juicy"

In the new ads, I like the Pond's youthful and fun song, the Lakme song, ...each one conveys the message of the brand so perfectly and well. A true brand message carrier.

A jingle creates an impact. It leaves behind a trail. It can charm its audience and makes it unforgettable. The brand lives on then in the black box of the consumer for a long long time to come.

The human mind loves good music. Music is therapy and music makes learning simpler. While trying to market an expensive yet complicated product to the consumer a jingle will work wonders. E.g. the UPS ad that makes something as mundane as logistics sound so good. Or say the brand wants to reposition itself to a larger target set. E.g. "Kuch khaas hai" cadbury's song or the "We are the blackberry boys" musical. These jingles worked wonders for the brands.

In the past, we remember most of the old jingles as there were very few brands per say. But, in today's day and age, a brand needs to jostle for space and do everything in its capacity to position itself in the desirable top of mind recall section. Jingles is definitely a sure shot way of doing so.

The world's moving towards interactive media. A jingle will fit in anywhere...TVC, radio, virals, newspaper. Remember when a month ago Volkswagen ran a talking commercial in the newspaper. It created buzz though the budget must have definitely shot through the roof.

But, the point remains that a jingle is evergreen and must be creatively composed, customised to suit the brand requirement.

I can't help but smile thinking about Charlie Sheen in Two and half men...the famous jingle writer who works from home, makes millions of dollars composing jingles and lives in his sprawling Malibu beach house overlooking the pacific ocean.

So, not only does the jingle work for the brand, it also seems to be weaving its magic for its maker.

Let's jingle all the way to that!

The dove has flown away...

I like Dove. It took me a while but it grew on me bit by bit and I got used to its presence. Happily comforting.

I, for one believe in change. I realise that it is the only constant.

However, change for the sake of change.Not happening. Change that doesn't serve any purpose. Again not done.

HUL is a global giant. Their systems and processes are aped the world over.

So, why then did the Dove team decide to change the 5th P? Packaging.

Dove had its own unique identity. We recognised a Dove pack in the store by its shape, colour and yes overall packaging. It was a core differentiator.

I am sure there was enough research done before they went ahead cutting off its advantage.

The new Dove pack is not bad. However, it can easily pass off for a Pantene. Or wait even a Head and Shoulders. Has the marketing warfare come down to this? Same packaging? Identical peas in a pod?

Personally, the way they swept the mystery shampoo campaign right under Pantene's nose was brilliant. It was a true reflection of how in today's consumer has no patience with mysteries and surprises. He/she wants to know it asap!

So, why do a me-too now? Why be a follower?

The dove has flown away. It remains to be seen how it could be retrieved.

CWGing Brand India!

"Need gold? Saina hai na!...Breadminton Champion!"

The quintessential Amul hoarding at the famed Tilak bridge, Dadar speaks accolades about the recently hosted CWG at Delhi.

CWG represented India in its true spirit - complicated, controversial yet collectively composed and catapultingly creative. 

What worked for us was the fact that the bar was set at almost a naught after the ghastly spate of scandals surrounding the event.

As fellow Indians, we were angry and outraged at having blown away such an awesome opportunity to showcase brand India to the world at large. We held our heads in shame and muttered unspeakable curses under our breaths and at other times the octave was set much higher.

Yet, when the time came for unearthing the commencement of this prestigious event, we sat glued to our television sets nervously anticipating the outcome.

The opening ceremony was a sight for sore eyes(in this case sore hearts) from Hariharan's Swagatham to Rehman's Jiyo Utho...it was spectacular! 

The events that followed had us winning 101 medals and finishing numero deux after the folks from down under!

We held our heads in pride and devoured medals tally report in the same way that we religiously check for cricket scores! It was infectious...we rooted for our athletes and egged them on. It was water under the bridge. 

India was shining again!

The closing ceremony took place with our blessings and this time the world sat up and took us seriously as well! We performed with grace and dignity and we tearfully bid farewell to Shera. 

CWG certainly was not controversy free. It most definitely was tainted in more ways than one. We still have a lot of questions - answers that we rightfully demand as tax-payers of this  mighty nation!

Yet, we need to commend the fact that we rose like a phoenix from its ashes and did Brand India a whole lot of good! Very good in fact!

CWGing Brand India ... cheers to that confluence!

Voodoo...Voohoo...naah!

I am positively spooked out.

Its eerie and weird. Scary and haunting. Creeps you out. Freaks you out. Like, totally and completely.

The look, the feel, the settings, the colour, the camera angles,the model...oh my goodness...how could they kill something so magical and make it so maniacal instead? How?

Check this out and we may continue our tete a tete - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFedfnR5seI

This is blasphemous.I am hopping mad.This, is so not Kerala. The Kerala, I know is lush green and gorgeous. It is indeed God's own country. There isn't a single part of this exotic locale that is untouched by an aura so mystical and divine. It's splendorous in its hues and colour palette options. Every place looks like picture perfect and ready to go postcardish!

Why, then may I ask, has this been showcased as some remote tribal village in Africa practicing voodooo and black magic?

Why, is the music so not Indian and so horror film like with its strange wails and intonations?

Kerala was and always will be a top tourist destination of India. This happened totally through word of mouth through the ages. Social Media offline if I may say so!

If, you are making an advertisement to showcase to an international audience you need to be responsible enough to recreate something that truly captures the essence and spirit of this wondrous commodity.

A huge thumbs down to an ad that attempted a ghastly homicidal attack on an unaware beautiful victim.

I got mail!

The doorbell rang. I got up to answer it wondering who would it be in the middle of a hot day!

It was a man in the khaki uniform and a bag. It was the postman!

The familiar sight of the local postman  was a like a breath of fresh air.

He held up a blue paper to me with the stamp and the address penned down on one side and a lot of stuff filling up the other side and the other half of the little sheet as well."For me?" I accepted it very proudly.

An inland letter from my paternal 86 year old uncle from Rourkela is a quarterly phenomenon. In today's age of email and skype and chat and buzz and twitter and facebook and flickr...an elderly man still picks up a Cross fountain pen, opens it , fills it with camlin royale blue ink, and writes"My dearest Sow.Samyukta" and proceeds to give an update in old Victorian Indian English(you know) accentuated with the right questions in return.

For me the very act of receiving and reciprocating through this channel of communication is such a rejuvenating exercise.

Its amazing really, a unique brand identity and a truly clutter breaking exchange.

Hanging on to our roots and simultaneously adopting newer channels is not such a bad idea after all. Infact its this very culmination of the old with the new that makes it so exciting.

Brands out there could sometimes perhaps resort to this medium as a means of direct marketing. A consumer is bound to revel in this public display of affection!