Advertising - Livemint.com

English TV channels see viewership shrink

Ishita Russell — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:21:00 GMT

New Delhi: India’s non-news English channels always operated in niches, but now their viewership has shrunk even further. In the past three years, the viewership of English entertainment channels as well as English film channels has declined by nearly 30% and 27%, respectively.

The drop in viewership of these channels comes even as the number of cable and satellite television homes in the country has grown from 63 million to 75 million. According to TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd, the TV viewership monitoring agency, the English entertainment space comprising Star World, Zee Cafe and AXN has seen its viewership shrink from 0.34% in 2006 to 0.15% in 2009.

English movie channels fared better, but not by much. Their viewership declined from 1.09% to 0.82%, though the latest figure is a step up from 2008’s low of 0.79%.

While the channels themselves say the methodology of calculating viewership is to blame for their seemingly shrinking ratings, others say it is a result of fragmented audiences.

“We are not well represented by TAM. It’s reach is limited and not representative of the entire country, so the share is small but definitely not stagnant. Once digitization is more widespread we will have a clearer picture in terms of numbers being reported,” said Shruti Bajpai, country manager for HBO South Asia.

“Also, the access to the channel will be much easier for the consumer.”

But a television executive and a media specialist say the performance of English channels is not surprising.

“The English entertainment and film genre has seen a dip because Hindi GEC and regional language channels have seen a significant growth. When audiences get fragmented, smaller channels get hit,” says Raj Nayak, CEO, NDTV Media the advertising sales company for NDTV’s news channels. Manas Mishra, head, Mudra Connext, the media agency of Mudra Max, echoed Nayak’s view: “English entertainment was doing well when there were not as many choices for the viewer. With better content on Hindi and regional channels and reality shows that are more engaging, there are better alternatives for viewers to switch to.”

The market has also changed, said another television executive. “Films is a title-driven business. How many big titles can you have in a month?” asked an executive at Discovery Network who did not want to be identified. Discovery, he added, has grown not just because the content is differentiated but also because it has a very popular Hindi feed.

Incidentally, TAM data shows that in the cable and satellite homes, the viewership of so-called infotainement channels such as Fox History, Discovery, National Geographic, among others, had also dropped between 2006 and 2008 but grew marginally in 2009.

Like Bajpai, other executives at non-news English channels, said digitization holds the answer.

“With increased digitization and spread of DTH (direct-to-home television service), people will be able to choose exactly the kind of programmes they want to watch rather than depend on the cable operators,” said Rohit Bhandari, senior vice-president, AXN and Animax.

An executive at National Geographic channel, who didn’t want to be identified, said the trend of TV channels burning money to be in the so-called prime band—the first few channels aired by cable operators—has choked smaller channels.

Some English channels are trying hard to retain their viewers by providing English subtitles to circumvent the problem of varied accents. And AXN, brought to Asia by Sony Pictures Television International, is banking on reality shows and magic shows to gain popularity.

Bhandari said his viewers don’t necessarily have to understand English to follow shows such as Top Chef, Amazing Race or Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

Though media planners say expenditure on English entertainment genre has declined by about 10-15%, television executives disagree.

Sunder Aaron, business head at Sony Entertainment’s English movie channel, PIX, said: “There is obviously a demand in the English movie channel space which is why we have grown both in terms of advertising as well as revenues since we started in 2006.

Nitin Vaidya, COO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, that broadcasts Zee Studio and Zee Cafe, added: “There’s no drop in revenue. Instead, there has been a steady, healthy movement in advertising revenue.”

Star TV Network, that runs Star Movies and English entertainment channel Star World, did not respond to Mint’s queries.

Unexpected stickiness

Gouri Shah — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:19:00 GMT

REVIEWER: ANAND HALVE

Anand Halve is director of Chlorophyll Brand Consultancy and the author of Planning for Power Advertising. He is a visiting faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad and Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabad (Mica) and a frequent writer on advertising and communications.

Ad pro: Anand Halve.

CAMPAIGN

The new Fevicol commercial, which depicts the life of a girl who was unable to shake off a moustache that was pasted on her upper lip. It traces her life, through her teenage years, wedding, motherhood, death and finally, rebirth.

What do you think are the qualities of iconic advertising?

People think achieving iconic status is a matter of setting it as an objective. No, nein, nyet! Iconic stature is not a goal. It is the happy result of doing breakthrough things consistently. Such as, one: advertising that builds on a simple idea—in this case, the simple notion that “nothing sticks like Fevicol can”. Second, that the idea has “legs”—it must be extended over a large number of expressions. And three, that it is fresh enough to redefine the category advertising. Fevicol belongs with great campaigns like Smirnoff’s “view through the bottle” work, and The Economist campaign (I mean the UK work, not the current one in India, which I find incomprehensible).

What did you think of the ‘Moochwali’ TVC?

Consistent: This ad celebrates 50 years of the Fevicol brand.

In my book, “Moochwali” belongs happily in the list of the Fevicol TVCs (television commercials). The stickiness is “here and now” in other Fevicol TVCs—including my favourites like the “bus ride”, “carpenters watching TV” and “chicken feed” TVCs. “Moochwali” adds a new dimension to the “unexpected stickiness” of Fevicol; the dimension of the longevity of the stickiness. This is relevant since this TVC celebrates 50 years of Fevicol. The thread of Fevicol is maintained, even as a new bead is added.

Fevicol has consciously stayed away from celebrity endorsers and special effects.

I am aghast at the way celebrities are used at the drop of a hat. Too many brands act as if they are a rozgaar yojana (employment scheme) for cricketers and film actors. But consider that Aamir Khan has done dozens of TVCs for Coke, and it is still No. 3 in a three-brand category. Hema Malini (abetted by two daughters) hasn’t helped Kent outsell Aquaguard purifiers. Then, celebs are used as “nuclear deterrents” by opposing brands. Sunny Deol, Govinda, Hrithik (Roshan) and Salman Khan took off their shirts for vests. And Bipasha, Katrina, Priyanka and Kareena going head-to-head for shampoo brands. But using the usual suspects (Bachchan, SRK, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Katrina) is not a “strategy”—it is a desperate hope that the celluloid or cricketing gods will be the salvation of a brand.

gouri.s@livemint.com

Brands get starring role in reality shows

Priyanka Mehra and Vijaya Rathore — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:13:00 GMT

New Delhi: Contestants on Perfect Bride, a reality show on entertainment channel Star Plus, spent an episode last week shopping. They bought what appeared to be the only products available—Lux soap, India Gate basmati rice, and Red Label tea, brands that happen to be the show’s sponsors.

Loading video...

Instances such as this one are becoming common across reality shows across channels as lines blur between content and advertising.

On lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times, bikini-clad models participating in the The Hunt for the Kingfisher Calendar Girl 2010, pamper themselves with facial massages and other treatments from the show’s sponsor Kaya Skin Clinic. After stepping out of the clinic, the models give a first person account on how effective the Kaya treatment has been, a message reinforced by surprisingly similar ads from Kaya that air during the breaks.

“Advertisers are demanding more value for their investment in reality shows; merely placing a product in the backdrop does not do enough justice to the kind of money going in (to these shows),” said Kevin Vaz, executive vice-president, advertising sales, Star India.

Click here to watch a slideshow of product placements in popular reality shows.

That’s a view seconded by Rohit Gupta, president, network sales, Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (MSMPL), which runs channels such as Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and SET Max. “When advertisers pay triple the amount to be on a reality show, they also expect triple the amount of brand visibility.”

While the two executives did not disclose the amount advertisers shell out for reality shows on their channels, they admitted that networks usually charge a 200-300% premium above regular advertising rates for product placements in programmes. The price is also a function of what the client wants. On offer are: passive product shots (where there is no interaction with the brand); an active placement (with limited interaction or activity around the brand); or “a hyperactive placement, meaning an aggressive use of product in the show”, according to Vaz.

“In a hyperactive placement, a task could revolve around the brand in a reality show,” said Rajesh Kamat, CEO of Viacom 18’s Colors. Currently, Bigg Boss on Colors appears like a case study on product placements with brands such as Vodafone, Max New York Life, Sunsilk and Lux active on the show. This is the third season of the big-ticket reality show in India.

According to the head of a Hindi entertainment channel who did not want to be identified, on average, a 10-second advertising spot on a top-rated reality shows sells for between Rs2 lakh and Rs3 lakh compared with the Rs1-1.5 lakh a spot of similar length goes for on a soap opera. That could mean a product placement deal could cost anything between Rs5 lakh and Rs10 lakh. None of the channel executives or advertisers was willing to discuss the cost of product placement, though such deals are usually multi-layered with a certain amount of advertising in addition to the product placements.

Still, despite the steep rates, advertisers are not complaining. They say reality shows provide them a platform that cuts across audience segments.

“The platform gives us an opportunity to educate the consumers and build awareness about our brand. We have a long-standing deal with NDTV which has various deliverables including commercial air-time. This tie up is a natural fit,” said Suvodeep Das, head marketing, Kaya Skin Clinic.

To be sure, products have always been placed in films and television shows. What is new is the extent of advertiser involvement. The placement is rarely about visibility. Instead, it is about an aggressive exhibition of the brand’s core values. For instance, branded soft drinks and bottled water is still found on tables of judges of talent shows or in the refrigerators of participants in reality shows. This is a typical instance of passive product placement.

Parle Agro, however, has sought to do one better for its lemon drink LMN on Dance Premier League, the new dance competition on Sony. LMN is the show’s official beverage partner. After the dance performances, a branded trolley carrying packs of LMN is brought on to the stage to refresh and hydrate the participants and the judges. The commercial breaks on the show are labelled “LMN refreshing lemon drink break”.

Some part of the trend of “active” and “hyperactive” product placements can be attributed to the emergence of reality shows where such placements can be more effectively engineered than on soap operas.

“Products are part of our life and reality shows, which are meant to be unscripted, automatically becomes an ideal platforms for advertisers to push their brand advantage,” said Santosh Desai, chief executive, Future Brands Ltd.

“Brands follow eyeballs. Situational advertising has existed in movies for a long time and product placements have found their place on sitcoms and soaps. But now reality is a new entertainment format and its natural for brands to try their best to be visible in that environment,” said Hari Krishnan, vice-president of advertising agency JWT India.

Thus, consumer electronics and home appliances company Haier India Co. Ltd is targeting its core audience by picking up the title sponsorship of Gladrags Mrs India 2010 contest that started on NDTV Imagine on 15 November. As part of the deal, the company has got the sets of the show wired with Haier appliances.

The trend of aggressive product placements has definitely benefited broadcasters. The marketing head of an entertainment channel said revenue from brand integration has suddenly jumped from 1% of revenue to 5% for his channel. Incidentally, India’s broadcast industry is following the US model in integrating brands in television content. If it were to follow the UK model, product placement on TV shows would not be easy. The UK media industry regulator Ofcom does not permit brand integration in television programmes.

India doesn’t have a regulator that looks at content and anything goes here said the head of a Hindi entertainment channel who did not want to be identified.

Still, an overdose of such product placements could make consumers indifferent to brands. ““Not so long ago, Bollywood went overboard with in-film placements and after a while, viewers just switched off,” said Santosh Desai. “Now, on television, too, if we continue to offend consumer sensibilities, there will be a backlash after a point,” he added.

“Channels need to know where to draw the line.”

priyanka.m@livemint.com

Wish I had made this ad... | No underwater blues

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Limca

Ogilvy and Mather

A cold drink is truly a multifaceted thing. Ask the people who make them. According to the ads, they can give you an identity, create an attitude, fill you with courage, make you young, make you smart, make you belong and what not. Then there are some that focus on what they do best—refresh you.

Shivanand ‘Doc’ Mohanty, Creative head, Dentsu Communications

Limca’s previous ad followed a playful couple across the city as they splashed water on each other. It left a strong impression with its outstanding track and seamless SFX, or special effects (and Sushma Reddy, of course!).

This time, Limca builds on it taking the simple promise of taazgi (freshness) to a surprising new level: underwater. A sip of the drink takes a bored couple from a dry, lifeless world above into a refreshing world below. The little touches are nice: the sinking chair, the chandelier…the track binds the action together and refuses to get out of your system. The result? A seemingly tired promise, “freshness”, which has been done by countless brands in countless forgettable ways, suddenly seems, well, fresh.

The are some minor quibbles, such as the “play” could have been more fun. Underwater is a dangerous place. One can sink a lot of money there and surface with a yawn (Blue, anyone?). Or one can come up truly invigorated, like in this Limca ad.

As told to Priyanka Mehra.

priyanka.m@livemint.com

Top of the Mind Ad Survey | Celebrities, likeability score high on recall

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:45:00 GMT

We adore our celebrities. So much so that Airtel’s latest campaign, featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan, took the No. 1, 4, 5 and 7 ranks in the Mint-Synovate-TVAdIndx survey in October.

Also See Top-ads (Graphics)

The top-ranking Airtel ad scored 81 on the ad reach index, bolstered by 98% brand recall and 83% awareness among respondents.

Husband-wife duo and Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan’s romantic capers on the small screen, albeit staged, propelled the Lux Peach Cream TV spot to the No. 2 spot in the survey that gathers the voices of 898 randomly chosen common consumers across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Lux Peach Cream ad earned 97% on brand recall and 79% on awareness, scoring 77 on the ad reach index.

Also Read Previous Top of the Mind Ad Survey stories

Yet the Pond’s commercial didn’t fare too badly even though it didn’t have celebrities. It had 100% brand recall, taking the third spot with a score of 74 on the ad reach index. A second Pond’s ad ranked No. 10.

In the telecom segment, two Idea ads featured at No. 11 and No. 13, with the Tata DoCoMo ad at No. 6 and the Reliance Mobile ad at No. 8.

Also See Full MintSynovate-TVAdIndx survey report

However, our expert Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands, isn’t too happy with the Airtel ads, or the others from competing brands. As he says: “Airtel’s Shah Rukh Khan commercials are full of faux-introspection, Indicom’s work is faux-profound, Tata DoCoMo reeks of faux-bonhomie and upliftment, Reliance with Hrithik (Roshan) is just short of creepy and Idea with its ‘walk and talk’ extensions is walking determinedly towards absurdity and irrelevance.”

The Lifebuoy ad, No. 12 on our list of top 15 ads, has ruffled the feathers of consumer activists, with its promise of 100% protection from the swine flu virus. This ad scores 59 on the ad reach index, getting 97% on brand recall and 61% on awareness.

On the ad diagnostics list, which measures softer parameters such as likeability, enjoyment, believability and claim, three ads—Bajaj Allianz, Videocon UltraSlim and Usha Pumps—took the top positions.

Five of the top 15 ads in the ad reach index list also figure in the top 15 ad diagnostics chart. What’s interesting is that 11 of the top 15 ads in the ad diagnostics chart scored 100% on likeability.

1. Airtel

Rediffusion Y&R

A boy holds out a ring to his girlfriend, but is too shy to say anything. Actor Shah Rukh Khan, sitting alongside on the arm of the sofa, wonders aloud: How long does it take to express one’s feelings? “Yes,” urges Khan: This is relayed immediately in a woman’s voice, as if over the phone, and the couple hugs.

2. Lux Peach Cream

JWT

Actor Aishwarya Rai Bach-chan, fresh out of the bath, blindfolds actor Abhishek Bachchan. She playfully teases him, her soft and smooth skin defying his attempts to catch her. The song “Sone se bhi sona lage...” (She feels better than gold...)” plays in the background.

3. Pond’s

Ogilvy and Mather

There’s a montage of men pulling their partners’ cheeks—a man with his date, an elderly man with his wife, another man dancing with his partner. What attracts them, we find out, is the ladies’ soft skin. How they keep the skin so soft becomes clear when a model applies Pond’s cold cream. Tag line: Oogly boogly woosh.

4. Airtel

Rediffusion Y&R

A boy contemplates proposing to a girl, but hesitates. How much time does it take to express one’s feelings? asks actor Shah Rukh Khan, sitting behind the couple. Khan utters the words, “Will you marry me?”—and they are repeated as if over the phone. All’s well that ends well.

5. Airtel

Rediffusion Y&R

A boy and a girl, both upset, are sitting at the opposite ends of a sofa. Standing behind them is Shah Rukh Khan, waiting for the boy to apologize. How much time does it take to apologize? Khan wonders aloud. “I’m sorry,” he says. The words seem to be repeated over the phone; the couple makes up.

6. Tata DoCoMo

Draftfcb+Ulka Advertising

Aboard the Friendship Express train, a young man looks around—his fellow passengers are silent. He starts humming the Tata DoCoMo tune. Others join him. Suddenly, they stop. This time, a young girl starts singing the tune. All the passengers laughingly join in, and the entire train is humming.

7. Airtel

Rediffusion Y&R

Actor Shah Rukh Khan begins thinking about the people in his life—his fans, companion, mentor and childhood friends who knew him before he became a star—those who made him, taught him and are now his network. When 110 million people are supportive, it must be something good, he concludes.

8. Reliance Mobile

Cartwheel

Actor Hrithik Roshan plays Pied Piper at a city square. He plays his flute, and all the problems that plague mobile phone services—such as STD, members only and conditions apply—animate into mice and follow him as he guides them off a cliff. Needless to say, everyone is very happy.

9. Parker

Lowe Worldwide

Sitting in an office cubicle, a young man turns around and starts singing the song “Pehli baar mohabbat ki hai” for a female colleague, who shares the cubicle. The girl responds smilingly to the serenade, and then hands him a Parker pen, asking him to write his own song.

10. Pond’s

Ogilvy and Mather

There’s a montage of men pulling cheeks—a schoolboy with a girl, a teenager on a date in a cafe, a man with his bride at the altar. They’re attracted by the soft skin. How the ladies got such soft skin becomes clear when a woman applies Pond’s cold cream on her face. Tag line: Oogly boogly woosh.

11. Idea

Lowe Worldwide

A boy spots his neighbour on the balcony, sitting and talking on the phone. He rings her doorbell and runs away. Phone in hand, the girl opens the door, only to find nobody there. She resumes her seat. He repeats his actions, forcing her to walk. She gets the message, and talks while walking.

12. Lifebuoy

Lowe Worldwide

A child tells his father, a doctor, that no one’s coming out to play for fear of swine flu. His father asks him to spread awareness and suggests he leave bars of Lifebuoy soap at the doorsteps of friends with the message: Swine flu se darne ka nahin, ladne ka (Don’t fear swine flu, fight it).

13. Idea

Lowe Worldwide

A man, seated, is talking on his hands-free phone while eyeing a woman. The woman returns his stare and goes and sits next to him. He walks away, but she keeps following him. He apologizes. She then smiles and walks by, singing the Idea “walk and talk” tune. It’s only then that realization of the message dawns on him.

14. SamsungCorby

Leo Burnett

It’s all about connections. A boy touches the screen of his SamsungCorby phone, connecting him to a friend who, in turn, touches the screen on her phone to connect to another friend. The phone’s one-touch feature brings together a group of friends so they can hang out, using networking sites and other apps.

15. Limca

Ogilvy and Mather

A bored couple is sitting listlessly at home. The woman takes a sip from a Limca bottle. As if by magic, the environment changes, and the house gradually turns into a pool. Refreshed, the couple play and tease each other underwater. Tag line: Doobo taazgi mein, refresh your life.

feedback@livemint.com

Glimmers of progress at a leaner Newsweek

Richard Perez-Pena / NYT — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Six months ago, Newsweek embarked on a bold effort to staunch its losses in a brutal economic time, with a major redesign, price increases, a steep reduction in circulation, and a continuation in a long series of steps away from weekly news and toward commentary and analysis. From the legion of people in the media who write about one another’s organizations, there was plenty of scepticism, even some derision.

Last week, Newsweek laid off 13 people from its already depleted editorial staff, but the reaction from the professional media watchers was muted, notably lacking in declarations that the strategy had failed and that the magazine was doomed.

After quoting the editor, Jon Meacham, as saying that the future remained promising, even the reliably sardonic Gawker.com added only this comment: “Can’t blame him, really. Tough times.”

Whether Newsweek’s plan pays off eventually, this is a time when even smart strategies can fail, and Newsweek has plenty of company in the struggle.

Through the first nine months of the year, the volume of advertising in American magazines fell 27.2% from the period a year earlier—29.2% for Newsweek—and dozens of magazines have closed, including big names such as Gourmet, Domino, Vibe and Hallmark Magazine.

Newsweek decided to stop the expensive pursuit of high circulation and focus on a smaller readership of higher-income people who appeal to advertisers. Many publications have made similar moves, but few have gone as far; Newsweek lowered its rate base, the minimum circulation promised to advertisers, from 3.1 million to 2.6 million in early 2008, then to 1.9 million in July. It will go to 1.5 million in January.

With the combination of fewer ad pages and fewer copies, the magazine’s owner, the Washington Post Co., reported that Newsweek’s ad revenue in the third quarter was down 48% from last year.

But because of cost-cutting and price increases, the outlook appears, if not good, then a little less bad than it did earlier this year.

The Washington Post Co.’s magazine division, which is primarily Newsweek, had a third-quarter operating loss of $4.3 million (around Rs20 crore), after losing $25.4 million in the first half of the year.

“It’s been a disgusting economy, in case nobody else noticed,” said Thomas E. Ascheim, the chief executive of Newsweek.

He said revenue per subscriber was up, adding that in 2010 “we expect to operate less in the red” and holding out a hope of profitability in 2011.

feedback@livemint.com

On the spot | Faux all...telecom ads were disappointing

Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:02:00 GMT

Two outstanding ads made up for a month of mediocrity, most of it from telecom, which has given some very good work in the past. Airtel’s Shah Rukh Khan ads are full of faux introspection, Tata Indicom’s work is faux profound, Tata DoCoMo reeks of faux bonhomie, Reliance Mobile with Hrithik Roshan is just short of creepy and Idea is walking determinedly towards irrelevance.

Stop, breathe and appreciate

Parle Saint Juice

Creativeland Asia

This ad is a breath of fresh air, not just when compared with all the advertising on TV, but with all that appears on TV. In a hyper-stimulated, over-communicated world that is saturated with speed, here comes an ad that makes us unclench our fists and breathe with ozone fullness. Leaves unfurl, buds ripen and nature blooms moist with misty dew. We experience the glory of nature in a new, innocent way. Truly fitting for a new brand of juice. My only quibble lies outside the advertising—the name “Saint” carries no trace of the lushness of the world that the advertising creates.

Wickedly authentic observations, well-crafted script

Max New York Life

Ogilvy and Mather

Here’s a brand working determinedly to rescue the insurance category from ho-hum sameness with a canny combination of wickedly authentic observation and well-crafted scripting. The laadla beta (darling son) getting fawned over in public much to his embarrassment is familiar territory for most of us, and this ad has dead-on casting and exquisite scripting (the dirty underwear and the stomach-cleansing bananas being strokes of pure inspiration). Here is a brand that has created an extremely likeable canvas for itself and finds itself able to consistently extract engaging work from it.

Embarrassing, annoying, infantile

Hyundai I10

Innocean Worldwide

Now almost all car advertising is uniformly bad, so much so that pointing it out seems pointless. But one must still pay homage to the execrable, and this Shah Rukh Khan ad, with its cringe-inducing equating of women with cars, is truly a work of art. Embarrassing, annoying, infantile… I could go on.

Moochwali: 50 years of building bonds and award-winning ads

Gouri Shah — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:34:00 GMT

Mumbai: The tagline, “India’s official entry to Cannes,” on a traditionally hand-painted film poster for Moochwali should have been a dead give away. That, and the fact that the invitation to the “shortest feature film in the world” was coming from Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), South Asia. But a lot of people were taken by surprise when the theatre lights dimmed to showcase an 80-second television commercial for adhesive brand Fevicol, to mark 50 years of the brand’s existence.

Click here To view a slideshow of iconic Fevicol ads over the years

The black and white ad film, shot by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films, depicts the life of a little girl who was unable to shake off a moustache pasted on her upper lip during a village play. The film traces her life, through her teenage years, wedding, motherhood, death and finally rebirth, where she is born again with the moustache intact. The ad closes with the tag line “50 Saal Se Champion” (winner for 50 years).

Creative bond: To mark 50 years of Fevicol, Ogilvy and Mather India has created an 80-second ad depicting the life of a girl who was unable to remove a moustache pasted on her upper lip during a village play.

“The film is a different cut on the whole bonding angle. We wanted to break away from what we had been doing in the past, and it was nice to come up with something that captured that legacy (of the brand),” said Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, O&M India, who spent six months labouring over the idea for the new Moochwali campaign. “When you’re doing anything with Fevicol, the expectations are sky–high.” No surprise there, considering that practically every person applying for a creative job at O&M has an idea for Fevicol or asks to work on the brand. Or that clients continue to walk in with requests for “good work like Fevicol”.

So, five decades and 99 awards (Abby, Cannes, Clio, Asian Ad Awards and many more) in 20 years later, who would have ever thought that Fevicol was once a brand that no one wanted to work with. O&M has been handling Fevicol since the 1970s, but in 1989, when Piyush Pandey moved from client servicing to creative duties at O&M India, the account for the adhesive brand was literally “palmed off” to him to ensure that none of the existing creative guys took offence to his appointment. That, along with the absurd designation of copy chief, Indian languages.

“In those days, it (Pidilite Industries Ltd, the owner of the Fevicol brand) was not a client you would want to work with… as it didn’t have very nice advertising,” recalled Pandey, who was asked to translate a radio spot for sub-brand Fevitite as his first assignment. “It was such a crap ad that it wasn’t worth translating into any language, let alone Hindi!” he said. Pandey then came up with the “Dum Laga Ke…” radio spot, which was presented to the client. They liked the ad so much that it was converted into an ad film for Fevitite and then reshot for Fevicol, because the client thought “Fevitite was too small a brand to do justice to the idea”.

So, from its first ad for Fevicol to other award-winning ads such as the one with the hen and its unbreakable egg, the overcrowded bus in Rajasthan, the villager who manages to pull fish out of the lake with a few drops of Fevikwik on a stick, to the joint-family ad, there’s been no looking back.

But how did a brand traditionally targeted at carpenters make it’s way into the Indian vocabulary as a generic word for bonding?

“Purely through advertising, it has taken a category that is purely incidental in our lives to something that is of interest to us. A pointer where…through the sheer force of personality, the insignificant becomes significant,” said Santosh Desai, managing director and chief executive for Future Brands.

According to Piyush Pandey, the agency was given full freedom to do what it thought was right for the brand. “We were never briefed after that first meeting… So, in a sense, it put more pressure on you.” He narrated his experience while working on the award-winning Fevikwik fishing ad. Pandey, actually went to a client meeting armed with a pencil, a glass of water, a one-rupee coin and a tube of Fevikwik. “While the ad was drawing an analogy, we knew there would be someone in the meeting who would say the glue doesn’t work underwater… That’s when I pulled out my special equipment and proved otherwise,” he said.

“To be honest, we didn’t have a clue about the brand aspect when we started out... Piyush happened to us, and I would say 1988-1999 was when the big leap happened. Till then, the proposition had been of sticking things together, and then we evolved to saying it ‘builds bonds’,” said Madhukar B. Parekh, managing director of Pidilite.

A mind game

Spot Light | The Economist — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:10:00 GMT

REVIEWER: ANANT RANGASWAMI

Anant Rangaswami, editor, Campaign India, reviews the latest campaign for TheEconomist magazine. In a career spanning over 20 years in the media and advertising industry, Rangaswami has worked with brands such as Star TV, Sony Entertainment Television, Bennett, Coleman and Co., TBWA India and Impact magazine.

Media maven: Anant Rangaswami. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint

CAMPAIGN

The Economist campaign, Interpret the World, has ads with seemingly unrelated images. One has a baby, a tiger, and a gun. It suggests tigers are facing extinction due to the demand for their bones, used as a cure for male impotency.

What did you think of the campaign?

I can’t say I love it, but the campaign is incredibly arresting. While I’m not a big fan of layered communication, some brands have to be (layered) and make you stop and think. TheEconomist is one such brand, and to my mind this is one of their better campaigns, not just in India but globally. I’m sure that a lot of people won’t get it. I’m still struggling to figure out a few but it’s like the cryptic crossword I do each morning; you just have to hammer away till you figure it out. The nice thing is that they have an SMS solution, so it’s not frustrating. If they didn’t, I would be worried for the brand.

Besides The Economist, who do you think has got it right?

Get it? Ads with layered messages have potential if executed well.

In the Indian context, I’ve not seen a lot of great work simply because most print media brands were monopolistic till the 1990s. Having said that, I am a great admirer of what JWT India has done for The Times of India. Right from the early “A day in the life of …” campaign, to their Chennai launch. The campaigns have only gotten spectacular over time. Once TOI started looking at their readers as consumers and themselves as a brand, there was this huge shift in thinking. Even as a client, I think TOI has learnt to get more out of their agency. So much so that the minute I hear they have a new campaign, I want to see it. I also like the latest campaign for the Hindustan Times for its simplicity. It demonstrates a simplicity in thought, in execution and is interesting to watch. I do think the paper (HT) in Mumbai has a certain freshness to it.

With all the challenges facing the print media, what can brands do to stay relevant?

When it comes to news-based magazines, those offering analysis and opinion don’t seem to be doing badly. At every level, you have to understand and decode the brand. The advertising agency has to understand the brand and push it to the next level. Take the case of The Economist—if the agency understands the brand well, it’s still a challenge to tweak the brief. Each and every advertisement has to be approved by the editor before it is released. There is no doubt that the content has to be right.

As told to Gouri Shah

gouri.s@livemint.com

Advertising and media firms find favour with B-schools

Anushree Chandran — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:32:00 GMT

Mumbai: Leading business schools are making a beeline for internships and placements in advertising and media firms, long considered to be last on the checklist of B-school aspirants.

Publicis Groupe-owned media planning and buying agency Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) says that it received 900 applications from B-school students across India for 2010 summer internship, up from 350 last year.

Last year, the firm went to two campuses for placements—the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi—while this year, it has been to six campuses, including Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai, IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore and IIM Lucknow.

Ravi Kiran, chief executive (South Asia) of SMG, said that there was increased interest among B-school students in integrated marketing communications and this was for diverse areas such as entertainment branding, outdoor, etc.

For GroupM India Pvt. Ltd, one of the largest media buying houses in the country, there’s been a 200% rise in the number of applicants from B-schools. The agency got very few applications in the last few years.

“We got very few enquiries from B-school applicants last year and today, I am getting three-four resumes a day from leading business schools in India such as IIM Calcutta and Symbiosis, as well as institutions based abroad,” said R. Gowthaman, leader, Mindshare (South Asia).

The number of applications were limited in the previous years because advertising and media buying were not top picks for B-school students who chose to be in areas such as corporate banking instead.

Another ad agency, Mudra Group, says that it has seen a 15% increase in the number of applications from B-schools. Ajit Menon, president (organizational development), said that this year along with reputed institutes such as Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and Welingkar Institute of Management, his firm has had five-six relatively new institutes such as Fortune Institute of International Business enquiring about recruitments.

Mudra has also had applications from reputed institutes outside India from countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, he said, without identifying them. Media agency Madison Group also reported a sizeable increase in the number of applicants.

M.G. (Ambi) Parameswaran, CEO of Draftfcb+Ulka Advertising Pvt. Ltd, said B-school students are looking at long-term growth and job security, rather than high-paying jobs in finance like they used to.

But he’s not sure whether advertising can give a new lease of life to B-school graduates because the firms are getting equally cautious when it comes to new recruitments because of the slowdown.

B-schools echo what the ad agencies are saying. Kalim Khan, director of Rizvi Institute of Management Studies and Research, said that he sees increased interest among students for positions in packaged goods companies, advertising and media companies, entertainment and production, which have not been significantly impacted by the downturn.

“To be honest, students are simply going for areas where it’s easier to get and retain a job,” he said.

Volkswagen rolls out Rs40 cr campaign

Anushree Chandran — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:58:00 GMT

Mumbai: It may just have two models in India, but German carmaker Volkswagen AG has embarked on a Rs40 crore ad campaign to build its brand in the run-up to its December launch of small car Beetle and sports utility vehicle Touareg and the January launch of another small car, the Polo.

Lutz Kothe, chief general manager (marketing and public relations), Volkswagen India said the firm won’t comment on its ad expenditure but admitted the media blitzkrieg was aimed at growing Volkswagen’s brand awareness. Even though the Passat was launched in 2007 and the Jetta in 2008, the brand awareness was inadequate, he added.

Volkswagen started off the campaign, “German Engineering, Made for India” on Wednesday with as many as 13 advertisements in English daily The Times of India (TOI). The print campaign talks about Volkswagen’s history and its car brands Jetta and Passat (already present in the Indian market).

The firm launched its TV campaign also on Wednesday. Its TV ad shows a boy in a Volkswagen showroom, planning car purchases for various stages of his life. He wants to pre-book a Beetle for his 18th birthday and a Jetta for the day he heads a large corporation.

Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer of Mudra Group that handles the advertising said while the so-called roadblock in TOI was about introducing Indian consumers to Volkswagen, the second leg of the print campaign would focus on product attributes of existing brands Jetta and Passat and new launches such as Beetle and Touareg. He said innovations (web banners and web specials) on mainline websites and billboards would be launched soon. A senior executive from one of the agencies handling the Volkswagen account in India said that the total size of the campaign was approximately Rs40 crore and the firm had budgeted Rs8-10 crore for print, Rs10 crore for outdoor and digital and Rs20 crore for TV ads.

“We’ve taken 17,692 television spots across 47 channels in 16 genres. We’ve booked 144 insertions in leading dailies and 50 insertions in magazines. In the out of home medium, we’ve booked 280 sites while in digital, we’ve booked 23 websites,” said Kothe.

He added that each car brand addresses different audiences and has a different brand positioning. “Beetle is positioned as the return of the legend, while Jetta focuses on dynamic performance. Passat is all about comfort and Touareg is about domination.”

Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst of Angel Broking Ltd said these are early days for Volkswagen in India. The firm operates in “the premium cars segment, which accounts for barely 2% of overall car sales”, she added. According to industry body the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd sold 1,172 cars between April and October, while Mercedes Benz Pvt. Ltd sold 1869 cars in the same period and BMW India Pvt. Ltd sold 2089.

Sanjeev Shukla, general manager at Ford India Pvt. Ltd, said the Jetta and Passat clocked poor sales in October 2009 and the only reason why the firm launched its ad offensive is to prepare itself for the launch of Polo, poised as a mainstream car brand.

Media specialists from other agencies are awed with Volkswagen’s ad blast. Shashi Sinha, chief executive of Lodestar Universal Pvt. Ltd said it takes great guts to accomplish a roadblock of the kind taken on by the brand. “But I think that the impact would have been far greater if Volkswagen had many brands in India. Right now, there are just two.”

Advertisers on the back foot as rain washes out final one-dayer

Priyanka Mehra — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:46:00 GMT

New Delhi: The cancellation of the seventh India-Australia one day cricket match on Wednesday evening due to heavy rains in Mumbai comes as a dampener for advertisers that bet big on the series after the initial matches attracted strong television viewership.

Sponsors such as Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, Tata Docomo, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices Ltd, Gillette India Ltd, Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt. Ltd and Bharti Airtel Ltd’s direct to home service Airtel Digital TV paid advertising rates in excess of Rs3 lakh for a 10-second spot on broadcaster Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt. Ltd’s Neo Cricket channel, which was more than double the amount advertisers shelled out for big-ticket tournaments such as the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy and the Champions League that aired on ESPN this season.

Further, the last match received a “greater demand” with more than 90% of the inventory was sold out, said Abhishek Verma, head, marketing and communication at the Neo network. A senior executive from a media-buying agency added that the network was making the most of the revival in advertising spends by charging a 33% premium for spot buys on the channel for the Wednesday match.

However with the rains washing out all plans, the network now plans to reimburse advertisers with additional airtime on other cricket events to be telecast on its channel. “Our advertisers haven't bought spots for just one day, but for the entire series, so the time lost here will be adjusted with the Sri Lanka series coming up or other cricket properties,” said Verma.

But advertisers don't share Verma’s optimism. “It is an opportunity loss for sponsors, especially given the strong response the series elicited from viewers,” said a spokesperson for Samsung, a prominent advertiser during the series for both on-air and on-ground sponsorships.

The viewer response to the India-Australia series did indeed revive cricket spending after television ratings picked up for the first time this year since the second edition of the Indian Premier League concluded in May, despite an overcrowded cricket calendar.

The average television ratings of the six matches played so far in the India-Australia series is 1.8% on Neo Cricket and 3.4% on state-owned Prasar Bharti’s Doordarshan channel, according to Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd (aMap), an overnight television viewership measurement agency.

priyanka.m@livemint.com

‘Incredible India’ campaign wins World Travel Award

PTI — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:57:00 GMT

London: The ‘Incredible India´ campaign, an initiative by the Indian government to promote tourism, has won the World Travel Award 2009 for being the best campaign of the year.

The reigning Miss World, Ksenia Kukhinova of Russia, presented the award to India’s tourism minister, Kumari Selja at a gala function held at the Grosvenor House.

Selja, who is here to participate in the World Travel Market, also received the Asian Guild Award for promoting the ‘Incredible India´ campaign at a function held at the House of Lords last evening.

The Award and Fellowship of the Asian Guild was presented to her by Lord Peter Archer of Sandwell.

The Guild also bestowed the Fellowship on Jagdish Chander, director, India Tourist Office here for his “hard work to carry out the conviction of Incredible India campaign in the UK.

“Suresh Joshi, joint director general of the Asian Guild, said “Incredible India has enriched the status of the Asian in British Society by broadening the tradition and culture of India.

Shelja said “Incredible India initiative was conceived in the year 2002, when we decided to brand the country as a unique, vibrant and inclusive identity.

“Through this branding, an attempt was made to create a distinct image for the country.”

Shelja noted that there was no doubt that the ‘Incredible India’ initiative has positioned the country in the mind of the discerning traveller and thus played a major role in the growth of tourist arrivals to the country as well as foreign exchange earnings from tourism.

“It has also re-enforced interest in the country and contributed in generating awareness about India among the younger generations.”

The successful campaigns have created a sense of pride amongst the communities of Indian origin residing in different parts of the world, including the UK.

The minister said that India was also working to improve the facilities and services at important tourism destinations.

“We have taken initiatives to develop new tourism products such as wellness, adventure and rural tourism, which offer the visiting tourist a rejuvenating and enriching experience,” she said, adding all out efforts would be made to position India as the leading tourism destination in the world.

Telly connect

Gouri Shah — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:45:00 GMT

REVIEWER: ASHISH PATIL

Ashish Patil, general manager and senior vice-president, content and creative, MTV India, reviews the latest DTH ads of Tata Sky and Reliance Big TV. In a career spanning 15 years, Patil has worked with advertising agencies such as Contract Advertising and Lowe.

Getting real: Ashish Patil.

CAMPAIGN

The new ad campaign for Tata Sky’s Active services has actor Aamir Khan playing the role of a ventriloquist, with the TV set as a puppet. The idea of the campaign is that with the new Tata Sky connection the TV will literally be a puppet in your hands . The other campaign for Reliance Big TV is a series of testimonial ads: One has a mother talking about how her son, who loves Spiderman, thinks the character “flies better and fights better” on another TV set. Another ad from the same campaign has a man talking about how a connection with Reliance Big TV wipes the screen clean of any annoying ads and banners.

Do you think the campaigns work?

In advertising, it’s never about clever lines and pretty pictures. The question is, can the ad make you feel? And then, make you cross over and take action. The new Tata Sky ad is definitely more fun than the last few with actor Gul Panag. The ad has cleverly positioned the TV as a puppet in your hands. Although a literal leap, all the features are listed, followed with some idiot-proof product windows and tied in nicely with the jhinga la la jingle. It’s nicely executed and inexpensive, barring the cost of hiring Khan.

Under control: The new Tata Sky ad with Khan and the puppet.

The new Reliance Big TV ad series scream out in a category where almost every brand has a celebrity crutch. What works is that it’s real, identifiable and makes a promise (of better picture and sound, etc.) that is relevant to me. They nailed the casting, which is great, because testimonial advertising can be quite tricky. What doesn’t work is that I could replace the Reliance Big TV logo with any other brand. Unlike, say, a Vodafone ad, where you know it’s their ad without actually seeing the logo.

All DTH brands seem to focus on features and deliverables.

This category is so new that the first step is to create a demand. This product is not cheap and requires some amount of thought, investment and commitment. It’s not like you can rip out the connection and return it if you hate it. So some of this rationalization is necessary. The challenge then is to bring more to the table. How you deliver this message can be emotional, for instance, what does “life jhinga la la” mean? Nothing. But it still communicates a sense of fun and happiness.

Who is doing a good job in their communications strategy?

Currently, Tata Sky. They had the first-mover advantage and created a space for themselves with their outrageous tag line. They have also been fairly consistent in their communication and are way ahead of the other boys in terms of market share.

gouri.s@livemint.com

Deconstructing brand India

Anindita Ghose — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:46:00 GMT

Stanley Moss knows his brands. In India to be felicitated at the two-day World Brand Congress that starts in Mumbai on Wednesday, he says nothing bothers him more than insipid graphics and incongruous brand messages.

Expert view: Stanley Moss says the Mother Diary brand can only work in India, and the Taj Mahal is a huge branding opportunity going waste.

Moss is the CEO and general secretary of The Medinge Group—an elite, invite-only coterie of brand experts from around the world. Members of this Sweden-based non-profit think tank meet twice a year to discuss sophisticated marketing mechanisms, evoking semiotics and subliminal codes.

When Moss is not debating theory and trends in international branding, he runs diganzi, an international brand consultancy that he founded in 2001. In a career spanning over 40 years, the brand guru has helped shape several high-profile brands such as Coca-Cola, The New York Times and the University of California at Berkeley. His motto, he says, is to “influence businesses to become more human and humane”.

Listen to an interview with brand guru Stanley Moss

Download here

Here, he shares his thoughts on a few trailblazing Indian brands. Edited excerpts:

Mother Dairy

“Regional sensitivity in brand naming often presents challenges. Mother Dairy, a government-sponsored initiative to bring nutrition to the masses, was a great success story. For many Indians, it connoted ideological associations with parental nurture, representing sociological implications which can’t be well translated across borders.

Its name has major significance in a place where the country is known as Mother India, river Ganges is known as Mother Ganges, and every cinema-goer knows the iconic line “Mere paas ma hai”, the Bollywood equivalent of “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse”.

But the strong cultural and family-centric values embedded in this name would barely resonate in countries such as the US, where family values have declined and “mother” is associated with a notion of weakness, and the first half of a popular ghetto epithet—the phrase “mother of all battles” uttered by Saddam Hussein, which became an object of popular ridicule.

Unlike India, where the word “mother” alludes to greatness, elsewhere a brand name containing “mother” would bring up associations with a homespun, organic, or small-scale enterprise.”

Sulabh International Social Service Organisation

“An impressive NGO brand that India can be proud of. Sulabh brought forward the taboo subject of sanitation and waste management, and contributed to the ongoing dialogue about the caste system. In the course of its work, the NGO has had a multidimensional positive impact on society. There is enormous merit in installing over a million toilets and raising awareness about how to improve living standards. This is a magnificent NGO brand, and India should be proud of their work and the way they have consistently underlined their goals and missions with distinct brand purpose.”

Reliance and Tata

“Both these organizations provoke thought about the difficulty of managing monolithic brands. By their sheer size and breadth they are, in effect, nation states within a nation. Both are so diverse and vast that no generic idea can encompass them. This is a question of brand architecture since both have attributes of monolithic brands, that is a host of sub-brands carrying the parent company name. Yet, there are some sub-brands under the parent which carry their own names and brand identities. That is where the dilemma lies.

The discussion centres on the conflict in understanding who the big brands are. Should we look at the smaller entities as parts of a House of Brands, meaning we may not even know the parent name and what it stands for, and only consider the stand-alone values each smaller player possesses? Or do we ask each sub-brand to adhere to the values statements of the parent, whether carrying their name or not?

In the case of Reliance, the reputation seems to be one of a monolithic company which puts its name on everything it owns. We see their visual branding everywhere in India, logos which when created were the most expensive Indian brand solution in history. I am not convinced it is a particularly good graphic solution for the money spent. I find the nesting triangles, one with curved edges and one with sharp edges, vague and ambiguous. One can attach some symbolic statement to the icon, but it seems contrived and far-fetched. Its only attribute is recognition by colour and shape. Reliance has a reputation for taking on projects, but only of a large scale. How ironic that they are also known as “unreliable” despite the fact that their name is Reliance. So, in my opinion, the brand aspect is a failure, although their business strategy seems to keep them operating.

Tata, on the other hand has a more westernized, globalized look, probably the result of a visual brand created by Wolff Olins. Visit Tata’s website and you find a slick, world-class presentation with a near-endless list of sub-brands. The parent company defines itself around the aspect of heritage. Ratan Tata is seen as a down-to-earth type, whose personal brand infuses the Tata brand with a great degree of goodwill. This is evidence that strong leadership can figure mightily in a monolithic brand’s reputation. Where would Virgin be without Richard Branson, or Apple without Steve Jobs?

Therein may lie the answer: A strong leader can often fill the perceptual gaps.”

Taj Mahal

“So far a missed opportunity in place branding the greatest known symbol of India. This is the showpiece of brand India, equivalent to the pyramids of Egypt or the Eiffel Tower of France. Yet, little has been done to the actual monument to reflect India’s progress. In many symbolic ways, the Taj Mahal is still a celebration of the analog world, the old India. Its bullock-cart lawn mowers and kneeling labourers express the idea of cheap labour. Surely there is an Indian brand making modern, clean-fuelled electric lawn mowers which can be showcased to the world in this prime tourist destination? Is there no bar code scanner brand who would like to automate the ticketing? No bank that would like to sponsor a world-class graphic design?

The approach to the monument has no signage, and is filled with lanes of intrusive sellers of cheap mementoes. Ticketing is antiquarian, carrying a hand-stamped number with unsophisticated typography.

There is no online booking or computerized ticket available. Only the presence of a UN-sponsored digital display of daily pollution readings suggests any high-tech component. There is also no major corporate patronage for preservation indicated. There is no showcase of the new India. This is a project waiting to be done. For an instructive place branding model, consult the Eiffel Tower where all of the above can be found.”

Food and beverage ads under the scanner

Sweta Sriram / CNBC-TV18 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:31:00 GMT

After tobacco and alcohol, food and beverage brands, that together account for 16% of TV ad spending, are grappling with new rules proposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. This category accounts for a little over half of the entire consumer goods sector.

The government body has laid out guidelines for a code of conduct for advertising for such brands. From soft drinks to chocolates to packaged snacks, all categories will have to be a lot more careful about the claims they make in their communication and the creative licence they use to market themselves.

The guidelines range from substantiating claims with authentic evidence, to refraining from portraying fatty foods as healthy and avoiding visuals such as large portions of food that may encourage excessive consumption.

Sunil Alagh, chairman of brand consulting firm SKA Advisors, believes the proposal is long overdue. He says that in the last couple of years, especially on health aspects of food, there has been a “huge amount of stretching”.

“I always feel in situations where somebody makes a false claim, it is very easy to get at that fraud or wrong claim. But the problem happens in what we call the grey area, and then you begin to stretch the concept of health,” Alagh says.

The companies, meanwhile, are treading with caution and are in discussions with industry bodies. While most were careful, not offering a comment, some firms such as PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd say responsibility is ingrained in their DNA.

Deepika Warrier, director (marketing) at PepsiCo’s snack unit Frito Lay, says: “We are very active members of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which already imposes a lot of self regulation in terms of not making ridiculous claims. We are also very compliant with the regulatory environment of the country, and are very responsible when we are marketing to children, for example. I think we are very responsible marketeers so I don’t feel very uncomfortable about this.”

Though the idea is to self-regulate, once the code comes into play, a brand can be penalized for breaking the rules. Even the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, from which these guidelines have been derived, prescribes a penalty of up to Rs10 lakh for a misleading food advertising.

The current proposal seeks to prevent communication that suggests changes in intelligence and agility after consuming a product. There are already very stringent guidelines about these internationally and, in India, advertising agencies say their job may get tougher.

Nakul Chopra, CEO, Publicis South Asia, says this is going to make the task of advertising more difficult. “What remains to be seen is how these guidelines are going to be imbibed and used. It’s one thing to write them. You have to see how they live. If it is going to mean the only thing you have to say about the brands are highly qualified statements, it will have an impact on the interest those messages create.”

Ogilvy and Mather chairman and creative director, South Asia, Piyush Pandey, says it is important to draw a clear line. “If you are claiming a direct relationship between one thing and the other, then you have to prove it. If you are not, then I think human beings are not dumb to not know.”

The debate over these guidelines is in the early stages. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s subcommittee on foods will take the decision on the technical details. For instance, it will dictate the permissible levels of sodium, sugar or fat that will justify advertising a product as healthy. ASCI’s consumer complaints council will address the complaints, using the code, once it has been finalized. The first draft of the code was sent to both bodies on Friday. Both are expected to respond in 10 days.

Storyboard airs on Tuesday at 7pm on CNBC-TV18.

New crowd-puller: branded flash mobs

Gouri Shah — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:59:00 GMT

Mumbai: On a busy weekend at the Great India Place mall in Delhi suburb Noida, time stood still as 100 people dressed in Allen Solly’s new range of casual clothing froze for seven whole minutes as passers-by gawked, poked and prodded the models to see if they were, in fact, real.

Show stoppers: Apparel brand Allen Solly got 100 live models to stand still at Noida’s Great India Place mall, taking shoppers by surprise.

The human mannequins were hired by the apparel brand to showcase its new collection in a disruptive way that would dovetail with the brand’s “I Hate Ugly” ad campaign on mass media.

“It was (a) great idea for visual merchandising. All these smartly dressed models just froze in the middle of whatever they were doing at the mall. Whether it was drinking coffee, applying make-up, talking on the phone or walking. So shoppers were a little startled at first, but figured things out when they saw the Allen Solly tags,” said Vinod Vijaykumar, general manager (south and west) of Tequila, part of TBWA Group.

The flash mob strategy allowed the brand to showcase 100 different garment pieces at the same time, he added. “Something you can’t even do at a fashion show.”

A flash mob typically refers to a group of people who suddenly assemble in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief period and then disperse quickly. Brands use flash mobs to reach consumers when they least expect it. Not only is it a cost-effective tool for brands looking to reach small but focused target groups but it can also be tactically deployed across locations to generate tremendous word of mouth publicity.

No surprise, then, that several brands such as Colors, Shoppers Stop, 7Up and Channel [V] have already used it.

Take Reliance BIG Pictures, for instance, which used flash mobs to promote its film Do Knot Disturb in New Delhi early this month. The brand hired dancers, all dressed like regular shoppers, to walk into malls and perform live to the music of the film. “The response was phenomenal, we would have touched close to 20,000 consumers across a span of three days,” said Sweta Agnihotri, COO of BIG Music, which spent close to Rs2.5 lakh on the activity. The company also had a group perform small, live trailers for the movie across Mumbai. “We received close to three times our investment in media coverage,”said Girish Shah, head of branding at the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and chief marketing officer of the group’s filmed entertainment business, explaining that the videos of the campaign, uploaded on Rediff.com, got at least 40,000 hits.

Similarly, Channel [V] hired a group of young dancers to take off their shirts in the middle of a mall (they were wearing branded T-shirts underneath) and start dancing. The idea was to communicate “Channel [V] is changing”, said VJ Manish Anand.

Star power: Allu Arjun promoted 7Up at Hyderabad’s Central Mall.

While some people were impressed, entertained and some others completely flabbergasted that someone would pull a stunt such as that in the middle of the day, it served the basic purpose: It pulled in the crowds. The challenge then, is to deliver the message in a manner that is engaging and entertaining enough for them to tell their friends, experts say.

“It is a potent weapon when the proposition is leveraged properly. It (the flash mob and activity) should have an element of surprise,” said Praveen Vadhera, country head for 141 Wall Street, the out-of-home service division of Bates Group Ltd, citing the example of Kurkure, the Pepsi Foods Pvt. Ltd snack which used street plays to communicate its new range of spicy munchies by hiring actors who would burst into flames in the middle of a crowded street.

Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, had flash mobs in 20 cities in India to promote the third season of reality show Bigg Boss. “We had groups of people wearing the Bigg Boss eye masks get onto trains and walk through stations... at one point, it was quite funny to see women commuters getting off at a station wearing these masks, advertising our show for free!” said Rameet Singh Arora, head of marketing at Colors.

However, flash mobs can be a little difficult to execute as such large gatherings are illegal in public spaces, say experts.

In 2003, following a flash mob in the city, the Mumbai police invoked section 37(1) of the Bombay Police Act to regulate any gathering or crowd in a public place without prior permission. Under the law, an assembly of five or more people construes a crowd.

“In a mall (it) is different, but the minute it is on a road or (in) a public area, they would need permission to gather, which kind of defeats the purpose of a flash mob,” said Javed Ahmad, additional director general of police, Maharashtra.

Cities such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore and New Delhi have also enacted similar bans within the city limits, according to media reports. Brands, therefore, tend to gravitate towards malls for such campaigns.

More recently, 7Up organized a flash mob in Andhra Pradesh to promote its talent hunt with actor Allu Arjun. Thirty dancers walked into Hyderabad’s Central Mall and performed a song from Arjun’s latest film. It took a few minutes for the crowd to realize that one of the dancers in the group was Arjun.

Experts maintain that advertisers are increasingly looking at such strategies to reach consumers. “Earlier, the percentage used to be dismal. Advertisers would spend up to 90% on ATL (above the line) advertising and 10% on BTL (below the line). Recently, there has been a skew toward BTL, with advertisers now looking to spend up to 25% of their ad budget on BTL,” said 141 Wall Street’s Vadhera, adding that the economic slowdown had forced advertisers to look at newer, more cost-effective ways of reaching target consumers.

According to industry estimates, hiring a troupe of six actors would cost a brand approximately Rs15,000 per day.

gouri.s@livemint.com

Missing Connection

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:50:00 GMT

Reviewer: Santosh Desai

Expertspeak: Santosh Desai.

Santosh Desai is the managing director and chief executive of Future Brands, a brand consulting firm. As president, McCann Erickson, Desai was responsible for the early mass-market ads for Tata Indicom featuring Kajol and Ajay Devgan.

CAMPAIGNS

In the new campaign for Airtel, brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan talks about his life and the power of relationships and networks.

The campaign for Tata Indicom uses several people laughing. The idea: a digitally enhanced network allows you to hear not just what is being said, but also the emotion behind it.

The ad for Tata Docomo has a bunch of people travelling on the Friendship Express train in pin-drop silence. A group of young people sing the Docomo jingle, which gets everyone involved.

What did you think of the campaigns?

Telecom is a nebulous category, which is tangible through its communication. Unlike other service industry brands, such as airlines or hotels, which have infrastructure and consumer experience, telecom has few tangible, brand-able properties to speak of. The sector is at a phase where everyone is trying to outdo the other in scale, spends and production value. So I struggle to understand why Docomo, which had some fairly nice advertising initially, would descend to such banality. The idea of a brand getting consumers to sing their jingle is as old as the hills. Airtel as a brand has so many voices, with different campaigns featuring Madhavan, Kareena and Saif, etc., it’s almost as if they are fighting for their own consistency. The latest ad with Shah Rukh Khan is a tedious commercial. The Tata Indicom ad is trying to say something big, with all its lush production, but suffers from the same vacuous abstractions. Barring Vodafone, which speaks in one voice across all their communication, few have been able to build a brand landscape and own it.

With India preparing for number portability, how can these brands stand out?

Crowded: The Airtel brand landscape has way too many stars.

The idea is to create an own-able property and belief system for the brand. Vodafone and Idea have done a very good job of it. Telecom as a category seems a little disconnected from consumer experience, whether it’s call drop rates or billing experiences. All the investments seem to be for grand advertising campaigns but it’s time these brands looked at what consumers expect, and take it to the next level. If Idea took the notion of getting the people’s voice heard from their ad campaigns, and actually set up hotlines which connected their users to people in power, it could be a powerful idea.

Which brand, to your mind, is doing a good job in this sector?

It would have to be Vodafone, just for their consistency in communication. The brand has been consistent through their transition from Orange to Hutch to Vodafone and have created a territory that can be defined as their own. Even Idea, which started out with some fairly absurd advertising, has created a fairly credible brand. Docomo’s launch campaign made a game-changing entry with their per-second billing. Their strategy has been a spectacular success because they offered consumers something very real.

As told to Gouri Shah

gouri.s@livemint.com

WPP warns on outlook for advertising

AFP — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:58:00 GMT

London: WPP, the world’s second-biggest advertising group, said on Friday that its third-quarter sales fell 8.7% on a comparable 12-month basis but showed an improvement from the previous quarter.

Excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations, sales fell by 10.5 % in the second quarter, the company said.

It described conditions as “less worse” in the three months to September.

“There is little doubt that consumer and corporate confidence has recovered somewhat from the panic levels of the fourth quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009,” it said in a statement.

“Confidence, however, remains fragile amongst consumers because of the shadow of high unemployment levels and amongst corporates, because Armageddon and Apocalypse Now were barely avoided in September 2008,” it added.

“As many clients’ earnings results show, increased or maintained profits or margins are being achieved by cutting costs, not through increasing revenues.”

WPP warned that although it expected the improvement to continue in the fourth quarter into 2010, much would depend on when governments begin withdrawing the stimulus measures that have keep their economies afloat through the crisis.

“The real test may come when governments and independent central banks decide to reduce or withdraw fiscal and monetary support to avoid higher interest rates and inflation ... this may have the impact of reducing demand dramatically.”

The company added that over the nine months to September, it had cut its workforce by 10% to 101,133.

Advertising - Livemint.com

English TV channels see viewership shrink

Top 10 dailies show growth in readership

Unexpected stickiness

Brands get starring role in reality shows

Wish I had made this ad... | No underwater blues

Top of the Mind Ad Survey | Celebrities, likeability score high on recall

Glimmers of progress at a leaner Newsweek

On the spot | Faux all...telecom ads were disappointing

Moochwali: 50 years of building bonds and award-winning ads

A mind game

Advertising and media firms find favour with B-schools

Volkswagen rolls out Rs40 cr campaign

Advertisers on the back foot as rain washes out final one-dayer

‘Incredible India’ campaign wins World Travel Award

Telly connect

Deconstructing brand India

Food and beverage ads under the scanner

New crowd-puller: branded flash mobs

Missing Connection

WPP warns on outlook for advertising