Responsive Innovation
4Ps B&M Take: Banking is a sector that is usually devoid of clutter-breaking advertising. But every once in a while there comes a big idea that clicks and makes an ad stand out in the category. Sometimes the innovation is advertising driven – for instance roping in an Amitabh Bachchan and dishing out a soul-stirring jingle to stand out in the crowd; but often to break the clutter, it is the banks that have to think out of the box, anticipate and respond to the consumers’ needs and sell this responsiveness back to the customers. One of the new-generation private banks in India IndusInd Bank has been able to do exactly that over the years. Last year their marketing onslaught featured Choice Money ATM and Check-on-Cheque service – small ideas that saw the bank’s net income and profit rise year on year. And this year they are at it again. The latest commercial from their stable has once again been able to respond to consumers ahead of other banks. Now they are offering personalised account numbers. The ad starts with a man trying to desperately shove his shape into a size 30 jeans … because 30 is his lucky number. He next applauds his son for scoring a measly 30 out of 100 in his school test. What’s there to applaud? Well, 30 does happen to be his lucky number! He then is seen watching a cricket match with his air conditioner set at 30, much to the chagrin of his friends. You got it right, 30 is his lucky number. So imagine his surprise when he walks into an IndusInd Bank branch to discover that his bank account number can be personalised with as many 30s as he might want. An interesting proposition, which many may value in a superstitious nation. Let’s see if it gets then the numbers… again!
Advertiser: IndusInd Bank
Baseline: My Account, My Number
Agency: RK Swamy BBDO
A whole new world
4Ps B&M Take: India’s vivid colours, vibrantly coloured elephants, dressy acrobats, drama, intrigue, a wedding, music band, firecrackers, and a handsome foreigner running after a goat… what have all these things got to do with Heineken? Well, everything. This summer, Heineken is promoting itself in typically Indian style… complete with the colours, scents and the idea of India. The white man gets off a crowded tempo with a goat in his hand. He has come to the hinterlands to apparently attend a wedding. The white shirt and red bowed waiter carrying to Heineken bottles catches his attention and he immediately takes the bottles and stocks it up in the pocket of a garment that his goat is wearing. But the independently-thinking goat makes off with the bottles and the rest of the ad is about how the white man tracks his goat and Heineken bottles in the colourful and glittery maze that the big fat Indian wedding is. The white man becomes one with the crowd and colours of India, dodges the human flood, nips across acrobatic performers, takes help of a gorgeously painted colourful elephant, gets sprayed by dry colours, but finally does manage to reach his goat and of course the bottles. The ad ends with the catchphrase ‘Legendary travellers wanted. Open your world’, displaying how despite the cultural shock that India’s diversity presents, the white man can feel at home. This latest installment of the drink’s ‘Legends’ campaign inspires Heineken drinkers to be travellers, not tourists. While some may scoff the advert off as the white man’s continued fascination with India, the ad works because of its superb cinematography and ability to tell a story with ample drama, intrigue and even humour. Brilliant, we say…
Advertiser: Heineken
Baseline: Open your world
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam
Keeping the Score
4Ps B&M Take: Axe deodorant advertisement up here… at least not in the list of good ads… But then, the over-the-top nature of Axe deos adverts are not really very inspiring aesthetically. But this latest one – starring the new Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor is cut from a radically different cloth, and a really snazzy piece of cloth at that. The ad starts with a day in Ranbir’s life and how he keeps track of all the girls who swoon all over him – with a handheld number cruncher, if you please. So the ad begins with the man starting his day with a jog and the girls who try to catch his attention during the exercise. A punch of the finger for each of girls, keep the score updated. Next, are the women in his apartment building, at his shoot – on location and in the studio; even the gay make-up fellow warrants a punch at the number cruncher in Ranbir’s life. But then in a rather humorous turn of events, the celebrity is upstaged by the common man – his handsome driver who uses the Axe Blast deodorant. While the storyboard and Ranbir’s superb expressions are a big plus for this one, the track elevates the ad to another level entirely. The toned-down grammar of the ad is another plus… and thankfully nobody is tearing down anybody’s clothes to get closer to the deodorant’s oh-so-sexy pull. Getting the average Joe to score over the celebrity is another point in favour of this campaign. And thankfully the storyboard steered clear of trying to get Ranbir to use the deodorant to score women. That would have not gone down well either for the brand or the celebrity endorser’s image. Overall, a smartly packaged advert and fantastic use of a celebrity endorser, and Axe does make the cut, finally!
Advertiser: Axe Blast
Baseline: Score more
Agency: BBH Singapore
