TAKING ON THE HOLY COWS
Advertiser: THE HINDU
Baseline: The youth are watching
Agency: Ogilvy India
4Ps B&M Take: Satire gives you the latitude to poke fun at holy cows which ostensibly legitimate media generally shies away from. And one of The Hindu’s last ad campaigns for this year totally gets into this spirit of seriously funny irreverence. The TVC opens in a college classroom where students are divided by their teacher into two groups and advised to debate for and against the Rural Development Bill in the manner of a typical Parliamentary debate. But chaos unfolds in the classroom no sooner than a student begins to speak. Having perhaps watched one too many parliamentary debates on TV, the youngsters begin screaming, yelling, hitting, and come down to fisticuffs in front of the visibly saddened professor. The ad ends with the tagline ‘Behave Yourself India. The Youth are watching’. The campaign packs a humorous punch, but also underscores the newspaper’s key brand imagery of educating readers and spreading awareness, in this case about the falling standards of governance in India. As advertising legend Prahlad Kakkar puts it, “If you really had a good laughing time while watching some advertisement, you tend to remember it for a long.” Well, we guess that says it all. Doesn’t it?
NEED OR GREED?
Advertiser: Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance
Baseline: Kyonki insurance se…
Agency: Contract Advertising
4Ps B&M Take: It is fascinating how most marketers have this uncanny ability of zeroing in on everyday instances that somehow relate to their brand and weave them into communications that consumers then relate to easily. This one is directly aimed at office-goers who would inevitably have come across that quintessential being – occupying a room full of blinking wire meshes and huddled over an intricate motherboard trying to bring it alive by some permutation or combination. Yes, every office has a systems guy bursting with self-importance and that man is the unwitting protagonist of this new TVC by Edelweiss Tokio, a recent entrant in India’s life insurance business. The ad opens with an executive going to the systems guy for help with his computer. Without even looking at the executive, the patronising man tells him to re-start his computer. This happens several times. Finally, the exasperated executive tells him in a huff that he can’t re-start the computer because his system “is not starting at all.” Moral of the story? Edelweiss Tokio agents don’t just sell you a plan for the heck of it. They listen into your needs and advise on your requirements. To be honest, there’s nothing new in the message – it’s the same spiel that some other marketers in the space have been selling over the last year or so. But the big idea in this storyboard – that of a smug systems person – is someone most urban office-goers would have encountered at some time or another. At the end of the day, ads are all about being relevant to consumers, right?
EK MACHHAR!
Advertiser: Good Knight Advanced
Baseline: Khushiyon Ke Pal Barkarar
Agency: JWT
4Ps B&M Take: How do you differentiate an effective ad from an ineffective one? Simple. A good ad speaks less but says more. This Good Knight communiqué definitely falls into that category. A prime example of how leaving a ‘message’ unsaid is more effective than being verbose. The storyboard has an old lady throwing a bet at her husband, “If you are successful in catching a dead or alive mosquito in the house, you will continue to retain title over the rocking chair.” The husband finds no mosquitoes in the house, so brings over a dead one from the neighbour’s house (who obviously does not use Good Knight). “Ye lo mil gaya machhar,” he says, proudly presenting the dead pest to his wife. Suddenly the phone rings and the neighbour enquires if all is okay with “uncle” as “he just came over to collect a dead mosquito from our house”. The outraged wife slams down the phone, turns to the husband and declares him a ‘cheater-cock’, adding “ab yeh kursi meri”. “If something is truly hilarious, people will laugh and this is why humorous ads work,” quips Prathap Suthan, Managing Partner & Chief Creative Office, Bang in the Middle. The story, told through the friendly bickering typical in couples that are comfortable with each other, emphasises the need to keep mosquitoes away and how Good Knight is the most effective deterrent for them. The second part of an ongoing campaign from the brand starring the aged couple, this one’s high on brand recall and leaves you with a smile in place.
Oye lucky Lucky Oye
Advertiser: Monster.com
Baseline: Find better
Agency: Dentsu Marcom
4Ps B&M Take: Funny, ingenious and culturally attuned to the taste of Indian audiences. The line just about sums up the Monster.com creative that is keeping the target audience amused these days. The ad showcases two job hunters waiting for their turn with the interviewer. Both have a slew of good luck charms with them to enable them to land this job. In a bid to make the other nervous about his chances, they begin indulging in a bit of a one-upmanship as far as the lucky charms are concerned. One guy shows the horse-shoe ring that he is carrying with himself, while the other one makes his comeback with a Nimbu-Mirchi charm. Next, the bracelets and evil-eyes come out. But the funniest is when one of them brings out his mom – who dutifully gives best wishes to her son no sooner than she is fished out from the bag. So, while the two job seekers are still fighting their ‘charm’ battle, the interviewer walks out with a third chap who apparently has already landed the job. The selected candidate pulls out his smartphone, which has a Monster application for job seekers. The final message from the advertiser? ‘Get lucky, get active on Monster.com’. Now that’s what we call clever weaving of consumer insights into your brand promise. Sunita Prakash, VP, Dentsu Marcom shares, “Humour is important and such ideas generally come from informal chats as against planned meetings.” Quite a monstrously great idea! We agree. Do you?
Mapping your bollywood dna
Advertiser: Diligent Media Corporation Ltd.
Baseline: Your daily dose of glamour…
Agency: NA
4Ps B&M Take: In the aftermath of the Times of India and The Hindu ad wars (which left both newspapers slinging mud at each other) earlier this year, DNA realised that its extensive focus on glamour and Bollywood might make it a soft target sooner or later. And hence a series comprising three TVCs. The first one opens outside a retail outlet where an interviewer asks a girl, “How many colours does a rainbow have?” to which she replies, “12, right?” She’s then asked about the colour of the Red Fort, to which she answers back with a confident smile, “White!” The interviewer finally gives up and enquires about the number of background dancers in the song ‘Munni Badnaam Hui’. “35!” is the instant reply. The TVC ends with a VO, “Obsessed with Bollywood? DNA after hours, your daily dose of glamour and gossip.” In other words, if you’re dumb, dress mod, know nothing about the world, but are a walking encyclopaedia with respect to the cine-world, then you must be the typical DNA reader. The remaining two creatives have a similar theme – apparent nitwits demonstrating a strong command over anything Bollywood. The ads are supremely funny and sophisticatedly self-deprecating, alluding to the ideology that DNA is not embarrassed about accepting what they deliver best! Top on levity, recall and cinematography; one of the ads on our ‘most funniest’ list for 2012! We’ve started our DNA subscriptions already – well, expect your and our intelligence to improve dramatically in the coming days. Answer this toughie dudes: what’s the capital of Chennai? We mean… never mind, must be the Delhi winters… 😀
Befriending em’ diamonds
Advertiser: Tanishq
Baseline: Now diamonds are a man’s best friend too
Agency: Lowe Lintas
4Ps B&M Take: Being a woman isn’t easy. There are just too many stereotypes one has to deal with – especially in the ad world. That being said, for all its stereotyping of women (of their penchant for jewellery and their dependence on their men to provide for them) this ad still wows for the simply fantastic story it tells for the brand in question. Let’s face it. Buying diamonds has traditionally been perceived as a high-income purchase. But this year, Tanishq attempted to demolish that as a myth. The ad opens in a luxurious Tanishq showroom with two men (obviously the husbands) worrying about how their bank accounts are going to receive a major setback once their respective wives (who are busy checking out the latest designs on display) finish with their shopping. The husbands discuss canceling vacations, selling their mobiles or even taking extra tuition to pay off for the money lost. But when the final bills are presented to the worried hubbies, they are genuinely taken aback at the low price tags. The message is clear: ‘Now Diamonds are a man’s best friend too’. “An ad has to try and experiment with extremity – either your ad is laden with emotions, or it is extremely witty and humorous. You cannot stand in the middle of the road and expect a commercial or a campaign to make a good impact,” says Arun Iyer, NCD, Lowe Lintas. The communication here informs how Tanishq caters not only to the well-heeled but also the aspirational middle class looking for affordable branded jewellery. The message was crucial to kill popular perception that walking into an upmarket branded jewellery showroom such as Tanishq would burn a hole in their pockets. And in this case, Arun’s experiment with extremity seems to have worked.
No kid stuff this
Advertiser: Flipkart.com
Baseline: Shopping ka Naya Address
Agency: Happy Creative Services
4Ps B&M Take: You’ve got to hand it to them. They’ve made sequels and done it flawlessly with zero blunders usually committed by sequel makers. Normally, an idea once liked, if repeated, can lead to viewer fatigue. But this set of ‘kids as adults’ ads flatter, amuse and educate all at the same time. The result? Classic brand recall that not only spurs those who are already using the brand but also incites others who just didn’t get what the online shopping hullabaloo was all about. The ads were simple and the concept, though old, worked again. Humour is a tight rope walk in ad land as Soumitra Karnik, NCD, Dentsu India explains. “While using humour in ads, one needs to be extremely careful. It is a craft which needs to be used very intelligently,” says he. And the guys at Happy Creative Services have done it, well, intelligently. Clear communication and solid connect; QED: Even 10 year olds can also ‘sell’ you stuff!
Vito Corleone!
Advertiser: Docomo
Tagline: What if…
Agency: DraftFCB-Ulka
4Ps B&M Take: What do you get when you put together a menu, a plate of idli, a spoon, a cricket match and Ranbir Kapoor as a cranky restaurant owner (sort of like a retired Don Vito Corleone) who doesn’t care a fig about what his customers want? Some fantastic advertising, that’s what! The Ranbir starrer Docomo TVCs simply stood out in 2012. The ads have a surly Ranbir making his customers wait indefinitely to be served, overcharging them, serving them what he wants (including idlis which look like miniatures of the one advertised in his menu) and getting away with it all. The message: what if everybody treated you like your mobile operator? And did it sink in? Hell yeah! “For creating a good ad, you need insights. Humour without insights doesn’t bring context to the communication,” explains Arvind Wable, Executive Director & CEO, Draft FCB Ulka. And this one was bursting with insight.
Damn you coke; love the ad
Advertiser: Coca-Cola India (Sprite)
Baseline: Rasta clear hai
Agency: Ogilvy India
4Ps B&M Take: Breakthroughs in the ad-space of cola-makers are quite common, with iconic ads coming up quite regularly in this space. This Sprite ad wasn’t iconic in the true sense, but it did enough to earn its place on this list of funny ads. Yes, we hate what Coca Cola did this year by attempting to sell directly to children through its ‘Ummeedon wali dhun…’ ad; but, this Sprite TVC leaped over our usual disdain. Sprite usually went with either of the two punchlines – ‘Sprite bujhaye only pyaas, baaki sab bakwaas’ or ‘Clear hai’. But in the summer of 2012, the beverage major attempted to give a new spin to the original thought behind the brand. The 45-second TVC shows how the protagonist with a Sprite in his hand does better at the game of attracting the fairer sex than the talented one wooing the ladies with the guitar! His secret is one fresh idea (which is to urge the ladies to put on their dancing shoes instead of simply sitting around idly). Sounds trite and doozy in print, but the cinematography is quite snappy and trendy. And yes, it makes you laugh too.
For the dads out there
Advertiser: IDBI Federal Life Insurance
Baseline: Plan jo fail na ho
Agency: Ogilvy India
4Ps B&M Take: Thanks to LIC and its mammoth army of policy agents, life insurance as a product in India has become largely underrated. But these creatives from the stable of IDBI Federal Life Insurance promoting their Childsurance plan found an apt recipe to break away from the clutter. The first TVC opens inside an office, where an employee has swallowed more than he can chew and is now choking. As panic spreads across the office, a peon named Ramakanth asks the man to relax, holds him from behind, and does a classic Heimlich maneuver, saving the man from choking. An impressed spectator comments, “Arre Ramakanth, tumhe toh doctor hona chahiye tha.” Spontaneous cut to a Nirupa-Roy tragedy tune, and Ramakanth sadly replies, “Doctor tho main ban jaata, lekin admission ke samay baap ke paas…” Then we hear a child telling his father the moral of the story – that proper planning for the child’s future is a must. The other ad in this series is similar. Creative, spunky, worth their laugh in the TV spots they occupy – and most importantly, capable of creating excellent brand recall. But did these ads have any impact on LIC’s market share? We never said they would.
When in doubt, play dead!
Advertiser: Idea Cellular
Baseline: Deadly Idea Sirjee. 3G
Agency: Lowe Lintas
4Ps B&M Take: Ad veteran and now MD & CEO of Futurebrands Santosh Desai believes that, “In earlier times, the 8-reasons-why-you-should-buy-this, delivered in BBC-style English, worked. Today, it doesn’t.” It was for the same reason that the ‘What an idea Sirjee’ campaign was starting to bore. But a fresh spurt of creativity from Lowe Lintas revitalised and reinvigorated the concept again this year. A slew of ads crafted in heaven (no pun intended) complete with the clouds, violins, fairies and an immaculately turned out Abhishek Bachchan in white. The tweak to the creative theme – of being in heaven – was to complement various ‘’heavenly’’ apps that the Idea 3G smartphone comes pre-loaded with. The TVCs promoted a built-in lie detector, face-scanner, mosquito-repellent, Idea TV, Karaoke, and a host of other ‘heavenly’ apps that one can supposedly tune into. Not being an Idea subscriber, one wouldn’t know how good or bad the apps are, but the ads certainly fanned the curiosity element.
Lady and her goat; guy and his boat
Advertiser: Fevicol
Baseline: Wahi mazboot jod, paani mein bhi
Agency: Ogilvy India
4Ps B&M Take: Think about it. If someone were to ask you to quickly name five brands in the adhesive space in India, in all probability, Fevicol would be numero uno on the list. But this popularity didn’t come easy. Besides being a brand that found the right buyer segment early on in its life cycle, Fevicol has over the past three decades allowed the right quality and volume of advertising-led marketing to build good word of mouth for itself. This TVC is no different. A man refuses to give a lift to an old man on his boat, but virtually empties his boat to accomodate a lady and her goat. You just can’t stop smiling once you sit through it. Vivek Verma, VP – Account Management, Ogilvy India, tells us, “The campaign showcases how a man changes his mind immediately after seeing a beautiful girl. There was humour and our target market would relate to it.” In terms of impact, novelty, execution and recall, the TVC scores high.
