MxMIndia

Author: Prabhakar Mundkur

  • If the Medium is the Message where does the Advertiser’s Responsibility End?

    If the Medium is the Message where does the Advertiser’s Responsibility End?

    Prabhakar MundkurThe Ghatkopar billboard incident that killed many and injured many more has raised many ethical questions about the advertising and media business.

     

    For many unknown reasons, the outdoor media business has always been known to be of a low moral standard and has once again brought up important questions of ethics in the advertising and media business.

     

    It is well known that the outdoor business is often part of the intricate web of questionable transactions. Which means if you are an owner of a hoarding in Mumbai, by definition you need to be turn a blind eye to the law.

     

    If one goes to the Ego Media website what is shocking is to see all the best brands in the country – from Godrej, Tata, Audi, Honda, Britannia, Big Bazaar, Titan and many more.

     

    Are we saying that some of the best brand names in the country don’t care where their advertising goes and would like to in any way be associated with a company who has shown to have a complete lack of morals and ethics in the business?  I know many advertisers and equally their advertising agencies think that a hoarding is something remote in their outdoor plan.  Beside the top-ranking client wanting his favourite airport hoarding or a hoarding in the centre of the city because s/he lives there, not much importance is perhaps being given to where the advertising finally goes.

     

    But shouldn’t advertisers care about where their advertising is being placed? Let me give you an example. If your cinema ad was to be tomorrow viewed in a theatre that screens porn films would you want your ad there?  Or if your ad was screened in a theatre known to conduct other illegal activities, would you still want your ad placed in that theare?  If yes, why don’t you care about where your outdoor creative is being placed?

     

    If so far you have thought that “Oh that is the job of the outdoor owner” you better think again. You are not really distanced from the tragedy that has struck us on the Ghatkopar hoarding.  Now that the real operation of Ego Media has been exposed in the media, I wonder how many advertisers have pulled out all their advertising from Ego Media.

     

    Or are they waiting thinking that they are actually at arm’s length from the outdoor business?

     

    There are many parties that are complicit in this act where many people lost their lives.

     

    The owner of the property, which is the Government Railway Police, Ego Media who actually constructed the hoarding, the BMC for having allowed it (or for giving a stability certificate ) and, yes, the advertiser and his advertising agency are equally complicit. After all, lives have been lost.

     

    It is time that the advertisers and their media and creative agencies feel equally guilty about the Ghatkopar billboard accident?

     

    As a nation that is constantly boasting about now crossing Japan’s GDP, we better stop condoning our collective conscience that this is the India we know and nothing can be done about it. Make a trip to Japan to see how strict their laws on construction of any kind are in their cities.

     

    We proudly say the medium is the message, but do we really care about what the medium is, and how the message is being placed on it.

     

    I don’t think so!

     

    Prabhakar Mundkur is a veteran advertising person having led advertising agencies in India and internationally. He is also a prolific writer and commentator. His views here are personal

  • Prabhakar Mundkur wonders whether all mascots have a life of their own and like us mere mortals have to finally bid a goodbye

    Air India Maharajah 1946-2023

     

     

     

    Prabhakar Mundkur

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    When I read the obituary of the Air-India Maharajah this morning, I couldn’t but shed a tear. After all, he was mortal like the rest of us. Ailing for the last 20 years, and in and out of hospital, many of his detractors were not able to overcome his strong will. And in spite of the many attempts on his life, he just kept coming back like the strong royal Maharajah he was. In fact he just laughed it off in his inimitable style.

     

    While plenty has been written about him and his escapades through the decades through various lands, the end was solemn and brief. Just an unemotional announcement that his life had finally ended. There were no flowers. No prayers. No tears. No celebration of a life well-lived.

     

    Which makes me wonder whether all mascots have a life of their own and like us mere mortals have to finally bid a goodbye.

     

    Remember Gattu of Asian Paints? And the Murphy baby? Gattu, the mischievous Asian Paints mascot, was created by none other than the famous RK Laxman and enthralled us for a good 50 years. Murphy, another Indian favourite, was a brand born in Britain and founded in 1929 by Frank Murphy and EJ Power. The Murphy brand now belongs to the Shirodkar Group of companies but they don’t sell radios any more.

     

    It is interesting to examine why the Maharajah was so successful. For one his commentary was on our day to day lives and the life of the nation. He became the social mirror of Indian society. He reflected our happy and unhappy moments with a touch of philosophy and wit.

     

    Ivan Arthur, earlier National Creative Director of JWT, and now educator and author, when asked about the Air India advertising, said: “Conceived as a letterhead design, the Maharajah broke the fetters of the line drawing and became flesh with a personality and DNA of his own: the double helix of gracious exotica. That DNA did not permit him to stand in the street corners of conventional media and tout his destinations like a cheap ticket salesman. His famous romps on those hoardings were not advertising. They were non-advertising: parlour talk, one-liner points of view, camaraderie, provocation and good humour, all of which did not ask you to buy an Air India ticket. In fact, in many of the hoardings, he refused to have the Air India logo as sign-off. He was the sign-off. He was no commercial mascot. He became a national figure. Much loved and respected.

     

    The Maharajah was always accompanied by another symbol that belonged to Air-India and that was the Centaur. Equally old, it has played an equally significant role in the branding of Air-India.

     

    The Centaur had its own life as an alternative Air -India mascot. It flew around the world as the airline’s insignia, appeared on the inflight livery and even cutlery, was embroidered on some of its crew’s uniform, stood proudly on the top of the company’s impressive headquarters and became a brand name for its hospitality subsidiary!

     

    Hopefully the Centaur carries on, unless the new adopted parents of Air-India have another strategy in mind.

     

    In the meantime, let us mourn the loss of our favourite Maharajah once more. As the Byzantine Empress Theodora said “ For a King death is better than dethronement and exile”

     

     

  • The Advertising Standards Council of India can watch like a dog, but without the teeth, it can't bite, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    ASCI: Toothless Tiger or Scapegoat?

    Hand drawn toothy tiger. Designed By 千图网 from https://pngtree.com

     

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurFor some time now, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has been the subject of criticism about its effectiveness. There is the annual rant in the media with various commentators taking potshots before or during an IPL which sees a major blip in advertising in India. ‘Watchdog’, which is often used to describe the ASCI, is perhaps not wholly descriptive of what it does. It can watch like a dog, but I am not sure it can bite. To bite you need legislation and now we have the Department of Consumer Affairs which has the teeth to bite. In the UK, for example, it is not the ASA that is considered the watchdog, but the Competition Markets Authority. The CMA has teeth. It is a non-ministerial government department to prevent anti-competitive activities. The Indian equivalent is the Competition Commission of India which was formed under the Competition Act 2002, which was formed when the erstwhile MRTP Act was repealed. But unlike the MRTP, which was very high profile, you don’t hear much about the CCI. That’s a pity!

     

    Most critics of course miss the point that the ASCI is the advertising industry’s self- regulatory body. In many ways, it is the industry’s conscience that tells you what is misleading. And like we can always overcome our own conscience even when it is telling us not to do something, an advertiser can knowingly bend the rules. When you can overcome your conscience, you are being unscrupulous.

     

    But coming back to the issue of misleading advertising, there are several bodies that are responsible for misleading advertising in the country. For example, the Cable Television Network Rules does not permit advertising for alcohol or tobacco products. Section 7 of the Rules on the Advertising Code has an exhaustive list of things that cannot be permitted.

     

    (viii) promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of- (A) cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants;

     

    But rarely does anyone complain to the network channels that surrogate advertising for alcohol is being found objectionable by then. After all isn’t ASCI the favourite whipping boy for advertising that seems to cross the borders of acceptable advertising norms?

    (1) The Central Authority may, after receiving any information or complaint or directions from the Central Government or of its own motion, conduct or cause to be conducted a preliminary inquiry as to whether there exists a prima facie case of violation of consumer rights or any unfair trade practice or any false or misleading advertisement, by any person, which is prejudicial to the public interest or to the interests of consumers

    – The Consumer Protection Act, 2019

     

    Equally, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice protects the interests of consumers through legislation and it has a mechanism for accepting consumers complaints. It also has the authority to disburse fines for misleading products or advertising. Violation of their guidelines for endorsement can attract penalties from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

     

    So why is the ASCI the favourite pick of advertising-watchers when they find objectionable advertising in our media? If one actually looks at the number of regulatory bodies in the country there are quite a few.

     

    1. Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI)

    2. Central Drugs Standard Central Organisation (CDSCO)

    3. Insurance Regulatory Development Authority

    4. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

    5. Securities and Exchange Board of India

    6. Reserve Bank of India

    7. Medical Council of India

    8. Competition Council of India

    9. Consumer Protection Act 2019

     

    But perhaps what India lacks is an inter-disciplinary body or an inter-ministerial apex body that can look at the subject of misleading advertising.

     

    For example, if we take the UK as a market, the Competition Markets Authority and the ASA form a powerful duo against misleading advertising. Also, misleading advertising can be controlled by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008. The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the ASA’s co-regulatory partner and legal backstop for regulating TV and radio advertisements. The Financial Conduct Authority for example in UK blocks several financial services ads. In 2022, it removed 8582 consumer promotions and published over 1800 alerts to prevent consumers from losing their money to financial scams.

     

    The House of Commons briefing paper considers the ASA ( Advertising Standards Authority ) and the regulation of advertising in the UK and therefore has the indirect consent of the government unlike the ASCI.

     

    The ASA working hand in hand with the Competition Markets Authority gives the ASA very large teeth indeed. And the CMA will get some very extra large teeth from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill to be introduced shortly. Also, the several legislations provide a whole bag of weapons for the ASA to conduct their business of tracking misleading advertising.

     

    In closing, I would like to point out that in markets like the UK it is possible for the self-regulatory body the ASA in the UK to have very large teeth that can bite those that stray away from the advertising standards code. India pales in comparison.

     

    So I leave you to decide whether the ASCI is a toothless tiger or is just being made a scapegoat for the lapses in the fight against misleading advertising in India.

     

    Prabhakar Mundkur is a veteran advertising professional and commentator. If it’s not his views on A&M, he’s very busy with his music, and in the lockdown produced several music videos (some 100-odd). His views here are personal.

     

  • Do your best… the brand will follow, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Personal Branding – Much Ado about Nothing?

    Source: Keegan Everitt/Pexels.com

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurIt’s not only fashion that is about trends. Trends is an affliction that affects management thinking as well.  And the latest trend is to talk about personal branding. The well-known management magazines are writing long articles about it. Other general gurus on branding are writing books on it. Why even the Harvard Business Review made it their cover story for the May-June issue of 2023. And here is the surprise. The article is written by a Jill Avery, a branding thought leader, and Racheal Greenwald a dating coach and a professional matchmaker author of the book ‘Find a husband after 35’.  So if that doesn’t prove it is trending what does?  After all, the HBR is considered the mother of all management journals.  And their definition of purpose is what we were taught in the marketing kindergarten class for branding.

     

    For a particular target person or group of people, I will make a difference by offering the unique, memorable, and meaningful value you want to provide…

     

    • HBR May-June 2023 issue

     

    But isn’t this just a another extension of the branding?  Have the personal coaches and marketing gurus  just discovered a new revenue stream?  I certainly think so.  After all it is quite easy to do. Transfer all you know about branding to people, especially people in positions of importance.  And everyone is jumping into it, not just marketing gurus but personal coaches as well.

     

    The question I would like to ask is whether great CEOs don’t become great brands automatically.  After all I would hate to think that Steve Jobs was focussing his entire life on creating a personal brand. I think he was focussing on following his passion, making great products and leading Apple into becoming a great company.

    The brand Steve Jobs just happened as a result of what he was doing.

     

    Or take Jack Welch for example. Welch was Chair and CEO of General Motors from 1981 to 2001.  He closed factories, laid off workers and pursued the vision of a fast growing company in a slow growth economy. Of course he wrote books and did a lot of public speaking.  And became one of the greatest management thinkers and leaders of the last century. Jack Welch, the brand, became what it is because of what he did.  Not because he was focussing on becoming a brand.

     

    Jeff Bezos said: “Your brand is what people are saying when you are not in the room”.  Well said. But I really wonder if Jeff Bezos was planning his entire personal branding strategy to achieve that. He was focussing on creating a great brand called Amazon that the world would acknowledge as a great brand. The rest just happened automatically.

     

    In conclusion, I would like to submit that becoming a great leader and creating a great company or product will make you a great personal brand without much thinking or effort or trying to create your own personal brand proposition. It is hard to believe that the great leaders of our time were writing out by writing personal value propositions, auditing their personal brand equity or constructing their personal brand narrative.

     

    Do your best. The brand will follow.

     

  • The humanness of artificial intelligence intrigues me and I for one have never been afraid of it, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Chatting with ChatGPT

    Photo : Tara Winstead on pexels.com

     

     

     

    Prabhakar MundkurIf you are an artificial intelligence fan like me, you have no doubt watched all the seasons of Westworld.  Or you might have been an avid watcher of Stanley Kubricks 2001 Space Odessey and HAL’s famous words from that movie when he says: ‘I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.’ That was as human as human can get.

     

    When I first heard about ChatGPT, I was intrigued. I had played around with IBM Watson many years ago and even used it to make some revealing business analyses and business decisions.  So what was ChatGPT going to be like?  The humanness of artificial intelligence intrigues me and I for one have never been afraid of it.

     

    Humanity’s biggest threat has always been itself. ~Engerraund Serac in Westworld

    In fact ChatGPT interacts with you in a very human way.  You could have a conversation or you could ask it questions.  What I found was that the interactions are certainly very human, I wouldn’t know the difference.

     

    What is ChatGPT?

    ChatGPT is an open chatbot system released just three months ago by OpenAI, a for-profit research lab.  You can almost ask it any question. And it will go thru swaths of data from the internet to deliver a dialogue with you. ChatGPT, according to its inventors, is still not perfect and it is still ‘learning.’ The biggest challenge for AI researcher to tackle is the Turing Test. You would have heard of that in the movie ‘The Imitation Game’ that portrayed the life of English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing. Turing proposed the following test to gauge intelligence. Can a human conversing with a human and with a computer tell which is which?

     

    UBS Analyst Lloyd Walmsley estimated that 100 million users had used ChatGPT in January 2023 in two months after launch what took Instagram two and half years.

     

    What kind of questions can you ask ChatGPT?  Mostly everything from asking it questions in quantum physics to asking it to write a poem.  Here are some of the questions I asked.

     

    PM: What is Schroedinger’s Cat?

    Chat GPT:  Schrödinger’s Cat is a thought experiment in quantum mechanics, proposed by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. The experiment describes a scenario in which a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive substance and a poison, such that the radioactive decay of the substance has a 50-50 chance of killing the cat. The idea is to demonstrate the concept of superposition in quantum mechanics, where a particle can exist in multiple states at the same time, and the act of observation collapses the wave function and determines its state. In the case of Schrödinger’s cat, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time until the box is opened and the state is observed.

     

    Or I asked it to write a love poem and this is what I got.

     

    Love is a rose, with petals soft and bright,

    A flame that dances, illuminating the night.

    A treasure to hold, a gift to share,

    A feeling that warms, a bond that’s rare.

     

    It’s the twinkle in your eye, the skip of your heart,

    The laughter that echoes, when we’re worlds apart.

    It’s the comfort you bring, the peace you bring to my soul,

    The place I call home, the place I call home.

     

    With you, I am whole, I am free, I am me,

    Together we soar, through the highs and the lows.

    And though the winds may howl, and the skies may turn gray,

    Our love will endure, with you, come what may.

     

    So here’s to the laughter, the tears and the joy,

    To a love that is true, a bond we’ll enjoy.

    With you, my dear, my heart overflows,

    With love and with life, with love that glows.

     

    Interesting isn’t it? Chatbots are based on Natural Language Processing or NLP. Chatbots are being used for internal business communication, enhancing customer service and to boost online commerce.

     

    What is the future of AI?  I think so far all of what we thought was science fiction has pretty much turned out to be reality.  I wouldn’t be surprised if our future world was a lot like Westworld.

     

    Prabhakar Mundkur is a veteran adperson, a prolific writer and musician. He writes for MxMIndia on and off. His views are personal

     

  • While the ads have no real idea, Manyavar has made people forget their angst against the Kanyamaan ad, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    AdBuzz by Prabhakar Mundkur: Manyavar makes a come back

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurManyavar is clearly the darling of celebration wear.  But when it featured Alia Bhat in an ad which was forward-looking by suggesting that giving away the girl in marriage or Kanyadaan is sexist and regressive, the ad angered the public. Further, Manywar suggested that the age-old practice must be named Kanyamaan adding fuel to the fire. But no right-thinking individual could deny the patriarchal nature of Indian society.

     

     

    However, Manyavar has managed to come out of that temporary setback. What with the wedding season reaching its peak in the winter months, the brand could not afford to slow down. So, the new string of commercials features Ranveer Singh.

     

    While the campaign features on the groom (Ranveer as dulha), it also showcases the baaratis who also have to be well-dressed. Manywar has a full range of celebration wear; from exquisite sherwani to Indo-westerns classic kurta jackets to matching accessories. Being a dulha of course means all eyes are on you.

     

     

    Personally, I felt the commercials lacked a real idea. All it did was captured a realistic wedding situation with the focus on Ranveer. So if Kanyamaan had a strong idea about making a comment on society, these commercials are pure entertainment – music and dance. But they seem to have captured the imagination of the public all the same.

     

    Also, their tag of #ManyvarAaGaya was carried out throughout social media. Influencers on Instagram prompted the dance moves to the same music as the commercials. The copy says

    “ Hey grooms and baaratis,

    When the beat drops, #DoTheManyavarMove

    Show your moves and get ready to set the dance floor on fire, kyunki

    @manyavar

    #ManyavarAaGaya ”

     

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Saorabh Rajnish Choughule (@mesaorabh)

     

    Another Instagram post said:

    Listen up grooms and baaratis,

    Let’s burn the dance floor and #DoTheManyavarMove

    Aap bhi try karo aur dikhao apna swag, kyunki #ManyavarAaGaya

     

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Rohan Mehra (@rohanmehraa)

     

    What it has certainly managed to do is create awareness of the approaching wedding season and prompting consumers to be ready for it with their attire.

     

    And while the ads have no real idea, Manyavar has made people forget their angst against the Kanyamaan ad and the brand has moved ahead with their happy string of commercials announcing the wedding season.

     

     

  • The service provider's ads have proved me wrong that Indian advertising has lost its humour, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Truecaller – Jamming the Scam Calls

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurPerhaps in any other country, Truecaller would not exist. Because other countries respect the privacy of their citizens. I recently spent a month in the UK and my family did not get even one unsolicited call.

     

    Unfortunately, in our country, all our details are an open book. We all no doubt get at least a few scam calls a day. If they are not scam, they are at least greedy marketers who are aggressively calling you to sell their wares. I have noticed a new trend now. Some of calls are mechanised and as soon as I pick up the odd unknown caller, a pre-recorded voice is trying to sell me something. These recorded calls in many ways are the most irritating because you can’t be rude and insult the mechanical voice as you can do with a real person at the other end.

     

    It is not only our phone numbers that are available freely. Our car registration numbers are available not only on the official Government app Parivahan but on a score of other private apps. At least the government app tries to hide the complete details of your name, but the private apps don’t even bother to do that.

     

    If that were not enough, our car insurance details are also an open book. I get a score of emails from various insurance companies every time my car insurance is nearing its expiry date. Recently, I read about a well-known person who got scammed on life insurance. The victim had an insurance policy that had lapsed in 2014. The scam caller called the victim and offered to not only reinstate his policy but offered to redeem the policy, trapping the victim who could naturally do with a little more money. It is only when he reached the end of the call and the scammer started asking for his bank details and offered him an OTP did the victim realise that it was a scam call. These activities are being done openly in our country in spite of the fact that both telephone calls and insurance have government entities supervising the industry – IRDA for Insurance and the TRAI on telecom. It is strange that these government bodies are doing nothing to protect the privacy of the Indian citizen.

     

    But coming back to Truecaller. I was in the UK and I must have received at least 30 scam calls. Thank you Truecaller because I would immediately get the notification that they were scam calls and I could safely leave them alone.

     

     

     

     

    Though no one is writing much about it, I also like the Truecaller advertising. For one, it is entertaining. And they seem to have proved me wrong that Indian advertising has lost its humour. Truecaller uses humour to show how the app can frustrate the scammer. It also demonstrates the stages of the scam and makes fun of the account numbers and OTPs that scammers normally demand as the call progresses. Some of you may remember how Netflix exposed the entire process that scamsters employ in their movie on Jamtara – Sab Ka Number Ayega. 

     

    Truecaller has in some ways also exposed the process of the seamster but with a humorous twist. I particularly liked their Diwali ads. I believe scam calls are at their highest during the festival seasons because this is when most people are looking for deals and are therefore most vulnerable.

     

    I also thought that their sign-off line is quite interesting Scam ka Jam is quite appropriate.

    Well done, Truecaller. Here is wishing you the best in protecting Indian citizens from scams.

     

     

  • The new Tanishq ad breaks the traditional stereotype of how women have been portrayed in advertising, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Advertising and the Two Indias

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurAdvertising like the other arts of cinema, music, is the perfect mirror of an emerging society. Often the arts can lead society, and at other times, it may just be a mirror of where society is today. It’s important for a brand to constantly search for cues from our daily living. So, a brand can often be a mirror of where we are but equally a brand may lead society into their own future.

     

    But advertising like cinema is good at constantly exploring emerging societal trends. Of picking up something that exists today but may not still be big. I think it is brave for any art to pick up an emerging trend that is not necessarily popular or fits societal norms. Titan is one brand that comes to my mind which is constantly leading from the front. Unfortunately, it has also meant that it has often come under fire for being experimentative. You will remember how it got trolled for the Tanishq ad last year which showed a real situation which revolved around an inter-faith couple and the husband’s family. One can’t deny that inter-faith marriages do exist in India and perhaps they are only growing. But that ad was from one of the Indias and trolled by the other India.

     

    Another ad that got into trouble with one of the Indias, was the Manyawar ad featuring Alia Bhat. Because of a play of words that the ad engaged in where the ritual of Kanyadaan was interpreted as Kanyamaan.

     

     

    And now comes another ad from Tanishq again in the area of marriage and relationships. And I can’t help feeling that it has done a good job of appealing to both Indias. Or has is?

     

     

    The conversations between the couples in the ad are very real, honest and portray the trust and confidence that two partners can place with each other by sharing their innermost doubts, desires and thoughts with each other. But equally I think it portrays a certain equality between a man and a woman in a relationship.

     

    For years, we have portrayed the Indian woman as subservient, something that is backed by the new GenderNext report (https://ascionline.in/gendernextreport/2/index.html) from the ASCI which says:

     

    “Women being featured in care-taking roles, placing the good of the family and friends as their primary focus and concern

    :: Women being targeted for beauty products featuring an unrealistic and unobtainable standard of beauty

    :: Women being informed and educated by the voice of a male authority figure”

    The Tanishq ad I thought breaks the traditional stereotype of how women have been portrayed in advertising. It is steering the portrayal of women in a very positive direction, while simultaneously exploring the deep relationship and trust that life partners can place with each other.

     

    Is the real India like this one may ask? Yes and No. I think, that in urban centres we can see man-woman relationships like the ones in the ad, but I can’t help feeling that as we move down the population strata, it may still be quite unrealistic.

     

    This ad may still be appealing to only one of the Indias and most probably this is the Tanishq target audience. What is different and perhaps a lesson for advertisers in the future is that it is possible to talk to only one of the Indias without upsetting the other!

     

     

  • If we are, then it’s time we did something about it, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Are we Losing our Sense of Humour?

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurHumour is a powerful communication device if used in the right way. Film, advertising and the other arts are often a mirror of society’s interests, attitudes and behaviour. As Ogden Nash once said: Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.

     

    Oscar Wilde affirms that what is found in life and nature is not what is really there, but is that which artists have taught people to find there.

     

    If a cool-headed Martian were to descend on to us to examine the state of humour in our art he could possibly find that we are probably losing our sense of humour. In fact no one is laughing these days, barring the laughter clubs that I encounter on my morning walks. And even those are forced laughs because there is actually nothing to laugh about.

     

    In Indian cinema, comedy was a central part of the Bollywood industry of earlier years. Look at Bollywood’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Never before was there such a great team of talent together. Kundan Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Bhakti Barve, Ravi Baswani, Naseeruddin Shah and Satish Shah to name a few.

     

    If Bollywood is no longer producing comedies, humour which always been a key way to communicate for advertising has nearly all but disappeared. The advertising figures of speech are very much like grammar isn’t it? There are just a few figures of speech that advertising plays around with.

     

    First there is the Torture Test. Where a product is put through strenuous and extreme conditions to prove it’s a good product. Take any tyre advertising and this is easy to see while the ad will put the tyre through extreme conditions like potholes and rough terrain.

     

    Then there is Hyperbole. Where you take a product attribute and exaggerate it just to make a point. You don’t expect consumers to literally believe it, but it helps to accentuate a particular point about a product.

     

    Another ploy that advertising uses is the Parody. The Parody uses humour to make a point about a product. It entertains them. It helps to sell a unique attribute of the brand.

     

    This is what I am missing now in Indian advertising. Commercials are becoming too serious and striving for a deep emotional response rather than entertaining people. And often portraying too much reality is getting advertisers into trouble as we have recently seen, with advertising getting trolled and ultimately having to withdraw their commercials.

     

    Look at some of the parodies that were created in yesteryears. What stands out amongst them and is relatively more recent is Mentos. I am just wondering why the ad industry is not attempting any more advertising in this genre. Another common ploy is Juxtaposition. Where you take opposites to make a point. Big, Small – Black, White, etc.

     

     

     

    Then there is Personification. This is very common in Indian advertising which is constantly using celebrities in the hope that some of the qualities of the celebrity might have a positive rub off on the product being advertised.

     

    The last category of advertising uses A Moment of Captured Reality. Attempts that fail are called Slice of Life.

     

    How Air India used humour in its ads

    All of Air India’s advertising was really based on humour. It was the Maharajah having a laugh at current events both in India and overseas. Which is why an Air India hoarding would always bring a smile to your face. Even advertising without the Maharajah employed humour as a ploy to make a particular point about the airline.

     

    Stand-up comedy is relatively new to our country. Maybe just a little over 10 years old. Although audiences are relatively small, we have proven that we are very close to the global standard of stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, our comedians seem to be getting into trouble with the law all the time.  This is unlike other countries where comedians have a free rein to entertain people. Which leads me to the conclusion that perhaps we can no longer appreciate parody, and we have lost our ability to laugh both at ourselves and at others.

     

    So, coming back to the question that I started with. Are we losing our sense of humour? I certainly hope not. If we are, then it’s time we did something about it.

     

     

  • A Titan ad for its premium range of mechanical watches enthuses Prabhakar Mundkur

    Prabhakar Mundkur: Mechanical watches – the new piece of jewellery

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurThere was a time when mechanical watches were considered the simpler and cheaper option to buying a watch. When I was growing up to have an automatic watch was considered superior and expensive. Then of course came the quartz watch which was supposedly more accurate and save the change of a battery every few years, was supposed to work tirelessly forever almost. In fact quartz watches didn’t really cost much more because they had fewer guarantee claims, since they were almost fault-free. Also, the amount of labour perhaps was much less than a mechanical watch or one with automatic movements.

     

    My first watch was a mechanical and it was an HMT, those considered the pride of India. If I am not mistaken, they cost about Rs 500 those days in the 60s. Over the last few years, I have been collecting the old mechanical HMT watches just to relive the magic of mechanical watches. My first project was to restore my father’s HMT Jubilee watch which was also probably bought sometime in the 60s.

     

    Then a couple of years ago I noticed that the quartz and even automatic watches were no longer as fashionable as they were once upon a time and the clock had wound back to the mechanical watch in terms of fashion and exclusivity. Rolex for example introduced mechanical watches a few years ago. And they were not cheap. In fact, the price reversed your opinion that mechanical watches had to be cheap.

     

    They were more expensive than quartz watches. The Louis Moinet mechanical on the left, for example, costs only about Rs 45 lakh!

     

    Titan has done well to cash in on this trend of mechanical watches and have just launched their own range of mechanical watches in line with the global trend.

     

    Again they are not cheap. The first watch I saw on their website was Rs 195,000. Which I think is a pretty steep price for a Titan given that the brand does not carry the same attraction as better known Swiss watches.

     

     

     

    But mechanical watches are labour-intensive, handmade and produced in smaller quantities, making it more expensive to manufacture. The new TV spot highlights the inventiveness of mechanical things.

     

    The story is about a damsel in distress on a lonely mountain road when her tyre gives away. Prince Charming in the usual formula for such stories passes by and noticing the damsel in distress and immediately starts to fix the girl’s bike. He pulls out what looks like a twig from the grass nearby and all the viewer can guess at this stage is that he is doing something to the wheel. Pull back to reveal that he has attached his front wheel to form the rear wheel of the girls cycle. A nice element of surprise there.

     

    As a cyclist for many years I have never known anything like this to happen, in fact if one were to actually attempt this mechanical engineering feat I guess one would need a lot of tools (unlike our protagonist who tightens nuts with his bare hands). But I suppose it is eminently possible.

     

    The man and woman then merrily cycle away with the Titan baseline for mechanical watches ‘Move your world’. The spot is nicely done. The fact that the couple wasn’t carrying the damaged tyre and seem to have just left it behind, is of course creative licence. All in all, I thought a good TV commercial that explains the ingenuity and labour involved in a mechanical watch with the cycling metaphor.

     

    Someone once said that a watch over $200 is a piece of jewellery. The Titan mechanical is definitely a piece of jewellery.

     

  • It is not always that the UN creates breakthrough creative work, but the UNDP commercial does stand out, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Prabhakar Mundkur: Dinosaur talks to Humanity on Extinction

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurPublic service advertising has always afforded creative people a chance to do some breakthrough creative work. But it is not always that that the opportunity is exploited. On the occasions it does, typically you do get the breakthrough idea.

     

    The UNDP Dinosaur ad has certainly exploited that opportunity. It is not always that the UN creates breakthrough creative work, but the UNDP commercial does stand out. Firstly, the topic of fossil fuels and climate change is now on top of everyone’s mind thanks to the several well-known people who are pushing the case.

     

    But tying up our fossil fuel consumption with extinction has never been made as strongly as it has done with this commercial.

     

     

    What makes the commercial stand out?

     

    For one, the element of surprise when the dinosaur walks into the iconic United Nations General Assembly Hall is truly captivating.

     

    I liked the everyday simple voice of the man on the street for the dinosaur. For a moment, I was wondering what the dinosaur was going to sound like, but he sounded like any of us humans.

     

    The text of the dinosaur’s speech is written extremely well. “You’re headed for a climate disaster, and yet every year, governments spend hundreds of billions of public funds on fossil fuel subsidies. Imagine if we had spent hundreds of billions per year subsidizing giant meteors,” the dinosaur says, speaking at the United Nations’s General Assembly in New York.

     

    The video’s timing is perfect. It comes just before global leaders meet at the U.N. climate summit COP26, where countries gather to discuss climate goals and climate change.

     

    It is quite well known that countries are not abiding by the Paris climate agreement. The dinosaur in the commercial says: “So here’s my wild idea: don’t choose extinction”.

     

     

    “Think of all the other things you could do with that money. Around the world people are living in poverty. Don’t you think that helping them would make more sense than… paying for the demise of your entire species?” says the dinosaur.

     

    The wonderful thing about the commercial is that it is fun and engaging while making a very strong point about a very serious issue – it has very high impact on the viewer.

     

    I also thought the PR releases made it easy for anyone to tweet the commercial with a message. I did so myself.

     

     

    I loved the way their website dontchooseextinction.com was structured into five different sections: The Problem, The Excuses, Take Action, Global Mindpool, Partners and UNDP. It included all the barriers to climate change. For example, it gave all the reasons that people give to not do anything about climate change.

     

     

    A great commercial backed by media digital extensions that makes it a truly 360º campaign.

     

    Well done, UNDP!

     

  • With the change in leadership, the last vestiges of a Thompson company in India blur into the distance, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Wunderman Thompson: Pinning the tail on the donkey

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    Prabhakar MundkurSir Martin Sorrell when asked what he thought of the Wunderman-JWT merger had once used a euphemism in his characteristic style when he said: “So in a way, and I will probably be chastised for saying that, but Wunderman would be like pinning the tail on the donkey here.” Of course his comment was on the Indian market, where JWT was a giant and Wunderman a little, fledging marketing services agency. Unfortunately, many other markets faced the same situation.

     

    Thompsonites, which normally refers to JWT employees and alummi who are still very much in love with the agency, shed a few silent tears to mourn the merger three years ago. After all, JWT left a huge impression on the world – in fact often known as the University of Advertising.

     

    First established in 1864, no doubt old Commodore J Walter Thompson must have done a few backward flips in pain in his grave. It was not just the merger but the ignominy of it. I have always wondered if the Thompson employees in the merger felt like losers?

     

    Everyone knows that there are possibly only three alternatives to a post-merger branding situation.

     

    :: Adopt the name of the stronger brand for the merger. When US Airways merged with America West, its executives decided to retire America West. Made sense since US Airways was the stronger brand. Or when DHL acquired Airborne Express. Incidentally, I think JWT was the stronger brand in this particular case.

    :: Using the best of both brands. Wunderman Thompson falls in this category. But the first name of the double barrelled name, normally means that the first name is the horse they are backing. Considering the relative fame of JWT and Wunderman and their relative sizes it was a bit of a surprise to the Thompsonite. While using both the names is a good strategy, usually which names comes first also signifies that there is a winner and a loser. In the Wunderman Thompson case clearly JWT was the loser.

    :: The merger creates a new brand name and identity for the merged companies. Bell Atlantic’s merger with Nynex 2000 created Verizon for example.

     

    I think what irked most Thompsonites was the backbench given to their favourite agency.

     

    The redeeming feature of course was that given the relative sizes of JWT and Wunderman in India, the man incharge of the combined entity was Tarun Rai, earlier CEO of JWT, a deviation actually from the global formula where the merger was largely headed by the Wunderman chief. Thompsonites in India took some solace from that. But this fate has affected all the other great brand names in the WPP group as well. Y&R, Grey unfortunately have also had the short end of the stick. As a global rule, Mark Reed of WPP seems to have made the digital head the CEO of the merger. Has this preference or bias to do with the fact that Mark Reed himself was a Wunderman chief? Maybe.

     

    A number of marketers do claim that while digital is growing by leaps and bounds, it is having a detrimental impact on creativity. A study by Simzek in 2018 which surveyed more than 500 marketers around the world suggests that the industry is still struggling to nail the marriage of digital advertising and powerful creative work. I can’t help feeling that the Wunderman-JWT merger is likely to have impacted the overall creative quality of the new agency. In the larger quest for digital to deliver on measurability, the quality of creative has often been suspect.

     

    I have often also wondered how clients have reacted to the change over the last few years. My favourite clients Unilever, Kelloggs, to name a few, have always put good strategy and creative quality in the front. As an industry outsider now, I wonder how they are adjusting to the change.

     

    With Tarun Rai taking up another assignment within the network, the last vestiges of a Thompson company in India blur into the distance. I of course wish Wunderman Thompson and its new leader the very best for the future. But clearly all the remnants of my Thompson memory have been as brutally deleted as when you reformat a hard disk. And all the wonderful JWT memorabilia of yesteryears that I carried with me perhaps now has no real heir.

     

    I will give them a decent burial in my memory.