MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • The creative team had the right idea. And yet, there was something missing, the ads failed to shine. After a few exposures, boredom set in

    Debrief: Cadbury Gems: Weak animation

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Correct IPL strategy by Cadbury Gems. Within the core umbrella positioning of ‘Raho Umarless’, they ran a series of commercials during the just concluded tournament, where the gems were animated to behave like cricketers and spectators.

     

    The creative team had the right idea. They married the various colours Cadbury Gems come in with the colours of jerseys the different IPL teams wore. This was a cool idea, because it helped tie the brand with the games seamlessly. Also, the treatment, as you’d expect from candy advertising, was the usual fun and masti, so all that’s fine.

     

    And yet, there was something missing, the ads failed to shine. After a few exposures, boredom set in. Compare this animation effort with Voda’s hilarious Zoozoos and Zumis, the difference was like chalk and cheese. So then what went wrong? I suspect the problem was in the execution. Since the ‘characters’ remained at the level of Cadbury Gems, they lacked visual appeal. I am not an art director or an animation artist so I don’t have pat answers. Still, here’s a thought: Could some of the gems have been created to resemble cricketers, and made to behave the way Dhoni, Gayle, Bhajji, Sreesanth, etc, might behave? This would have helped bring in lots of laughs, and would have helped the gems look a bit cuter. As a bonus, Cadbury Gems would have got star power in the ads without having to pay these guys a penny.

     

    In fact, they could have fed on the latest IPL scandal, and added a few bookie gems.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 2. Strategy perfect but the creative lacks spark.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • It is a realistic situation (this is what Sreesanth must be going through right now), and the cop speaking in Haryanvi dialect is too funny.

    Debrief | Quikr.com: ‘Spot’ on!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I totally approve of Quikr.com’s advertising. This is because they use disruption very effectively to break the clutter, and that’s the ideal ad strategy for a young brand that does not have deep pockets. You need to knock hard to get noticed. In addition, Quikr.com does something even better: they run topical ads. Again, a smart thing to do, this gets the ads discussed.

     

    The latest TVC deals with the spot-fixing scandal in the IPL. A cop advises cricketers not to sell their souls for money, and to instead sell their used items via Quikr.com. Fridge, TV, A/C, etc. The camera pulls back, and we discover a man standing next to him (a prisoner), fidgeting with the towel. The cop accuses the chap of spot-fixing, and then starts torturing him.

     

    Haha. Good fun, I likes. It is a realistic situation (this is what Sreesanth must be going through right now), and the cop speaking in Haryanvi dialect is too funny. That too is authentic, because the bowler has been arrested by the Delhi cops. Notice that the ad would have cost peanuts to produce, but the impact is immediate. Always a sign of intelligent advertising.

     

    If there’s one little problem with the ad, it’s that I feel they should have cast a Sreesanth lookalike. And made him weep exactly the way our man did after Bhajji gave him that crashing back-hand flip. That would have been so very cool.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 3.5 Topicality works. It’s funny too.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • Chori? Perhaps. Still, you have to admit the director of the Aircel ad has done a good job, one can't take that away from him/her.

    Debrief: Aircel: Charming. But is it original?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Sweet Aircel commercial. Very endearingly directed. For the first time I have liked Dhoni in a commercial, he looks happy being in it. The Indian cricket captain usually looks maha bored in the ads, as bored as he looks at the pressers these days, as he turns into a mannequin when asked questions on the IPL mess.

     

    But the most important reason I like the ad is the performance by the little autograph hunter. Very cute, very real, and his expressions and body language are stunningly perfect. This situation feels like it’s happening in real time. Full marks to the director, this commercial looks simple but it mustn’t have been easy to shoot. So, good show.

     

    However, a veteran ad man points out that the commercial is a copy of Coke’s classic ‘Mean Joe Green’ commercial from 1979. I am linking both the commercials below, you can decide if the Aircel creative team got inspired or not. Yes, the ads do have the similar plot, the treatment is similar too. Chori? Perhaps. Still, you have to admit the director of the Aircel ad has done a good job, one can’t take that away from him/her.

     

    Aircel
    		 Coke

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 3.5 – If the ad is original. 1 – If it’s ‘inspired’.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • The idea of touch screen machines is neat, since they help you physically bond with the person from the other nation. It demonstrates the similarity of people from both sides, leaves you with that hearty feeling: 'Oye, yeh toh hamare jaise log hain!'

    Debrief: Coke: Hindi Paki Bhai Bhai

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    After TOI’s Aman Ki Asha campaign, here comes an idea from Coca Cola to help bridge the divide between India and Pakistan, a divide which only seems to be growing deeper each year.

     

    Coca-Cola calls it ‘Small World Machines’. Vending machines have been installed in malls at New Delhi and Lahore. And through these 3D touch screen machines, people from the two nations are able to virtually join hands. And naturally, since this is an ad venture (which rules out poisonous elements like Hafiz Syed), janata from both nations is elated to meet and greet.

     

    Well, all one can do is appreciate such efforts, and hope that they make a difference. It’s quite obvious by now that the netas from either side can’t lick this problem, so whatever little enterprise is shown by the private sector is welcome. The idea of touch screen machines is neat, since they help you physically bond with the person from the other nation. It demonstrates the similarity of people from both sides, leaves you with that hearty feeling: ‘Oye, yeh toh hamare jaise log hain!’. Also, it goes nicely with Coke’s ‘Open Happiness’ theme. Do take a look at the number of views this video has already garnered, this idea seems to be working.

     

    Hope to see more of these vending machines installed in many cities across the two nations. And if I spot Dawood bhai on the other side, I may not join hands with him, but it will give me an opportunity to show the finger. 🙂

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 4. Cool, innovative public service concept.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • The commercials are entertaining, and the Indian flavour is brought out nicely. Yes, we will identify with these situations, because, as the cliche goes, we are like that only

    Debrief: McDonald’s Masala Grill: Apun aisaich hai!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Very apt TV campaign from McDonald’s for their Masala Grill burger. The product positioning is: Here’s a burger custom made for the Indian taste. And to bring that out, instead of concentrating on the burger, they have focused on the consumer, which in this case is we desis. The creative hook therefore is how we Indians behave. This makes for a cool creative.

     

    There are various TVCs on air, but the two I like are these: In one, a stingy man desperately tries to bargain with a McDonald’s staffer, and obviously fails to obtain a discount. In another one, a religious chap orders a Masala Grill Chicken, when the wife dutifully reminds him it’s Tuesday (love the sound of a temple gong at this point, hilarious!). Naturally, the order is quickly changed to ‘Veg’.

     

    Good stuff. The commercials are entertaining, and the Indian flavour is brought out nicely. Yes, we will identify with these situations, because, as the cliche goes, we are like that only. I particularly like the slightly irreverent touch to the ads, they are self-deprecatory in nature, they don’t show us Indians in a very good light. Brave of McDonald’s to back this creative, and appreciate the creative team for treading the line carefully.

     

    Personally speaking, I would have used the following situations: People jumping queues, children littering all over the outlet, folks demanding ten tomato ketchup sachets with each burger (nine of which to be smuggled for home use), in fact, I would have shown a chap spitting in a corner. Of course, the McDonald’s suits would have shoved my scripts into the paper shredder, but I could have always posted them on the internet for an Abby award consideration. 🙂

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1-5): 3. Fun treatment, delivers message effectively.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views of the writer are his own.

     

  • Yes, for a decade, Lowe Lintas + Partners has not been giving a damn about awards. This year, Ogilvy too didn’t participate. Time for the big bosses of the trade to discuss and deliberate!

    1 Minute View: 10 years of showing the finger!

    So the Lowe Lintas + Partners celebrates a decade of showing the finger.

     

    Pardon the phrase, but that’s exactly what the agency has done done.

     

    The man who deserves the credit for this is R Balki, creative chief and also big boss of the agency.

     

    There are various reasons floating around about why Lowe stopped participating in the Abby, the annual awards for creative advertising instituted by the Advertising Club (now minus the Bombay suffix).

     

    We can’t get into them because they aren’t on record, so suffice to say that there’s a history to it.

     

    In an interview with afaqs.com, Mr B raises some issues about awards. While we think not all of them are valid, we believe it’s important for the industry get together and discuss these.

     

    As we see it there are five key issues:

    1. Scam ads (or Proactive work)

    2. Plagiarism

    3. Who should constitute jury

    4. Should one charge for entries or someone selects them

    5. Hold the awards show at Goafest or Mumbai, where you can have more numbers in the audience

     

    Remember the fact that Lowe is holding an awards show implies that they aren’t against the concept of awards. It’s just that they don’t like the way it’s done. We know Ogilvy has its reasons for not participating. And we all know what happened this year at the Creative Abby.

     

    Before we forget about all the issues, we think it would be good for the big bosses to get together.

     

    Chalo, chalo, jaldi karo!

     

  • Sameer Aasht joing Taproot India after 12 years of work spanning Strategy, Design & Communication agencies.

    Sameer Aasht joins Taproot India as Head, Strategy and Business

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sameer Aasht

    Sameer Aasht is joining Taproot India as Head, Strategy and Business. In a career spanning over 12 years across Strategy, Design & Communication agencies like Landor, Rediffusion Y&R, Contract, TBWA, Percept H & Ambience Publicis, Mr Aasht has worked on key strategic assignments for groups like Cadbury’s, ITC, HSBC, Mahindra, Suzlon, Tata, FICCI, Asian Paints, Samsonite, Black & Decker, Toyota and many more.

     

    Some key projects where he has played an integral role include rebranding of FICCI, expanding portfolios of Bytes & Celebrations for Cadbury’s , Brand Architecture implementation for Mahindra, Launch strategy for Volvo-Eicher, Integration for Suzlon, creating a special matrimonial brand for World Gold Council and the Design strategy for Himalayan Water by Tata among others.

     

    He has also been on the marketing side with Jet Airways, launching the brand in key global markets and leading segment initiatives for youth, business and leisure travellers, as well as an entrepreneurial stint with AlmaMaterPLC & Loveknits.org.

     

    “We are confident that Sameer’s wealth of experience and strategic acumen will add even more muscle to everything that Taproot India brings to the table and look forward to your continued cooperation in creating powerful value for your brands in the market place,” said Agnello Dias, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Taproot India.

     

    Santosh Padhi

    Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Taproot India, said, “For Taproot India, it will be a huge plus to have someone who has worked on 4 sides of the table – Advertising, Marketing, Design and Digital across a diverse set of categories ranging across Tourism & Hospitality, FMCG, Automotive,Financial Services, Fashion, Retail & Luxury and more.”

     

    Sameer Aasht said, “Taproot is a dream agency for most professionals in the industry today. I absolutely look forward to co-creating the best solutions for the brands we handle.”

     

  • Lowe Lintas shone at the True Show – an anti-awards show that nevertheless celebrates good work.

    The truth about awards

     

    By Johnson Napier

     

    The words inscribed on the invite itself were unusual – celebrating ten years of not giving a damn about awards. In this age of cut-throat competition where agencies count on awards as a parameter to gauge one’s performance, it would be unwise to think of them serving any other purpose. But that’s what’s different about Lowe Lintas & Partners who think of awards as serving no meaningful purpose and have stayed away from them for a long time.

     

    But with ‘True Show’, that was hosted after a gap of five years to much acclaim on Tuesday night at Shangri-La Hotel in Mumbai, the team from Lowe Lintas managed to bag both attention and accolades from adfolks and friends from the industry as they got down to receiving awards in droves. While it wasn’t an officially certified affair, True Show was an attempt by Lowe to facilitate some great works that have come out internally from the agency in the year gone by.

     

    Having snubbed industry awards all along the past decade, R Balki, Chairman and CCO, Lowe Lintas got down to giving away the internal awards to his teammates as he said, “We genuinely believe as an agency that the awards of today are rigged and therefore don’t make any difference to anybody’s life. Therefore all we want to do with True Show is say that industry awards don’t mean a thing to us. Having said that, True Show is an endeavour by us to recognize inspiring work that has come out of our agency in the last year. True Show is not just about awarding ourselves but about awarding people who helped us achieve our dreams. These include our clients, lyricists, cinematographers, design team etc.”

     

    Post his address, R Balki went on to showcase more than a dozen shortlists of the best works that have come out from the agency in the year gone by. And it was no surprise as to who the favourites for the evening were. Idea, Tanishq, Havells, Lifebuoy and others were awarded top honours at the event that was attended by big advertising honchos from the industry. While the work around Idea was adjudged the best and managed to bag a Gold, it was Lowe’s work for its client Lifebuoy – ‘Help a child reach 5’ – that won the Truly Deserving award. Other works that won Silver & Bronze include campaigns for its client Havells and Tanishq.

     

    Lowe also went the distance in its effort to stay connected with contemporaries as it gave a couple of awards for works by outside agencies. The campaign by Ogilvy & Mather for its client Hindu was the recipient of the True Envy award while DDB Mudra also managed to bag an award for work on its client Big Bazaar. Abhijit Avasthi from O&M and Sonal Dabral from DDB Mudra went up on the podium to personally collect their respective awards.

     

    While one would expect winners to be felicitated with metals or trophies, the winners of True Show managed to walk away with a bottle of Champagne with their name and achievement inscribed on them. No points for guessing as to what Lowe was trying to make from this gesture but the effort indeed received enough appreciation from the likes of Prasoon Joshi, Shashi Sinha, KV Sridhar, Josy Paul, Chax, Agnello Dias and other heavyweights from the industry.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

     

  • Mahi was at least transparent in his dealings. Maybe this wasn't about honesty, maybe it was about financial naiivete. Either way, the truth is, he put his own name on record. The media must acknowledge this.

    Anil Thakraney: Mrs Dhoni should have invested in Rhiti

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Well, now that the dust has settled on the N Srinivasan saga (for the moment, that is), the media is going after Dhoni on charges of conflict of interest. Apparently, Captain Cool, at some point, held a cool 15 percent stake in a sports management company called Rhiti (what an odd name!), and this constitutes what we call ‘unfair trade practice’. This is because there are a few other cricketers managed by this company, and it would be in Rhiti’s interest if they got selected to play for India. The conflict arises because as captain, Dhoni has a say in team selection.

     

    While technically speaking the media has a valid point, and Dhoni is answerable for this direct investment, I really think we should go a bit easy on the guy, we should give him some breathing space. For three reasons. One, apart from doing commentary, cricketers don’t really have a solid career post retirement, and they have to look for investment opportunities while the going is good. Dhoni can start a restaurant or a hospital or a dance bar, but perhaps these things don’t interest him, his heart may lie in an activity he understands most: Sports. Therefore investing in a sports management company isn’t really out of place.

     

    Secondly, sports is a totally performance based activity (unlike many other professions in India, especially Bollywood, where failed sons of stars keep getting fresh opportunities), and even if Dhoni got Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja (Rhiti clients) an entry into the cricket team, these blokes have to quickly deliver. Or perish. So this so-called ‘conflict of interest’ has a very small role to play in this case. N Srinivasan’s situation is entirely different. He headed the BCCI and owns Chennai Super Kings, that’s a Deadly Dodgy Deal.

     

    Thirdly, we have to admit Mahi was at least transparent in his dealings. Like some of our respected netas, he could easily have invested benaami money in Rhiti. Or even invested in his wife’s or cousin’s or chacha’s name. But he chose to put his own name to it. Maybe this wasn’t about honesty, maybe it was about financial naiivete. Either way, the truth is, he put his own name on record. The media must acknowledge this.

     

    In short, fine, let’s cover this story. But please don’t crucify the man, he deserves better. There are enough big fish swimming in the dirty Indian Ocean to go after.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Haha. Totally cute ad from Taco Bell to push their Dollar Menu. What I like most about this one is how nicely they’ve sold their low price offer without damaging the brand. Rather, they’ve made it rock.

    http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682903/a-spunky-senior-channels-christopher-walken- in-new-spot-for-taco-bells-dollar-menu?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

     

    Anil Thakraney is a senior journalist and commentator. He is also Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own. He can be reached via Twitter at @anilthakraney

     

  • Handset manufacturer Micromax has undertaken a unique online engagement activation for the launch of Canvas 3D, the latest smartphone in the Canvas series.

    Micromax launches 3D campaign for Canvas smartphone series

    By A Correspondent

     

    Handset manufacturer Micromax has undertaken a unique online engagement activation for the launch of Canvas 3D, the latest smartphone in the Canvas series.

     

    The phone gives users 3D content without the need for 3D glasses. The brand activated a unique 3D campaign in the online space which is Interactive and engaging in nature.

     

    Micromax’s online partner, Interactive Avenues came up with the idea of building a compelling launch activity across MSN and Yahoo homepages. All visitors to the pages were urged to click on the Micromax Canvas 3D banner ad placed on the homepage, transforming the entire website into a 3D webpage. The campaign saw the brand engage with top portals for building engagement and excitement among the consumers in online space. The banner, with the help of Mediamind, was served on various websites using the browser’s 3D rendering engine for the first time ever.

     

    The takeover on Yahoo innovation generated a whopping 15 percent engagement rate against global benchmarks of close to 1 percent, resulting in over 894,000 impressions that generated more than 900 tweets and 8719 Facebook link visits. The campaign witnessed over 1.3 minutes as the average time spent on MSN, resulting in a 2.83% interactivity rate.

     

    “The online medium has become a platform that connects youth with their favorite brands beyond boundaries. The online campaign has helped Micromax reach out effectively to both new and existing customers and the exemplary response is a proof to the same. The latest campaign offered a spectacular 3D moment and brought alive our commitment of providing unique experiences to the users,” said Shubhodip Pal, CMO, Micromax.

     

  • The DMAi ECHO Awards India presented on Tuesday, June 4 recognised winners in three categories: Effectiveness, Creative and Media.

    OgilvyOne is DMA Echo 2013 Agency of the Year

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ajay Chandwani

    OgilvyOne Worldwide was declared ‘Agency of the year’ at the DMA ECHO Awards India 2013 organised by the Direct Market Association India (DMAi). The winners were announced at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 4 as part of the DMAi Convention in Mumbai.

     

    OgilvyOne won the DMA Echo India Grand Prix for the ‘Joy of Reading’ campaign for The Economist. The Grand Prix winner was chosen from all Gold winners on the basis of maximum score awarded by the jury, said Ajay Chandwani, chairman, DMA Echo Awards India 2013.

     

    The DMAi ECHO Awards India recognised winners in three categories: Effectiveness, Creative and Media.

     

    OgilvyOne won seven Golds, one Silver and five Bronze in the Effectiveness, Creative and Media categories. The wins included two golds for American Express Banking Corporation, two golds for ITC Hotels, one gold for Vodafone,one gold for India Hockey League and a gold for Once Again.

     

    The other Gold winners were – McCann MRM for Hero Motorcorp, Hungama Digital Services for Mahindra XUV 500, Netcore for HUL Active Wheel.

     

    Draftfcb-Ulka won a silver for ICICI Bank and two bronzes each for Intel and TCS. Contract won a silver for Shoper Stop, Salt Brand Solutions won a Silver for L&T Insurance, Tonic Media won a silver for Sony, Ethinos won a silver for Olympic Gold Quest, M&C Saatchi won 2 bronzes for Aditya Birla Money and Birla Sun Life Insurance.

     

    BC Webwise won a silver and a bronz for Hul Sunsilk, McCann MRM won 2 bronzes for Lufthansa. Havas Media won a bronze for Parle Products.

     

    Commenting on the awards, Mr Chandwani said: “The second edition of DMA Echo Awards saw a doubling of entries this year with 30 companies sending 108 entries. Echo awards are all about Marketing Response and Effectiveness which is why clients, planners and creative people are part of the jury. In fact the jury had to patiently read nearly 400 pages of case submissions before they could judge entries. I hope to see more media companies and agencies participating next year.”

     

    The evening also saw three inductions into DMAI Hall of Fame: BS Nagesh, vice-chairman, Shoppers Stop and founder, TRRAIN, R Shridhar, former Ogilvy  Direct head and business innovation coach at IDEAS-RS and Winnifred Knight, managing director and owner of Cube [On the Square] and TheMarketingSite.com.

     

    LIST OF WINNERS at the DMAi Awards

     

    EFFECTIVENESS

     

    CREATIVE:

     

    MEDIA:

     

  • The Starcom MediaVest Group has announced the appointments of Gerald Roche and Sameer Kapoor as Vice Presidents at Gurgaon and Bengaluru respectively.

    Starcom Mediavest India announces two key hires

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Starcom MediaVest Group has announced the appointments of Gerald Roche and Sameer Kapoor as Vice Presidents at Gurgaon and Bengaluru respectively.

     

    Mallikarjunadas CR

    “The appointments of Sameer and Gerald reflect SMG’s commitment to attracting the best and brightest talent to our agency,” said Mallikarjunadas CR, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, India. “Sameer and Gerald are reliable leaders with robust backgrounds in business development and client relationship management. They will fit very well within our strongly established client-driven culture and we are sure they will continue their successful runs with us.”

     

    Gerald Roche who joins at Bengaluru previously headed media buying for Madison Media Infinity and Platinum Media. On his appointment he said, “I’m truly delighted and encouraged that SMG, anchored by its analytics resources, has digital (and not just television) at the front and centre of its media planning and I look forward to contributing to this team effort in no small measure.”

     

    Sameer Kapoor has joined Starcom from Madison Media Plus where he was heading the Airtel Business. He will be heading Samsung for Starcom at the Gurgaon office. On his appointment, he said, “I look forward to working with a great organization and a great client like Samsung. Starcom is going from strength to strength; I’m excited to be a part of this growth-oriented organization and being present while we achieve greater heights of success.”