MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • To make menstrual hygiene a priority for women

    Paree partners with Dr Kiran Bedi

    By Our Staff

     

    To mark this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, Paree Sanitary Pads, of Soothe Healthcare, has joined hands with India Vision Foundation, an NGO founded by Dr Kiran Bedi in an effort to make a positive impact by raising menstrual hygiene awareness.

     

    Said Sahil Dharia, Founder & CEO, Soothe Healthcare: “As a proud, young Indian brand we want to positively impact the lives of women be it through our products or our initiatives. We are thankful to India Vision Foundation, who works diligently for women reforms at grass root levels, for helping us take the message of Menstrual Health to female prison inmates.”

     

     

  • The film is conceptualised with Ogilvy

    Titan Raga onboards Alia Bhatt for campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Titan Raga premium watches onboards Alia Bhatt as its brand ambassador  for its new TVC campaign. The film is conceptualised with Ogilvy.

     

    Commenting on the announcement, Sirish Chandrashekar, Marketing Head, Titan said: “We are delighted to have Alia Bhatt on board as Titan Raga’s brand ambassador. Titan Raga symbolises expressiveness. Be it through product design or through advertising, the brand always expresses a definitive point of view that resonates with the contemporary young woman. Alia, being bold and expressive herself, is an ideal choice to amplify the brand’s narrative.”

     

    Added  Puneet Kapoor, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy South: “It is true that you don’t just match brands to your body, but to your personality and to your soul. There’s always something about a great brand that goes beyond the beautiful design and functionality and connects deeper within. Titan Raga’s tone and manner has been one such stellar voice that’s always been beautifully bold, unabashed and authentic in expression. This story is an attempt to capture that spirit with our ever-changing, ever-evolving social scenario.”

     

  • After watching 75 matches over 65 days, Vikas Mehta presents his end-of-season review… in the form of 'awards'

    #AdsOnIPL: And the award goes to…

     

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSince this was the last week of IPL, my editor suggested that maybe I should decide on the Top 4 ads of the season. Like the Top 4 play-off teams. But with IPL being unusual in so many respects, I decided to do something unusual too. What if we had an IPL ads awards? Not just the best four, but look at many more. So, here is a list of the categories and the winners.

     

    Oh, before I forget, these awards are sponsored by MF, as yeh bilkul sahi nahin hai.

     

    The Paisa Vasool Entertainment Award is a toss-up between the Ravi Shastri Cred ad and the Swiggy Instamart Dolly Aa Rahi Hai ad.

     

    While at Swiggy Instamart we cannot forget Dunzo. It gets the award in the Prophet of Doom category for announcing the demise of refrigerators in the midst of summer.

     

    Spotify gets the award in the Saannu Ki category for using music to blank out all the worldly debates.

     

    The Hum Nahin Sudherenge Award goes to Jio for its song and dance routine by cricket stars season after season.

     

    Jio also wins the Can’t Act for Nuts, Can’t Dance for Nuts Award for forcing cricketers to dance and act year after year.

     

    The undisputed winner of the Cooked Up Nostalgia Award goes to Dream 11 Ashwin ad.

     

    Pepsi Salman Khan double role ad is the winner of the Faulty Time Machine category.

     

    Pepsi is the winner again, in the Tag Line with an Asterisk category. It was the sole entry but the 7 point, 50 word explanation of the asterisk in the last three seconds of the ad made it a clear winner.

     

    The Good from Far but Far from Good Award is again a toss-up. This time between the Kareena Kapoor MedNet and Aamir Khan PharmEasy ads.

     

    The MedNet ad also won the Jab We Net category award, courtesy the Railways.

     

    The Indigo paint ad featuring Dhoni was the clear winner in the No Animal was Harmed while Shooting an Ad category, as the only people who suffered were human beings like us.

     

    Bas Naam hi Kaafi Hai Award goes to all ads featuring Dhoni.

     

    PhonePe Aamir and Aalia ads get Police Story Indian version award.

     

    Meesho ads are the recipient of the Wah, Kya Scene Hai award.

     

    Tata Neu is the winner of the It Happens Only in India award for raising hopes of spending on a honeymoon by buying a sui (needle).

     

    The Study, Study, More Study Award goes to Byju’s + Aakash classes and the Money, Money, More Money Award goes to all fintech companies except PayTM.

     

    PayTM gets the Neend Se Jaago Award for explaining the concept of UPI five years after its launch.

     

    Vimal, Kamla Pasand and Budweiser get the Cock a Snook Award for neatly bypassing rules and regulatory bodies.

     

    Jiomart gets the impossible is nothing award for letting Ranveer Singh be a normal person.

     

    A special award to Aamir Khan in the category, Any Publicity is Good Publicity, for asking Rashid Khan about the Eid spread that Rashid made for his teammates. Not an ad? You are wrong. Am sure his next release is round the corner. And as I write this, I see a trailer for his new film releasing in August. The interview was a quid pro quo for screening the trailer. Self-promotion.

     

    And finally, if you do see this last award below being mentioned, then it means my editor does not read my columns.

     

    The biggest award of the season, the KLPD Award goes to Tata Neu for having a great set of teasers but then the revelation being like a hole in the sui.

     

    Do you have any more categories to suggest?

     

    Disclaimer: Tsk Tsk Tsk. All of you with dirty minds….KLPD stands for Kaise Log Proposition Dubate hain

     

    Vikas Mehta is a senior strategic advisor and educator based in Dehradun. This is the second season that he’s been reviewing ads around the IPL coverage. His views here are personal.

     

  • Either ASCI gets a mandate to take tough measures, or remove the loopholes or let an outside body with enough powers step in, writes Vikas Mehta

    The curious case of self-regulation

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaThe Budweiser ad aired on the IPL last week is symptomatic of the hypocrisy that is so evident in the industry. On the face of it, there is a blanket ban on alcohol and gutkha products. Yet, both the categories find enough loopholes to beat the ban. Both get away with surrogate advertising. ‘We are not about guthka but about silver coated elaichi.’ ‘ We are not about alcohol but about playing cards or water.’ And to add insult to the injury, stars like Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, who at the drop of a hat shout about nationalism and patriotism, find nothing morally wrong in promoting such products. When they are criticised and trolled, they profess ignorance about such surrogate advertising, apologise, make some grand gestures about cancelling contract or donating the earnings to a social cause and life continues as before. The ads continue unashamedly.

     

    But the Budweiser ad tops it all. It does not even pretend to be a surrogate. It shows what definitely looks like a beer bottle. It talks about being brewed over nights. And then to make sure there is no confusion that the product is a beer, it talks about brewed over 21 nights for a smoother taste. How brazen can one get? It’s almost like teasing the regulatory bodies. And what will they do?

     

    ASCI will wait for someone to complain. Then issue a showcause notice. If the advertiser does not respond within a few weeks, it will write to the advertiser that the ad violates its code of conduct and they should desist from airing the ad. In the meanwhile, IPL would have not only finished but the advertiser would have anyways stopped airing the ads. Come to think of it, Budweiser has already stopped the ads. It was a neat ambush. All are happy. The advertiser has got exposure in IPL. ASCI will have done everything by the book and can claim that they stopped the ad.

     

    But soon enough this will become inspiration for another advertiser and the whole story will be repeated. This self-regulation is a joke. We need fines, bans. Some tough measures. But what can one expect from a body whose rules do not allow it to rule on government or political ads. Mind you, these are the largest source of revenue for press media. But ASCI constitution does not allow it to question political ads or government ads. So, how can we expect anything tough from ASCI? The self-regulation is a hypocrisy so that no law-enforcing body need interfere. The industry continues to make merry. This charade, hypocrisy has to be stopped. Either ASCI gets a mandate to take tough measures, or remove the loopholes or let an outside body with enough powers step in.

     

    The silver lining this week was the first decent Jio ad I have seen. And it was for Jiomart. A very homely and not over-the-top, Ranveer showcases the simple features of Jiomart along with Deepika. Everyday sasta, no minimum order. The two ads make two simple points. One, is the power of storytelling. Single-minded benefit in each ad makes it episodic and entertaining. Two, how star power can be harnessed in an effective way. Ranveer, has a screen persona which is outlandish and over the top. But as a husband one can expect him to be a normal, doting husband. And that’s exactly how he comes across.

    For me, the ad of the week was Cred. There have been lot of stories and tales about Ravi Shastri and his extracurricular habits. Cred used these brilliantly to build a narrative about Shastri. What I particularly like was that they could convince Shastri to portray his oft-debated, but never openly discussed persona in the ad. It was hugely entertaining and did the job for the brand also very well.

    https://youtu.be/vLHpfulLcUE

    So, as we have the four surprise play-off teams in competition, we have had some surprising ads this week. Which were your Top 4 ads of IPL 2022? Compare your notes with me. Next week.

     

     

    Vikas Mehta is a senior marketing and business strategist and educator. This is the second IPL season where he has been reviewing for MxMIndia. His views here are personal.

  • Vikas Mehta reviews on the multiple ads of the medicine aggregators and the multiple benefits promised and over-promised

    Medicines: Quick delivery? Naah!

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaI have been constantly writing about this year’s IPL being unusual. In many ways. And now when we are reaching the business end of the league, it’s getting obvious that the three most unfancied teams are set to qualify for the playoffs. Paying an ode to the unusual season, this column is also going to be unusual. This time I am taking up one category campaign and talking about it extensively.

     

    In the midst of edutech, fintech, transport aggregators, there is also the medicine aggregators. And some brands like Pharmeasy and Pharmeasy have advertised heavily on IPL. Both have used celebrities. Both have done multiple ads. Both promise multiple benefits. And both, over-promise.

     

    When anyone needs a medicine, usually it’s because there is an urgent need. The delivery needs to be in minutes. But my experience with both the apps show that the usual delivery time is anything between one to four days. Maybe because I am in a small town therefore the medicine logistics is still to be sorted out. But isn’t that an irony. A small town should be able to deliver much faster. Netmeds, I have walked into Reliance Smart stores with prescription, which have a small Netmeds dedicated pharmacy area, and the standard answer is that they will check and call me back. And call back is after a few hours which confirms that the medicine will take another 12-24 hours. Both times that I tried Netmeds, by the time the call came, I had already bought the medicines from an offline pharmacy. And of course the app showed at least two to three days to deliver.

     

    Therefore, when I see the Kareena Kapoor ads which talk about quick delivery, the brand loses all credibility. Ditto with Pharmeasy as they clearly say same day delivery. Maybe they deliver cosmetics and other non-medicine products fast. But then are they just a Swiggy Instamart or Dunzo? They need to be Swiggy Instamart and Dunzo in medicines or else stop making these claims.

     

    The Kareena Kapoor train ads go on to show other benefits like quality or range. Again, I am not sure if one needs to highlight these benefits for medicines. The app claims to sell medicines against prescriptions. So, do we assume that quality of the prescribed medicines is a suspect? Range is more confusing. Yes, generic drugs can be available but how many of us actually know about it or are willing to even order a generic and ignore the doctor’s prescribed brand? I suspect they are pushing more of the cosmetics or supplements or tonics rather than the prescribed medicines.

     

    Pharmeasy with Aamir Khan on the other hand has chosen some relevant benefits. Ordering medical equipment like sugar meter or even organising for home medical tests. These definitely are relevant and benefits that matter to the category. And I quite liked the exaggeration execution of three Khans belabouring each point.

     

    Ultimately, both these brands cannot overcome the lure of discounts. Medicines, by Indian standards are definitely expensive. So double digit discounts work. And the lure of a minimum discount always is music to ears. Specially, when one is on long-term medication for ailments like diabetes, cholesterol, arthritis etc. These medicines are expensive, they are required on a regular basis and most importantly can be ordered in advance, keeping two-three days delivery time in mind. So discounts do play an important role in both the brand communication.

     

    As a marketer, I have always wondered at multi0benefit communication. Does it really help? Do the consumer remember all benefits? The classical theory says that let one benefit be emphasised so that it sticks. And can be owned. My thinking is that well executed multi benefits work if they are relevant. The target consumer picks out the benefit that he needs or that matters to him and that sticks. So, if we take Pharmeasy, someone who needs to buy a medical equipment or needs to do tests will remember the brand. But the irrelevancy of quality or range for medicines, makes me doubtful about Netmeds communication. And discount is almost like a must. It is a category given without which no brand will survive. In fact, discount is like a blind spot. Its presence is almost like a reassurance but its absence will be most glaring. As for speed of delivery, the brands need to either improve their delivery or not talk about it.

     

    Episodical ads, which seem to be like a continuing story narrative, always create interest. And using a celebrity to anchor it is a good idea if the celebrity becomes an integral part of the narrative. The Netmeds ads with Kareena Kapoor reprise her role in Jab We Met. So all the episodes have good empathy. Pharmeasy, on the other hand is not episodical but Aamir lends it a nice ethereal quality which again piques our interest.

     

    As I sign off this week’s column, I am aghast at seeing the new Budweiser ad. But in the spirit of being unusual, let me leave it at that. More about it, next week.

     

     

  • Vikas Mehta turns his weekly spotlight on Dream 11, Cred, Swiggy Instamart, Fogg, the AC ads and the ad we though Mr B had shunned

    A Dream Turning Predictable

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaThe IPL is becoming predictable now. Mumbai Indians have lost another match, their sixth loss in a row. Sunrisers Hyderabad have won another match, their fourth win in a row. SKY Yadav and Dinesh Karthik continue to score consistently, at a good clip, though one is doing consistently for a losing cause and the other for a winning cause. Y Chahal and T Natarajan continue to take wickets, while J Unadkat and T Mills continue to be carted around.

     

    And the same is true for the IPL ads. Most of them are predictable and their repetitiveness is also irritating. Cred has some interesting takes on Nirma’s Deepikaji, Antakshari’s Anu Kapoor as well as Vick’s Action 500 haan bhai haan. I also think the ads are taking off on the concept of hammering in the brand name, in this case Cred bounty, as was the case in the 70s. But for someone watching the IPL almost on a daily basis, the repetitiveness of the ad is grating.

     

    Sadly, the same is seeming to be true for the Dream 11 ads. The concept of one doesn’t dream alone has become too trite. Starting with Rohit Sharma, Pant; now with Ashwin, Hardik and Dhawan joining the bandwagon, the only thing new is to guess who could be that benefactor. It also seems a bit unbelievable that all these stars met these unknown good men. The question that comes to my mind is where are these people now? Did the stars look for them? Did they help them out? Or is it just a figment of imagination? Will we see some follow up ads? Or will this be forgotten after a few days?

     

    Last evening, CSK predictably lost once again. And breaking the predictable trend are series of ads for two brands. One, is Swiggy Instamart. I am not getting into the debate of the righteousness of 10-20 minutes delivery and the risk it involves for the delivery staff, for I think the better debate would be if we need such quick deliveries. But the brand has illustrated the promise of fast delivery without getting into the exactitude of time, brilliantly. Be it the husband who is planning to watch matches with his friends while the wife is away or the husband who has an excuse to eat junk food but the quick arrival of healthy vegetables and fruits thwart the plan. Or indeed the ad where a friend refuses to share a packet of chips with his friend as another packet arrives almost instantaneously.

     

    The second is the series of Fogg ads. Initially, I almost missed them. Interestingly, the brand is targeting men without actually featuring any men in the ad. It’s from the viewpoint of the opposite sex who find certain men very irresistible but balk when they are told that these men do not use any deo. With market penetration of deos in India as low as 15-20%, it’s no wonder that the market leader has taken up the task of increasing penetration as it will benefit the leader. And what better way to do that than by showing that women are not too sure about men who do not use deos. It may well fall into the Dream 11 trap of predictability but currently I am enjoying the women viewpoint.

     

    With summer at its peak, AC advertising is also at its peak. But, I am not finding any distinct piece of communication. Panasonic, Voltas, Blue Star, Godrej, BPL, Kelvinator are repeating the same old benefits of pure air, efficient cooling in high temperature, less electricity consumption. So predictable that my head cannot distinguish one brand from the other.

     

    Did I mention BPL and Kelvinator? Well, these old brands seemed to have resurfaced. I thought they belonged to history. But looks like they still have some signs of life. The question is, who are these brands talking to. The elderly millennial who had seen the brands in their childhood and can indulge in nostalgia? Or the younger millennial, for whom the brand is as good as a new unknown brand? Selling durables is not child’s play as it means investment not only in new technology but also in distribution and after sales service. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out. Kelvinator also has an ad for refrigerators and no, it’s not about the coolest one. Didn’t get it? I guess you are not an older millennial!

     

    Interestingly, while Mr Bachchan claimed to have been unaware of the surrogate nature of the Kamla Pasand ad that he did along with Ranveer Singh and had reportedly returned the advertisers cheque, he continues to appear in its ads in various avtaars. I hope, for his sake that the returned cheque was returned back to him. Or it was a PR gimmick hand in glove with the advertiser? Definitely unpredictable. Unlike the Vimal ad, where predictably a third star, Akshay Kumar, has joined the other two, Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan in London. Will a fourth one join soon? Can you predict who will it be?

     

  • Reliance and Jiomart have a new series of ads as also a surfeit of fans and AC advertising, notes Vikas Mehta

    Dhan Dhana Dhan v/s Tak Dhina Din

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaAs my regular readers will recall, last week I had written about the ads seen on the Hotstar app. I am really grateful to one of my readers, Aniruddh Naik, who pointed out that Hotstar now has four different feeds, based on age, population demographics etc which would mean that different viewers would see different ads. So, that sorted out the confusion with my students at the campus where I was based, since not only our ages differed but I had logged in through my base city which was different from where the campus was located and thus we were seeing different ads at the same time.

     

    Now that I am back to watching the general feed on TV, the first thing I saw was that the Reliance group was back and that too with a bang. Not only were the Jio, dhan dhana dhan ads back, but Jiomart had a new series of ads based on tak dhina din. So, what’s the Reliance obsession with musical tunes as lyrics? And the frenzied dances? And Jio with three players per franchise doing the matka and the jhatkas? They have no doubt got a good placement strategy of getting the Jio logo on lead arm of most teams, but the ads are without much substance or content and eminently forgettable. Some semblance of connect has been tried this time with a line which talks about har dil ka connection, but the connection is not about a line. It has to do with the narrative or storytelling. That sadly, is still missing. The Jiomart ad has tried some connect with the use of various phrases which end with tak, but that’s the cue to break off into song and dance, mindlessly. It almost looks like a contest of absurdity between Tak Dhina Din vs Dhan dhana dhan.

     

     

     

    I was also intrigued by the ads of UPI players or should I call them FinTech companies), Paytm, Amazon Pay and PhonePe. Paytm has used humour to convey a very basic premise of paying directly into someone’s bank account. It’s a category premise and is interesting. But isn’t it a few years late? I mean, if more than five billion transactions were recorded in India through UPI in March this year, is there a need to sell the generic benefit of UPI now? From that perspective, if you see the Amazon Pay ads which highlight how the app can be used to make various payments like rent, bills etc, these are adding value to the brand and showcasing its versatility. PhonePe too is doing the same using Aamir Khan and Alia to highlight two wheeler insurance through the PhonePe ads. Paytm is a more complete fintech player with varied offerings and yet it’s the other two brands which come across as more versatile. Or am I missing a trick here?

     

     

    The new Meesho ads caught my eye too. Just when I was wondering why is Meesho called a social commerce platform and not e-commerce, specially, given the earlier ads during IPL where it promoted basic e-commerce features like photo search and payment on delivery, it is now using the IPL team Gujarat Titans to endorse the brand. From just being a reseller platform, where people signed up and circulated their product catalogues or product information through Whatsapp groups or Instagram, while Meesho facilitated payment and delivery for a commission, the platform is now using its base of two and three tier cities consumers to compete against the e-commerce biggies. And it is using IPL to signal its transformation. It seems four teams, GT, MI, RCB and RR are the online shopping partners for Meesho.

     

     

    The temperatures are rising not only in the country but in the IPL too. What with the two new teams, GT and LSG comfortably placed to qualify for the playoffs and the two most valuable and fancied teams, CSK and MI licking their wounds at the bottom of the table; we are also seeing a surfeit of fan and AC advertising. From Godrej to Panasonic to Voltas to Blue Star to Lloyds to Kelvinator to Onida. From Crompton to Havell. But please do not ask me to differentiate amongst them. From Virat Kohli to Ayushman Khurana. From invertor technology to double inverter technology. From pollution-breaking ions to eco-friendly. From low bills to cooling in high temperatures. All bases have been covered. But no brand has been able to differentiate or even stand out. I guess for me Havell fans will do. I need protection from local warming. And for the CSK & MI fans? I can only wish. Hawa Badlegi….zaroor badlegi.

     

  • Vikas Mehta is delighted to see advertising taglines validated by research in his comment on the Pepsi, Slice and other #AdsOnIPL

    Pepsi, Tata Neu & Jio. Business as unusual?

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaHow hardwired we have become to sensation. It’s not a rhetorical question but an emphatic statement. This IPL, everyone is talking about CSK and Mumbai Indians. Not because they are doing well but because both these teams, who, between them have won 9 out of 15 trophies, have lost their first four matches. We are not celebrating that a new team Gujarat Titans hasn’t lost a match yet. We are not celebrating that a forgotten hero, Kuldeep Yadav, has risen again to become the leading wicket-taker. We are glossing over the spunk shown by newcomers Anuj Rawat or Abhishek Sharma against the same two teams. It’s business as “unusual”, I say.

     

    And then one comes across the Tata Neu ads. After a nice round of teasers which raised expectations of a great product, I am confused about this Tata Neu Pass. It’s all in the family. What’s Neu Pass? What’s all in the family? Whose family? Tata family? The only thing that made sense to me was the advice to download the app. Which I did. Now mind you, I am a Big Basket consumer. So, I think the app was smart enough to recognise me and my location after I keyed in my mobile number. But then it sent me another message. That it is not yet available at my location. Well, who wants to argue with a Super App.  I, therefore immediately clicked on the Big Basket app, worried, that I may have been ejected from the BB platform. Thankfully, I could order my groceries on BB as usual. I then tried some apparel and when I clicked on a product, I immediately got an email from Tata Cliq saying that it has created an account for me. Err! Why? Can’t I just shop from the app and check out? I did not bother to find out and with the temperature rising outside, I did not want my temperature to rise too.

     

    Temperature of course reminded me about the new Pepsi ad. More Fizz, More refreshing. Formula change? Something new? And then I thought I saw an asterisk at the end of the baseline. I promptly checked the ad on YouTube again and discovered that both Fizz and Refreshing had asterisk and the explanation was that some research done by an independent body in Jaipur and Lucknow determined that Pepsi had more fizz and another research conducted in Mumbai, Jaipur and Lucknow determined that Pepsi was more refreshing. So, I have lived to see the day when taglines have to be validated by research. And we wonder why the advertising model is crumbling.

     

    Having ditched the thought of having Pepsi and given that fresh mangoes are available in market, I decided to try Slice. The image of Aamsutra with Katrina was still in my mind. But I did a double-take when I saw the new Slice ad with Katrina. It was a taste challenge. And it again quoted some research which said that 73% people voted Slice to be the most thick. Ahem! Is PepsiCo the parent company of Pepsi and Slice using the US Pepsi taste challenge of the 70s as a blueprint for its brands in India? For the uninitiated, Pepsi did some live taste challenges in the US, asking people to rate two unmarked Colas on whose taste is better. Majority favoured Pepsi, though lot of statisticians debunked the research as a sweeter drink will always win on one sip taste challenge. But that’s another story. Will PepsiCo India now launch 7Up too based on some taste research?

     

    Did you notice that there are three Swiggy brands advertising on IPL? Swiggy Instamart, which claims quick grocery delivery, Swiggy match day mania which is about large orders at a discount and then just Swiggy. All the three brands have done a good job in communicating their benefits. Swiggy has a simple though of “Aap kiske saath dekhoge” which is very IPL-centric and have carried that thought into both Instamart as well as match day mania very well. My favourite of course is the Instamart ad of the young kid bawling about her empty cereal box as the father is watching the IPL. Quick delivery saves the day for him and therefore when he is asked at the office “kal match kiske saath dekha” he answers with a satisfied look “Shanti ke saath”. Smart.

     

    I started off about the unusual performances in the IPL. But then I discovered that a most unusual thing has also occurred on the IPL ad scene. If my memory serves me right, it’s the first time since the launch of Jio that no Jio ads have been aired on IPL. Yet. No plethora of stars, no tacky execution, no Bollywood-style jhatkas. Sometimes we should thank our respective Gods for small mercies. Amen to that.

     

     

  • Dream big is also following a classical strategy of thematic and tactical ads, writes Vikas Mehta in his weekly review of ads aired around IPL 2022

    Dhoni abandons his ‘Dream’?!

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSo, it’s been a very usual and unusual IPL so far. Usual, because Mumbai Indians (MI) have lost the first two matches. But the MI captain Rohit Sharma felt it was business as usual in his post-match interview. Unusual, as Chennai Super Kings have also lost the first three matches on a trot, albeit after years. Unusual also for CSK as Dhoni, after relinquishing his captaincy seems to have taken it back and is also scoring runs as in his heydays.

     

    And as usual, Dream 11 continues its dream run at IPL. The idea of “Dream Big” has seen many new frontiers. The series of various players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Patel reminiscing their struggles but not giving up on their big dream has two new creatives so far. One, with Pant and the other with Sharma. And this time, they pay tribute to some behind the scene people like the groundsman or even a stranger helping Pant at a gurudwara. The thought of one is never alone if one’s big dreams fits seamlessly into the Dream Big theme of Dream 11. Whew! Too many dreams here.

     

    https://youtu.be/3JazfubLOgI

     

    Dream big is also following a classical strategy of thematic and tactical ads. For the uninitiated, when advertising was the be-all and end-all of all communications, brand ads were created for brand equity, may be once a year, extolling the virtues of a brand and its personality. These were called thematic ads. Interspersed through the year were tactical ads which by nature would drive sales. These were by nature about inducements or sale pointers. Personally, I think this was more of a jargon-spitting marketer’s delight, as for the end-consumer. every communication is a message and she or he does not delve into it with a separate compartment of thematic and tactical in her or his mind. The ads with Dhawan, the Pandya brothers, Ashwin and even Pant in a metro asking people to try the Dream 11 seems to be in the genre of the tactical ads of yore.

     

    https://youtu.be/Dn7ixMGB_dM

     

    But one dream seems to be missing from Dream 11. Dhoni has disappeared from all communications and has now appeared for Winzo. Another gaming app. Winzo is not about a fantasy league. It’s about skill and social gaming and I presume it’s clear of any controversy related to “gambling” as Dream 11 is. Maybe that’s why Dhoni moved away from Dream 11. In the ad, Dhoni cheekily starts by saying that he is called gamechanger so he is changing his game from today. Very unusual but typically clever from Dhoni.

     

    Quite unusually, I am seeing Byju’s ads without Shah Rukh Khan. And these are good. Emphasising on understanding the concept rather than memorising for an exam. ‘Samjho seekho jeeto’ encapsulates the idea well. As a parent, these resonate with me more than the Shah Rukh ads which seemed more gimmicky. I also think Shah Rukh’s personality does not gel with that of Byju’s and made the brand more flippant.

     

    There has been a lot of buzz about the new Spotify ads. I like them because they amplify the generation gap between Gen Z and the millennials as also Gen X. While Gen X and the millennials are passionate about politics or shopping offline or any discussion and are more social, GenZ is more reclusive and more digitally social. So, Spotify is their ‘kavach’ or protective armour from these indulgences of the older generations. Unusual, yet simple.

     

    I also think that the Meesho ads capture a similar trait of Gen Z. The features of photo search or free delivery are neither new nor unique but they capture the essence of Gen Z. While millennials or Gen X prefer offline shopping and want to see all options, Gen Z is not only used to online but also wants trendy or happening products. So, these features serve them well.

     

    Does Aamir Khan have a triple role in his next film? The series of Netmed ads make me think so. Or, wait! Was it Pharmeasy? Or 1mg? At least Pankaj Tripathi was not about triple or double role. Not only are the names confusing but so are the generic benefits. From a consumer perspective, when I fall sick, I need medicines, fast. Not in a day or in a few hours, but in minutes. So, except for long-term medications like for diabetes or cholesterol, I am not sure how these medicine aggregators can help. What do the investors and these start-ups know that we don’t?

     

     

    And just when I was about to sign off, I saw two similar ads from PepsiCo company. For Pepsi and for Slice. It seems the company has taken competitive stance as a corporate paradigm. But then what’s the fun if unusual things don’t happen. More on the two ads next week.

     

     

    Vikas Mehta, a senior advertising professional, is now a strategy consultant and educator based in Dehradun. He has a considered, often contrarian view that we enjoy consuming (and contesting) on most things around him: cinema, cricket, advertising, politics and life in general. AdsOnIPL is a series of reviews of the ads aired around IPL programming. The column is in its second season. His views here are personal.

     

     

  • This IPL saw a lot of established players disappoint, as did the ads from established brands, writes Vikas Mehta in a wrap of AdsonIPL2021

    IPL Cricket & Ads: The Parallels

    Screengrab from Disney+Hotstar website (https://www.hotstar.com/)

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaI write this review while watching the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL). For me, the tournament and the players had lot of parallels with the ads that were on the air. Let’s dive into these.

     

    This tournament saw a revival in fortunes of established teams like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As well as some old stars like Uthapa and Du Plessis. Advertisements which ran in the first edition of this IPL and were then forgotten saw a revival in this extended edition of IPL. Finolex, Phone Pe, Unacademy, Dream 11, Mutual funds….

     

    This IPL saw a lot of established players disappoint. Rohit Sharma, the Pandya brothers, Rahul Chahar, Hazelwood, Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Rabada… all disappointed. Similarly ads from established brands like Coke, Thums Up, Ceat, Berger Paints, Sprite… disappointed. Eminently forgettable performances.

     

    In the league stage, Delhi Capitals dominated the tournament by winning 10 out of their 14 games. Similarly edtech as a category dominated the ad scene. Byju’s, Byju’s Adarsh, Byju’s Whitehat Jr, Lido small group tuitions, Unacademy, UpGrad, Great Learning etc showed the potential and dominance of the category.

     

    For M S Dhoni there was double success. While his contribution to CSK lifting the trophy was not all that significant, his single-handed contribution of appearing in most number of ads was unmatched. Homelane, Dream 11, ITC Yipee, Mutual Funds sahi hai, Indigo paints all benefitted with the free time he has since his retirement. I won’t be surprised to see him soon in some ed tech ad too.

     

    The last few matches of the tournament saw a new campaign by Dream 11. Captioned Dream Big, the campaign I thought was a standout. Using different players, they used a different narrative for each under the Dream Big Umbrella. It’s interesting storytelling and flexible format was excellent. I liked almost all the ads, with Hardik Pandya, Dhawan and Bumrah being my favourites. A standout performance almost like the performance of K Rahul and Harshal Patel who stood tall amongst the batsmen and bowlers respectively.

     

    Venkatesh Iyer was the star new kid on the block. He played aggressively and even had a good differentiation because he can roll over his arm effectively. The Oven Story ad was a good parallel here. A seemingly new entrant, at least as an IPL advertiser, the brand had interesting differentiation in the Pizza category and created a good enough impact for my daughter to order for it.

     

    While the performer of the tournament was a difficult choice between Gaikwad, Iyer and Patel,  for me the best ad performance came from Neeraj Chopra in the Cred ad. He blended well into the narrative and looked as natural as he does on the athletic field. But the new Cred ad featuring Kapil Dev on the last day was a total disappointment. It did not have the energy and joie de vivre that all the other Cred ads have had. It looked like the opening ceremony of most IPL tournaments. Too much pomp. Very little narrative.

     

    But overall the ads were very tepid. The use of celebrities dominated the scene. Dhoni, Ranveer Singh, Kohli, Bumrah etc were omnipresent. The narrative though was predictable and in most cases just relying on star power. Frankly, the second half of IPL was similar. With just two-three games going to the wire, the one-sided final was a reflection of how most of the games panned out.

     

    The parallels continued right till the end. There was a lot of speculation about Dhoni’s retirement from IPL as a player. And the suspense continued even in the post-match interview. Will he retire or continue?  Exactly the same thing happened with the Kamla Pasand surrogate ad of Amitabh Bachchan. With a holier-than-thou attitude, he made a grand statement of withdrawing from the ad and returning money for the ad as he did not know it was a surrogate ad. He obviously does not live on earth. But like Dhoni, the ad was not retired, even five days after AB’s statement. It was there in the finals too. What did disappear, albeit briefly were SRK Byju’s ads. But blink and they were back. All the twitter brouhaha lasted for just a few days.

     

    There was one area where the parallels ended. CSK proved that old is gold. A team led by a 40-year-old with many players above 30 and retired from all other types of cricket, the team did well to win the tournament. The same, of course, cannot be said of the old traditional brands which have ceded ground to new category and brands and have been totally eclipsed. Let’s hope these new categories and brands do create new benchmarks in their advertising too. The next edition of IPL will tell us if that comes true. Till then au revoir, sayonara, alvida, tata.

     

  • Vikas Mehta is back with his weekly reviews of #AdsOnIPL as the 10-team, 74-match league took off last weekend

    Unusual is the new normal in IPL 2022

     

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaIt’s been an unusual 2022 so far. For Indian cricket. India lost a Test series in South Africa after an unusual first Test victory. Then we also lost the ODI series with an unusual 0-3 scoreline. Sri Lanka toured India after an unusually long interval and got beaten soundly. That I must confess was as usual. The women’s cricket team was unusually dumped out of the World Cup. But the most unusual thing has been that the IPL is happening in India and that too in front of some crowds. And the one constant or the usual is that I am back with my weekly column looking at the new ads released during IPL.

     

    The first weekend has as usual resulted in Mumbai Indians losing their first match. And many new ads. As usual, most of them have been predictable, boring and ordinary. So rather than draw up a list of all such ads and pan them, which I usually do, I thought of doing something unusual. Let me look at one brand which has through the last two-three editions of IPL produced some memorable advertising and indeed been unusual in its approach.

    Cred is a unicorn which has gained much more traction than any other new brand. With a reported revenue of around Rs 95 crore, the brand has reported a loss of about Rs 425 crore. Before you start saying that’s also unusual, let me point out that it is not, as most new age tech companies have a similar financial model. But what’s unusual about Cred is that a big chunk of its expense is towards traditional advertising. Which is not unusual as Cred has a clear grasp on its TG. Cred is talking to the credit card owners, and there are around 50 million credit cards issued in India. Most of these are the high net worth or the salaried senior management millennial. And these millennials have seen India changing in front of them. For them, India changed from Mother India to Miss World, India changed from we to I and India changed from a problem of few choices to a problem of plenty. And of course, India changed from Madhuri Dixit, Kumar Sanu, Bappi Lahiri to a new influencer every day.

    So, the nostalgia of a yesteryear superstar caught on. Then came the nostalgia of some cricketing icons. The people who were fierce competitors but gentlemen in spirit. To unleash their hidden beast was almost like a what if situation. Imagine if Dravid was not unflappable or Srinath and Prasad were actually part of a boy band. And now comes the third stage of nostalgia for the same millennials. Old iconic ads being remembered with a twist. Nostalgia has been Cred’s secret success sauce and it has hit the nail on the head with the TG.

     

    So enough of my pontificating. Did you notice the unusual Kamla Pasand ads? Why unusual? Because last year AB had very solemnly declared that he did not realise that the brand was doing surrogate advertising for a gutka or pan masala which is not good for health and now that he has been informed of the same, he is withdrawing from the campaign and returning the money to the company. I guess his cheque was postdated. For after eternity. Or is it the case of an unusual publicity stunt?

     

    And did you see the Harsha Bhogle being tortured after being kidnapped ad for some Fantasy Akhada game? The ads have a “to be continued” at the end. I am not sure who is being tortured here. Harsha or us? Incidentally, the brand did try a PR stunt. It seems Harsha was being interviewed live from home on some digital channel when he disappeared with some audio of his alluding as if he has been surprised by intruders. It did go viral with lot of fans expressing concern. Harsha finally apologised for the stunt. Going viral by hook or crook, be it the KP way or the Harsha way is not unusual now. Hey, I meant Kamla Pasand not the political discourse you have been following.

     

    It also looks like that a new Aamir Khan film is on its way. His usual PR machinery is on an overdrive with quite forgettable ads for PharmEasy and Vedantu.

     

    I will of course have no comment on the unusual Jaguar bath plus light ad which featured fully clad people in living rooms sitting on a toilet or taking a shower. Please, let’s get back to some usual ads.

     

    Vikas Mehta, a senior advertising professional, is now a strategy consultant and educator based in Dehradun. He has a considered, often contrarian view that we enjoy consuming (and contesting) on most things around him: cinema, cricket, advertising, politics and life in general. His views here are personal.

     

  • Since there are enough and more new ads around IPL 2021, Vikas Mehta comes up with a bonus add-on to his weekly column

    AdsOnIPL21: Akal Badi ki Ads?

     

    Since there are enough and more new ads around IPL 2021, Vikas Mehta comes up with a bonus add-on to his weekly column

     

    By Vikas Mehta

    Vikas MehtaTrust my Gen Z single sample to ask me a pointed question during the IPL. How do the Indian  cricketers get to shoot ads? Aren’t they in some bubble and get transferred from one bubble to another? We hear them moaning about the mental agony of the bubble, but every few months, they do manage to somehow augment their incomes with new ad campaigns. Bubbles notwithstanding.

    This re-view is dedicated to the new ads during the IPL featuring our cricketers. Past and present.  Last weekend the match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings was touted as the match between guru and shishya. Dhoni vs Pant. I carried this imaginary rivalry into the ad world while watching the ad for Indigo Paint with Dhoni and then the one with JSW Steel bars (boring, uninvolved, irrelevant category) with neither me nor my Gen Z sample being the intended target. Frankly, the brand decision in both categories, paints and steel bars, is heavily dependent on the middle men and of course our budget, but paints has come a long way and why can’t steel bars hope to go the paint way. Specially when JSW is one of the main sponsors of DC.

    For me, this battle was won by the shishya. The two JSW ads have managed to not only exploit Pant’s personality but have also communicated the brand benefit woven into an involved storyline. The guruji’s ad unfortunately was a damp squib which was content with the typical celebrity formula. Show Dhoni in the ad and the rest will follow. And this in an ad for floor paints. Usually all paint ads are about walls. I think so much more could have been done with Dhoni and floor paint. My Gen Z sample  made another pertinent comment. So many Dhoni ads, he is an old man now (I guess I am vintage for her) shouldn’t the brand make his ads about his experience or his knowledge. Clearly the Gen Z sample is totally influenced by the Gen Z shishya.

    I did re-view Dream 11 last time but as has been the case always, I am now swamped with more fantasy team ads. So, I turned to my Gen Z sample for help. Let it be known that she is an expert on fantasy team contests having participated and won in some EPL contests. For her Dream 11 was the Indian cricket team, My Circle 11 was Dada, MPL was Virat Kohli and Howzatt.com was Yuvraj. Phew! Some clarity.

    MPL though have not used Kohli this time. They have done a literal interpretation of the Hindi proverb “Akal badi ki bhains” (is the brain better or a buffalo! No disrespect to both, please!) and it seems that currently the bhains is winning. I liked the ad because it clearly implies that making your fantasy team is so easy that you do not need to use your brains  to make the team. And it in its own way does take a dig at those short ads for Dream 11 which have Dhoni asking people to use their brains not on buttering your boss or your father but on choosing a fantasy team on Dream 11. Nicely done. My Gen Z sample though did not agree with me. Because she had never heard of the Hindi proverb. You cannot win them all, I say.

    My Circle 11 has roped in Ranveer Kapoor. Maybe Dada did not have enough time with his health issues, so Ranveer is now the co-anchor. And I do think I saw Rahane in one ad too. And me thinks that the ads have been done in a rush. Looked tacky and depended on Ranveer to announce a new promotion. But I do think that in the next few weeks we shall have more ads from My circle 11. I do hope so. Cannot re-view the current ones. What a waste of Ranveer, is the only comment from my Gen Z sample.

    The Yuvraj led Howzatt.com ads sounded familiar. Trust Gen Z sample to come to my rescue. She gently reminded me that the promotion was similar to My Circle 11 ads of beating the teams chosen by Dada, Watson, Rashid etc to win more money. Guess somebody has got me in plumb. Howzatt?

    And before I sign off I thought I saw another fantasy team ad for a new brand which was being endorsed by K Rahul. My head is now totally spinning with so many fantasy team ads, all around cricket. All using cricketers, ex and present. But my Gen Z sample had the last word, better than watching phone ads or ecommerce ads or those perpetually smiling Dhoni ads.