MxMIndia

Tag: anil thakraney

  • Anil Thakraney reviews the Fox Movies ad which he says will not work in India where the average Indian male’s eyes are fixated ‘out there’ in any case

    Debrief | Fox Movies: Brilliant!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Haha. Real cool ad. Will keep you in splits and very entertained because it’s delightfully salacious. FOX Movies decided to offer cinema dubbed in regional languages for the Thai market, and their ad agency turned it into an idea for subtitles-free communication.

     

    The fun commercial features a young male exec whose eyes are shamelessly trained on his pretty lady boss’s breasts. And the dude gets a couple of tight slaps as his just reward. Poor chap, not his fault. He’s used to reading subtitles in the foreign language movies he watches. And is unable to kick the ‘bad’ habit.

     

    Yup, it’s super stuff. The TVC packs in all the ingredients of a good ad film. It is entertaining, surprising, engaging and single-minded. And there’s cool lateral thinking at play to highlight what is otherwise a very uninteresting product promise. Full marks!

     

     

    As a naughty aside, this particular treatment will not work in the Indian market. Only because the average Indian male’s eyes are fixated ‘out there’ in any case, and it has nothing to do with watching foreign films that carry subtitles. 🙂

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 5. Fabulous advertising

     

  • The moment they positioned it as the 'poor man's' car, they took the sex out of the equation. No one wants to be perceived as a loser when it comes to his car

    Anil Thakraney: Nano: Manufacturing success, marketing failure

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Last night, I watched a very interesting documentary on Nat Geo. No, it wasn’t about lions or elephants, it was about all that went into the making of Ratan Tata’s dream car, the Nano. The programme was fascinating, as the producers went through all the challenges and problems the Tata group faced to bring the so-called ‘one lakh’ rupee car to life. And they also spoke to the designers and the engineers as well as to Ratan Tata himself. (A quick aside: Why Shri Tata prefers to speak only to firangi journalists and production teams is something I’ll never understand.)

     

    Must say I was left quite impressed with the manufacturing marvel little Nano is. Okay, so it isn’t really a one lakh rupee car on the road, but at its price point it does pack in a lot of goodies, is reasonably comfy for four passengers and is hugely economical on fuel consumption. And most importantly: because it’s tiny, the Nano can slip into any little parking space… a huge bonus in city conditions. And yet, the car hasn’t taken the market by storm. Sales have been below expectations, in both urban and rural areas. Strange? Well, not really. Because Tata’s marketing team screwed up a really good thing.

     

    The moment they positioned it as the ‘poor man’s’ car, they took the sex out of the equation. Even at a low cost, a car’s association with status and pride must be maintained. No one wants to be perceived as a loser when it comes to his car, a person’s most visible possession. This simple little consumer insight eluded such highly paid and experienced marketing minds.

     

    The bad news is that the damage is done. Whatever tricks the Tata Nano marketing guys have up their sleeves, it will be very difficult to erase the ‘poor man’s car’ image. I would like to meet Mr Tata and discuss this, but he seems to be allergic to desi journos.

     

    But here’s the good news for Tata. After watching the Nat Geo documentary, I have decided to buy the Nano. Because it’s a real value for money gaadi, and what people think of me has never mattered anyways. All that the Tata group can hope for is there are more misfits like me in this nation.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: ‘A Step From Zero’ is a cool web idea from Coke. The film features a youngster who turns his sad life around by practicing a new dance move. The film’s gone viral and the dude’s become famous. This was a web project where people were invited to shoot videos of their dance moves and submit them for selection. Nice web idea from Coke. A good case study for marketers struggling with the digital space.

     

  • The classic before/after trick may just have worked for a tea brand, but for a deo brand, the idea sucks, writes Anil Thakraney

    Nivea Fresh Active: Totally off-putting

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I want to congratulate the Nivea brand manager for finally smashing that done-to-death route of men’s deo advertising: There are no hot babes in hot pursuit of our Nivea dudes. What we see in the new commercial are only men. So far so good.

     

    But from hereon, things go horribly wrong. There are many ads in India (and am sure the whole world) which bore and irritate us. But there will always be a few that piss us off so much, it leads to a rise in blood pressure with a burning desire to demolish the television set. Sadly, Nivea has managed to achieve that.

     

    In the commercial, a group of men yawn very loudly, offensively and repeatedly. And then they use Nivea Fresh Active and starting aaahing, as if suddenly refreshed. This classic before/after trick may just have worked for a tea brand. For a deo brand, the idea sucks. And as for the execution, it never occurred to the ad’s self indulgent creators that listening to men yawn crudely is NOT entertaining or funny in the least. In fact, it’s extremely annoying.

     

    Disastrous advertising. Guaranteed to get you agitated. I keep the remote control on the ready the moment I hear the first bloody yawn.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 0.5 Rubbish deo ad. But half a mark for not using swooning babes.

     

  • It's appalling to see the Indian Medical Association and many doctors take offence to the Satyamev Jayate episode on medical negligence, writes Anil Thakraney

    Anil Thakraney: Doc, Aamir ain’t your PR agent!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I find it appalling that the Indian Medical Association and many other doctors have taken offence to the Satyamev Jayate episode which dealt with medical malpractice. And these docs are demanding an apology from the progamme host, Aamir Khan. I would term their reaction a joke, but we are dealing with a serious issue out here, so let’s just say this sort of a response shows up our doctors in a poor light.

     

    To understand why Aamir did no wrong, let’s first understand the format of his TV show. SJ is not a ‘breaking news’ format, the show isn’t highlighting stuff that we don’t already know of. Female child murder, dowry deaths, honour killings… they all exist in our society, they are a sad reality. And so is medical malpractice. There are many doctors and hospitals that do dhandha rather than practice, and this too is well known. The objective of the Sunday morning show is to bring the rats out from under the carpet, and to discuss them and introspect on them. It’s as simple as that.

     

    Nowhere in the episode on medical ethics did Aamir suggest that ALL doctors are corrupt. Rather, I vividly recall him assuring the audiences that he isn’t pointing a finger at the entire medical community. Just as all of us don’t ask for dowry or indulge in foeticide, obviously all doctors aren’t corrupt. That’s a given. But for the rats to be brought out, naturally the show will discuss issues where criminal minds have been involved. This makes people aware of their own rights and alerts them about the safety precautions they need to take in various situations. The show won’t work if the entire duration is spent featuring all the good guys of the nation, will it? Who will deal with the rats then? In addition, SJ did invite the good Dr Devi Shetty (and a few other good men) to the show, so I just cannot understand why the med frat is up in arms.

     

    Here’s what I suspect has happened: The doctors, who are almost always treated with huge amount of reverence in this nation, aren’t able to deal with a situation where suddenly someone has decided to openly discuss medical malpractices on a public platform.

     

    Dear docs, hire a PR agency if you want paeans to be sung in your honour. And dear Aamir bhai, please bash on regardless.

     

     

    P S: Now THIS is what Mr Nandan Nilekani ought to be doing to get the junta interested in his Aadhar card yojna. The Aussies have created a simple little film to encourage citizens to participate in the census collection process. Notice that it’s basic level, entertaining and is packed with cool graphics. Even the lowest denominator would get it. Nilekani should sanction a film like this. So much better than all that confusing, complicated talk on TV chat shows.

     

     

  • The GroupM boss unplugs to Anil Thakraney on commission (v/s fees), corruption, creatives & more

    Creative agencies have allowed themselves to be dumbed down: Vikram Sakhuja

     

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Vikram Sakhuja heads GroupM, India’s largest media buying conglomerate. In a long and animated discussion, the ace number cruncher shares with us insights from the Indian media industry. As well as his own organization’s approach to the various challenges staring at the media business.

     

    Fifty-year-old Sakhuja is an IIT/IIM grad, and he did a number of years in marketing before he shifted to the world of media in 2001, when he signed up as Managing Director of Mindshare Fulcrum. During our meet, I could see that the outspoken GroupM boss is extremely passionate about his work, and is someone who could get easily agitated over provocative questions. Thankfully, we had a smooth run. Guess it’s all thanks to Yoga which Sakhuja has recently taken up. 🙂

     

    You were a hard-core marketing man at one point. What prompted the switch to media?

    I believe in taking the career as it goes, and taking decisions at different points of time. Let me take you through my career graph to explain this. After IIM, Calcutta, I was pretty clear I wanted to get into the marketing side of things. So I joined P&G and did eight years there. When I joined them, Richardson Hindustan Limited (RHL) was becoming Procter & Gamble (P&G). So when I started out, the company had RHL values and very quickly the organization got Procterised.

     

    And you were not happy with that?

    I was happy with that, but Procter believed in the system of specialization. So the guy who gets into sales, stays in sales. The guy who gets into advertising, sticks to advertising. I was in research and they extended that to marketing services. I learnt a lot there, but later on I wanted to move to brand management and P&G wasn’t allowing me that. And I didn’t want my epitaph to read ‘Marketing Researcher’. So I moved to Coca-Cola which was more flexible in these areas. Out there I managed the entire brand portfolio. That worked very well for 5 years. I was reporting to Sanjeev Gupta in those days, and he was handling both, marketing and bottling. And later he went on to take up a bigger job. So they got Shripad (Nadkarni) to head marketing, and I felt my job would get undermined a little bit. And so I left to join Star TV.

     

    And you lasted there for just one year.

    It was a mistake. I call it jawaani ki bhool. Peter (Mukerjea) said they wanted to start a strategic marketing function there, and it would include marketing of the creative product as well as on-air marketing, which is where the bulk of the spending goes. But it didn’t pan out like that because the programming department had a territorial interest in the programming piece. So it became very clear to me this was going to be an off-air game, and that didn’t have too many legs. And I left Star without a job. Later, Ranjan Kapur introduced me to Andre Nair (this is year 2001) who was looking for people to start Mindshare in India. We had a drink and one thing led to another. I felt a little trepidation in the beginning because I perceived ad agencies to be a little unprofessional. But later I thought about it rationally and it made sense. And so here I am.

     

    There are large media shops under the GroupM umbrella. How do you manage to give personal attention to each one?

    I am running GroupM, I am not running Mindshare or Maxus. There are capable people running those. I am a management by objectives kind of a person. One aspect of my deliverable is Profit & Loss, there’s no getting away from it. I have told my guys we should get growth from our existing clients. We should have the source credibility to go to them and manage 100% of their marketing investments. That is the agenda I drive. Then, I have to create an eco system for technology, talent and on how to do things better. The scope of service has actually dumbed down, clients are paying peanuts and they are getting monkeys. So I go and tell my clients if they want the right kind of talent and want to get the value out of it, then this is how it works.

     

    I suppose you operate more as a coach than as a player.

    Do I meet clients? Yes, I do. Am I directly involved in the day to day plans? No, I am not. Unilever is our biggest client. So every year at least one or two deals I will sit in on. Also for other clients. I love to be there for the sheer passion of it.

     

    What is Sir Martin Sorrell’s brief to you?

    Martin is pretty hands-on in most of the businesses. I rely on him more for counsel. I whet my new plans with him. For example, I went to him with the idea of celeb endorsements. And he felt it wouldn’t work, but asked us to try it anyway. And it didn’t work. Then there was a time we were offered some sweat equity in the IPL Deccan Chargers team. I took it up to Martin and he didn’t think it was a good idea, because he didn’t know the nature of the animal. But he’s brilliant, he is one of the few guys who understands our business, he wants to get in deeper.

     

    What is your stand on the shift from the commission system to the fixed fee system for media agencies?

    I definitely support the fee system. Though I would prefer a balance of commission and fee. Because in a growing economy you win with commissions. But when spends are not looking good at all, as is the case this year, fee bails you out. In principle, however, I like the fee system.

     

    How are the clients reacting to it?

    The people who take their marketing seriously believe in the fee system in letter and spirit. The top notch companies like Unilever, Ford, Pepsi, etc, totally get this. I believe clients should pay us Cost + for service, and a factor of that for the value we are able to demonstrate.

     

    What qualities do you look for in a media buyer in today’s time?

    You must understand that in our organization we don’t just buy media. I would like to believe that our agencies are actually driving the marketing agenda, probably more than the creative agencies. Most of the creative agencies have allowed themselves to be dumbed down, most of them are only interpreting briefs in a TV commercial format. They are only driven by the tactical creative idea rather than a long term view of the brand. All these wonderful creative minds should spend a little time thinking brand stewardship. Out here, we want people who can think account planning and communications. People who can understand the brand, the consumer, and then have the ability to unlock all the media solutions. So the media person needs to understand content, activation, digital, conventional media, and then he has to see how all this comes together.

     

    Key challenges ahead for media agencies?

    The clichéd one of course is that the commissions we earn are not allowing us to invest in the best talent. But we have to all individually work ourselves, show value and then ask for stuff. The other challenge is in the digital space. The erstwhile DNA of the media companies excluded digital. I believe integrated media planning is the way to go. This is distinct from multimedia planning, which had the TV plan, print plan, radio plan, etc, all working in silos. But with the increasingly multi media environment, the key is integrated planning. And digital is allowing that seamlessness even more. We have embraced this some time back.

     

    And yet, the media buying business, after the unbundling, has got totally commoditized. Shashi Sinha said to me the media planner has become a zombie.

    I was the first guy to bring the AOR into the country. So you can blame me for the disintegration of the full service agency. (Laughs) I would say each of our agencies has its own planning way. Maxus has something called ‘Relationship Media’, MEC has got ‘Navigator’, and so on. Each of them talks the consumer journey. They talk much more about the communication challenge. I am actually finding the plans looking more different now than they were earlier. So I disagree with my dear friend Shashi Sinha. Maybe I am not cynical. The planner is alive and kicking. It’s in fact the most exciting time to be in the media because of the large amount of fragmentation and the large amount of media choices.

     

    You did a stint with television. Do you foresee threats to this medium in the near future?

    Yes. The problem with TV today is that it has become a media game of the value of the inventory. At the end of the day, there are only about four million commercial GRPs being broadcast every year at an all India level. And that’s growing at 2 or 3% per year. This is the market for TV eyeballs. So like it or not, you have to extract value out of this. Today, at last count, we have 500 or 600 channels, and it’s getting fragmented. If an Imagine TV dies, someone else will pick up ratings. And if someone else launches, there’s further fragmentation. So the problem is that the same money is chasing some eyeballs. Until the new ratings system comes up and there’s a tectonic shift, you are talking about a metastable equilibrium. Now if the value has to go up, either you have to deliver more reach, or you have to deliver some associated imagery or sponsorships or incremental value.

     

    When do you expect the shake-out to happen in television?

    We’ve been expecting a shake-out since 1996. I guess some people seem to be having deeper pockets. I am not a finance guy so I don’t know how it works. But I can’t imagine many of them are making money.

     

    Think the IPL is losing some of its sheen?

    No. The ratings this year were a tad higher than the last year. But for all practical purposes, have held on to last year’s levels. It has stabilized at about 5 rating points. In fact, this year was the best year primarily because of the games, which went down to the wire.

     

    And it’s a good investment for team owners?

    For them it’s going to be a slow burn. You have do it sensibly, like the KKR franchise does, and I think they make money. Whereas a large number of other people don’t make money. It’s about how you manage the entire franchise.

     

    There’s a perception that you guys are not passing on bulk rates you get from the media to your clients.

    We have something called the WPP Compliance. And we take it very, very seriously. So we are making sure that we do everything as per our contract with each client. In letter and spirit. We are definitely not holding back anything which is due to a client. We have a media owner invoice and it’s backed by an agency invoice. If the clients want to audit us, they are most welcome to do so. We are a global leader in this space doing global deals, we won’t mess around with something where there’s a breach of trust involved. We can’t afford that.

     

    Perhaps this was one of the reasons Reckitt Benckiser came up with the idea of agencies paying to pitch, and compensating them in case of a drop in ratings.

    They invited us to pitch and we asked them if they were being ridiculous. We turned them down. If somebody has an obscene point of view, I cannot subscribe to it.

     

    And yet, some agencies pitched for that account. Isn’t the industry united in these things?

    I thought we were united on that but obviously we weren’t. What do I say now?

     

    You’ve done many years in this business. Ever thought of starting out on your own?

    The thought has crossed my mind but I didn’t pursue it. I am not a very entrepreneurial guy. My philosophy is: Don’t fix it unless it’s broken.

     

    Does the lack of adequate talent in the media industry frustrate you? Is it a constant battle to find the right people?

    Yes, it is. But we have to be able to pay right to get the right talent. And for that we have to work our own internal financial structures. The level at which we work, there’s only so much we can afford to pay people at the entry level.

     

    Is there corruption in this business? There are allegations of planners taking money and other favours.

    One hears about these things from time to time. There is an opportunity for something like this, and clearly we have to plug it. This is where I believe organization culture is very important. If conversations in an organization involving integrity are strong, then the one or two people who entertain these thoughts will find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation.

     

    Have you ever fired people from your company because of this?

    Oh yes, I have.

     

    I saw a Youtube video of yours where you mention something about getting stressed out at work.

    I tend to be very animated and passionate, and I do get worked up. But I have been doing Yoga and stuff like that. And that’s helped. I have also started taking it a bit easier now, we have a good team. And at the end of the day, tension lene ka nahin, dene ka! (Laughs.)

     

     

     

  • Anand would make for an ideal brand ambassador for certain types of products… brands that promise mental strength and stamina, and brands that target sophisticated audiences

    Anil Thakraney: Er, any chance of endorsement deals for Anand?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The man has won the world chess championship title for the fifth time. And in my opinion, he’s now entitled to nothing less than the Bharat Ratna. (Sachin deserved what he got… a hot seat in the Parliament.) Also, Vishwanathan Anand is not just a regular world beater, he also happens to be a very nice, decent human being, who lives his life with great integrity and endearing simplicity. Doesn’t that sound like a good enough qualification for advertisers to be queuing up outside his Chennai house, armed with lucrative contracts?

     

    Now, I admit it is possible that Anand has done the odd brand deal in a very long and a very illustrious career. But usually he gets ignored, when even second rung cricketers like Kohli, the Pathan brothers and Rohit Sharma have been bagging loaded deals. Marketers would justify this by claiming that cricket is a passion inIndiaand chess is not. And that cricket is a spectator sport and chess is not. And I have no arguments with that per se.

     

    However, it is equally true that Anand would make for an ideal brand ambassador for certain types of products… brands that promise mental strength and stamina, and brands that target sophisticated audiences, the so-called ‘creamy layer’. And there are plenty of these in the market. Health drinks and foods. High-end watches. Luxury cars. Premium suiting. I could go on. And yet, these brands opt for either movie stars or cricketers, that too at a price far higher than what Anand might possibly charge.

     

    It gets more curious when you consider that casting Anand would help these brands smash the clutter. If Dhoni stands for 25 brands, he stands for nothing in my mind. I’d rather have Anand endorsing one, because he gives me the differentiation. Simple advertising logic.

     

    Here’s why I think Anand gets ignored, despite strong marketing rationale working in his favour: Our brand managers tend to be risk averse, and they usually try to play safe. Okay, let me put it impolitely: They want to cover their backsides by opting for the tried and tested Dhonis and SRKs of the world. So if things go wrong, the boss won’t blame the manager. These safe suits consider Anand to be a high risk proposition. Therefore in reality, the problem doesn’t lie with chess or with Anand, it lies in the heads of our brand managers.

     

    And I am hoping to see this change. At least this time. Fifth time world championship is simply superlative stuff.

     

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    PS: Very interesting. Ten ads that got theUKreally angry. Controversial ads that invited the most number of complaints. Methinks time has come to list down the top ten ads that got Indians really pissed off.

     

    Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2151927/Ten-ads-mad-Nude-Sophie-Dahl-Pope-hard-hat–brought-complaints-50-years.html?ICO=most_read_module

     

  • It looks like the kids are living a life of hell, and the Rajya Sabha MP designate is chilling inside an air conditioned studio. This kinda puts you off

    Debrief: Coca-Cola: Zero Freshness

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Interestingly, there’s a new commercial on air from Coke, and it’s based on cricket. A bit strange that, because summer’s coming to an end and the IPL is done and dusted.

     

    Anyway, the TVC features some rural kids playing the game in extremely hot, dusty and inhuman conditions. It looks like a desert. They seem to be enjoying themselves all the same, since the kids are passionate about the game, like everyone else is in this country. And that passion is what Coke wants to ride on. However, all of a sudden, towards the end of the commercial, Rajya Sabha MP designate, Shri Sachin Tendulkar, appears on the screen. He ‘opens happiness’ and happily gulps it down.

     

    I have two huge problems with this one. For one, cricket has been heavily flogged in Indian advertising, and for the game to carry any further appeal, the execution has to be seriously fresh. We are done with watching kids play street cricket, surely that’s become ultra boring in circa 2012. So on this count, the TVC fails miserably, despite a good voice-over and a decent script.

     

    Secondly, Sachin looks like a cut-paste job in the film, an after-thought. Would it not have been a little nice if the hero lands up in those hot conditions and offers the poor kids some Coke? That would not have injected any freshness to the commercial, but it would have brought in some warmth at least. Currently, it looks like the kids are living a life of hell, and the Rajya Sabha MP designate is chilling inside an air conditioned studio. This kinda puts you off.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Thakela idea. And it makes Sachin look bad. 

     

  • Since the overall television ratings were on the lower side this year, it indicates a strong possibility of audience fatigue having set in

    Anil Thakraney: The IPL diary

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The two month long drama is done and dusted. (I use the word ‘dusted’ hesitatingly… goodness knows if there are more skeletons waiting to tumble out.) It’s a good time to take stock of the IPL and make some suggestions for the next season.

     

    Since the overall television ratings were on the lower side this year, it indicates a strong possibility of audience fatigue having set in. My hunch is there are just too many matches in the tournament… the numbers must be scaled down. I think the IPL should be a one-month event, this would make sure audience attention doesn’t flag. And the tournament doesn’t lose its appeal.

     

    There have to be very powerful and effective mechanisms put in place to rid the tournament of all the scandals it’s associated with. Match/spot fixing, black money transactions with players, rowdy behaviour of some franchise owners, drunk players going berserk at the IPL parties, cheerleaders being hit on, crowd mismanagement at the venues, etc, etc. I don’t know if the BCCI is aware of this, but the IPL carries very little respect and credibility across the world. I was stunned by the constant allegations of match fixing on the social media right through the two months. Clearly that’s not good for the IPL brand.

     

    The auctioning process needs to be made transparent. And the fee paid to all players made public. (We still don’t know how much Sachin and Dhoni get paid.) Since the IPL is not a private party, its financial records must be made public. This will only help the tournament gain some much needed brownie points.

     

    There have to be clear guidelines laid out for all members who get free passes at the venues. On how they must conduct themselves, and the exact benefits allowed to them. The reason Shah Rukh Khan got into a skirmish at the Wankhede stadium is because no one told him he’s not allowed to take children onto the cricket ground.

     

    Navjot Sidhu, Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Danny Morrison and a few others should be given a break from commentary duty for a few seasons. And instead, some old boys and T20 misfits like Ganguly and Dravid must be removed from the field and brought into the commentary box.

     

    Lastly and most importantly, a separate contract needs to be signed between the BCCI and the Royal Challengers team owner, Dr Vijay Mallya. This contract should make it clear that throughout the duration of the tournament, his very bigda hua beta, Sid, shall be barred from tweeting.

     

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    PS: Speaking of the IPL, in case you missed it, here’s SRK’s fantastic speech at Yale. Full of beans and full of humour. This is not the SRK who landed up at Wankhede that night, and indulged in deeply vulgar behaviour. I guess basically he’s a cool guy. But is unable to exorcise theDelhimawaali who still lurks inside of him.

     

  • Additionally, I like the fact that Micromax has stuck to its irreverent brand personality. Whether you agree with them or not, you have to appreciate their focus

    Debrief: Micromax: Sexy and cool

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The king of irreverent advertising, Micromax, is back with another edgy campaign. This one is for their new handset called A50 Ninja, which comes with a built-in female voice feature that offers artificial intelligence. And very smartly, they’ve pet named the phone ‘Aisha’.

     

    The central idea is that the user bonds with the phone as if it was a beautiful woman. A woman who quietly obeys the master’s commands and offers him solutions like a good personal assistant. A cross between a sexy mistress and an efficient secretary. She has no emotions and is very matter-of-fact. And as a bonus, Aisha engages the boss in conversations that are laced with sexual innuendo, even as she solves his problems.

     

    This isn’t brilliant stuff but it most definitely is clever. Because the advertising panders to that ultimate fantasy of a man: to possess a smart chick who does what he demands, and never argues back. Clearly an impossibility in the real world, but we men do secretly fantasize about these things, don’t we? Admit it, dood!

     

    Additionally, I like the fact that Micromax has stuck to its irreverent brand personality. I know plenty of feminists who would abhor this campaign, but that’s of no consequence to the phone maker. They will play mischief, they’ve decided that from the start. Whether you agree with them or not, you have to appreciate their focus.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5):  3. Good strategy backed by provocative creative.

     

     

  • This makes me wonder. Should we in the media broadcast and publish pictures of youngsters cowering with fear and hiding their faces? Is this ethical?

    Anil Thakraney: The party-pooping media

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Newspapers and TV channels have been flooded with pictures of those ‘caught’ at the recent Juhu (Mumbai) ‘rave’ party bust. (We still don’t know if it really was a rave bash, but that’s not the focus of my article.) All these guys and gals desperately trying to conceal their faces in shame. Or, as I believe, because of the fear of being seen by their families and pals in such a tight situation. And each time I watch these images, I get terrified. No, I don’t get invited to many la-di-dah parties (sadly, haha!), and yet that lingering fear… that it could have been me out there.

     

    Imagine going out with friends to a party and being suddenly accosted by cops just because a few buggers had decided to top up their noses. And being treated brusquely all night, and made to go through unhygienic tests at municipal hospitals. It’s a nightmarish feeling. Still, when you look at it rationally, you have to quietly accept that drugs were found at the venue, and so the cops had to do their duty. So far, so bad.

     

    But does it surprise you how the media lands up at such busts in full force? It shouldn’t. Obviously, the cops, who want to project themselves as some sort of heroes, invite chosen reporters and cameramen to tag along. And thus more than a crime battle, this turns into a media spectacle. Leading to more stress and agony for the party goers.

     

    This makes me wonder. Should we in the media broadcast and publish pictures of youngsters cowering with fear and hiding their faces? Is this ethical? Is it not possible that most of them are innocent party goers? Do they deserve to be put under such harsh spotlight? One more issue for all of us in the media to introspect upon. Of course, the reporters have to join in when the cops invite them. Of course, they need to cover the bust. But because, at the time, they don’t know who’s guilty and who’s not, is it correct to put out pictures of the people trapped out there?

     

    My own view is such pictures must never be made public. And only after the police investigation is done, only after the culprits get booked, must we go public with images. That would be fair. Having said that, I know this practice isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Who cares if some drunk revelers are seen squirming? Who gives a rat’s ass if they are seen being treated like trapped animals? The editor wants pictures, you see. Else, he/she will say there’s no story out here. He/She will kick me out of the newsroom.

     

    Let’s do some self regulation, people. Before it comes in from outside.

     

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    PS: Brilliant ad by Prada. It’s directed by Roman Polanski and features acclaimed actor Ben Kingsley. This is the way to expand market share, I say!

     

  • Time to move on, Sir. Please start lobbying for the post of President. You are a nice, honest, good man, so no one will mind supporting your candidature

    Anil Thakraney: MMS for Prez! Puhleez!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I implore all the political parties to do at least one good deed for the nation. Please send Dr Manmohan Singh to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, with all the accompanying pomp and gaiety. The man needs to retire ASAP, and what better old age home than the grandiose Bhavan?

     

    No, I am not suggesting this because MMS needs to be rewarded, but because the gentleman needs to be immediately ejected from the Prime Minister’s office. Don’t think anyone, not even Ms Rabri Devi, can do worse than him. Everyone adores MMS because he’s reputed to be a ‘nice guy’ and an ‘honest man’. Is this qualification enough to run such a huge, complicated, scandal-infested country? Would you hire a CEO based only on this yardstick? Heck, would you marry your daughter to a man based on this qualification alone?

     

    Let’s examine Mr Nice Guy’s scintillating resume. The nuclear deal, over which he staked his job and promised truckloads of energy and dosh to the nation, is all forgotten. The proposal of FDI in multi-brand retail was quickly scuttled at the first shout from the opposition leaders in the Parliament. The PM’s allowed his retro finance mantri to come up with that hare-brained scheme called Retrospective Tax, which has made global investors become very wary of India. The mother of all scams, the famed 2G scam, happened right under the watchful eye of Dr Singh. And the man keeps getting blackmailed by his allies, and is unable to deal with them. Worse, it’s hard to imagine MMS ran the RBI once, and brought economic reforms to India. Today, he has no idea how to stop the rupee from sliding down the hill, and petrol prices have been increasing as regularly as sixes get hit in the IPL. And these are just some of Mr Nice Guy’s achievements.

     

    No, we simply cannot afford to have this incompetent man hang around for another two years in office. The nation can deal with only so many failures. Time to move on, Sir. Please start lobbying for the post of President. You are a nice, honest, good man, so no one will mind supporting your candidature. Not even if you later get busy collecting frequent flyer miles, a la Ms Pratibha Patil.

     

    Please move on! It’s been rather nice knowing you.

     

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    PS: Must read for all creative people. Some powerful advice on how to keep the fires burning, and not let life’s set backs (petrol prices!) come in the way of creativity. It’s applicable to creators in all walks of life.

     

    Link: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/05/22/neil-gaiman-commencement-address/

     

     

  • Bottom-line: Wrong positioning, wrong idea, wrong situation and a very stupid pun to top it all

    Debrief: Maruti Ertiga: Not LUVing it!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Okay, I am kinda confused. What IS the Maruti Ertiga? From what I read in the initial media reports, it’s an MUV (Multi Utility Vehicle). Then someone said it’s an MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle). And even as I was still scratching my head over the difference, in comes the TV commercial which calls it an LUV – Life Utility Vehicle. What in the world is that now?

     

    So I watched the commercial as if it was a mystery movie, and guess what? I am left EVEN more confused! I was expecting to see a large, hansta khelta Hindu undivided khandaan in the ad. That’s the segment that would go in for a car like this, I assumed. Instead, what I saw was a young babe doing things I couldn’t comprehend after repeat exposures. All I recall is many boring shots of the Maruti Ertiga, the interiors and the exterior. And then it suddenly struck me: They are using LUV as a pun for LOVE! Wow!

     

    I would say the Maruti guys are fortunate to get away with such inane and puzzling advertising. And that’s because the Ertiga is actually a fabulous option for those looking for a largish family vehicle that doesn’t cost the earth. Maruti, in any case, enjoys huge loyalty in the market, therefore sales won’t be an issue at all. Even if the ad sucks, which it does in this case.

     

    Bottom-line: Wrong positioning, wrong idea, wrong situation and a very stupid pun to top it all.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Confused and silly