MxMIndia

Tag: anil thakraney

  • While Aamir pocketed a few crore rupees as the nation wept on Sunday morning over the female foeticide issue, must say it's a commendable social effort, writes Anil Thakraney in Hard Knocks

    Anil Thakraney: Oprah Khan

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Some observations on Aamir’s much publicized chat show.

     

    Satyamev Jayate (SJ) reminds me of Oprah’s talk show. Ordinary people’s tear jerker stories, and all the emotions involved. It’s a good idea. Have always wondered why Ms Winfrey hasn’t inspired India so far.

     

    While Aamir pocketed a few crore rupees as the nation wept on Sunday morning over the female foeticide issue, must say it’s a commendable social effort. If SJ inspires even a few people to stop killing the girl child, all the big moolah spent on its production becomes worth it.

     

    I am not sure if the malls and the streets in the urban areas were deserted, like it used to happen on the Ramayana/Mahabharata Sundays. I did tweet to ask for clues, but didn’t get enough responses to form an accurate opinion. Even if the young gen continued with their routine stuff, who knows, as more episodes roll by, they might want to watch the show. Though I have my doubts. Sadly, I don’t think the ‘Har Ek Friend’ virtual India desires to connect with the real India. Even if Aamir is in the house.

     

    In an earlier post I have already mentioned that the simultaneous broadcast on DD is an excellent idea. So even if the metros ditch SJ, the producers are assured of reasonable TRPs.

     

    On the show itself: I like Aamir’s sincerity. He exhibits all the right expressions and makes all the right noises. Tears, concern, disappointment, shock, anger, hope… that he is a talented actor, must help. Also, happy that Aamir chose to launch his TV career with a show that matters. Very different from all the other big stars who indulge in mindless game shows. This is what makes Aamir special. Good luck to him.

     

    Most importantly, the show isn’t boring. This was the concern many had expressed once it was announced that SJ will deal with serious social issues. Aamir manages to pack in a little entertainment. A few laughs and some gana bajana too. This also helps break the tension. Having said that, one hour would have been just the right duration. 90 minutes is pushing things a bit.

     

    Also, there is an attempt to provide solutions. The show doesn’t stay at the level of discussing morbid details. That’s good. But it’s important that Aamir doesn’t forget to do the follow-ups he’s promising on air. And disappears as soon as his pay check arrives. The star is notorious for his fly-by-night activism.

     

    Lastly, Aamir kept repeating he’s not a judge, and that he would leave that activity to the courtrooms. A good lesson for all the news channel anchors who love dishing out justice to the aam junta every single evening.

     

    Net net: A promising show that can lead to some social change. Maybe only a little change, but it’s a good start all the same.

     

     

    PS: An interesting presentation on how advertising objectifies women. Should serve as an eye opener for all of us in the ad industry. Have we, in the search for higher sales, been corrupting our culture and values? Something to chew on, lots to introspect on.

     

  • If things don't change, news channels will lose the war to the internet. And lose it much quicker than we had imagined

    Anil Thakraney: Why TV debates have become such an ordeal

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Quite frankly, I am tiring big-time of television debates and chat shows. It’s become an ordeal to watch these. And if things don’t change, news channels will lose the war to the internet. And lose it much quicker than we had imagined.

     

    Here are five changes I would like to see happen, ASAP:

     

    1. Anchors must remain objective at all times. Their personal biases are easy to sniff out, and this reduces the discussion to a charade. One way to make this happen is for the Delhi journos to stop bonding with politicians. And for the Mumbai journos to stop bonding with industrialists and movie stars. Without the distance, it’s impossible to remain neutral.

     

    2. Anchors must offer no opinions. However tempting that might be. That is the job of the members on their panel. And if the anchors are itching to belt out personal views, that must happen in their newspaper columns (and quite a few senior anchors have that opportunity). Or, they can create special programmes on their channels with the agenda to make themselves be heard. Like ‘Arnab Speaketh’ or ‘Rajdeep Unplugged’. Viewers who value their opinions will patronize such shows.

     

    3. Programming heads must find new voices. And more importantly, relevant voices. The usual suspects cannot be shoved into our living rooms all the time. All the more so because programmers have no option but to invite the same spokespersons of various political parties. Therefore the rest of the panelists have to be fresh faces. Seriously, it’s rather comical to have Suhel Seth, Alyque Padamsee, Shobhaa De, Prahlad Kakar, and so on, shower their pearls of wisdom on us every evening and on every topic.

     

    4. Most TV debates conclude very sweetly with ‘The entire system has to be overhauled’. How priceless is that! Here’s a suggestion, guys: Be ruthless. During a live discussion, demand that viewers be offered fresh insights, don’t take nonsense from your guests. And for the recorded shows, if no new perspectives have emerged, simply trash that particular episode. And redo it at a later date. Much wiser to do that than to air mindless stuff.

     

    5. DO NOT PLAY JUDGE. Not in the news bulletin, not in the chat room, not in the panel discussion. And repeat this ten times in your head. When we viewers want justice, we’ll go to the court rooms. Thank you very much.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Interesting approach by Old Spice. Believe in your ‘smellf’. Good attitude. If they can milk this property, Old Spice can own the category. A lesson for all those after-shave and male deo brands whose ads feature women mindlessly chasing the studs.

     

  • For one, getting Rajesh Khanna back from his long exile is serious lateral thinking. It makes the TVC surprising, noticeable and clutter breaking

    Debrief: Havells Fans: Masterstroke!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Very smart of Havells to rope in veteran actor Rajesh Khanna for their new ad for fans. And the treatment is cool too. I am usually not a fan of celebrity advertising, but this particular one simply rocks.

     

    The ad features Khanna boasting that the winds of change may blow, but that no one can take his fans away from him. A bit of an obvious pun on fans, but in this case it works. There are classical images of the star from his hey days as also from the present time. He even takes a thinly disguised dig at Bachchan, who dethroned the superstar in the seventies.

     

    Here’s why this ad works for me: For one, getting Khanna back from his long exile is serious lateral thinking. It makes the TVC surprising, noticeable and clutter breaking.

     

    The media has taken it up for coverage, and that’s a lot of free publicity for Havells. Imagine if they had used the done-to-death Big B. The ad would have passed by like Ogilvy’s ship in the dark. Also, the execution is pleasing. Khanna speaks with that famous drawl in the voice, a mixture of arrogance and self confidence. Something we identify with him. And his mannerisms are also the same. The laidback charm, the larger-than-life persona. Great stuff.

     

    In short, all that good advertising should be. As a bonus, the commercial makes you want to watch Khanna’s classics all over again.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 4. Surprising solution at its best.

  • Agnello Dias forecasts that ad agencies of the future will only comprise thinkers and strategizers; all other creative work will be outsourced

    Anil Thakraney: Unbundling of creative

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    In my interview with Taproot’s Agnello Dias for MxMIndia, the creative director made a stunning forecast for the future. He feels the typical ad agency will only consist of thinkers and strategizers. And that all creative work will have to be outsourced. This will mean specialized press ad shops, film script shops, digital design shops, and so on. And what he says makes a lot of sense. Here’s why.

     

    In the good old days, advertisers would use only press and TV as the key media, and the rest would consist of ‘supplementary’ stuff. And this resulted in ad agencies hiring copywriters and art directors. Writers would write storyboards and press ad copy, and the art directors would design the ads and other packaging material. So that was fine.

     

    However, in the last decade, the media has boomed big-time, and now clients look for special effort for a multitude of media platforms. Digital work, for instance, is being outsourced. Because agency’s creative personnel don’t get this space. As time goes by, and as technology unleashes more platforms, there will be serious pressure on ad agencies to find the right talent. And the agency shall not be in a position to hire all the staffers on its payroll; it would go bankrupt in months. The digital outsourcing will have a backlash on the traditional agency. It will mean that one day ALL work will have to be done by outsiders. In fact, radio, an old medium, has been crying out for specialists for decades. With the unbundling, we would see specialized radio script shops, and the quality of the creative work will dramatically improve.

     

    And most importantly, it will allow creative people to focus on their core competencies. It serves little purpose for a JJ Arts School grad to be breaking his head over internet videos. Likewise for fine English prose writers battling with Hindi television ad scripts. Specialization makes enormous sense.

     

    Yep, I hope Aggie is a good crystal ball gazer, and that what he predicts will come true. Personally speaking, I am all ready for the future. I have decided to start a specialized scam ads shop. Which to me sounds like a really lucrative business. 🙂

     

    * * *

     

    PS: A horrifying window display. Shocking is too mild a word. But it makes a strong case for stopping cruelty against animals. And hats off to the woman who volunteered for this campaign.

     

    Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134555/Lush-animal-testing-protest- Woman-subjected-experiments-horrified-shoppers.html?ICO=most_read_module

  • I wonder how many Indians would recognize the international football stars, since the sport is not really famous in India

    Debrief: Pepsi: Not really a game changer

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    It must have cost Pepsi a bomb to hire the services of football stars like Lampard, Torres and Drogba. Not to speak of expensive desi cricketers like Dhoni and Kohli. But does it work? Hmm, am not so sure.

     

    Pepsi continues with its ‘Change the game’ theme this summer. When they first broke with this idea it was quite refreshing in terms of the execution. But am afraid its losing fizz as the idea gets extended. Perhaps it has to do with the way they are extending it. In the new TVC, the football stars play football with a cricket ball.

     

    And there’s a ‘fun’ exchange between the cricketers and the footballers, as the two games collide.

     

    Here are the problems with this commercial: I wonder how many Indians would recognize the international football stars, since the sport is not really famous in India. Perhaps some uber urban lads will, but Pepsi is a mass brand. Which then makes one question the heavy expenditure. Also, the marriage of the two games is clumsily done and the treatment is very predictable. And this directly hits the entertainment value of the ad. The script had to be very spunky and very surprising for it to work. Lastly, the brand has been forced into the situation in a very, let’s just say, unsmart manner. They simply had to find a cool way to make Pepsi an intrinsic part of the storyline.

     

    In short, the ad lacks both, freshness and wit… the key ingredients of any Pepsi ad.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. Game changed. Now change the ad.

     

  • The Taproot co-founder speaks to Anil Thakraney on his story so far, awards & stake sale rumours

    Disappointed at not winning the Grand Prix: Agnello Dias

     

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Taproot’s Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi ‘changed the game’ for Pepsi. And they’ve done ditto with the Indian ad world. Their huge, rapid success has prompted many creative directors to sit up and seriously consider starting their own little shops. Some have already branched out.

     

    Creative hotshops aren’t a new phenomenon in this country. Ravi Gupta, elsie Nanji and Mohammed Khan opened their boutiques many years ago. What’s different with Taproot is that they have been doing stunning work for large clients. Like Pepsi, TOI and Airtel.

     

    This makes the agency path breaking and special. In just three years they have won more Abbies than the number of people in their office. Including peons.

     

    I meet Agnello Dias for some steaming Southie fare at King Circle’s Mysore Cafe. As India’s most happening creative director shares his mantras and his plans for the future. Aggie is that rare advertising individual who listens more than he speaks. And that perhaps is one of the key reasons behind his enviable success.

     

    The last time we met was three years ago. You were running around buying computers and aircons for your new agency which had still to be named. How’s the journey been?

    It’s been like mounting a tiger you can’t get off because things have moved so fast in so many different ways. In terms of the actual structure of the agency and in terms of the actual advertising work.

     

    Did you expect to scale such heights?

    No. I had an idea where I would be and it was much lower than this. I thought we’d be a little quieter and much less in the spotlight. But things have happened and not in the way I thought they would.

     

    Runner-up agency at Goafest. That is something you would never have imagined three years ago.

    (Smiles). No! We knew we’d do well, we knew we had a couple of good campaigns. But statistical superiority was something we never expected.

     

    You must be a proud man.

    (Thinks.) Yeah. It was quite a pleasant surprise. I am proud but it’s also slightly unnerving because I wouldn’t like us to be measured against this every year. Though we are cognizant of the fact that it’s any given Sunday, and that the same jury judging the same work again today may have a different result.

     

    Disappointed that your ‘Har ek Friend’ work (Airtel) didn’t win the Grand Prix?

    Yes. It would be a lie to say that we weren’t disappointed. Because one was always given to believe that a Grand Prix isn’t just about good work, but also about work that has serious impact. And we felt it did have that impact, but the jury thought otherwise. (Shrugs.)

     

    Any major improvement needed in the Goafest judging process?

    I think we, as an industry, stretch ourselves too thin to find hundred judges. And so we end up having, to a certain extent, judges who are not yet ready for judging. One way to solve that would be to have two categories entirely judged by one set of judges. That itself would bring down the number of judges to fifty. That way we will have a far more concentrated, mature bunch of judges. I judged at the ‘One Show’ and it is the exact opposite out there. One jury judges everything. It’s a nightmare but it can be done.

     

    Don’t you at times miss the comfort of a large agency?

    I am not sure comfort is the right word, but definitely the conveniences. Figuring out your own airline tickets, talking to directors and producers about edit commissions, rates, etc because we don’t have a secretary and a films department. But one doesn’t really miss the conveniences because one is so engrossed in what one’s doing.

     

    Do you have a client servicing team and account planners? Are you following the structural format of traditional agencies?

    We don’t have pure strategic planners. We have servicing guys but the ratio would be the opposite of a large agency. It is 5:1 in favour of creative people. We have a managing partner, his name is Manan Mehta. He’s just about 28 years old and he’s the senior most servicing guy we have.

     

    Are you looking to expand into other cities?

    The only option we talk about is Delhi. We are looking at it, though it may not happen.

     

    How many clients do you have?

    Maximum ten.

     

    Want more or are you happy with that?

    If we have to do more than this we will have to hire more staff.

     

    When you started out you said to me that you guys don’t want to be a large agency. That the day you feel you aren’t able to give personal attention to clients you’ll shut down. Has that view changed?

    (Thinks.) It may be on the cusp of changing. Because so far we have been giving personal attention and therefore we aren’t taking on more clients. We are putting them on to other agencies. We are currently contemplating within the office on where we want to be. If we take on more people, they will be one step removed from Paddy (Santosh Padhi) and me. But we haven’t decided that as yet.

     

    What does your own heart say?

    I think one level removed is still fine. But no further than that. We don’t want a large reporting structure.

     

    Does money spoil?

    Yes, it does.

     

    Rumours have it that Aggie and Paddy are looking for investors to sell the agency and cash in.

    When the multinational networks come to town, they do meet us. We do meet them and talk about exactly this. But in this industry you can’t just sell and go away because no one will buy that. So even after an equity sale we will have to be around for at least five years.

     

    But you will still make a killing. Find that tempting?

    Yes, it is tempting. We have been talking to various people but it’s not worked out inside our heads.

     

    Basically they aren’t making offers you can’t refuse.

    Yeah, possibly.

     

    Okay, enough corporate talk. Let’s move to more interesting stuff. Like creativity. How do you go about creating an ad? Any mantras up your sleeve?

    The process is the same. But within that process there are a few quirks I personally have. We try to push a little more even after we’ve cracked it. We try not to go home early. It’s good old fashioned hard work.

     

    One campaign you’ve done at Taproot that you are most proud of.

    The ‘TeachIndia’ campaign (Times ofIndia). It was good creative and it’s also something I identify with.

     

    With ‘Har ek Friend’ I felt you guys have a good understanding of Young India. Did you hang out with the kids, or was that gut feel work? Do you research before starting out?

    Yes, I do. I try to walk the streets, I walk from Matunga (home) to Mahim (office) many times. I stop at all kinds of shops and observe. I once ordered from the teleshopping network just to see how the packet arrives. And I do these things even when there’s no brief. Also, what’s worked for me is that I get fascinated by people who disagree with me. I like to spend more time with them. I think it’s important for all young people in advertising, or anywhere else, to create a persona where people feel comfortable enough to give them negative feedback.

     

    When you hire, what is the one thing you look for in a young creative person?

    First, I look for resilience. Creative stamina. Because unless you come back as equally strongly as the last time, you will not have a long, successful career. Another thing is keen observation. People who notice things in a room which others don’t. And they should be good listeners.

     

    The biggest challenge facing the creative director of today.

    I think most national creative directors in large agencies are good. But the structure has turned on itself in such a horrible manner that they have no choice but to be so thinly spread that they are not able to do justice to a particular brand. And the reason for that is the accumulation of overheads by large agencies. So instead of one, you have to focus on eight other accounts because there are eighty other guys sponging off that account. See the number of designations going around. So the agencies should free their creative directors from having to do so much.

     

    What will the ad agency look like ten years from now?

    I can’t say ten or fifteen years, but the business will become craft agnostic. For example, there are some people who are creative thinkers or planners. And there are some who are not thinkers but craftsmen. Now these guys, because of their high level of craft, become indispensable. And they are given designations or titles which is actually a function of creative thinking. So good art directors become creative directors and attend research briefings though that’s not their core competency. In the future I see press ad shops, where you can get a press ad made. Or film scripting shops. And the ad agency would be a bunch of free thinkers. I think the unbundling of advertising will move to the unbundling of creative.

     

    Having said all this, is there one senior creative director you do admire?

    (Thinks for a long time.) I like Rajiv Rao (O&M). I think he has a naturally keen eye for aesthetics. He has the ability to boil complex problems down and come up with simplest solutions. And that’s visible in the Vodafone work.

     

    Didn’t you admire the way The Hindu hit back at your campaign for TOI, Chennai? even though it’s a rival brand.

    Yes, their response was very good. It’s a good contest. They could have done the crafting a little better, but otherwise it was very good.

     

    Was there any self-doubt when you started out? During the beginning period?

    Yes, there was a lot of self doubt. In fact, apart from The Times, for some time we had very little business. So we just decided to lie low and consolidate. We were open to the fact that we may have to find jobs again. even now if it doesn’t work out we’ll go and apply for jobs in creative agencies.

     

    One thing about the ad world you don’t like.

    The irrational level of competitiveness. I think it’s great to want to do better, but I wouldn’t applaud somebody else’s mistakes. For example, take the case of hard boiled sweets. Now every client wants to do wacky work in this category because someone started doing it. That’s great news for the whole category. The same thing is happening with electricals. Because of Havells we can’t do a normal ad anymore. We should applaud the people who started it, those who belled the cat. So what I am talking about is the difference between healthy and ruthless competition. The ruthlessness is what I don’t like. The attitude that ‘I didn’t do better so I will pull the other guy down’.

     

  • In Mediaah!, Pradyuman Maheshwari recounts a story on how some marketers had once wanted to shift the Mother's Day date and comments on Siddharth Varadarajan's outburst in The Hindu, Hoshie Ghaswalla’s advice to his editors and how Taproot ought to have won the Grand Prix at Goafest for Airtel.

    Mediaah! The business of Akshaya Tritiya & the plot to shift Mother’s Day to make money!

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    Many years ago, the CEO and promoter of a well-known consumer product company came to meet me at my office at Mid-Day. He brought with him a large volume and said he wanted to seek my advice.

     

    He said that a group of varied Indian organisations had got together to find a solution to a problem: find an appropriate ‘day’ for mothers. While Diwali and Christmas-New Year were good occasions for gifting,  Valentine’s Day had become a great success thanks to “their collective efforts”. There ws a long gap between Feb 14 and Diwali which falls in October and November. Now, the study conducted by a well-known market research firm said the person whom Indians love the most is the mother. So, what’s the problem, I asked.

     

    Well, he said, the issue is that Mother’s Day falls in May in India and that’s when most schools and colleges are shut. And then he dropped the bombshell. So, we were wondering if we can shift the Mother’s Day to sometime when educational institutions are open as kids pick up the maximum of cards and soft toys etc?

     

    I must confess I was struck by the ingenuity of the idea and how some of the most discerning names in Indian industry had got together to consider this.

    The CEO-businessman wanted my views on the issue, and whether the media would pan the move. They had even looked at alternative dates and were considering August 28 since it coincided with Mother Teresa’s birthday.

     

    This meeting happened sometime in June and I wondered how it could be done since we had already had a Mother’s Day that year? No problem, he said. We’ll have two this year, and told me that the group spearheading the move had considered this and didn’t think it would have any problem. We then spoke of how Shivaji Jayanti was observed on two different dates in Maharashtra and it didn’t bother people.

     

    After this meeting, I kept waiting for a fresh date for Mother’s Day that year and in the next, but figured that wider sense had prevailed and the companies didn’t change the date.

     

    A few years later, when I had relocated to Pune, I discovered that Akshaya Tritiya was being celebrated in a big way.  I was told that it was the next auspicious festival after Gudi Padwa for Maharashtrians, and thought it was essentially Pune thingie. Two years later, when I was back in Mumbai, I found that the day had taken roots here too. And now we have most of the country celebrating it. A festival had come out of nowhere.

     

    I have been somewhat radical with some of my religious beliefs, and had faced some heat from colleagues. I think Karva Chauth is regressive and since this occurred to me a decade-and-a-half back, I have ensure that all the publications that I have worked with didn’t carry any pictures of the celebrations. But I was quite pleasantly surprised to read this outburst by Hindu editor Siddharth Varadarajan (courtesy Sans Serif).

     

     Read this carefully:

    “We carried a ‘jacket’ on Monday in our Tamil Nadu editions that featured a message – laid out in the form of an in-house advertisement – to readers on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on behalf of “The Hindu”.

     

    “Neither I, as Editor of The Hindu, nor anyone from the editorial side, was involved in the drafting of this message. Nor did we know of, let alone approve, its contents.”

     

    Makes sense, you would say. But the clincher is Para 3:

    “For the record, it is not The Hindu’s editorial position that Akshaya Tritiya, an occasion that has risen to prominence only relatively recently, is one of “the most auspicious days in the Hindu religion.” Nor can we possibly endorse this statement – “The belief that buying gold on this day would make you prosperous throughout the year is shared by one and all” – or others contained in that message.”

     

    One doesn’t have to dream much to figure what Siddharth Varadarajan’s sentiments are on Akshaya Tritiya. And I don’t think he’s incorrect. I don’t read Hindu since I don’t get it in Mumbai, but am surprised that this announcement was carried. So while it would be interesting to know what CEO Arun Anant has to say on his editor’s comment on what his marketing team would’ve done, there’s no denying that the festival has become as big as it has today thanks only to the collective zeal of some marketers.

     

    **

     

    I am delighted to inform that not all business-to-business publications are giving in to the demands and diktats of advertisers. Especially when it comes to editorial content.

     

    Hoshie Ghaswalla

    My friend Hoshie Ghaswalla, recently appointed CEO of the Cybermedia group (publishers of Dataquest, PC Quest, CIOl etc) has now issued an advisory to all his editors that they oughtn’t worry about the whims of large corporations who love bullying trade media. Note: these are my words, not his.

     

    Hoshie and his editor noticed some misgivings among employees of a laaaarge software corporation on salary raises even as the company had declared huge dividends to shareholders. CIOL went to town on the issue a fortnight back, and if the corp hasn’t done it already, it will soon announce wage revisions.

     

    Hoshie tells me that he has advised his editor on a similar story with a large international computer hardware company. “The problem,” he confesses is “that journalists have for far too long been not wanting to upset large companies who are also big advertisers”.

     

    I jumped to defend his editors and said this must be because of his editors who’ve worked in the past would’ve on their own or were told by his predecessors on not damning the big advertisers. Puff pieces only.

     

    Hoshie didn’t agree. I didn’t complain at all. It’s good to see a sales-driven CEO ask his editors to screw erring companies (who may be existing or potential advertisers). This especially in the trade media where there are many who are known to compromise on editorial integrity and ethics.

     

    ***

     

    Agnello Dias

    It’s been over a week since Goafest happened. While I am happy that the Abby went through peacefully, I was surprised that Taproot didn’t win the Grand Prix for the Airtel ad. It deserved every bit of it, and although the Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi were pretty cool about it when my colleague spoke to him soon after the awards (see link), he has shared his disappointment in an interview with Anil Thakraney (see link). Though not in so many words.

     

    I sincerely hope that Taproot continues to bring us great advertising, attracts some $$$s (okay, let’s make it $$$$$$$$$$$$$s!) from the Big networks and is always rooted to the real world.

     

     

    Buzz me if you have a story to tell. Confidentiality assured. There are various ways you can reach me: pradyumanm[at]mxmindia.com, BBM 23050B5D, Gtalk pradyumanm@gmail.com, Twitter @pmahesh and of course the mobile: 98338 76278.

     

    Disclaimer: Although he is CEO and Editor-in-Chief of this site, Pradyuman Maheshwari’s views in Mediaah! are not necessarily those of the rest of the team and MxMIndia.com. And decidedly not those of the sales team 🙂

     

  • I guess he wants to re-create 'appointment viewing' which Ramayana and Mahabharata used to enjoy in the late eighties/early nineties

    Anil Thakraney: Aamir wants to play God

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    In 2007 when I met Aamir Khan for an interview (Mumbai Mirror), we brought up the issue of his glaring absence from television. Every single big Bollywood hero was busy raking in big bucks from the small screen. The actor appeared quite closed to the idea of television. He said various channels keep approaching him with proposals but they don’t interest him. And added that maybe he will do TV one day when something substantial comes along.

     

    Well, that day has arrived, May 6 to be precise. When Satyamev Jayate goes on air. Aamir has pulled all stops in ensuring that the show gets a roaring opening. Mind blowing marketing budget. Loads of talent in the production team. Simultaneous broadcast on Star and DD. Dubbing in four southern languages. And lots more. Not to speak of the content itself, which going by Khan’s movies, is likely to be both, entertaining and engaging. The challenge for the Star Network would be to recover the huge costs and make some profits. Not sure how that will pan out. What makes their work even tougher is that the show will have just 13 episodes.

     

    However, what caught my attention is the slot chosen for Satyamev Jayate. 11am, Sunday. This is very interesting because it demolishes the popular definition of prime time television. Clearly this is Aamir’s brain child. Guess he wants to re-create ‘appointment viewing’ which Ramayana and Mahabharata used to enjoy in the late eighties/early nineties. This is a big gamble. UrbanIndiahas totally changed in the last two decades. In those days we in the cities had nothing much to do on Sunday mornings. Now we have shopping malls, pubs, dates, multiplexes, Facebook, Twitter and many other distractions. So appointment viewing is going to be a tall task. And this explains the team’s decision to use good ol’ Doordarshan. So that if the urban audiences ditch them, the numbers garnered through DD’s terrestrial broadcast will save the day. Smart thinking.

     

    Anyways, like many other Indians I will be glued to the TV on May 6. 11am. And will also keep looking out at the streets from my window. To check if they are deserted. Like it used to happen when the gods descended into our living rooms on those lazy Sundays.

     

    Can Aamir match the gods? That’s the billion dollar question.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Too, too brilliant for words. This is the sort of stuff naukri.com and other employment portals ought to be doing. It takes a rare advertisement for me to want to the join the ad world again. This one does.

     

  • If it gets established that the man compromised his powerful position, Singhvi ought to be sent to jail, no less. Only then must he become a topic of chat shows

    Anil Thakraney: Singhvi’s colourful CD

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Ok, so the TV studios are yet again buzzing with excited chats on how to censor the social media. The same issues are being gassed upon. Law, freedom of expression, ethics, morality, blah blah. The trigger this time is that horny CD of Congressman Abhishek Manu Singhvi in action, which has gone viral on the net. Singhvi, of course, says the CD is fabricated, but then that’s what they all claim when naughty folks are caught with their pants down.

     

    I watched the video (carefully, hehe) and here are my observations on it, as well as on the television chats.

     

    The English television anchors appear very keen that Singhvi is quickly proved innocent and is re-instated as the Congress spokesman. They aren’t saying so directly, but their arguments and concern for the man is easy to see. This is what happens when you bond with the politicians… you get attached to them. And this sends objectivity for a toss. TV journos based inDelhisimply HAVE to find a way to remain detached and dispassionate.

     

    Yes, a ‘sting operation’ conducted by a disgruntled driver cannot be trusted. Therefore, all speculative discussions on the mass media must immediately end. And we must wait till the forensics guys give us their verdict. This is the fair thing to do.

     

    However, let’s get one thing clear: The chatter on the social media will go on for a bit, one cannot control it; there is no chance of the law finding a way to beat new technology. So instead of frothing over it, it’s best to let it be. Very soon the restless Twitterites will get bored of Singhvi, and will find a new bakra.

     

    Next, the CD itself. Because the audio isn’t clear, as a lay viewer, one cannot ascertain whether Singhvi compromised professionally with the lady lawyer. And if it’s later proved that he did not, and was simply having fun in his office, then the sex romp becomes his wife’s problem, not ours. In which case he should be left alone to sort out his domestic mess. And I say this despite the fact that the man works for a political party. Every individual has the right to his/her personal life. All the more reason the TV debates are being unwittingly unfair to him.

     

    On the other hand, if it gets established that the man compromised his powerful position, Singhvi ought to be sent to jail, no less. Only then must he become a topic of chat shows.

     

    On a lighter note, I have to say Singhvi finally found a way to entertain us. For years he’s been plugging his stained leaders on TV, and boring us to death with his desperately unconvincing arguments. So, a big thank you is in order.

     

    Lastly, wish the driver had done a stint with Tehelka before he decided to trap his boss. No, I have no issues with the poor quality of the video, that’s fine. But the camera angle is ridiculous, it conceals the significant parts. 🙂

     

    * * *

     

    PS: If you are an aspiring copywriter, here’s the link to a recruitment ad. I would vouch for The Creative MaterClass only because it’s run by an ex colleague, Ramesh Ramanathan. And I recall him to be quite a bright and sprightly chap. Though how one can teach creativity is beyond me. Guess I need some whiskeys (in small batches) to figure that.

     

    Link: http://www.creativemasterclass.com/?utm_source=bpb+subscribers+-+site&utm_ campaign=35e5ba6171-Test_Email_II9_10_2009&utm_medium=email

  • It's quite painful to watch the ad. And given that Katrina Kaif is the protagonist, that's a criminal thing to happen

    Debrief: Slice: Ras nahin, boredom barsa

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Slice is back this summer with another ‘Aamsutra’ ad. And it again features Katrina Kaif. ‘Ab Ras Barsega’ is the idea, and that line is pregnant with tantalizing possibilities.

     

    Sadly however, nothing really happens. The pretty lady is seen gallivanting around in a garden, as she alternately consumes lots of mangoes and lots of Slice. A qawwali track plays in the background to give the ad film a movie song feel. Nothing wrong with that per se… after all we do love watching film songs… but the script is so weak, the commercial leaves you high and dry.

     

    Two big problems. For the song treatment to have worked, the TVC needed a little storyline. If romance was the intention, the ad needed the presence of a lover for Kaif, or at least an indication of a lover. If Slice is playing the lover, no wonder it’s a flop show. Secondly, if Kaif had to go solo, which means the entertainment factor rests totally on her shoulders, the ad needed to pack in a lot of raw sensuousness and oomph. But even that doesn’t happen, maybe the advertiser chickened out of it. Kaif looks pretty plain and boring in this TVC.

     

    Net net: It’s quite painful to watch the ad. And given that Katrina Kaif is the protagonist, that’s a criminal thing to happen.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1.5 Good qawwali. Dull video.

     

  • But the point I am making is that while I have no love lost for the politicians, the enraged filmi types must also examine the channel’s role in this mess

    Anil Thakraney: Dirty Picture, Dirty Mess

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The movie world is pissed off over the I&B Ministry abruptly stopping the telecast of the raunchy flick, The Dirty Picture. This was scheduled for screening last Sunday.

     

    Yes, they have every reason to be angry. First, because the film had to undergo as many as 59 cuts in order to make the dirty picture ‘clean’… as in suitable for family viewing on television. This is crazy to begin with. All those unlucky kids who were kicked out of the multiplexes (which is a rare occurrence these days), would have made sure to get hold of a pirated DVD, and would have already enjoyed Vidya Balan’s ‘show’. In that context, the cuts make little sense.

     

    The film frat has also reason to get riled because the I&B Ministry’s sudden intervention renders the censor certificate useless. Nothing more than a meaningless rubber stamp. May as well dismiss the censor board and let the politicians decide what we must or must not watch at home and in the movie halls. So far, so bad.

     

    However, in all this din, everyone overlooked the channel’s role in this dirty drama.

    The Central Board of Film Certification’s guideline clearly states that a UA certified film can be shown only AFTER 11pm. In which case, why did the channel slot the film for primetime viewing? Carelessness or lack of knowledge of the rules or pressure from the sponsors and the advertisers? You can decide the reason, I don’t know.

     

    But the point I am making is that while I have no love lost for the politicians and loathe their unwanted interference in our lives, the enraged filmi types must also examine the channel’s role in this mess. Before they tweet off their collective anger.

    Clearly, the picture is pretty dirty from all angles.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: An author has written a horror story on Twitter. No kidding! And he’s picked up a huge number of followers. Amazing and interesting. Makes me think: This could be a medium for putting out fantastic, engrossing ad scripts. Those with engaging stories.

     

    Consider this: Cost: no issues. Production headaches: zero. No need for expensive celebs. And the 30 second duration killed. Copywriters must give this brand new medium a serious thought.

     

    Link: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/r-l-stine-posts-a-horror-story-on-twitter_b47126

     

     

  • In short, IDEA fails this time on all counts. What a mess! They may as well have chosen hell as the setting. That may have been apt

    Debrief: IDEA 3G: Sirji, it’s not working!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    The IDEA guys are back with another set of ads featuring Small B. This time to promote their 3G smartphone apps. There is one app which apparently drives mosquitoes away, and no, I didn’t make that up!

     

    The problem IDEA has been facing with its advertising is: They have taken on two tasks. One, to change the world. And two, to make you laugh out loud while they are at it. This is a rather dicey deal, and it’s no wonder that IDEA’s advertising is highly inconsistent. When they get the balance right, the effort shines, as was the case with the ‘mass migrations’ ad. And when they go wrong, they go badly wrong, as is the case with the new campaign.

     

    The idea this time is: ‘An IDEA can change your afterlife’. And so, Small B is seen selling 3G apps to creatures in heaven. I watched some commercials and was left scratching my head on what in heaven’s name is going on. Who is Small B? Is he the god of death? Or an angel? Or an earthling who’s taken a non-stop flight to heaven? Why on earth has heaven been chosen as the setting for this campaign? (I am all for surprising solutions but not for senseless solutions.) Is this not creating confusion instead of adding clarity to the communication? Also, what’s the public service message out here? And as if all this chaos isn’t enough, there is zero wit in the scripts. The forced humour leaves you totally irritated.

     

    In short, IDEA fails this time on all counts. What a mess! They may as well have chosen hell as the setting. That may have been apt.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 0. Confusing & boring