MxMIndia

Tag: Dream 11

  • Fantasy cricket apps & brand-building- A lesson for advertising agencies?

    Fantasy cricket apps & brand-building- A lesson for advertising agencies?

    With apologies to none at all

    Vikas MehtaBy Vikas Mehta

    My last column titled ‘Why are we building products and not brands’ seemed to have sparked off many reactions. Some raw, I dare say. The questions ranged from differentiation to personality to digital. But one question stood out. I was asked if all new age brands are just products? Is there anyone building a brand?

    The answer was not difficult, but I will take the liberty of using this column to explain how a brand is being built by a new age product. Disclaimer first: I have nothing to do with the brand except I know the founder of the communication company which is spearheading the brand-building exercise. This is totally an outsider’s perspective.

    I am talking about Dream 11.

    Not many know that the brand was launched in 2008. The fantasy cricket app which is what they are all about today was launched in 2012 and by 2014 they had a million registered users. This figure rose to around 45 million around 2018, just when serious brand-building efforts started and today, the figure stands at around 150 million. I am deliberately starting with numbers because this is a brand which has been successful by all standards.

    The brand started advertising during the Indian Premier League (IPL) around 2018 or so. It had a simple positioning. The cricketers, who play for India, back Dream 11. It was decidedly an endorsement but an endorsement done with a positioning, personality and differentiation in mind.

    First, they aligned with the best Indian cricketers. Dhoni, Rohit, Pant, Bumrah, Hardik, Ashwin, Dhawan. Dhoni dropped out after a season or two but the core has remained the same. One of the first campaigns I remember was using Dhoni which was about khelo dimaag se. Dhoni was always an astute cricketer and the brand used his personality to show that it was a game of skill and not luck. This was required at the time because Indian laws did not allow any game which could be seen as betting or lottery. So khelo dimaag se, worked for the brand in more ways than one.

    And then the brand took off. It decided that its personality needs to be light fun, cricket humour, and showing the human face of the Indian cricketers.

    The positioning evolved into snippets of Indian street cricket as portrayed by star Indian cricketers. It was not too focused, neither too narrow. It did not get bogged down by a consistent tagline. I am not saying that consistent tagline is bad but the positioning is not just what the brand says in a tagline. Positioning is what the consumer stores in his mind. A tagline is static, positioning needs to evolve. Not change but evolve. Dream 11 did it brilliantly.

    Yeh apna game hai

    Yeh main kar leta hoon tum Dream 11 pe team banao

    Dream big. Dream 11

    Sab khelenge

    Team se bada kuch nahin.

    And each one of these taglines had a story. An emotion.

    Weaved into the game as played by Indians everyday. Using the Indian stars.

    Remember, pehle main batting karoonga kyonki bat mera hai, leaving Rohit stumped. Yeh apna game hai. Watch here

    Or the film stars like Amir challenging the cricketers who are acting in ads.  Sab khelenge. Watch here.

    Pant’s dream of becoming a singer or Bumrah acting as a romatic hero. Dream Big. Watch here.

    Or even magnifying the role of seemingly insignificant people. Ashwin’s soup wallah. Or the groundsman who prepared pitches for Rohi. Allowing them to Dream big. Watch here.

    And Sharmaji ka beta. Team se bada kuch nahin. Watch here.

    The brand owned cricket. And how.

    For IPL, it focused on team or club rivalry which overtook national rivalry. So even cricketers from other nationalities were used. Even family members. Sunil Shetty for example.

    For World Cups there was collectiveness, national pride. Ek se dikhoge toh best kheloge. The Mummyjee ad.

    This was brand building at its best.

    Dominate cricket. Own cricket. Emotionally own the category.

    And they did many other things too. If one searches for Dream 11 on YouTube there are many videos made by the brand which are not brand-building but which support brand-building. Stories of ordinary people who won big. Videos of how easy it is to play the app. Videos made by influencers on why winning is so easy. Or videos on how Dream 11 employees have grown…… Watch here

    And you know what. The competition too did all these. My circle 11. MPL. They too have such videos. They have big offers. Rs one crore prize everyday. An SUV to win everyday. They too talk about the big winners. They too have influencers in you tube videos. They have also used some Indian stars like Shubhman, Rinku, even Sourav Ganguli in the past.

    But what they don’t have is a brand.

    That is distinct.

    That differentiates. Emotionally.

    That dominates the category.

    Chances are that if you want to play fantasy cricket you will first download Dream 11.

    Because you remember it.

    Because you connect with it.

    Because it seems to dominate cricket.

    In a category where big prize matters.

    Where spends are high

    And where quantitative parameters are easy to judge by.

    So how much you spend where, gets immediate results or not can be the sole criteria to judge success.

    In such a category, Dream 11 has built a differentiating, preferred and leadership brand.

    So, should we still focus on products?

    And ignore brand-building?

    In my mind that is the role of advertising agencies.

    Build brands.

    That is the focus which the agencies have lost.

    And that is why they are struggling.

    Agencies need to start reemphasizing the need to build a brand.

    Do not tell me that clients do not want it.

    Do agencies explain it to them?

    Do the agencies explain what the brand idea is?

    How it can be differentiating and can be sustained long term.

    The agencies are trying to do what the clients want.

    Not what the brands need.

    Agencies need to create a niche.

    And they will find it is much beyond a niche.

    Do you agree?

     

  • Pan Masala ads with washed out celebs dominated IPL advertising, rues Vikas Mehta

    IPL Advertising – An apt reflection of the advertising industry

     

     

    With apologies to none at all

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSure, the IPL this year has been as exciting as ever. Sure, Gujarat Titans have established themselves as a force to reckon with. Sure, CSK with the evergreen M S Dhoni still around, have shown that they are not a spent force. Sure, Mumbai Indians with a 34-year-old spin bowler who was bought as an afterthought, being the leading wicket-taker, have proved that the game is now totally batsmen-dominated.

    And surely, the advertising during the IPL touched new depths of despair.

    I say this with conviction because of four solid reasons:

     

    One, a big number of brands used old ads which had been running on mass media for months. So, IPL which was once an event where new campaigns would be launched or for some brands like Vodafone ZooZoo, the IPL was the only platform to advertise had now become a rerun platform for old ads.

     

    Two, it was not a category like mobile phones, or chocolates or cold drink which dominated advertising but a category like Pan Masala with surrogate ads which dominated the advertising charts.

     

    Three, even new age category players like Cred or Phone Pe gave the tournament a miss.

     

    Four, there were very few ads which did not have a celebrity. Which means that lazy advertising was at work. Just get a celebrity and spend money on location was the celebrity mantra. Or get more than one celebrity and fit them in a frame, on location. Or better still get some old, well past their sell by date celebrities and fit them into split frames, on location. As a result, advertising ideas or stories were totally missing.

     

    The twist in the tale was one brand, Dream 11, which took the celebrity route and tried all the tricks of the trade mentioned above. And yet came up with the most compelling and memorable ad campaign of IPL.

     

    The trick in the tale was that Dream 11 started with an advertising idea. Cricket stars being challenged to cricket by film stars. With a simple but endearing idea that can spawn off many anecdotes, the brand continued to evoke interest right through the event with different executions.

     

    And the biggest reason why this campaign worked was that it had many executions. It was not a one-off but seemed like a continuous soap opera. With the idea firmly established the brand effortlessly continued the story with simple executions. The personal touch like Rohit Sharma ribbing Aamir Khan about his not attending award ceremonies or Aamir Khan being a stickler for perfection, kept the audience interest high.

     

    For a tournament that lasted for two months, it’s not easy for a brand to create interest and sustain it. And for a product like Dream 11 which is all about gaming, where each match means more footfalls, more revenue for the brand, the essential thing is to maintain interest and involvement. Dream 11 achieved this wonderfully. My only grouse with Dream 11 was that it could have involved the audience much more. With a firmly established idea and a galaxy of celebrities involved, they could have invited the audience to send in their own scripts. Some good ones could have been executed and some more even shared and acknowledged.

     

    Advertising has to go beyond just ads. In its glory days, before the advent of digital, the advertising folks would think of an activation idea. Today, that proactiveness or that going beyond the call of duty has been lazily surrendered to digital. The problem is not digital but the lack of an idea. That leads to a one off which just drowns in the sea of ads that are visible during an event like IPL.

     

    Mind you, there is a difference between having an idea which can be executed in different ways and just running a series of ads. Tata Neu and Tata Tiago go.ev. Both the brands which are from the IPL main sponsor stable, spend heavily and did make their presence felt during the tournament telecast. But in my mind, these were like a press announcement. Specially the Tata Neu coins ads. The brand was trying to exhort users to use the app more and get more rewards. It did have many executions. It did start with some promise. I thought there was a sliver of an idea in the continuity loop of buying something, getting some coins, buying something else with those coins but it looked as if the brand custodians themselves were not sure of the idea. The execution idea with humour involved could have been sustained but it was hastily abandoned with the need or pressure of increasing app usage and finally it was all about the announcements of extra coins etc. A pity as a floundering product like Tata Neu app could have been revitalised with an idea-led campaign and not just a series of ads.

     

    This was the promising beginning Tata Neu, And this was the abysmal level it dropped to. Pun intended after you watch the ad. Tata Neu drop

     

    Tiago ev.go tried to sell the category of electric vehicles with the hackneyed idea of “so many reasons to buy a EV” And the execution of why go.ev # number was worse. Again, they tried humour as a route but most executions fell flat. Another case of missed opportunity. Watch

     

    But for me the most tragic case of advertising on IPL was of Airtel. Tragic, because this brand was built on the back of some great advertising campaigns. Tragic, because the brand had a new offering 5G to talk about and in the absence of its biggest competitor Jio, which had dominated IPL in the recent year with its inane celebrity led advertising, Airtel had a unique chance to build on its legacy. Tragic also because Airtel is headed by one of the sharpest marketing minds in India and it is sad that Airtel produced this drivel under his watch. See it here.

     

    And finally, an epitaph for soft drink advertising on IPL. The timing of IPL is just right for soft drink category. The onset of summer, the sight of players sweating, the humid conditions all add up to a great opportunity for the category. And yet Thums Up came with some apology of ads with Shah Rukh Khan and though Pepsi did come up with an interesting ad with Ranveer Singh, its presence was hardly noticed.

     

    It’s indeed a sad state of affairs when a category like Pan Masala with mostly washed out celebrities, dominated the IPL advertising scenario. It was an apt reflection of the sorry state of Indian advertising industry.

     

  • Vikas Mehta feels imprisoned by a cacophony of repetitive and listless ads on the TV/OTT coverage of the Indian Premier League 2023

    IPL: Are we the prisoners of advertisers’ laziness?

     

     

    With apologies to none at all

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSome people have equated IPL matches as the equivalent of modern-day colosseum games with the two teams being the gladiators. The stadiums are a riot of screaming chanting spectators who are fenced in almost like prisoners. I tend to agree, having watched one or two matches at the stadium before the pandemic. But I think the same spectacle is at home too. Specially if one is watching the match on a big screen. Except one feels like being imprisoned by a cacophony of repetitive and listless ads. Not to forget the myriad ads by the channel which keep on promoting the matches endlessly.

     

    I used a strong word, prisoner. For many reasons. Because most of the ads are bad. I am sorry there is no better word to describe how I feel about the decline of a profession with which I was associated for quite a long time.  And I think everyone is getting caught in a vicious economic cycle, with we, the audience at home, getting the wrong end of the stick at the lowest end of the food chain.

     

    As a sport, IPL is definitely a hot property. It’s sport, entertainment, tamasha and money all rolled into one. And it can’t get bigger. The biggest name in world cricket are a part of it. There is a bottomless pit of unlimited audience and there are big brands and corporates ready to shower crores on it. Safe to say that IPL has made the BCCI the big bully of world cricket. But in all this, the viewers, who sit at home and watch the matches on TV and through streaming, who are the reasons that the brands spend the big bucks are being served up some sports in the cacophony of the ads. Hardly a decade ago, when the IPL started, brands and companies would work towards preparing some memorable communication for the IPL. But the decline is alarming.

     

    Many people put the blame on arrival of digital. On lack of enough data to measure ad effectiveness. On short attention spans. But all of this is irrelevant. What has happened is that in the guise of all of the above both, marketeers and advertisers have become lazy.

     

    Lazy enough to repeat product proposition and forgetting the role of desired response. Lazy enough to finetune the target audience and not talk to all. Lazy enough to get some celebrities and not bother to see if their personality matches with the brand’s. Lazy enough not to have an idea which the target group can relate to. And to sum it up, lazy enough to not weave a story but happy with hammering a generic benefit while glamming it up with technical effects.

     

    And still worse, in today’s day and age lazy enough to run ads which have been on air for past few months. Be it Kingfisher, Kamla Pasand, Rajashree Pan Masala, Vimal Pan Masala, TVS tyres, Macho underwear…….and all of them use celebrities, most of whom do not fit the brand personality.

     

    There are some new ads. Spinny. It’s a vehicle buy, sell and upgrade platform. And they use not one or two but three ex-cricketers. Tendulkar, Kumble and Yuvraj. I am not even getting into if the brand personalities match but I did not even get what the product is or how it is different from other vehicle resell platforms. And seriously, does the brand want us to believe that these three are the best of friends who would be going for long drives in ordinary vehicles?

     

    Those of you who read my last column here, will remember that I had singled out the Dream 11 ad as a stand out. It’s follow up ads are also very well done. I think that amidst a clutter of fantasy sports brands, it’s Dream 11 advertising which has positioned the brand brilliantly. The others, inspite of using celebrities, are a haze of similar sounding and similar offering brands.

     

    I had asked my readers to revert with their comments on the Ranveer Singh Pepsi ad. Some who responded, mostly GenZ, gave it a thums up. I think it’s a good ad, could have been better, but Pepsi has finally found a celebrity which matches its brand persona. Frankly, I wonder what took them so long. I always slotted, Ranvir as the Pepsi type of a guy.

     

    Then there is the new Rupay Visa card ad. A very good example of story telling while communicating the product proposition. Well crafted, good stimulus and sustains interest. Watch it here.

     

    In a similar vein is the new Maaza ad with Amitabh Bachchan. I thought the second ad in the series, worked very well. It sticks to the product benefit. It uses the personality of Mr. Bachchan and very nicely superimpose it onto the brand and in an interesting way also takes care of the target groups desired response. Here it is.

     

    Last IPL, Tata the key moneybags of the tournament, had launched the Tata Neu super app. While the product got a lot of flak and the consumer experience was not as great as thought, the communication has not disappointed. Even this year, the peppy, making shopping an enjoyable experience, the ads have focused on the story of Neu coins helping you buy more. The short stories have good humour and they have focused on the product proposition interestingly.

     

    Just when one thought that things were looking up, I came across this ad for Happilo. So, you are an official sponsor. You can use some cricketers. Their availability is an issue. They maybe cannot act or emote. What does one do? Use them in a song and dance. Use them against a chroma background. Superimpose the shots with some tech wizardy. Get a rap sounding song. Highlight all benefits in the lyrics. Use some GenZ typical words or phrases. Let the brand name be mouthed in direct proportion to the number of seconds that the celebrities can speak. Voila! You have an ad.

     

    Can it be worse? Yes, watch this Ceat tyre ad with three cricketers.

    I am bailing out. Need a release from all these ads.

    So, next week I am off to watch a match. Maybe it’s better to be a prisoner in the colosseum of a stadium rather than in my TV room. Will keep you all posted.

     

  • Advertising, ease of playing and the low entry cost have made many of them socially accepted, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Gambling or Game of Skill?

     

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Sanjeev KotnalaPolarised views are part of life. Most of us may have polarised views on gambling, drinking, smoking, pornography and prostitution. Ethics and morality are always contextual and comparative. However, there is confusion when it comes to gambling disguised as a ‘Game Of Skill’. I don’t have extreme views about it, despite being overexposed to their unrepentant, hugely dominant share of screens near me.

     

    I am an impulsive gambler. I love it. Whenever abroad or in Goa, I visit casinos. And if nothing else, I am known to bet harmlessly on random things. I have taught the basics of casino games to many and have seen wealth created and destroyed, sometimes within a few hours. Moderation in gambling has been the key for me. And fortunately, till now, life has been easy as the opportunities were fewer.

     

    As an advertising and marketing person, I am willing to put my expertise into helping anything that is not illegal. That would include gambling apps (game of skill) acceptable and completely legal in many Indian geographies.

     

    In the last few years, legalised gambling with cricket has grown manifold. Dream 11, My Circle and what not. Everyone tells you, you can win big though it carries the possibility of financial risk and may lead to addiction.

     

    Advertising, ease of playing and the low entry cost have made them socially accepted. Around the dinner table, parents and kids discuss their teams and their earnings in the morning.

     

    These new-age gambling companies have been the rebel, masquerading their luck-based game as a game of skill and convincing decision-makers. In sharp contrast to permission to app-driven platforms, Deltin Daman, a brick-and-mortar casino in Daman, is waiting for approvals to start.

     

    Some late entrants are still waiting as this type of gambling is not legal everywhere in India. There are apps playing Share Market within the share market. New forms of skills and talent demanding games are entering, including cryptocurrencies.

     

    Like any other gambling, the gaming apps are instinct-based, and expectations are fuelled by past experiences. Imagery is designed and amplified due to the possibility and desire for easy money and not necessarily adventure or entertainment. Many gamblers on these apps see money as one of the social discriminators and are just wishing for the jackpot.

     

    A small win is enough to amplify the flight of their dreams and exponentially enhance their chances of further participation. In other terms, move towards the ultimate spiral of addiction and financial doom. None of them likes to listen and acknowledge that, in reality, they are funding others and moving towards addiction. Remember, the house never loses.

     

    I believe playing these team selection based skill games needs no more skill or talent than picking the winning single-digit lottery. It is uncertainty and luck. It is nothing but an open-eyed conscious gamble where past performance is no guarantee of any future performance, and results are entirely luck-based. This is true for the gambler and the players they pick. So, where is the question of skill?

     

    Self-regulation is merely not doing anything illegal. In this case, it is limited to carrying desired mandated warnings. The business inherently wants more and more people to play more and more often. There are no algorithm-driven cut-offs and sudden flag-offs to flash out the out-of-characteristics betting. Just because minor loopholes and legal armour breaches allow the floods to enter, do we open the floodgates? It seems that is the way these apps see it.

     

    In ads, we showcase how the horses worked hard, supported by their close ecosystem to reach the pinnacle of their success, so you can now bet on them. The bigness of a possible win. We keep telling the audience: dream big, and gambling will help you realise their dreams. And someone kidnaps the experts to learn the game of skill. It is so upfront that the most vulnerable audience starts treating it as truth.

     

    Every gambling app defence is it is a game of skill. I know that blackjack, poker and even our local teen patti or chaucer are more skill and less luck-based than making an IPL team. The spate of these app advertisemetns, funding and persuasion- will make it seem like the whole industry is one way or the other connected with these gambling apps.

     

    Knowing that nothing will be achieved. The dice are clearly loaded in favour of the betting apps, and the decision-makers have given them the status of being a Game of Skill.

     

  • 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?

     

  • 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.

     

     

  • Sanjeev Kotnala of action cues of audio-visual ‘hammering’ in a recent communication

    Brand Signature Moves… Sahi Hai?

     

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Sanjeev KotnalaAfter a long time, I am enjoying some of the advertising I see. And the buzz is not because the brands have purposefully commented on some rituals. The ideas are well-presented and powerfully pushed to the audience. Intentional communication delivers a directional message to the unconscious mind. And, if this was unintentional, maybe it is a good post-rationalisation for the idea.

     

    I may not have thought so, but then my friend and consultant Vermajee drew my attention to it. He elaborates over Lawson Williamson, his newly acquired taste in mid-level whiskey. I think he has been minutely observing judges empathising on signature moves of Dance India contestants. I guess it made Vermajee focus on brand signature lines, action cues of audio-visual hammering in a recent communication.

     

    YEH SAHI HAI

    Mutual fund communication at every possible opportunity reiterates ‘Sahi Hai’  for investing in Mutual Funds. The regulatory warning that is part of the communication does not matter. As the statement ‘Sahi Hai’ gets repeated, it starts making sense. In fact, more sense than it should. The uninitiated investors who must rethink their options start seeing Mutual funds with coloured glasses. Their confidence gets further enhanced with every new story, exposure of Sahi Hai loaded with strong visual cues. The pause and the applause are perfectly timed. The use of cricketers – caution statement- logical explanation- push for meeting experts. Saab Sahi Hai. Only if they can get the verbal nail a visual hammer to amplify it further.

     

     

    CARBONATED THOUGHTS

    ‘Toofan Wahi Jo Sab Palat De’ says Thums up. The character dramatically tilts the bottle upside down. It is a powerful visual cue. Drink and flip. The whole story is engaging and delivered powerfully. It again leaves you with a strong visual hammer and an audio nail. The tonality is all masculine and charged up, just like the extra string drink.

     

     

    FANTASY LEAGUE DRUMMING THE DREAM.

    The Dream stories in Dream-11 shout loudly. The brand tells you stories of realised dreams.  It wants you too to dream big. The seed is implanted subconsciously. Think Big. Dream Big. Bet Big. In most fantasy leagues, there is an additional challenge to beat the selection of superstars of cricket. They hurt the ego of an armchair critic who thinks he knows better. The challenge must then be accepted. The game is now beating the cricket superstar acumen as a team selector.

     

    I have been a fan of Dream-11 communications through the years and the way it is evolving. A robust strategic intent and planning is apparent. They know where they are going. From celebrating teams and gully cricket, anything for the game, Dimag se Khel- eek hi Dhoni– Game hai Mahan to realising big dreams. It is different that I see a need for strong regulations for fantasy leagues because of their addictive- habit-forming nature. Any day would love to meet and interact with the Marketing teams behind it.

     

     

    CRED GAINS CREDIBILITY WITH FREQUENCY

    Cred is the joker in the House. One may question the need for high decibel advertising that the brand indulges in. But there is an established format now for the brand. It has two parts. The static, fixed part A and the tactically changing part B with celebrities like Rahul Dravid– Kapil Dev– Neeraj Chopra and more. Cred is leveraging a reverse flip. If the second statement is engaging, humorous and authentic, the earlier information must also be similar. Making that strongly uninteresting functional statement enjoyable enough. Frankly, I hate it- because even though people remember the celebrity stunts- the brand association is strong enough. Strategically, quirky Cred  is building its own unique communication signature.

     

     

    STRONG BYJU

    Byju intrigues. It uses jealousy and competitiveness along with a rational explanation. It seems to be working. I loved how Byju exploited vulnerable parents during the Parent Day #Honourtheirsacrifice with short clips of students. Vermajee rightly points out that Byju was not reminding students of the sacrifices their parents made. It was pushing parents down memory lane. There is always a better chance of them relating to the problems better them than the students.

     

     

    ALL IS NOT WELL

    There are few brand communication that confuses me. I fail to understand the primary intent and why the brand is doing what it is doing.

     

    MISSING UNACADEMY

    Now the last one. #TeachThemYoung by Unacademy is a cryptic one. What the hell is the brand connection? What were they selling or proposing? Even Vermajee is zapped. He tried to decipher the brand intent and gave up. Maybe the stakeholders know better.

     

     

    GOBHI AALU DISCOUNT – NETMED

    ‘Netmeds’ discount advertising featuring Kareena and Karishma Kapoor is silly and confusing. Why should one fall ill to earn discounts on medicine? And that too for vegetables. How sick should I be to get a decent discount at Netmeds to buy even a one-time vegetable? Do I buy medicines t get a discount, or do I purchase medication at a discount? Creative license?

     

    The Netmeds ad on trust and ‘discount on medicine is possible’ works because it reflects customer apprehensions. I would have loved it if they had stuck to quality medicine delivered on time and at a reasonably discounted price. But, please, stop the Gobhi-Aloo discount on medicines.

     

     

    NET-NET 

    We are living in an era of information parity, easy access and social connectivity. Everyone is sharing suggestions- recommendation or their skewed point of view. The brands need to be extra cautious in developing their signature tag, a signature move supported and held by a verbal nail repeatedly hammered visually. Some brands discover it. Sometimes it is a mistake that gets post rationalised. But always better to spend that more time in developing and investing in creating communication with brands signature touch- Just like Men will be men, a powerful idea holding it together. The thought is the brand signature, but the brand association could be stronger. Maybe, (I say maybe as I can’t think how) a consistent signature visual hammering to further strengthen it.

     

     

    You may finally have a signature move or not, a verbal nail or not and a visual hammer or not- but be alive to the reality and life of your audience- be sensitive to their beliefs, region and religion

     

     

     

  • Come on not everything is about TG and tonality etc. We are talking about ads and sometimes, they do need to break the mould, writes Vikas Mehta

    AdOnIPL21: Hits & Misses

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSo, the pandemic caught up with IPL too. And some of us are surely going through withdrawal symptoms each evening. But the futility of the sport hits you starkly when a few near and dear one gets affected, as it happened to yours truly too.

     

    Let me bring this series to a logical end. Today I will share with you my hits and misses from the ads released during the IPL. And my Gen Z sample, undoubtedly will have a say in this too.

     

    Frankly, it is easy to talk about the misses. Some of the worst ads featured Ranveer. The toss up in my mind was between JioFiber and JD Mart. Maybe Ranveer should give up endorsing brands starting with J. And on this my Gen Z sample was in total unanimity with me.

     

    Then there were the soft drinks ads. Be it Pepsi, which surprisingly used the old Salman Khan or be it the Coke global ad which desperately tried to have some Indian feel to it. Or the Priyanka Chopra-led B Fizz ads (ok, Gen Z sample did like this one). Or the Katrina Kaif Slice ad which used the 1970s Pepsi Taste Challenge thought but without any conviction. Or the you-blink-and-miss Maaza ad. Or the, you have seen one, you have seen them all, Frooti ads. This category was the biggest disappointment for me at the IPL. What a fall for a category which, till just a few years ago would produce some of the best ads, year after year. And my Gen Z sample had a pertinent point to make. Why did most of the soft drink ads use celebrities who are past their sell-by-date? Maybe because Gen Z celebrities are flash in a pan Tik Tok or Instagram celebrities who shine for a few moments and are quickly replaced by a newer sensation, I suggested. Maybe because the creators of these ads are millennials who are still clinging to the celebrities of their own generation. But a point to ponder.

     

    That question from my Gen Z sample made me think hard and I wondered about another interesting trend. Hardly any cricketer or sportsperson is promoting any of these soft drink nowadays. Bah! That’s easy, said my Gen Z sample. Sportsperson are now more conscious about not associating with unhealthy products. Hmm! I think of Tendulkar with the chubby, wholesome look and then the image of a fit, diving, hurtling Kohli flashes in my mind and though I nod in agreement, give me a Tendulkar any day over a Kohli.

     

    But I digress, who am I to pontificate? I will just continue with my hits and misses. The biggest yawn, no, the biggest turn off for me was the Salman Khan’s Elaichi flavour ad. Till I was corrected by Gen Z sample. The brand was not Salman Khan. I stood corrected. I would prefer the Bolo Zuban Kesari ad any day. So what if it features two more vintage actors. At least it was shot in London and not on a cheap looking Bollywood set.

     

    Hey, all is not doom and gloom. The IPL did have its moments. Not many, but some did stand out. The Phone Pe series for example. For me, this was the stand out IPL campaign. Benefit lead, short plots that did not need major explanation and had ample subjects to reignite interest every time you saw them. In fact re-viewing these was always a pleasure. And these also amplified the stimulus response theory of communication very well, Eh! What’s that, asked my Gen Z sample. Finally, I could pontificate a bit. Do not say the benefit in the ad. But give a stimulus that makes the viewer say the benefit. That’s when generic benefits like easy to use, convenient, fast etc are not only remembered but appropriated by the brand. For the first time I noticed a look of appreciation from Gen Z sample. Small mercies!

     

    Of course the gully cricket ads of Dream 11 were a big hit too. And so were the Dhoni ads for the same brand which epitomised the using of brains to build your fantasy team. But then MPL did a neat little coup by questioning the use of brains in the Hindi proverb-led series. The MPL ads also demonstrated that a good idea can easily upstage the presence of celebrities like Ranveer (again), Dada or Rahane (My 11 circle) or for that matter even K. Rahul (Gamezy).

     

    Finally, it was Cred that stole the show. While the Dravid ad got lot of attention and social media chatter and even though the Jackie Shroff and Kumar Sanu follow up ads were a pale shadow, I think the boy band ad was quite brilliant. For my Gen Z sample it was not just hilarious but as it spoke their language and actually addressed them, it was endearing. Come on not everything is about TG and tonality etc. We are talking about ads and sometimes, they do need to break the mould. Cred is a winner on that front.

     

  • Ranveer Singh and MS Dhoni are most recalled brand ambassadors in the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) study on advertising recall in IPL 2021. Shah Rukh Khan topped the report in 2019 and MS Dhoni was at No 1 in 2020

    Ranveer Singh & Dhoni top IPL recall rankings

    By Our Staff

     

    Both actor Ranveer Singh and cricketer MS Dhoni have have done equally well in the annual IPL ad recall research of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) conducted 10 days after the start of the league this year. The research polled 879 respondents in the age-group of 18-35 years (M=481, F=398) across India. The interviews were conducted telephonically.

     

    Dream 11 was the most spontaneously recalled brand in this year’s survey, which possibly also helped enhance both the brand equity and recall of Dhoni who anchored the 12-ad series for the brand as its ambassador and protagonist. Jio Fiber, with multiple IPL teams featured with an effervescent Ranveer Singh gyrating with a sing-song brand message, came in second on recall in the research, also helping the celebrity endorser to considerably strengthen his personal recall. Byju’s was the most spontaneously recalled brand on the IPL last year; though its celebrity endorser Shah Rukh Khan trailed behind other celebrities.

     

    Expectedly, Virat Kohli did well on recall too and came third in the recall rankings. Salman Khan did surprisingly well in this year’s survey and came in at No. 4, ahead of Rishabh Pant, Rahul Dravid, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Saurav Ganguly who followed in that sequence. Ajay Devgn, Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ayushmann Khurrana and Akshay Kumar, on the other hand, had very few mentions and scored very poorly on respondent recall. There were sporadic mentions of Virender Sehwag and Priyanka Chopra too. In the last survey conducted in October 2020, MS Dhoni had the highest spontaneous recall as a celebrity endorser. Virat Kohli was a not-so-close second. Akshay Kumar was at rank 3; Ayushmann Khurrana at rank 4.

     

    Said Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chief Mentor of IIHB: “MS Dhoni and Ranveer Singh had a disproportionate share of visibility and recall in the IPL research we just conducted. This was in synch with the ultra-high recall of the brands they respectively endorse. It is interesting nevertheless to note that brands without celebrities like Phone Pe, Byju’s and others too have done well wherever media investments are heavy”.

     

    IIHB team used its proprietorial Celebar tool based on Celebrity Brand Association & Recognition to assign a metric score to each celebrity and associated brand. The tool takes into account:

    • Spontaneous recall of the brand

    • Spontaneous recall of the celebrity

    • Association between brand & celebrity together

    • Recency of communication

    • Media weight behind campaign

    • Solus versus multiple brands using the celebrity

     

    MS Dhoni had a Celebar score of 87, up from 82 at the last IPL. His spontaneous recall was an unusually high 82%. His association with Dream 11 was also very constant at 79% from the last edition. He got 9% association with IPL/Star TV, 8% brand association with Indigo Paints, 6% with Orient Fans for Orient Fans and Livfast Solar. 2% recall came from SunFeast Yippee. So, most of Dhoni’s brand goodness got hijacked by Dream 11, much like last year. If Dhoni had only been endorsing Dream 11, his Celebar score would have been near 100, given his strong association with that one brand, to almost the relative exclusion of the other brands he endorses.

     

    Ranveer achieved a Celebar score of 86, empirically almost equal to that of MS Dhoni. But his association was more democratically spread with Jio Fiber at 56%, JD mart at 48%, My11Circle at 22% and Bingo at 18%. Names of some other brands were mentioned by respondents but these were filtered out as they were not part of the IPL broadcast.

     

    Both MS Dhoni and Ranveer gained massively also on account of their main brands spending disproportionately large amounts of media monies which made them exponentially more visible than other competing celebrities.

     

    Virat Kohli trailed behind the Top 2. His score of 45 on Celebar is mostly derived by his 94% association with MRF tyres. Bluestar is in low single digits on association.

     

    Salman Khan at a Celebar of 38, owes 82% recall to Rajshree elaichi and the balance to Pepsi. Rishabh Pant climbed up interestingly to No. 5 on the strength of his JSW appearances. Varun Dhawan had 76% of his recall from Lux Cozi and much lower from Frooti. Alia owed most her recall also to Frooti with scattered mentions of Dark Fantasy.

     

    Interestingly, the IPL seems to be running no/few ads with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, and even with cricketers Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul or Hardik Pandya, or the media weightages behind those ads were too insignificant to be noticed by viewers.

     

    The Cred ad for Rahul Dravid was spontaneously recalled by 17% respondents but only 2% remembered Jackie Shroff and only 1% mentioned Kumar Sanu for the same brand.

     

    Mutual Funds (AMFI) ads had 22% recall but most respondents got the protagonists mixed up, with the most attributing the messaging to Dhoni and Kohli.

     

    Dream 11’s association with multiple cricketers was mentioned by many respondents but most were not sure if they remembered current creatives. Only the connect with MS Dhoni was unambiguous.

     

    Despite heavy media weights, Vimal Elaichi ad featuring Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan had only an 8% recall. Netmeds with Kareena Kapoor and Renuka Shahane had a good 9% recall. Priyanka Chopra’s Appy Fizz and Katrina’s Slice were almost not recalled. Hema Malini managed 3% recall on Kent RO. Randhir Kapoor’s Asian Paints managed 4% while Kareena Kapoor’s and Pankaj Tripathi’s Berger creatives both got below 1%. Ayushmann was remembered by less than 1% in Urban Company. Gajaraj Rao was mentioned in less than 1% for Voltas. Unacademy featuring Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle too scored poorly at 2%. Gamezy featuring KL Rahul got less than 1% recall.

     

    On the ads without celebrities, the most remembered were Phone Pe (32%), Byju’s (31%), Vivo (22%), One Plus (21%), Groww (20%), Upstox (20%), Kia (19%), MPL (18%), Bisleri (11%), PharmEasy (11%), Thums Up(9%), Coca Cola (6%), Renault Kiger (6%), Tata Safari (6%), Skoda (3%), Ajio (3%), Dark Fantasy (2%), LikedIn (2%), Raymond (2%) and Tuborg (1%).

     

    As more gets added to the broadcast as the IPL progresses, both standings of celebrities and recall of brands may change, a communique added.

     

  • 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.