MxMIndia

Tag: Leo Burnett

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia brings you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    AdStrat: Limca ‘Pyaas Badhao’

    KV Sridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett

     

    1. Name of the Campaign: Limca ‘Pyaas Badhao’

     

    2. The Brief:

    Limca has been a long-standing brand with great equity among consumers, especially in markets like Punjab, Delhi, West U.P., Chennai and Andhra Pradesh.

     

    The ambition was to create a positive discontinuity for Limca that would build off the strong thirst-quenching & freshness credentials- while laddering upto a strong point of view as a brand philosophy.

     

    3. Research insights:

    While thirst quenching is the central attribute for the product, the brand needed to have a ‘larger than life’ emotional role in its story telling. With the feedback from the consumers, we had a well-researched and sharper take on what ‘freshness’ meant for the consumers. So we picked up this specific insight and created a communication interpreting thirst for a larger audience – the thirst to make it big.

     

    4. The thought process behind the creative:

    Limca’s took up the task of encouraging everyday ordinary people to aim higher and strive to reach their dreams – Where Limca quenches the physical thirst that one gets when one sets out to achieve more each time. And we encapsulated the thought in the call to action – ‘Pyaas Badhao’.

     

    5. Media vehicles chosen:

    We chose various mediums like TV, Outdoors, Print and Point of Sales to reach more and more people.

     

    6. Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad:

    It was important for us to strike the right balance between sincere efforts put in by the guy and the light-hearted ones. Also Kareena Kapoor’s tone and mannerisms were consciously kept towards the lighter side so that we don’t come across as preachy. The effort guy puts in the commercial also needed to capture the physical exhaustion he goes through to justify the well deserved and much needed bottle of Limca he gets in the end.

     

    7. Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    Yes! The creative assigned a clear role to Limca – the previously unanswered question, Why should I have a Limca? – now stands resolved. Limca is about the physical thirst that one works up while chasing his emotional thirst (of his dreams)

     

    8. What according to you is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    Everyday people set goals for themselves and they go through a lot of hard work and perseverance in order to achieve it. With the powerful, real life message we as a brand have tried to talk to each one of those people inIndiawho thirst to achieve more and more.

     

    9. Market and client feedback:

    Early reaction is very positive from the market.

     

  • Competition organized to encourage self regulation in advertising huge success

    ASCI, Goafest announce winners of ‘ASCI Mobile Movie Challenge’

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) announced the winners of the ‘ASCI Mobile Movie Challenge’ during the closing event of Goafest 2012, the Creative Abbys. The competition, conducted to promote responsible creativity, and to encourage self regulation in Advertising, under the theme of ‘Creativity with a conscience’, garnered huge public support during the 3 day ad-fest.

     

    The winning entries came from team Leo Burnett consisting of Nikhil Pai, Abhineet Agarwal & Almas Ahmed and team O&M consisting of Parth Gadhiya, Harshad Salian, Aishik Sengupta. All the six winners received an iPad sponsored by media house, Rajasthan Patrika.

     

    The competition received a total of 120 registered entries through 41 mobile movies, from across the country. Of all the movies registered, 8 were shortlisted by a jury of eminent ad-makers and 2 were chosen as winners.

     

    As per the contest, teams of 3 young professionals, under the age of 30 years, were asked to create a short film (between 30 and 60 seconds), using their mobile handsets. Each team was assigned a mentor film maker who guided the team members on the nuances of film making. The teams were asked to create the art forms on one of the four briefs provided by ASCI which were based on the four tenets of ASCI’s code of self regulation: Honesty & truthfulness in advertising; Decency in advertising as per generally accepted societal norms; Safety & avoiding exploitation of vulnerable sections of society, especially children and Fairness in competition

     

    Mr Subhash Kamath, ASCI Board Member, said: “Through this competition, we wanted to inspire young professionals to abide by the guidelines set by ASCI and implement the same in their work. We’re extremely happy with the kind of response we’ve received and thankful for all the support. Next year, we hope to make this initiative larger and stronger by reaching out to many more media, advertising professionals.”

     

    The films were showcased at Goafest 2012 and uploaded on youtube.com and select online portals, so as to inspire professionals to understand the importance of self-regulation in advertising. The entries were judged by a jury of top creative directors and film makes of the industry.

     

    Advertising Standards Council of India is a self regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry. The Role and Functioning of the ASCI & its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) is in dealing with Complaints received from Consumers and Industry, against Advertisements which are considered as False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to competition, and consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising.

     

     

     

  • Ogilvy was the clear #1, but runner-up Taproot showed the Big Boys the might of the small…

    @Goafest, Taproot emerges tall. And how!

     

    By Tuhina Anand (with inputs from Robin Thomas)

    Photographs by Shailesh Mule/Fotocorp

     

    When Big Dad of Indian advertising Ogilvy pockets 51 metals at Creative Abbys at the Goafest 2012, it is something that one expects, so no surprise here really. But when a three-year-old agency goes on to become the runner-up, leaving behind the much settled Leo Burnett, DDB Mudra, Grey and JWT, it is indeed a proud moment for Indian advertising. It says that all is not lost and what still matters in the advertising business is creativity and if you have the ingredients right then there’s no one to stop you from writing your success story. Taproot India and its founders Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi have shown the industry the might of small and given hope to many aspirants on the same path.

     

    Talking about Taproot’s success, Agnello Dias said: “It’s been great, a satisfying feeling, but it is also slightly scary because we have got to do even better than last year as expectations have gone up, but as of now, we are just happy that we have performed well at the awards.”

     

    On Taproot missing out on the Grand Prix as there were huge expectations from Airtel campaign, Santosh Padhi said: “Yes, a lot of people said that our Airtel or Pepsi campaign would win us a Grand Prix, so I think that itself is a Grand Prix for us. Therefore, we have no grudge and we are happy with the way things have turned out for us. And definitely there were two strong competitors against us for the Grand Prix.”

     

    The victorious Ogilvy team

     

    The most awarded work at the Goafest was for  brands, including The Times of India, Volkswagen India and Airtel. Even for Ogilvy India, the work that fetched them maximum awards was for Fox Crime. Also the work that got CreativeLand Asia its Grand Prix in the Integrated category was for Audi 8L 3D.

     

    TOI’s ‘Wake Up Chennai’ (that fetched accolades at Goafest) has been embroiled in controversy as it spoofed its rival, The Hindu. the ad showed how reading the old player (read The Hindu) puts people to sleep and the readers should wake up to something more exciting – The Times of India. The ad was crafted by Taproot which also created Airtel’s Har Friend Zaroori Hai that fetched many awards for the agency across various categories. In fact, Har Friend… can be dubbed among the most popular campaigns of the year.

     

    A happy Creativeland Asia team

     

    Ogilvy’s work for Fox Crime titled The Photographs case, made by Good Morning, is in keeping with the genre of the channel and creates a mini thriller for its audience, building anticipation for what to expect on the channel. Talking about the wins, Abhijit Avasthi, NCD, O&M said: “It’s been a great year as always and I think the best part is that we have done well in every category, from design to direct to digital to integrated. Obviously there are some works where one wishes we had got more recognition, like the Cadbury in home campaign, but, overall, we are very happy. I think we have got the best clients who allow us to do really some very interesting work.”

     

    “It’s very reassuring that we have managed to win the Grand Prix back to back and this year I hold the digital grand prix to a greater importance, simply because it demolishes the myth of lots of clients that digital is something big network agencies cannot do,” he added.

     

    Volkswagen, which brought awards to DDB Mudra, Grey India and Nomad Films, is a brand that has caught attention because of its innovative use of media since its launch inIndia. While the fraternity may not have lauded all the innovations that Volkswagen did, but it cannot be disputed that the work did catch the attention of the people and fraternity.

     

    However, if one were to look at the Creative Abbys 2012, it will be remembered for Taproot India, which carved a name for itself among the behemoths, only because of its creative supremacy. More power to all those who want to chart their own path and keep in mind that great ideas zaroori hai and the rest will follow. Right, sirji?

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • The Conclave kicked off proceedings at Goafest 2012 with a clarion call to embrace the digital world

    Ad Conclave Takeout #1: Technology is the new tool for creativity!

     

    By Robin Thomas

     

    ‘Ideas that impact the full circle’ is the theme for Goafest Advertising Conclave 2012, expected to be attended by over 3,000 members of the media, advertising and marketing fraternity from not just India, but various south Asian countries as well. Yes, this year’s edition of Goafest is billed as the biggest ever in the history of the event and will include delegates from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

     

    The Goafest Advertising Conclave 2012 held on Thursday highlighted the fact that the next few years are going to be transformational as far as creativity in the industry is concerned. We live in an era where young people are growing up in a digital era, they spend more time on social network and brands are targeting their consumers on social networking sites. India is restless and what the country needs is not traditional creativity, but radical creativity. Technology is the new tool for creativity and India must immerse into it.

     

    Tim Love, CEO, APIMA, Vice Chairman, Omnicom Group spoke about how the world has become not only interconnected but also inter-dependent due to digitization and globalisation. He was also quick to point out living in an era of digitization, there is plenty of information available, but there is a need to know how to use that data effectively.

     

    Jonathan Mildenhall, VP, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, Coca-Cola pointed out that there are two types of creativity – traditional creativity and radical creativity. What India needs today is not traditional creativity but, radical creativity. “We need to develop ideas and hence we need to integrate technology with creatives. We need to move away from 30 minute television storytelling to dynamic storytelling,” he clarified.

     

    Mr Mildenhall also explained that brand stories must add values and significance to the consumers’ life. The stories must engage the consumers and make them feel connected to the brand. “We need bigger creative thinking in our heart and we need online dialogue as well as engagement with our consumers. Nevertheless, we need to iterate our content and not replicate them.”

     

    While speaking on ‘Building brands in an era of multiple degrees of freedom’, Jayant Murty, Director of Strategy, Media and Integrated Marketing, Asia Pacific Region, Intel Corp  observed that most often brands bribe their consumers to get involved, but they fail to understand that the consumers do not want to be bribed. He added that brands must be remarkable and different. “Immerse in technology because technology is the new tool to creativity and find partners that understand the use of technology,” he further added.

     

    Keeping in line with the theme of ‘Ideas That Impact The Full Circle’, a panel discussion moderated by Anuradha Sengupta, Features Editor, CNBC TV18 and including panellists Tim Love of Omnicom Group, Jonathan Mildenhall of Coca-Cola, Jayant Murty of Intel Corp and Jean-Yves Naouri, COO, Publicis Group focussed on the need to present their agencies differently; the loss of long-term relation between the clients and the agencies and the need for multiple agencies to build a brand.

     

    Mr Love observed that advertising is actually an education, also noting that while the advertising industry is all about ideas and thus the need for young rebellious minds, there is also a need for the old and the wise to guide and direct the youth.

     

    Mr Jean-Yves Naouri, on the other hand, highlighted that creative agencies are here to respond to business and gain the trust, mind and presence in their client’s life. “Keep the dialogue between brand and consumer alive. Engage consumers as there will be people who will be inspired b the brands and this is what matters the most,” he counselled.

     

    Speaking on the agency-client relationship, Mr Mildenhall said that it is easy to maintain one relationship better that ten different ones, and therefore he would reluctantly look outside his roster agencies for creativity. However, he felt that brands may scout for multiple creative agencies if they find the need for specialist agencies that could help them reach out to their clients more effectively. He was also quick to point that although digital is showing robust growth inIndia, it needs to boost its creativity in this space. “Majority of the UK spends on digital, however the internet reality is bigger than the creative ambition inIndia.”

     

    KV Sridhar aka Pops, NCD, Leo Burnett talked about how advertisements look in a world of censorship. He was of the view that though advertising is a serious subject, it is nothing less than entertainment. Therefore, if one puts restrictions on advertisements, it may lose its enjoyment. Pops highlighted that there are two types of people in advertising, the ones that care and the ones that don’t care and therefore the industry must be sensitive to the sentiment of various people. He also said that while the industry should be governed by creativity and not regulations, there is also a need to keep a check of the contents as it is in our hands.

     

    Industry expectations are high, especially after the conclave on Thursday as was summed up by a variety of delegates. Said Niloufer Dundh, Head- Integrated Media, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd: “The advertising conclave was fabulous. Great speaker line-up and the points raised finally focused on digital. The international speakers don’t treat digital as an extra or add-on; it is part of their communication strategy. Jonathan Mildenhall’s speech on Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence was awesome!”

     

    Another delegate who did not wish to be named said he was looking forward to getting the ”real” lessons from marketers. “I am glad Goafest is giving us this opportunity.” But, he said, the only problem is the “awful” heat. Now you can’t get all things in the world your way, can you?

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • Campaign featuring Rajasthan Royals players to be supported with brand activation and social and digital media to reach out to millions of cricket fans in the country

    HDFC Life’s new campaign propagates ‘Never Give Up’ attitude

    By A Correspondent

     

    HDFC Life, one of India’s leading private life insurance players, has unveiled a new advertising campaign featuring the players of Rajasthan Royals to promote and propagate its brand philosophy of ‘Self Respect’. HDFC Life has been associated with Rajasthan Royals for the fourth consecutive year as the Associate Sponsor.

     

    Commenting on the new campaign, Sanjay Tripathy, Executive Vice President and Head, Marketing and Direct Channels said: “Our campaign carries a simple yet compelling message. The theme is focused on the spirit of ‘Never Giving Up and Moving Forward to face all challenges’. With the new IPL season, the Rajasthan Royals’ commitment is focused on giving their best to the game. Their attitude is not solely to win or lose, but to perform for the team. In simple terms, they play with pride, self-respect and determination.”

     

    Mr. KV Sridhar, National Creative Director, Leo Burnett, said: “Through this simple ad, we have tried to showcase the significance of HDFC Life’s brand value ‘Sar Utha ke Jiyo’. When a team gets onto the field, full of zeal to perform their best, it doesn’t really matter what would be the result, but to play the game for pride and self-respect.”

     

    HDFC Life plans to drive the core essence of the association through different platforms and intensify the brand experience. It will drive a focused TV campaign on the news genre, followed by the movies segment to derive maximum visibility for the campaign on account of regular news updates on the IPL property. The campaign will be running along with exciting contests across prime multiplexes in India (Fame, Fun, Big Cinemas, Inox and Cinemax).

     

    In digital space, HDFC Life will leverage on the cricket frenzy season and drive users to a very engaging contest on Facebook. The users will not only get a chance to interact with the other cricket fans, but also get an opportunity to win exciting IPL Rajasthan Royals merchandise. The company, in partnership with Indiatimes and  Youtube IPL, will roll out a unique HDFC Life Zone to feature the Man of the Match, best batting innings and best bowling innings as the ‘Sar Utha Ke Jiyo’ moments of the day. Through this unique partnership, HDFC Life intends to reach out to millions of consumers across the country.

     

    For the on-ground activation, HDFC Life ‘Game of Pride’, an interesting mall activation drive will be rolled out in two phases across four cities.

     

    Campaign Credits for Rajasthan Royals 2012:

    Creative agency – Leo Burnett, Mumbai

    Executive Creative Director -  Rajesh Mani

    Creative Director -  Manan Mistry

    Copywriter – Rajesh Mani, Akshay Seth and Shatrughan Tripathi

    Art Director – Manan Mistry

    Production House – Opticus Inc

    Director – Sanjay Shetty

     

  • MxMIndia kicks off its countdown to Goafest 2012 with an interview with the organising committee chair

    10 Days to Go-Goafest! It’s all about celebrating ideas: Arvind Sharma

     

    As the countdown begins for Goafest 2012, Arvind Sharma, Chairman Goafest 2012 and Chairman, India Sub-continent, Leo Burnett, speaks to MxMIndia’s Tuhina Anand on the festival this year and why it is truly the celebration of creativity at its best.

     

    What can one expect from Goafest 2012? How will it different from last year?

    The Festival will stay true to its fundamental vision. It is a platform for celebrating creativity and a source of inspiration. Most importantly for the entire fraternity comprising young and not-so-young, Goafest is the preparatory ground for the industry to gauge where and how to go forward. I feel that the core, sometimes, is forgotten in the bid to do something new.

     

    I mean, we live in a world which is changing rapidly, so having something new is inevitable. If you look at successful festivals around the world 90 per cent remain the same. Similarly, at Goafest, we have defined categories and 95 per cent remain the same in terms of predictability of entering, judging, Awards Governing Council and Goafest Committee. There is consistency in that format and our effort of providing conversations. All this is same as what one had last year.

    Having said that about the predictability factor, let me also add that moving forward is equally important.

     

    So, what’s new?

    This year we are looking at ways to involve clients in a meaningful way. The fact is that, there would be no advertising if there were no clients. The business of advertising is about partnering with the marketers. We, at Goafest, believe in evolving vision that doesn’t really mean evolving identically, but in evolving together. We look at bringing in more opportunity for conversations and that’s the reason why we have brought clients this time into the seminar.

     

    There is a slight change in the format. So far, there have been series of international speakers, while some of these presentations have been received well, some weren’t, and there have been questions on the relevance of those to India. Changing that, we have brought in senior Indian clients to raise questions after the presentation. So there will be 30-35 minutes for the speaker followed by 10-15 minutes of Q&A led by a senior Indian client. He or she will be the voice and mind of the audience and bring in the Indian perspective to the entire presentation by agreeing, challenging, bringing contextual light and interpreting the whole presentation.

     

    We have also brought the Marketing Wizards to Goafest. This is calling the under-30 staff of the marketing community. We have had a good response and we expect overall 70 to 80 major advertisers to participate, which include team of two people representing to some even registering team of 30 people even though we have a limit to numbers.

     

    Why this whole idea of bringing in Grand Prix to all verticals?

    Grand Prix, traditionally, has been awarded in Print, TV and Integrated. This year, we have expanded the Grand Prix to cover all the 9 verticals. This was not an easy decision and the step was debated. We believe that the time has come for specialists in area to move to the centrestage. I don’t really know if the jury will find works worthy enough for Grand Prix in each of the vertical, but this would help in finding worthy advertising and celebrating it around India and even around the world.

     

    For a young designer who is always on the periphery of an agency, winning gold is good but winning the GrandPrix might help in moving the same person to leadership position. We hope that the move will catalyze long term fundament change in the way we create advertising.

     

    We hear this year there are entries from other South Asian countries?

    Yes, we have entries from Sri Lanka and Pakistan and we will have delegates from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In South Asia, we have different cultures but there are more similarities than differences within those cultures and we can learn a lot from each other. Unfortunately, the politics of the subcontinent is more difficult. We had planned a road show in various countries but our passports got stuck and this could not happen.

     

    Can you throw some light on the conclave and the seminar?

    We have put together an enviable list of names and these are speakers who really are worthy of listening. Jean-Yves Naouri, COO Publicis Group spends almost 150 days in flight. He knows what is happening in the business around the world and will share his valuable insight. Tim Love has been involved with theCannesand he played important role in the shaping of the future of Omnicom Group. Jonathon Mildenhall, VP of Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, CocaCola promises to be stimulating session. Steven King, CEO, ZenithOptimedia will also be on panel. Anuradha Sengupta, who loves throwing challenge, will be part of the session.

     

    On the seminar speakers, Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, VivaKi and Prof John Philip Jones, Emeritus Professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications,Syracuse University,New Yorkwill be speakers. While the world is talking video as the future, Lucas Watson, Vice President, Global Sales and Industry Marketing, YouTube will tell us how and Simon Wardle, Chief Strategy Officer, Octagon will be worth listening to for all the planners in the industry. Erik Vervroegen, International Creative Director, Publicis Worldwide will give his take on creativity. We will announce one more name in this list soon. From the Indian marketers side who will be part of Q&A, we have Sanjay Behl from Reliance, Kainaz Gazder from P&G, Viral Oza from Nokia, Gayatri Yadav from Star India and Hemant Bakshi from Unilever.

     

    Awards have been under the scanner, do the controversies surrounding it mar the event in anyway?

    Awards show will have criticism. What is driving us is the celebration of creativity and look at this Fest as a platform to prepare ourselves for the way industry will go forward.

     

    Why did the Goafest Committee decide the theme – Magic of Ideas?

    Everything that happens at festivals is ideas. While advances in technology and database is important, but what we celebrate is ideas. If we add everything on an excel sheet, we will see that when a brand gets a lot of traction or if it is ignored, it is all to do with ideas. No client launches a product with the intention of not succeeding, so getting it right is important. For a product to be embraced, it has to connect with people and this cannot be reduced to a formula but has to do with the magic of ideas.

     

    The awards have been leaked in the past, losing some of its credibility, how do you ensure that this doesn’t happen this year?

    We believe that awards will not be leaked. In this, the media as well as the organizers have a role to play. There is a symbiotic relation. We do our best to avoid any such incident. Some information has to be shared with the media beforehand, but there is an embargo on release information and last year journalistic fraternity showed a sense of responsibility. I will add that the media has equally a big stake in the Fest.

     

    What will you say to the agencies that have decided to stay away from the fest?

    Whether to participate or not is an agency’s decision. We on our part, including the AGC, have been ensuring that our job that includes category, rules, audit and the jury does their job well. Let creative minds debate as for us touch wood, thing are going as per planned.

     

    If you have to send a formal invite to the industry for the Fest what would you say as to why must the fraternity attend?

    You will get to see the best of work and see the best creative minds judging what they think is worthy of awards. You get to interact with seniors and bright creative minds which many times is impossible in the busy schedules that we lead. Besides you will get to hear exceptional speakers’ line-up.

     

    Goafest creates the space for debate with peers and youngsters, which includes large group discussions and one-on-one interaction. We are expecting around 2,500 people to attend Goafest this year. Not to forget that Goafest is not heavy-handed like training sessions but good learning place where you also have loads of fun.

     

    Personally for you, how has it been plugging all the gaps before the festival?

    We have a very big team working across agencies. There is a sense of joy and shared sense of purpose to make Goafest a success. We are in it together and there still is a fair bit of work to be done. However, it’s been an enjoyable experience.

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. MxMIndia brings you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad

    Ad Strat: Whisper of possibility

    KV Sridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett

     

    1. Name of the Campaign/Ad:

    “Whisper Hai, Possible Hai”

     

    2. The Brief:

    Whisper was seeking to drive a stronger emotional connect with their consumers.

     

    3. Research insight:

    Whisper is irreplaceable to an entire generation of girls, and has enabled them to be unstoppable in their day to day lives.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7daDKeG-tM[/youtube]

    4. The thought process behind the creative:

    While period communication has its own language (typically problem – solution), we were trying to show how the period experience differs for Whisper users who live confident and active lives. Therefore it seemed appropriate to find charming everyday moments and juxtaposing them… sometimes with humour (comparing window-shopping to shortlisting prospective grooms)… and sometimes with the “can do” spirit of today’s youth. We also wanted to leverage a brand ambassador who had risen to success with hard work and perseverance, and so chose Saina the badminton superstar who, like a crore of Indian girls, also counts on Whisper on the days that count.

     

    5. Media vehicles chosen:

    Television

     

    6. Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad:

    Keep it real, relatable and humble. Make it reflect the inner voice of the Whisper girl.

     

    7. Does the treatment do justice to the brief?:

    We used the narrative format of vignettes to connect with the girl across the country… North/South/East and West. As well as stayed true to the language we hear the Indian girl speak.

     

    8. What is the differentiating factor about the ad:

    The brand has a long-standing heritage in this country… A heritage of understanding and connecting with the Indian girl for the last 23 years. As well as a heritage of superior protection, which in its current avatar translated as 1 second absorbency.

     

    9. Market and client feedback:

    The client was very happy with the campaign, which qualified strongly, resulting in compelling in-market results and one of the highest historical value share reads on the brand.

     

  • DDB Mudra leads with 9, Leo Burnett (6) and McCann (5) follow at Pattaya festival.

    India lifts 27 metals at AdFest 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    At the recently concluded AdFest 2012 in Pattaya, India has finished with the total metal tally of 27 which includes 2 Gold, 12 Silver, 13 Bronze. DDB Mudra won total 9 metals and leads the pack followed by Leo Burnett with 6 metals and McCann WorldGroup with 5.

     

    In the Film Lotus Category, Creativeland Asia won Silver for film tilted Maa, Hippo Round-Round. Ogilvy & Mather also won Silver in films for Bajaj Pulsar. In Campaign for Best of Retail, Bangalore-based Happy won for Flipkart for No Kidding. No Worries.

     

    In the Press Lotus category, DDB Mudra Group won Silver. It won a Bronze for its work for Passat. In the press category for electronics, Grey Worldwide bagged a Bronze while McCann WorldGroup won 4 Silver for Onida. Leo Burnett too got a Silver.

     

    In the Outdoor Category, DRAFTFCB+ ULKA got a Bronze for its Falling Hoarding Mumbai Traffic Police work. McCann WorldGroup got a Gold for its work for Blind Car Hard Rock Café India. DDB Mudra won a Bronze for Cleanoscope Rotract. There were three more Bronze and a Silver in the Outdoors for DDB Mudra for its work titled Jumbled Conspiracy.

     

    In the Direct Lotus, DDB Mudra bagged Silver for Lass Natural Cosmetics while Grey Worldwide too got silver for Pantene. In the Direct Ambient O&M got a Bronze for its work titled Chanting Lighter for Cancer Patients Aid Association. Leo Burnett bagged a Bronze for Ink Pad Literacy program for Door Step School.

     

    In the Design Lotus, Leo Burnett got a Gold for Gandhifont. It also won 3 Bronze in the category for Bajaj Exhaust Fans. DDB Mudra pocketed a Bronze too.

    India drew a blank in Radio Lotus and Cyber Lotus, Promo Lotus, Film Craft Lotus, New Director Lotus, 360 Lotus, Innova Lotus and Lotus Roots.

    In The Special Awards 2012, Advertiser of the Year went to Google Inc and Advertising Agency of The Year went to Dentsu Inc, Tokyo. Network Agency of the year went to DDB.

     

     

    Agency Category Gold/Silver/Bronze Tally
    McCann WorldGroup Press 4 Silver 5
    McCann WorldGroup Outdoor 1 Gold
    DDB Mudra Press 1 Silver, 1 Bronze 9
    DDB Mudra Outdoor 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
    DDB Mudra Design 1 Bronze
    DDB Mudra Direct 1 Silver
    O&M Direct 1 Bronze 2
    O&M Film 1 Silver
    Leo Burnett Press 1 Silver, 6
    Leo Burnett Direct 1 Bronze
    Leo Burnett Design 1 Gold, 3 Bronze
    CreativeLand Asia Film 1 Silver 1
    Happy Film 1 Silver 1
    Grey Worldwide Press 1 Bronze 2
    Grey Worldwide Direct 1 Silver
    Draft FCB+ULKA Outdoor 1 Bronze 1
    Total Metal Tally 27
  • Experts say it's up to the agencies to help political parties with a nice strategy

    Power of +ve campaigning: Why SP won & BSP, Cong lost

    By Rajiv Singh

     

    Political pundits talk about caste factor, anti-incumbency, development, corruption and so on to explain Tuesday’s assembly election results, but some advertising experts give a completely different explanation – negative advertising failed and positive campaigning clicked.

     

    It’s open to debate if people vote on the basis of advertisements or not, but look at some campaigns:

    “Utho, jaago aur badlo” (Rise, awaken and change) and “Jawab hum denge” (We will give a befitting reply) – the taglines used by the Congress to woo voters in Uttar Pradesh flopped.

     

    Power of Positive Campaigning

    Jeeta and Jaggi – the toon characters used by the Congress to connect with the people in Punjab by poking fun at the Badal government – too failed.

     

    “Na hatya, na phiroti, na balatkaar, hum denge saaf suthri sarkaar” (No murder, extortion or rape, we would give you a clean government) – the BJP’s election plank in Uttar Pradesh didn’t revive the fortunes of the party.

     

    Now, look at what worked: “Umeed ki cycle” (Bicycle of hope), the tagline of Samajwadi Party’s successful campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

     

    “While Mayawati’s BSP and Rahul Gandhi-led Congress were busy fighting each other, the SP talked about problems faced by the aam aadmi,” said veteran adman KV Sridhar.

     

    “That’s why their campaign clicked; it didn’t take a potshot or dig at the rival parties,” added the national creative director of Leo Burnett.

     

    One of the TV commercials made by Arkash Entertainment – the Mumbai-based production house in charge of Samajwadi Party’s campaign – shows a cycle racing past an elephant.

     

    “We wanted to say something without saying anything,” said Arjun Sablok, the creative head of Arkash Entertainment, who made his debut in political advertising with this campaign.

     

    “Our campaign focused on positives and avoided mudslinging,” added the 45-year-old adman and filmmaker who first met Akhilesh Yadav three years ago in a UP village. Saurabh Uboweja, director of brand consulting firm Brands of Desire, said this approach worked because the voter is not in a negative mindset.

     

    “Voters have seen growth recently as a general positive economic environment reverberates in the nation. When one has a positive mindset in general, positive campaigning linked to higher growth will tend to prove more beneficial than dragging voters into the past,” he said.

     

    Mr Sablok – who has made a film with Hrithik Roshan and a music video with Lata Mangeshkar besides several commercials with leading Bollywood actors – said he started preparations for his first political campaign a good nine months before the elections. An outsider in Uttar Pradesh, he travelled extensively to know about the ground realities there. And he used real-life situations and people.

     

    In one of the television commercials, for example, Raju, a rickshaw puller, talks about his problem of working everyday to pay back the loan and then a voiceover says the Samajwadi Party will implement an insurance programme for rickshaw pullers. Other such characters used in the campaign include Buddhiram, a farmer lamenting about lack of electricity, and Neetu, a housewife whose husband works in another state because of lack of jobs in Uttar Pradesh.

     

    Mr Sridhar of Leo Burnett said this smart and straightforward campaign worked at a time when Mayawati and Rahul Gandhi were busy blaming each other.

    So, in his mind, Rahul Gandhi’s relentless campaigning failed to revive the Congress in the country’s most populous state partly because the party’s advertisements failed to connect with people.

    The Congress campaign in UP, created by Percept/H, talked about the misrule of the Mayawati government and asked people to give Congress a chance. “The campaign had no insight into people’s lives,” said Mr Sridhar. Negative campaigning proved disastrous for the Congress in Punjab too, a state that had never before voted the ruling party back to power.

    The opposition party’s campaign, created by Delhi-based advertising agency Crayons, featured toon characters Jeeta and Jaggi who talked about corruption and other problems under the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government.

    This failed to pull down the Badal government.

    The Akalis’ campaign, handled by New Delhi-based agency Brand Curry, highlighted the development work done by the government.

    “Over the past few years, there has been a demographic and psychographic change in the profile of voters. In terms of demographic change, young voters have emerged, who abhor negative campaigning,” said Brand Curry MD Subrata Chakraborty. “In fact, even the old voters have no appetite for advertisements that look down upon others,” he added.

    The BJP, which rose to national prominence in early 1990s with its Ram Janmabhoomi movement centred on Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, lost the plot in the state not only in terms of negative slogans but also due to lack of synergy between its print and television campaigns. “The TV campaign was not in sync with the print campaign,” said a BJP leader in the state.

    One of the TV commercials showed famine-like situation in the state and starving people, he said, requesting anonymity. “But this is not the ground reality. This election was not fought on starvation and malnutrition…This left the people cold.”

    Sushil Pandit, owner of Hive Communications, the ad agency that handled the print campaign for the BJP in UP, said the party highlighted too many issues without a clear focus. “There was no consistency in approach,” he added.

    But experts say it’s up to the agencies to help political parties with a nice strategy.

    “Political advertising is driven by politicians, and not the ad agency, but the strategy should come from agency,” said Prathap Suthan, the creative mind behind the ‘India Shining’ and ‘Incredible India’ campaigns and chief creative officer of tech support firm iYogi.

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: Uninor’s ‘Baat baat mein recharge’

    Amod Dani, ECD, Leo Burnett

     

    1. Name of the Campaign: Uninor ‘Baat baat mein recharge’ campaign

     

    2. The Brief:

    India is a nation dominated by prepaid users. 93 per cent of the mobile services market in India is skewed in favour of the prepaid consumers. Uninor is a pre-paid brand that makes calling more affordable for the common man. The brief to the agency was to create a campaign that can show how Uninor recharges last longer in an entertaining and youthful manner.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5-JwiznxkQ[/youtube]

    3. Research insights

    Through our unique human kind approach we managed to tap into the inherent Indian desire for gossip.  As Indians, we love gossiping and just detest insufficient gossip or half information. This human need to know about the lives of others became a launch pad for our campaign.

     

    4. The thought process behind the creative:

    Uninor’s platform of ‘Pay less, talk more’ rides on affordable voice products and value-based prepaid plans. Our new campaign is rooted in the human desire for juicy conversations. However, the need for constant recharge can be an obstruction for the same. The coin dropping execution is an expression of the irritation that comes with constantly recharging. We used the coin dropping pneumonic synonymous with PCO phones of earlier days to effectively bring alive the pains of repeated recharge.

     

    5. Media vehicles chosen:

    The campaign is on air right now as Television is a vital cog in our media cycle. We have scheduled a 360 degree roll-out for this campaign including radio, outdoor, on-ground activation and in-store retail merchandising. We also have a digital plan in place to augment the penetration of the campaign.

     

    6. Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad:

    The penny literally dropped with the coin device and the freeze frame approach. It was, therefore, necessary to get the timing absolutely right in order to deliver a simple, clear product with a touch of humour.

     

    7. Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    The treatment truly does justice to the fact that Uninor provides more value to the pre-paid user by showing how constant recharge keeps inhibiting juicy conversations.

     

    8. What is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    The insight behind the campaign and the coin-dropping execution technique is uniquely simple and relatable. The juicy gossip keeps everyone interested throughout the film.

     

    9. Market and client feedback:

    We have received some very positive feedback from the client’s side. The campaign has created a wave of excitement at the client’s end and the numbers are there to show it too. All in all, we see the thumbs are up and some really thrilling times ahead.

     

  • His key responsibility will be to strengthen and grow existing client businesses and look to grow Orchard Bangalore in the South market says Kaushik Mitra, Sr Vice President, Orchard India

    Orchard ropes in Anish Daryani as VP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anish Daryani, who was General Manager at Ogilvy Africa, has joined Orchard Advertising as Vice President and Branch Head at the agency’s headquarters in Bangalore.

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Mr Daryani said: “I have always admired the Leo Burnett Group, since I started my advertising career, for the thinking agency they’ve been. So when I got an opportunity to join Orchard, one of the three agency brands from Leo Burnett’s stable, taking it came very naturally to me.”

     

    “I see myself as someone who brings fresh thinking within the agency, and on our brands. Moreover, we look forward to extend our services to many other brands in diverse categories in Bengaluru, and the rest of southern India,” he added.

     

    Kaushik Mitra, Sr Vice President, Orchard India, said: “Anish is very driven, hungry and passionate about the business. His key responsibility will be to strengthen and grow existing client businesses, cement relationships and look to grow Orchard Bangalore in the South market. Having diverse experience in categories such as FMCG, telecom, durables, Automotive, healthcare, rural, will strengthen Orchard’s position in the market.”

     

    Mr Daryani has a decade’s experience in advertising and has done two stints each with Ogilvy and the Rediffusion-Y&R Group. His work spans diverse categories ranging from automobiles, aviation, telecom, fashion and lifestyle, beverages and media. Some of the brands he’s worked on include TATA Motors, TATA Nano, TATA Steel, Hutch (now Vodafone), Airtel, Kingfisher Airlines, Danone, Brooke Bond Red Label, The Economic Times, The Times of India, Colors, Linc Pens and The Statesman, among others.

     

  • Yatra.com finalises on its creative partner, mandates will be now handled by McCann. Estimated account size,15-20 crore.

    From y’day: Yatra.com entrusts McCann with creative biz

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    On the appointment of McCann, Pratik Mazumder Head Marketing & Strategic Relations at Yatra Online Pvt Ltd said,” Yatra and TBWA have decided to part ways, the helped us present ourselves as a ticketing brand and position us but now we felt the need of a bigger agency hence decided to call for a pitch. There was Ogilvy, Percept H, Maccann and TBWA involved in the process and we decided to get MacCann on board.”

     

    Sources close to the development have confirmed to MxM India have confirmed that there is also a media pitch happening for the online travel company.

     

    Before TBWA, Yatra.com had appointed Rediffusion Y&R as its creative agency in 2009; while Leo Burnett was the official agency in 2007.

     

    The online travel company entered the market in August 2006. It had initially appointed Everest Brand Solutions as its creative agency, and Mudra’s media agency, Optimum Media Solutions (which was re-christened Mudra Connext), handled its media duties.

     

    Yatra Online Pvt Ltd. is a travel company providing information, pricing, availability and booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5,000 large cities and small rural areas around the globe. It acts as a complete tour planner for travellers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.