If you are in Marketing and advertising, you would have watched all the Super Bowl ads by now. Every year around this time, the heat is on between brands to make an impression and get maximum instant reach for their messages. Some try being playful, some introduce new themes, and some try to provoke.
In all, a total of more than 50 advertisements get released in the Super Bowl at an astronomical figure (by Indian standard) of $5.6 Mn per 30 seconds. Most brands must be finding it relevant and efficient, as some brands always have spots aired with the Super bowl. The inventory is almost sold by November of the previous year.
Brand, creative and media specialist mourn the absence of any such opportunity in India. Neither the pre-festival advertising in October nor the hyped-up IPL. And let us not talk of the opening episodes of any of the famed reality shows like KBC, KKK or Bigg Boss – none have the oomph, aah and wah of a Super Bowl.
Not unexpected there is beer advertising as a category dominating the super Bowl commercial. And surprise, everyone investing what we would call a long story format to get their simple message across.
When brands invest in an immediate reach build-up with an event that guarantees a massive number of eyeball, it is good to see them invest big. The super bowl spots maybe shorter version, but these extended versions show the intent.
Like every Super Bowl event, many brands spots are just nice or templated around their style of storytelling. They made you smile and at the same time got the brand message across. All under one roof. You can watch all these spots at Adweek.
……………………………………
So here are my 12 favourites brand spots. That’s a high percentage of likability from the commercials aired during the Super Bowl. They are rightly messaged, superbly crafted and executed.
While watching the Super Bowl, the consumer mind aperture is open for entertainment and excitement. Hence, the ads that have a similar story presentation style that stimulates and engages are contextually better placed than others trying to present the message in a different way. And one who use the context and the DNA of the event best, win.
……………………………………..
MICROSOFT screened a lovely commercial. The protagonist Katie Sowers- first female super bowl coach, explaining that she wants not to be the best female coach but the best coach. People expect women to do certain things and do not expect to do many other things. However, the first in the filed opens the arena for others. That is like ENCOURAGED BETI ENCOURAGED FUTURE. An attitude we mostly miss in advertising. It is one of the best-crafted spots. It is my Favourite ad.
https://youtu.be/_xPn4DXIj5w
GOOGLE has this ad about how people lived before Alexa. It is contextually better placed in the event environment. It is humorous with some crazy situations to drive home a simple point of what Alexa can do.
https://youtu.be/RF9t2rFmTVE
GOOGLE has another emotionally powerful linking ad. It is very product dominant in all its visual impact and experience and hence my favourite Number II. ,
https://youtu.be/6xSxXiHwMrg
So, how can beer as a category be away from the super bowl?
BUD LIGHT two spots, INSIDE BRAIN, are highly engaging and entertaining.
https://youtu.be/wsnnU3fJTWg
https://youtu.be/pj1meOmpezs
Then there is BUDWEISER, identifying Typical American with their beer. And I am partial to beer advertising.
https://youtu.be/yt-zXuAAD6Q
MICHELOB ULTRA does it one better with its simple message, ‘it is only worth it if you enjoy it.’
https://youtu.be/U7h6Vls-uO8
MICHELOB ULTRA PURE GOLD makes a passionate appeal to pick 6 packs and see how it can change American farming. I literally love this very Patriotic beer ad.
https://youtu.be/ANarZ_113Xc
Another category that uses Super bowl best is cars. Here HUMMER ELECTRIC makes an impactful promise and delivers message quite soundlessly.
HYUNDAI SONATA is not far behind in its impact with self-parking demonstration has an extra edge on conversation and experience. It is nothing new, but it engages because of the conversation and the way it clarifies self-parking at any place.
https://youtu.be/85iRQdjCzj0
But PORSCHE, Wins the category battle of commercial with THE GEIST. It is so captivating and smart. My favourite number, -3.
https://youtu.be/FJNmHwBgV4M
In FMCG, coke, Pepsi, Doritos, Mountain Dew, Cheetos, Sabra SodaStream and others were there. But there was not much excitement around them. They were what they were.
HEINZ innovative ‘four in one’ commercial does stand out. However, it is a bit disorienting to see them simultaneously- but does that matter?
There was this REESE’S TAKE 5 with ‘The best bar that you have never heard of’. Likeable but then you have seen Bars and chocolates in that territory so many times. For me, SNICKERS beat it hollow any day.
https://youtu.be/SLAV4LYO-yU
……………………………………………………….
And the last one for Milo Kotnala, the WEATHER TECH spot.
……………………………………………………….
What say, will we see such hype with brands and IPL, I doubt, but one never knows. Why do you think, IPL will never reach this type of hype as a powerful window with such a hype?
On January 26, 2020, the internet was flooded with videos of people reading the preamble. It was not a one-off incident.
Nowadays, the constitution is debated threadbare. There is more fake news than news floating around in media. People are taking a polarised stance in spite of incomplete information. The politics of politics is getting dirtier by the day. So dirty that citizens are no longer sure whether they should live by ideologies or behave in a more tribal way. They are doing, what they believe they are expected to do. Most are living for the image that has been created and not for what they may want to.
THE INSIDE STORY
In this arena, I count myself. For some silly reason and irrationality of fear, I cautiously avoided being part of it. I now regret it.
Reading the preamble or refocusing on the constitution is such a pure act of referencing. Yet, I had this rational fear that I did not do it. Feared as a citizen to even voice the thought. I can presume that there are many more like me in the country
So, I in my time of PaRAM; Pause, Reflect, Absorb and Move on, got stuck. I questioned, who am I? What is this zone of uncertainty? The answer was not complicated. It is the lack of information, transparency, coupled with the fear of getting into the crosswire of people I don’t even know.
HUMAN INTELLIGENCE (HI) is now ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
Our algorithm of making choices and decisions is corrupted, and it needs to be rebooted.
Our personal HI algorithm works and feeds on past experiences, expectations and new data that it keeps absorbing. Humans are more of a machine than the machines are human.
The algorithm loop is leading to a venous cycle. The Machine codes are given the initial input and are guided by Humans. The new inputs of sharply polarised inputs like ‘my way or no way’ is further rebuilding the block of skewed reactions.
These inputs are continuously strengthening the already polarised behaviour. Or they are breaking down the understanding we have. The result, there is perpetual chaos of dissonance, self-pity, uncertainty, fear – that challenges the morality and ethicality of understanding.
WE MUST REBOOK HI
We are the result of our past decisions and experiences. Since childhood, social tensions, cultural biases fed on faulty education and deep-rooted suspicion has tweaked the DNA of our HI.
The personal experience-, any day over-rides the universal experiences. Unfortunately, today, there is so much of skewed information and access to other’s experiences that the HI forgets to question.
THE GOVERNMENT FEEDS THE HI ALGORITHM.
I am not judgmental. I am no Arnab Goswami, who can wear his polarity with business pride. And that is just a reference, every media is doing the same.
I am not taking any side if the currently debated acts are wrong and right. Yes, I have my perception of what is happening and what should happen, but then I am keeping silent on the subject.
The government has a responsibility to provide as much correct information as possible as inputs to the troubled HI. Take on every conceivable media, and bring for masses the real picture. When I say every imaginable media, I mean it.
A media blackout would be excellent. Supplement with detailed explanation in Newspaper and magazines. Fixed, if needed one hour of simulcast on every news channel- every means all entertainment- sport- news – music- films. At the same hour, every radio station in the country to broadcast on the subject. Hoardings which can give loud and clear- non-ambiguous messages. And then, straight answers in social media. It is important to repeat this exercise many times over to reach everyone. Any day, it will be a lot less costly than the current situation.
After this onslaught of true transparent information! People will still be free to take sides. They will have something substantial to confront the rumourmongers and may not be swayed that easily. They no doubbt retain their right to peaceful protest.
THE OTHER HI CORRECTION THE NATION NEEDS.
For decades, we have allowed the law and order situation to become un-manageable, the uniform respect to deep dive, misuse of institutions and minority-majority polarisation.
For long, we as a nation have allowed the uniform to be used for purposes they were never meant for. They have been asked to box with hands tied. The nation has used them as political puppets. Every tom-dick and harry has questioned what they did in the line of duty. And we have expected brilliant control from people we keep in below human conditions. We must stop that.
YOUR HI ALGORITHM IS WHAT YOU FEED IT.
So, no surprises in how people law-abiding or otherwise behave. No doubt, they break the rules, the corruption is rampant. The education system is not creating good citizens. Morality and ethicality are questioned.
The algorithmic of citizens HI is corrupted. It is not definitely what is desired. But the HI is a result of experiences and expectations. A lot of consistent positive corrective actions are required.
Hope someday we will make a beginning. And sometime soon, people like me will not have illogical fears to read the Preamble as a right.
So, BCCI dropped former Indian skipper M S Dhoni from the list of centrally contracted players. It was coming he has not been in the national team for some time since July 9 2019, when he played the World Cup semi-final. That is long enough a gap. Surprisingly, when so many questions are being raised, Dhoni has remained silent on his plans. Even Indian selectors and the board find themselves in murky waters with nothing much to comment on this mystical absence of words from him.
Naturally, the marketing community questions, if and will the Brand Dhoni be eroded. And the answers are not surprising.
Brand Dhoni has enough of stickiness. CSK has already indicated that he will be retained in 2021. IPL 2020 will be a test.
In 2014, when MSD retired from Test Cricket, there were thoughts expressed that his association with the shorter format will extend brand Dhoni longevity.
In fact, after five years, Brand Dhoni was performing spectacularly on screen. In 2016, Forbes, in its list of most valuable sports brands of 2016, stated that MS Dhoni’s brand value suffered a 48% year-on-year decrease. Dhoni, the only Indian on the list, was placed tenth in the athletes’ category.
In 2019, Dhoni retained his position as the second cricketer (Rank 12) after Virat Kohli, captain of the Indian cricket, who topped the powerful celebrity brand list of Duff & Phelps.
But then the aura for sports person remains as long as they play and in Dhoni case, it will not be different. And every time his name will come up in discussions, there is going to be a debate. However, everyone is expected to hedge his or her bets.
Brand-I is the image that rests in the eye of the audience. It like product image is the result of experience and expectations. If Dhoni the non-continues to perform with a similar level of success keeps his coolness quotient buzzing and dominates IPL, his brand value will remain intact. However, every player has his life cycle as a brand. Sooner or later, and as and when Dhoni retires from real cricket- the T20- national contention, with time, the brand will start having lesser meaning and attractiveness for the audiences.
We must park this question for the next 100 days, until IPL 2020, which is crucial for Brand Dhoni. IPL 2020 performance in many ways will define the difference between ‘IS’ and ‘WAS’.
We know Dhoni is unlike Gavaskar or Kapil or Sachin. Dhoni retired from Test cricket and one-days when people were still asking why is he retiring.
We have seen him take a calculated gamble in the field. So, only time will tell if his silence is another such masterstroke.
If IPL 2020 will bring him back into contention of the audience and their love for Captain Cool and his contribution. The flair of heart-stopping run chases and the sixes he fires. Maybe, Dhoni will reinvent. Whatever is in his mind, he has an obligation to his fans to reveal his plans.
One must be warned that time and audience memories have limited elasticity of excitement and association.
Brand Dhoni, will have to fight new faces, wins, memories and associations. And if the new breed of young cricketers delivers what we all believe they can, the slide for Brand Dhoni could be faster. And it is all about performing and dominating the audience mind space and nothing about the contract.
Dhoni knows how to keep relationships alive. How friendship and business associations need to be nurtured. In fact, I expect him to further reap the benefit of this deep associations and brand endorsements.
Dhoni has been slowly toying with his image we see in the advertising films. He seems to be conscious of the scripts he is picking or the way his persona is leveraged. There is a marked shift.
Now, it is more about logic, rationality, maturing with age, and someone who has your best interest in mind. And a lot non-cricket and yet he is evolving and seems convincing enough. His advertising films are also seeing a Dhoni who can somewhat act and is not merely a prop on the screen. Though in the process, the legendary story of his dream and resilience wonderfully captured in the movie is missed out. His radiating success and being an absolutely loveable team player is missed out. But that inspirational part has already been utilised and has no additional pull.
……………….
A sportsperson brand value is in her/his earnings, minus the average income of that sport’s Top 10 athletes.
We are talking about the ad written by the Adweek Super Bowl bot. Adweek defines it as “an AI-powered creative force that generates ad concepts and posts them on Twitter”. These ad concepts were created using real brands and celebrities.
Playfully, WIX.com went ahead and converted one of the ad concepts scripts as the voiceover for a real 40-second advertisement and pushed it in social media.
Did we just make a video ad written by a bot? Yes, we did.@SuperBowlBot @Adweek https://t.co/9062iNUgjA pic.twitter.com/l59zTKIifX
— Wix (@Wix) January 8, 2020
It was an absolute lucid nonsensical copy, juggling non-contextual words that were primed to make some sense absurdly. I must check and stop writing like a bot.
The visuals aid the ad concept. It is not too bad other than for the flower-flower repetition in the script.
Adweek Super Bowl Bot
The bot was trained on over 3,000 SuperBowl ad descriptions and powered by a cutting edge language generation model called GPT-2. GPT-2 is an open-source and its 1.5B parameter model released recently. It is touted as having a slightly better “credibility score” of 6.91 out of 10, but maybe not good enough to start making sense. However, as the machine continues to learn and creates more ad concepts, it will improve.
Not The First Time A Bot Has Written Copy
In 2018, Alibaba said it was using an AI Copywriting Tool that has passed the Turing Test. It has been generating copy for sites like Taobao and Tmall. It is capable of generating 20,000 lines of text per second and is used a million times a day!
Now, the Alibaba e-marketing team sees e-commerce copy needs efficiency. Quite a lot of copy involves a high degree of repetitiveness. It needs variants and is a low-value work. A single product there might require up to 10 versions of copy for different ad formats and targeted audience.
It is natural that for such work, AI-powered tools can reduce the repetitive and tedious copywriting workload for human teams. They can help leverage the massive database of the existing copy and advanced AI technologies. I must clarify, I have no direct experience of working with such tools.
HubSpot Content Strategy Tool uses machine learning to suggest content ideas. It is designed to generate ideas based on current competition and relevance. It automatically conducts research into the topic to evaluate whether the idea is worth spending time on.
Not the real copywriting but definitely writing on your behalf, Wordsmith analyses and transforms data into a personalised narrative including real-time content updates, complete narrative customisation, and an API for flexible publishing.
Acrolinx is a content strategy alignment tool. It is AI-based and designed to read your content and analyse it for factors including tone of voice, style and approved language. Then it suggests corrections to ensure it does not fail the brand standards. Maybe, it is good to have one at the agency or the client’s end.
WILL IT KILL COPYWRITING?
I know that it is a natural question. The answer is simple. Not so soon. However, copywriting is not merely putting together words together in an impact generating way.
Copywriting is about using words and generating ideas to take the creative leap from the focussed brief, in a way helping the brand or the service to leverage the identified consumer insight. It is to help trigger that emotional lever, ride that comparative advantage and or to press the nerve that will help in creating the desired perception in the mind of the audience.
Though we do have machines capable of accessing all the Internet data and communicate in a very humanly way, they still lack in the emotional interpretation and expression. The algorithms have set commands and expressions. They project an emotion as per the code and not FEEL THE EMOTIONS or DEEP DIVE INTO THE HUMAN CULTURE AND CONTEXT.
Christina Lu, general manager of Alimama marketing in 2019, clarified: “such copywriting tools allows people to devote more energy to richly creative work”. And I hope the rich copywriting that he is referring to is way beyond the AI-powered system as of now.
What Is Ai Powered Bot And Systems Work For?
In the digital era, there is a need for highly personalised content. And the need for it only keeps growing. There is also a need for iterations with it being expressed and re-written in numerous ways. The AI-powered tools are best suited to help manage such digital experiences. It will take on repetitive work where minor variation is required, and where there is a need to operate within constrained defined boundaries. Where timely fast action is of the essence, and there is currently no need or expectation of a creative leap. And that is not the real copywriting.
One thing for sure, it will write the 100th or maybe the 100th hundred line with the same degree of alertness and involvement. Additionally, the tool could link with the big data and data analytics to hep real-time tweaks by deep mining to draw upon what is really working. In many ways, work through the big data – reflect the insights from Data Analytics and give you the highly personalised content.
What Else The Bot Wrote?
The bot has been busy writing ad concepts. And it is one creative force that keeps generating concepts without asking for time. Here are the two that it developed for DINSHAWS ice cream and for DUREX CONDOMS.
Super Bowl ad concept: @DinshawOfficial
(by request from @S_kotnala) pic.twitter.com/mEVC9y9Lls
— The Super Bowl Bot (@SuperBowlBot) January 10, 2020
Want to read what all it has busy on, maybe follow the SuperBowlBot on twitter.
So, till the time, we don’t move from Artificial to Alternate intelligence. Till the machine does not develop the complete capability to understand the emotions and feel the emotion layered within the social and cultural context, rich copywriting should not fear it. How early or late will it happen, your guess is as good as mine.
‘Big Data’ and ‘Data Analytics’ is everywhere. It is the current buzzword, just like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and BlockChain. It seems unless you are not working with Big Data, you are not in business. However, not every organisation has the capability, resources or a mindset to walk the Big Data and Data Analytics road. Then what do they do?
It reminds me of a question in IIM Ahmedabad first year. The problem was simple. How many Puri Bhaji packets must the vendor in Platform-II at Ahmedabad railway station make? He should neither waste and nor miss an opportunity to sell. It has sheets of probability tables of trains arriving, on time, probability of trains being late, number of passengers alighting, passengers going to Ahmedabad, transit passangers, the likelihood of passengers being hungry and ordering Poori Bhaaij. Now that was real Big Data in 1985.
We all had varied answer ranging from 28 to 169 packets. And we had our logic and rationale for the process we adapted to get to the solution.
I asked this question to a business owner client of mine. His answer was straightforward. He said ‘forget the consultants and the data you are talking about. If the vendor is enterprising, he will observe other vendors for two days, maybe err for the next 2-3 days. But, by Day 7, he will have his algorithm of deciding how many Poori Bhaaji packets to make.
SMALL BUSINESS WITH CHALAK MALAK.
I have the fortune of interacting with Chalak Malak, highly engaged owner of small- to medium-sized businesses. They are not capturing Big Data. Yet, they have all the relevant patterns at their fingertips.
The Chalak Malak’s insight is based on his observations and an uncanny ability to connects the dots. The level of understanding is unbelievable. And, yes, most of these observations are ratified and endorsed by the excel-PowerPoint spewing MBAs and researchers in the company. These owners are not seeking data supported confidence.
These owners work purely on observations. Their interactions with sales and market are their most valuable data point. At time hugely disjointed data. They do not encourage the interlinking of a multitude of variables. They focus on detailed microdata with limited variables that are essential to predict and control their business.
They work with data that is easily accessible in the business and informative. Something that the organisation can make sense and understand the use of complex systems. It is just data; some data. Neither Big nor Small. Every data capture, recording and discussion are objective-driven and aiming at actionable insight. There is democratic discussion and ultimately a dictatorial approach which facilitate time-bound decisions and implementation.
Unstructured Data.
The Chalak Malaks in these small businesses are happy with such scarce data. They understand business is not all science. There is luck involved. They keep variables that are not in their influence and control outside the preview of discussion. Without Big Data and Data Analytics, they draw upon the predictive and prescriptive impact of their focussed data.
The individual owners’ unstructured data mining ability is enormous. They can observe and analyse reams of data and come to a conclusion fast.
They are not the CMOs looking for extension and a case study to create. They understand the need to act. They take the risk of acknowledging that failure is part of the process. They give themselves the time to Pause, reflect, absorb and move on with life.
There is some sort of a black box in their brain. It uses acquired or genetically downloaded powers to analyse data, draw conclusions, unveil hidden patterns, with an undefined internal algorithm, define market trends and examine overt or covert customer preferences.
Having made sense of the possibilities, they are only interested in actionable. They are least interested in ‘Gyan’ on background, opportunities, business environment and risk mitigation.
We may interpret such decisions as gut-feel or biased. However, they are well informed and evaluated choices.
Big Data Is Understood.
They know of the existence of Big Data and data analytics. They know it requires a budget, resources allocation and talent for it to be leveraged. However, they understand their organisational culture and talent structure. They feel in the current stage, the internally generated data across minimal but crucial variables is what the business needs!
Small Data Used In Big Way.
If not, they are aware of the tools and inputs they could borrow from. They use their eCommerce partner for insights. Google Analytics tells them what the visitors are wanting. Social media acts as a listening post. The blogs and articles are trend analyser. E-mails on skeletally managed customer complaints and appreciation are their warning mechanism on quality and service. The everyday sales and cost reports are their health indicators. Market share is approximation through real groundwork on estimation validated by the sales staff figures. The healthy networked conversation with competitors and well-wishers help business environment understanding. They bank on their grassroots connect and relationship with vendors (mostly non-exclusive) to get early warning signals.
Hate Grey Areas.
There are rarely grey areas. They are comfortable in taking a polarised view, And that is more than enough.
Segmentation is simplified. The consumer is a small, large, medium buyer, a repeat buyer or single user, a customer and/or a user. The data is not micro drilled but most likely aggregated. The regional and religion biases, taste and culture, form a different kind of filters while taking decisions.
They are more dependent and sensitive to the Velocity; speed at which they can get data and Truth-fullness; how much they can trust the data. They are less concerned about the volume; quantity and size of the sample, And the Variety; depth and width of probe or multiplicity of parameters.
Change Of Guard. Not Of Approach.
The new generation taking over is all for robust non-challenged data. However, a few things do not change. Focus on crucial impact variables, eye on ROI, the confidence in gut feeling, willingness to learn and tweak and the speed of action.
Welcome, 2020. Two decades of the century are over. The next one starts. Will it be different? The industry shifts and changes are like climate change. We know they are happening. However, seeing the real impact takes time.
LOT HAS CHANGED. YET, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
The brands continue to work hard experimenting with new approaches in the era of information. Brands are busy finding an original purpose to create positive perceptions in the consumer’s mind.
Till date the record is dismal. Most brands with purpose have failed to align the whole organisation with the purpose. The result: they have been unable to deliver the same language across every touchpoint or experience. Many brand purposes are non-strategic and have a short life. The consumer quickly sees through the brand’s opportunistic behaviour. It leads to dissonance. The consumer continues to expect the brands to speak to them in a simple language. Be aligned and in-sync through the experience while delivering the best solution for the covert or overt need.
Today, information access and placement is easy. And the audience is unable to separate the true from the false. The information available on the internet is questionable. Consumers continue to react with limited or misinterpreted information. In real terms, perception is adulterated with reality.
The herd mentality is a reality. The audiences tend to hook on to a leader, subject or even information and blindly follow it. There is a churn within the influencers. They are being questioned for their impact and intent. The consumer is no longer sure if they can trust the peer and consumer reviews, which are simply polarised. The review industry is course-correcting by making them more genuine sounding.
The product margin continues to drop, and service expectations continue to rise. The efficiency of templated SOP continues to be tweaked. The products and services keep getting threatened with new technology and business models.
CMO AND AGENCIES.
The fight between Traditional and Digital continues. Agencies, CMOs and Media owners continue to have a non-polarised point-of-view.
The life of a CMO is getting more marginalised. The CMO’s tenure is further shortened by complexities of the environment and misplaced expectations. The CMO’s vision has been narrowed down from annual to QSQT and in many places restricted to the next project or the next month. Some CMOs gamble with bold, innovative experimentative consumer connect, some remain risk-averse. No one knows what the best practice is.
Innovation and insight continue to be mismanaged and ill-defined. Communication and Marketing seem to be teamwork run by the idea and budget dictators. People fail to understand that marketing is not always about what you are doing but equally important is what you sacrifice, what you decide not to do.
INDUSTRY AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS.
The role of the agencies and advertising business continues to evolve and redesigned under newer threats. The blame game continues. Neither is the idea plagiarism dead, nor is the idea shopping.
ASCI seem to be gaining strength. Ad Club and AAAI continue on a template path. Regional Ad Clubs keep to their turf. IAA keeps surprising with multiple high impact programmes. The media covering the advertising and marketing industry keeps finding enough content to fill spaces.
The awards, across media, business and creativity, keep multiplying. The issue of scam advertising remains unresolved. There is no unanimous celebration of excellence. The new breed only complains, and most remains uninterested in taking a position of responsibility within Industry associations. The camps within the industry keep their amniotic behaviour.
SOCIAL MEDIA
People who sold their privacy to the devil we know as social media now want protection. They still continue to take on apps and services, carelessly signing un-read contracts and saying ‘I Agree’. The charm of free-of-cost service or membership to a loyalty circus continues to come at a hidden cost. The trap is already shut.
The social platforms are unable to secure user data. Everything is threatened and watched. The CCTV cameras that give you a false sense of security and confidence comes at the cost of privacy at private and public places.
The trolls continue to troll and cribbers continue to crib. The audience remains confused.
POLARISATION CONTINUES TO CAST ITS SHADOW.
The grey between the black and white is slowly but surely getting erased. The need to take a polarised stance is forcing people to make comments and statements they may later regret. There is a cost associated with all this, but that can wait.
EVOLVING MEDIA.
The traditional media keeps on fighting for its share of the pie. New OTT platforms continue to surprise and entertain. The discount model at e-commerce continues in its aim to get the loyalty of buyers. The digital media continues to be under a cloud of non-transparency and issues that no one has any solutions. The measurement matrices keep getting finer but remain under scrutiny. New buzzwords are coming and exiting faster than winter fashion.
Arnab Goswami continues to make up his mind and be the judge in his debates. Every channel on the set-top-box breaks breaking news. Newspapers try holding to their credibility and trust. Digital still gets quotes as emerging and new media. Entertainment TV keeps dishing the similar content of Saas-Bahu, Naagin, reality shows and contests.
BARC keeps evolving and promising new edge data and insights. IRS continues to walk on the edge, trying to find balance by keeping everyone happy. It continually improves the research methodology and implementation. Yet, they failed to promise a date calendar for the release. The industry willing accepts it.
Radio and OOH is lost in the way keep chugging without any real measurement matrices. Big players try surrogate measurement, but a syndicated study remains elusive.
EVOLVING AUDIENCE.
The new digital native population is questioning education. There is a muted response to national pride, its rich history and culture. Consumers are talking heath, patriotism and social issues. They find fault with everything they experience. The voice is of crib and disappointment is overpowering the limited view of appreciation and joys. The politicians are busy serving the vote bank policy. The parliamentarians keep abstaining from essential debates. The will of the voters is crushed under political alliance and greed.
STRAINED SOCIAL FABRIC.
Women empowerment continues to remains on the agenda. There is no social revolution, but only strategic trending hashtags. Safety of women continues to come under strict ‘Terms and conditions apply’.
Regionalism, languages and religionist keep fragmenting the nation. Law and order remain an issue. The economy remains questionable, and frauds keep happening. The protectors of law and order are threatened to the extent they need protection.
TECHNOLOGY
Big Data remains under a cloud of mystery. Agencies are doing a lot of work in this area. Digital remains the centre of attraction and the new toy and tool for the industry. Bitcoins keep finding new buyers. Blockchain promises a few solutions. AR and VR wait for full exploitation continues. Research and research methodologies are argued while the sample sizes keep shrinking with the rising cost. Intrinsic research continues to wait for scaling up.
It is becoming easier to create a TVC or DVC. The creative dependent on edit and effect machines for changes, corrections and enhancement. Everything seems possible. The distances are being curbed, but the value of face-to-face interaction remains unchallenged.
WILL THERE NEVER BE A CHANGE?
No, it will be wrong to say the change has not happened. Like everyone else, the industry cannot afford to not-be-impacted with the changes happening in its surrounding business and social environment. Yet, the difference is unrecognisable.
There is a hope and a firm belief that in the new era, we might see more changes that we will immediately identify. They will be more innovative and disruptive. Their impact will be sharper and more pronounced.
People may take a stance only after knowing the fact. They may be equally gracious in appreciations as aggressive they are in their complaints. People may finally use their judgement and share or forward things only after deliberation. People definitely will be more inclusive in their opinion and lives. However, whatever you may do, the WhatsApp group will time to time surprise you with your popularity and the size of your well-wishers. They will be full of wishes, motivational quotes and season greetings.
CHANGE STARTS WITH SELF.
There is no point in continuing the discussion. Each one of us in the position of responsibility and accountability must take a stance and correct our behaviour. Things will change, and I believe they will. And by the next year, this may be seen as total gibberish.
Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior marketing and strategy advisor and educator. He writes for MxMIndia every Wednesday. His views here are personal
The ads came too late. Much after the nation burned in a fire of hatred, rumours, distrust and fury of confusion. People joined rallies and protest. Lacking any chance of proper information, the protestors lost patience. Hooligans intermingled with protesters. Turned agitators. The stones started coming from streets and universities. The tear gas, water cannons were not far behind. Innocent and not-so-innocent citizens joined morchas with questionable leadership. The minority and majority of people with no one to turn to for answers believed whatever was thrown at them via the social media.
Speakers from every area of the society – intellectuals, politicians, religious leaders, students and teachers – joined in. There was no way for anyone to evaluate and logically decide which side should they stand.
THE INACTION AND THE NON-TRANSPARENCY DEFIED LOGIC.
The issues were sensitive. They were expected to flare up sentiments.
Surprisingly, the government and the people associated with such delicate matter thought that the religiously charged geopolitical situation prevailing in the country was more than enough reason for a widespread campaign on the subject of CAA and NRC.
There has to be a study and scenario build-up that the advisors were expected to create and recommend. I would hate to believe that the government woke up one morning and used the august space of Parliament to launch a service called CAA and NRC for the nation. The NRC timelines of 2024 were stated without a framework. The inclusiveness of minority across neighbouring countries left many unanswered questions.
THE FIRE WAS WAITING TO BE LIT.
The leaders and protesters played to the gallery and primate fear of safety and survival. The uncertainty associated was a big dark cloud threatening people. The issue of religion and its linkage is something an ordinary peace-loving citizen would hate to think in a secular India.
And then there is of course a large section of people fed on communal hatred and fear wanting and pushing for the Hindutva Rashtra. Interpretations and perceptions were ruling the day when absolute clarity was needed. It, for too long, remained a game of perceptions. Perceptions are ultimately adulterated with reality.
Even the best of the people were clueless about what was it all about. Then how can we expect the masses who follow their leaders blindly to understand? It was a god-sent opportunity for many.
What is the objective? Why was it not inclusive enough or what forced exclusivity in the CAA and NRC understanding? How could the government fail to be sensitive to the situation? How did they underestimate the reaction? Who is really responsible for the damage it has done to the religious and cultural fabric of the country.
For every protestor, there must be thousands living in the cocoon of misunderstanding and unvoiced fears. For every peaceful protestor, there were tens of tens with pre-determined agenda and well-planned strategy to incite further violence and hatred.
IMPLEMENTING AGENDA IS NO EXCUSE.
It does not matter which earlier government started the process and why did they, for so many years, did not go through even a symbolic effort to implement. You can call them cowards or they did not find the environment conducive enough. The current government, with its majority and thinktank(s), had every right to re-evaluate, withdraw, take no action, tweak or create the right environment before leasing the demon of rumours and heated sentiments.
THE LOSS IS TOO HUGE TO REPAIR IN SHORT TERM.
It is not only the communal fabric that is getting ripped ruthlessly. The hatred fueled by the lack of information. The respect for police the civilian protectors has taken a beating. The citizens have been held ransom to uncertainty while media took a position. The sovereign Constitution of Indian collectivism has been questioned. The centre and the state balance has been challenged. None of them good things to happen.
Police must not have to work with hands tied. Fear repercussion when they are trying to control what is an attack on them and are not by mile ‘peaceful protestors’. Rioters must be identified and if they are thousands or lakhs, so be it. However, no decent, peaceful protestor must be harmed. The right to protest and the right to expression is an integral part of the country and its citizenship.
THE ADS CAME TOO LATE.
Too late. The ads came too late.
What would it have taken for the government to create transparency and provide the best explanation to intent and the process?
It demanded full-fledged print, TV, radio, outdoor and digital campaign to be developed.
It required that the government engaged the best of the creative brains to develop the campaign and best of the media agencies to orchestrated the release and exposure.
The cost of such an exercise would not ever be a deterrent. Clearly, this was not a subject that could be answered over some agenda much or few interviews.
The silence for the last few days has been loud and damaging.
THE PERCEPTION ADULTERATED WITH REALITY.
There is no doubt that almost every responsible country across the globe has some or the other form or NRC. It is a reality that every country must have an NPC. So what if NRC and NPC they are unrelated (as stated by the government). It is a surprise that NRC is just an idea at present with no framework. It is somewhat questionable why was it even brought in?
The CAA is a different debate. It may require a different approach and rework to be inclusive. The question remains as to Which country, Which religion, Who all, Which country should it cover? And which dates should be taken as the cut-off? Or should there be a cut off at all? Or have we passed the time of the cut-offs? Or do we draw a line today and make everything stabilise.
Sanjeev Kotnala is a senior industry professional, consultant and educator. He writes for MxMIndia every week. His views here are personal
Oh! We have raised these questions through centuries in muted, hushed conversations and suppressed closed minds. No, I do not expect much to change in my lifetime, but for the sake of future generation, a start needs to be made.
The good thing about this era is that these are being raised – I can’t say- if they are being heard. The ALARM is yet to ring, and the ZID is anyway missing.
So, if you want to know till when (KAB TAK) will this keep happening? And even as one raises the questions, they know the answer are not important. The answers are known to all. Yet it is important to raise these questions with an expectation of change. That is all that remains.
This will keep happening if we remain cocooned in our thinking and lethargic in our action. Tab Tak- Jab Tak.
Till the time, it is not a problem for the problem solvers. Till the time wives-sisters-daughters of people of influence and who take action remains protected under their circle of influence.
Till the time, it remains someone else’s problem, and we believe it will not happen to us. Till the time we believe we are not causing it as we are not doing anything.
Till the time we have more significant issues of religion, caste, language to divide us and tag the victim with these unnecessary labels.
Till the time, it’s the victim who remains guilty and accused of the crime.
Till the time, we continue blaming her for having provoked and not taken due precautions.
Tab Tak- Jab Tak. We continue to turn a blind eye to someone else’s mother-sister-wife being molested and teased on the streets. And we do so to avoid putting our wife-mother-sister in trouble.
Till the time, these remain unreported because of the question of IZZAT of the family. Till it tells the culprits, they can get away with it.
Till the time, the journey between innocence and guilty remains long, tiring and unpredictable. Till the time, justice is not speeded up. Till the time the system keeps failing to protect the victim. Till the time the conviction rate remains as low. Till the time, the percentage of crime being reported remains low.
Till we keep letting women down.
Till the time the penalty to victim remains far higher than that for the culprit. Till the time culprits do keep roaming free. Till the time they are not debarred from life from a position of power, influence, accountability and responsibility.
Till the time the victim is repeatedly raped in the courtrooms with a new set of questions to break them.
Till the time the daughters-wives-sisters keep protecting the culprits. Till it is the family name and secret that must be kept confined within the walls – so what if the woman continues to suffer and the culprit gets further confident and encouraged.
Till the time we keep the differences alive and the expectations different from each of the gender.
Till the time people fail to understand the cause of other remaining mute is not their indifference but a lack of trust and faith in the system.
Till the time we keep differentiating in the types and level of rape and crime against women. Till the time, we do not see all age groups as equally impacted and affected by the crime.
Tab Tak- Jab Tak, we keep trivialising the crime and keep giving irresponsible excuses. Till the time, we believe it is a result of influence of western culture, irresponsible dressing by women, a disease spread and encouraged by social media, prompted by exposure to porn, result of objectifying women to sell every product and service, glorifying stalking & eve-teasing in films or the lack of sex-education.
Till the time we do not consciously start instilling right value system in our children.
Till the time, brothers, fathers, uncles and every male in the family demonstrate the love, care and respect for the women in the family and set an example of right behaviour for the new generation to imbibe. Tab Tak.
Till the time, we keep treating such crimes as an opportunity for a brand initiative. Till the time media focus continues to stops at a few debates, articles and films. Till the time, we all, including the media, do not understand that enough is enough and that we need to keep up the pressure relentlessly till the objective is achieved.
Sometime back, I watched a film from Policy Bazar on Term Insurance. This time there was a small catch. The film was about a mother joining her job just six months after her first childbirth.
Created by Enormous Brands, it is a decent film meeting the objective of asking working women to re-evaluate their need for term insurance and contributing in securing the family’s future.
There is hardly anything wrong with the film. In fact, the TG appreciates it more than films by other brands addressing them. And the film wisely un-intrusively is able to address, doubts, guilt, solution, address influencer subset and smoothen the fear of death.
However, if I have to believe my friend Mr Verma, the moment you watch a few more times, the parody of the situation starts appearing. Here we go – mini=episodic if not frame by frame. And this is what Mr verma has to add.
The Term Insurance Working Mom
The mother, while getting ready to step out on work, is conversing with the baby. She voices all the doubts that the brands want to answer. A longer format allows a singular focus on her internal question answer, profiling her life and then like every other communication present the right decision and action she has made.
So, it is evening or early morning is left to your imagination. She starts with her conversation with her boss, assuring that she has taken the ticket printout (Oh!), she is ready to leave in five minutes and that she will see her boss at the airport.
Them starts the mushiness and an attempt to press all the possible triggers for consideration. It is like you enter a new room. You know there is a switchboard on your right as you come in. However, you are not sure which of these will really light up the room and which is for the fan you don’t want.
So here we go. First, thank you Diya (that’s the six-month child ) for making me Maa from mai. How poetic. Talk about people’s perception and their questioning her need to join a job so soon. That ugly question raising its head- if you were not ready to take care (read give time and energy to Diya), why did you give birth to her? Slowly slim in the stereotyped Buaji (father’s sister) as the propagator of this horrid question. Slowly put that thought of ‘First-time-mother’ and a relationship of long-term-interdependence. The mother-daughter bond defined with happiness and reduced waking hours.
Policy Bazar Hits The Iron When It Is Hot
Now that one has sufficiently primed the audience to drop the anchor. The part that the client eagerly wants to say. The morbid insurance thought. ‘Why two days, if I was to leave forever, I have taken term insurance to ensure that you will live comfortably to realise your dreams’. This is where, for me, the un-naturalness of the conversation kicks in. These are actual spoke words to the six-month old and not the voice-in-the head.
The whole experience of a beautiful experiential communication suddenly goes fault. The fizz is out of the bottle.
Mr Verma or I have no suggestion on how and when the dreaded Insurance with ‘leave you forever’ though could have entered the communication. But Mr Verma is sure, this is not the right way.
Smoothening The Guilt.
The agency then gives the placebo offer to tackle the guilt of a potential working woman. The magical term plan as a part of six-month-old Diya’s upbringing. So that when she grows up, gets married and then have her children, as and when quizzed, she can tell her children the story about their grandmother. How she learnt to have her career and take care of everything, not giving up on the dreams by this Term Insurance.
Don’t Forget The Influencer Dad.
The supportive husband makes its customary entry towards the end. Agency and client removing any doubts in the mid of audience weather the working mother was a single mother. Slightly nudging the male audience towards their contribution in the process. Be a good husband, and a good father get term insurance because you understand them better.
Who Is To Blame Or to Celebrate.
Not sure, if it is the greedy client wanting to have an immediate reaction? Was it the agency willingly loading the film? Did the agency believe the format would keep the audience engaged while the protagonist walked through multiple rooms while getting ready?
Story Abhi Baki Hai Mere Dost.
Don’t miss, the silliest of the twist at the end. A fake attempt to make the viewer smile. ‘Priya.. aapne papa ka khayal rakna’
The Learning.
Any communication including DVC is a complete experience. It must be evaluated for overall impression and the aftertaste it leaves in the mind of the target group.
There is no reason to purposefully break down the film in the way Mr Verma does while evaluating the script of the final product. However, I do believe that if Enormous would have met Mr Verma earlier, they could further enhance the impact and iron out such doubts.
If Mr Verma can think so, any viewer including Mrs Verma who is a working women can think in the same way.
………………………………..
Mr Verma for no known reason likes this ad by MAX LIFE INSURANCE where death is an integral part.
Or maybe, Mr Verma has reason to like it and my mother reason to hate is the same. My nickname is Sanju
Disruption has been best used to describe dramatic events and thoughts. Something unusual and mostly bad. Something that is contrary to the pattern your mind is accustomed to. Jean-Marie Dru used disruption to define an unexpected but strategically sound strategy and gave it a positive spin. Since then, the operative meaning of the word has been repeatedly bastardised just like consumer insight. People use it for even a minor tangentially thought. But, how do you disrupt a disruptive world? How do you keep enhancing and leveraging disruption, when disruption is a hygiene factor? Maybe the duration of the disruption could be the differential to create impact and desired results.
Living Life in an Auto-pilot SOP mode.
Saw the Gentleman clip from ‘The Man Company’. Here Ayushmann Khurrana, the actor with a Midas touch, talks about who is a Gentleman and what makes a man a gentleman? Sounds somewhat near to what Gillette statement of toxic masculinity, but it is okay. They call it disruptive now days. Questioning anything is disruptive!
Sometime back, Divya Butta delivered a sensitive poetry on gender inequality. Everyone appreciated it. Some opened the cupboards of #MeToo. There was a high voltage buzz supporting it. People took to streets, lit torches and candles during Nirbhaya case. An OTT platform even made a heart-wrenching film on it. And then the movement was left to fend for itself.
More recently, watched a clip where they used a man instead of a woman to demonstrate how to detect breasts cancer. Then there was the clip on mensuration, the visual had a woman with bleeding from mouth. It tried raising a simple question ‘if it was the blood coming from the mouth, you would do something about it’ and refocused on our reaction to period hygiene.
Disruptive Communication, Not Disrupting Enough.
Were they disruptive enough? Did they really made you think? Well some of them did. Disruptions make you temporarily step out of your self-induced auto-pilot mode in Life. The lethargic organ – your mind tends to find new pattern by connecting dots ina differential way. Leading to a new algorithm of understanding an reaction being re-written in your mind-space.
Unfortunately, all the above examples and many more remained at the level of being appreciated. Yes, we enjoyed. Forwarded it in groups and maybe commented on them. I hope that was not the real objective.
‘Touch the Pickle’ and ‘Share the load’ or ‘Toxic masculinity’ or ‘Jaago re’ were a lot better, because they were properly amplified, discussed and debated. They even in operation for a longer period.
However, even with these superb creative, we the audience went back to awake-sleeping mode. A state in which we are awake but are as good as sleeping. We are touched by the communication, we pledge and say the politically nice words that everyone wants to hear. And then, the messages slip out of our consciousness. We get back to our inactive inert mode. Just like the way we do with the many workshops and seminars; appreciate them and in the absence of any repeated reminder, forget to implement the learning
At the end of it, the newly acquired understanding is pushed under the tons of real-life issues, templates and the SOPs we are required to follow. That is the reality. That is the reason we don’t see changes in people approach to Life.
Why Disruption Failed to Succeed?
Our mind is the most lethargic organ. Its love for patterns is well documented. It has its own algorithm of seeing and experiencing thing. And then creating its own rules by generalising, distorting and deleting part of the information and associated emotions.
In fact, our mind appreciates status quo. It loves templates, and it hates surprises. Any information or experience not falling in the expected pattern creates dissonance. It irritates and frustrates our mind, forcing it to address the disruption differently. Which means it gets busy realigning the existing algorithm. A temporary code is written for future re-evaluation.
In case the disruption continues to present itself across thought points and local surroundings, it hardens the algorithm. Otherwise, the autopilot ( earlier practised algorithm) takes charge of the code.
Disruption In Marketing and advertising is no different.
In marketing and advertising, a one-off unsustained disruption rarely succeed in changing the attitude and approach or the viewpoint of the target group. In spite of the buzz value and dominance across earned/shared media space, disruption needs sustained push to make an impact. Otherwise, the ‘Ooh, Aha and Wah’ remain suspended in social media and timeline.
Disruption Needs Engaged Follower
Disruption works best with observant people. People who are willing to accept and admit other viewpoints may exist. We call such tribes by different names from prosumers to influential to early starters and many more. Sometimes, all you need is to plant the disruptive thought with them. They will then own it and get you the movement to over-ride the existing behavioural / reaction auto-pilot algorithm.
How Do You Identify such a Follower?
However, you have no way of identifying the followers you need for your disruption. Digital with their differential KYC (know your consumer) based on their behaviour, choices and reactions can help identify this crowd. Unfortunately, you can’t really be sure while buying aggregated data. But, at least you have something to start with. You can further use demonstrated behaviour to filter-out the mass and reach the real core set of real followers.
Now, if you can create some re-marketing programme addressing the core curious followers, you are maybe able to create a self-fuelled communication programme. It is then, a sustained effort may help building the desired brand momentum and ultimately a positive brand involvement.
The Disruption Followers.
This initial set of consumer who is curious, observant, engaged, self-charged and willing to experiment are your assets. You need to just focus on engaging and interesting them. Don’t worry about another set still working on an auto pilot. They are risk-averse, they are not looking forward to new experiences and information. They want someone else to experience and validate before they would react, experiment and adapt something in Life. To get them to act, you need them to question their Life. You need a disruption like an earthquake of greater than 7 on richter scales.
Disruption Must Overcome Selective Observation.
There is too much information that the brain is interacting with. With every day, the quantum of information the brain has to address is increasing. You are keeping it more engaged than ever before. It is trying desperately to rework and model its work cycle and algorithms. the situation a worsening by the day. The information is being served to you as per your desire and algorithm created by deep understanding of you. The aperture of curiosity, intelligent debating, inferring and decision making is being dulled by every day.
Your brain finds that too many things are outside its circle of control and influence. It is no longer interested in observing and understanding. The mind is least interested in reacting to things it can’t do anything about. It hates when it is on the mercy of happenings it has no say in.
The brain then orders the closure of senses, logic, rationale and emotional gates to un-necessary information, curiosity and experiences. We just watch, push and forward our comments where we are expected to react. Still, we don’t observe, don’t evaluate, don’t re-act beyond what our internal SOP demands. We have a shield around us all the time.
One needs a sustained series of acts, expressing maybe the same thing in many different point-of-views to make us act. As the consumer’s tribes and societies, we have different locks and different levers to open. None of the research can exactly pinpoint what will work. And hence we need to work harder, more creatively.
Consumer sects are like religion. Different paths lead to the same destination. Hence, you need different expressions to define and search the levers. In fact, many acts are required to build the desired brand momentum.
Meanwhile, with the advent of social media and information, inferences overload, the consumers have declined to take an active interest. They are outsourcing their decision making to influencers. They are selective. They come back to the people they trust when they face a dilemma. They have a separate subset of people to trust for a differential problem, issues and opportunities. They are willing to make a less informed decision if the push comes from a more authentic source.
Disruption Is A Way Of Life A Skill?
Disruption requires a clear understanding of current ground realities. And that is the easy part of the job. It involves knowing the product, usages, insights, misuse, expectations, pain-points, love bubbles, talk –points etc. One can invest and pick the right details to want.
The tough part comes in knowing which of these levers when disrupted will create a high tide and which will lead to the tsunami of impact and impressions.
It needs critical accessing of every possible learning and observation. One of them is to arrive on to a collective well-informed conclusion, which will help to take the initiative forward. Hopefully, these initiatives are potent enough to break through the shield of selective hearing, watching and learning.
Hygiene factors in the path of disruption.
Know Your Subject. No matter what you’re trying to disrupt, you’re going to do it most effectively when you know your subject. What you know is the foundation. It is essential to know how the TG interacts with the product/brand/service/solution.
Slow Down – Look Outwards. Don’t rush. Don’t be stressed to deliver. Train yourself to devote time, efforts and energies into breaking every probortunity into smaller, manageable details.
Believe a disruptive solution exists. Try Something New. Be observant. Raise the bar of expectation. Use yourself as the Guiana pig for the experiment. Think how will you cut out the distractions that may lead to dilution of impact. Minimise distraction and amplify focus.
Test Your Disruption. Prototype disruption. Do a small test run. Review, tweak and redesign necessary changes. Be willing to revise the disruption and expectations.
Keep a record. Be brutally honest at the test stage. Be collectively naked among the team members. Do not let emotions and biases creep in. It is advised to observe and write every detail. Do not trust your memory. Go beyond mere watching and feelings. Probe on a deeper level.
Think Again and again. Post observation, you need to be able to think through the observations, maybe revisit your understanding of the subject and new observations. Question, reason and analyse your observations. They have the power of making or breaking the solutions.
Follow the OODA Loop. Observe as much as you can, Orient yourself to analyse the collective learning and use it to update your current reality. Which is any way your perception adulterated with reality. Decide the course of action and then ACT; follow your decision.
Once you have done the first cycle of disruption, adapt PaRAM. Pause for a bit, while you collect everything that will help you understand impact, facilitation and barriers. Reflect on the process, expectations and result, Absorb your learning and then Move-on to refine the results.
Build the flexibility to be able to swiftly course correct. In this way, it will be easy to disturb and out-manoeuvre the competition.
In the real market situation, you are always in the OODA loop, even within the PaRAM process. Because thinking is not linear. There are crosswinds of expectation, results and changes operating all the time.
You Are Not The Lone Disruptor
If you are trying disruption, acknowledge that you are not the only one in-universe thinking of disruption. Be willing to face disruptions even in the process. Be prepared to give consistency and sufficient time before evaluating results. Disruption demands a quick orientation to a new, evolved understanding of the subject. It needs a willingness to tweaks solutions for continuous improvement.
Disruption is about being proactive, but taking a conscious open-eyed decision and willingness to learn on the go. Be willing to fail. Be willing to redefine.
Unfortunately, being human means, there are blinkers ate every stage. There is complacency generated from success and lethargy from failure. At every step blinkers close in, auto-pilot and naysayers voices get louder. To succeed, you will need to overpower auto-pilot and just keep driving towards the objective.
Like many others, I was super-excited when Ogilvy took Vivo to court for plagiarism. It seemed someone was gutsy enough to take on the issue the industry has been facing for a while.
It led to a high decibel short buzz. There were debates and the industry was discussing the next course of action. What could be done? How can the menace of plagiarism be tackled? Why must one differentiate between straight plagiarism and pitches? How could the fraternity protect their creative IPR?
Alas, just like the buzz around some other issues within the country, the campaign against plagiarism died an abrupt death.
The Recent Development Is A Dampener.
Now, in what was colloquially known as the Ogilvy- Dentsu – Vivo case and was primarily a direct dispute between Ogilvy and Vivo, the two parties have come to an amicable agreement settling the dispute out of court. It is something everyone expected.
It cannot be a case of ‘I am Sorry’ or writing 100 times ‘No, we won’t ever do it again’. And hopefully, not a matter of a quid pro quo where future assignments come Ogilvy way.
No, none of us can do anything. Not that we have done anything.
Many people have welcomed the development.
Is it about ‘Keeping it within the family’ and ‘not washing dirty linen in public’?
The Ogilvy – Vivo case was one of the rare high voltage cases of Indian advertising that shies away from raising such an issue.
Definitely two parties have a right to an out of court settlement. That is a defined process.
It May Act As A Deterrent Or Set An Precedent.
Yes, I agree, the point is well-made. Plagiarism was in the spotlight for some time. But, then it is half the battle.
Yes, it may help the creative process and such act as a deterrent for possibilities. Maybe, people, agencies and clients will think twice before plagiarising creative concepts. However, it is setting an example. It may become a precedent, giving rise to claims and out of court settlements. And in that case, it will be detrimental to the industry.
Industry Needs To Know.
Sorry, Arnab Goswami, for taking your line, but may be the industry does need a hard and differential debate on the subject. I do think that the industry wants to know. In many ways, Ogilvy and Dentsu are leading agencies and Vivo is a large client, and hence, the industry has the right to know. And I am equally sure that nothing will be shared. That is what happens to out of court settlements which has non-disclosure as a necessary binding clause.
However, if someone were to share, the industry would want to know:
What really happened?
What made Ogilvy withdraw the complaint?
What is the agreement?
Did Ogilvy accept it to be a case of creative-coincidence?
How did the creative-coincidence happened or was agreed?
If, yes, how did it happen?
Expectations
The problem of plagiarism is alive ad growing by the day.
No solution has been found, presented or discussed in public domain.
The issue must be kept alive. The industry bodies owe it to the industry to act, to create norms, ways of self-regulation, the process of internal reporting and decision-making. Any such thing will not be legally binding, but it will be a start.
* an earlier version of this article and the visual that accompanied it had mentioned the legal tangle between Ogilvy and Dentsu, when it was in fact between Ogilvy and Vivo
I am writing the book review with a cup of hot steaming Sunrise Coffee. I can blame the book, ‘An Extreme Love Of Coffee’ for my change of brew.
I am a typical North Indian whose love of tea is known across family and friends. Yet, after landing at Nagpur and having finished the novel on the flight, involuntarily, I made myself a cup of coffee. Not the type Harish Bhat romances in his debut novel and the third book ‘An Extreme Love Of Coffee’. Think, it will do for this review.
I never relished coffee. I never acquired the love of its taste and aroma. May be I never had an authentic filter coffee. But, then, Harish being a batchmate from IIM Ahmedabad, I had to pick the book and read. I don’t regret it.
I wish I could have the aromatic magic beans of coffee perfectly roasted that gave Rahul (the protagonist in the book) and his girlfriend Neha, the experience. Harish Bhat must be knowing the secret to have penned a unique novel like ‘An Extreme Love Of Coffee’, unless he was having something more basic but not yet legal in India.
It is not a typical novel. There is an adventure, romance, threats, a ghost thrown in for good measure and series of puzzle that must be solved to get to the treasure; treasure hunt.
It did not promise to be the kind of book I would love. Yet, I finished it in two sittings.
Oh, the book is full of effusive praise of coffee, enough for you to start planning a coffee tour to Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mangalore and Coorg. I am still under the spell of coffee beans.
The varieties Harish introduces are enough for a tea drinker like me to get overwhelmed. Here is a suggestion: the Coffee Board of India could make ‘An Extreme Love Of Coffee’ standard accessory in rooms at the coffee plantations.
In a nutshell, Rahul and Neha’s love of coffee sends them into a chase. They are tracking the treasure of the coffee-loving-monk. They have clues which naturally had everything to do with coffee.
The sword-flashing Japanese Yamamoto brothers believe the treasure belongs to their family and they will do anything to get it. Do Rahul and Neha, while sharing their descriptive coffee experience, find the treasure? Do they get the promised treasure? Do they accept the treasure? Read this fast-paced, enough intriguing debut novel of Harish Bhat.
In sum, it is an exciting book. However, it leaves a few things unanswered. At a few places, the reader must try not to question what is happening. Trust the author to take the story forward. Reimpose the same trust in chapters where the pace is sluggish, and you are left wondering if you are in a course for coffee lovers.
At the very start, Rahul the young, ambitious copywriter at Minimum Maximum Mumbai (3M) advertising agency writes one of the best scripts sitting at a Starbucks. He is rewarded with an all-expenses-paid holiday for a month. At the coffee plantation, he tastes the magic coffee beans and has an experience that could best be described as a hallucination. In his words, a dream. He is at a coffee plantation in India, and the experience is in Tokyo. Based on his dream, he writes a brilliant script for soon to be launched spring mattress.
You never know, if Rahul was dreaming and hallucinating. Or was it a reality? It is one of the few exciting and engaging section of the book. Surprise, his girlfriend also has the same dream! And she too consumed magic bean coffee. Were dreams inserted in their mind? Suddenly the adventure kicks in.
There are too many coincidences and loose ends for my liking, but that’s the way I believe Harish Bhat wanted it to be. A blind rollercoaster ride for the reader.
Rahul and Neha keep getting lucky a the start, middle and at the end of every episode. They solve a somewhat tricky puzzle set many years back with surprising ease. Harish Bhat manages to keep you engaged at a voyeuristic distance for you to be part of puzzle-solving and travel with the characters.
I enjoyed reading his earlier books: Tata Log- stories from the modern history of Tata. And Curious Marketer, which spoke on why curiosity is vital for marketers and everyone else. In his debut novel “An Extreme Love for Coffee’Coffee’ published by Penguin Random House, curiosity plays a definitive role. In a way, the story re-emphasises curiosity, passion and enthusiasm as a necessary ingredient for devotion to a subject. I am not sure if that is the way he sees this trilogy.
Frankly, there is too much coffee in the book. I think it would have been a brilliant move if the book had the aroma of coffee or the magic coffee beans delivered with it or at least a section telling you where and how to get them. Something like the Elephant Poo coffee beans idea. (Read the book to know what it is).
I have no magic coffee beans in the hotel at Nagpur, so I moved to the Chaayos masala tea sachet that I carry with me. Tea is also a magic brew, with its variations, taste and aroma that once can be discovered all over the country. Unfortunately ( or maybe fortunately), it does not have a coffee lover like Harish Bhat.
Harish Bhat, keep drinking coffee, and maybe you will find time to share some of your experience for the 1987 IIM Ahmedabad Batch Gettogether at Hyderabad coming Jan.
If you are in Marketing and advertising, you would have watched all the Super Bowl ads by now. Every year around this time, the heat is on between brands to make an impression and get maximum instant reach for their messages. Some try being playful, some introduce new themes, and some try to provoke.
c`
