Olympic Winners – A new bunch of Celebrity Endorsers!

Wow! This one is great. Not only I am elated for India finally reaching a place in Olympic medal tally but I am also pleased to realize that now, we will get to see some fresh celebrity endorsements with some new faces for the India Advertising. 

Currently it is Bollywood and Cricket which rule the celebrity endorsements arena. Any brand/product category, you will find them everywhere. From personal care to ball pens, from health supplements to technology – you will find Bollywood stars and cricket players across TV channels and selling almost anything. 

With the increasing consumerism and the numerous manufacturers, it becomes a great difficulty for the marketer to make a place in the industry and to create a brand recall. And when ideas are not enough celebrity works wonders for an instant recall.  Even the corporate are associating with these stars for their CSR initiatives and to have a sports encouraging image. This way they also get mileage as an organization which works for the upliftment of society and pulls in a great social image.

And with the bollywood stars and cricket becoming a regular, the Olympic champions will surely instill freshness on our television screens. Besides, these players do not charge as high as the cricketers or the cinestars, and with the agencies and corporate offering revisions quite happily – we can expect many more brands being endorsed by the heavyweights like Sushil Kumar & Yogeshwar Dutt as well as the super mommy brands being endorsed by our own superwoman Mary Kom. With a tally of bronze and silver, I hope the stars pin the Gold in the endorsements. The laurels are already fetching great deals to these and with greater and larger amounts as quoted by the agencies managing the likes of Sania Nehwal, Gagan Narang etc. 

Of course they have all the reasons, these young Brands now stand for Perseverance and Trust, and a month back they were the stars who were struggling to shine. But now they are the ambassadors of India Shining who have left the mark in the world. The Brands certainly have some values and they have proved their mettle already. So shall we say now, Go for Gold. 

The times is to check how far can they impact the India consumers and in what category? Will the agencies be able to create a larger than life image, or they too will get a makeover and create new style statements. Will we go and shop an extra bit for the love of Saina or Sushil?

Whatever the case may be with the brands but we surely love the sound of Rio 2012 and these BRANDS bring in a lot of positivity and hope about it.

The Utterly Butterly Amul Moppet – Hot & Intriguing @ 50

Wow! Day before Amul Moppet turned 50, perhaps the only brand to rule for consecutive 50 years.  Five decades of success and love, of reaching out the various age groups, demography and even crossing national boundaries – Remember! Last year Britain came up with a butter brand named – Utterly Butterly.

A brand – creates a very normal brand mascot which turns into an abnormally excellent creative brand which is looked after by a nation even after a decade. Certainly, phenomenal it is.

Have a look at the Amul girl, a tiny round faced little chubby girl who is dressed up in a polka dot frock - no wonder even the polka dressing marks an evergreen approach in the creation of this brand. This little girl is honored with a Guinness Book Record for being the longest advertising campaign ever. Considering the skewed shelf lives and mad consumerism – it looks almost impossible that any brand or campaign will even reach any closer. [Did you read about Facebook dying by 2020?]

Not only the Amul Moppet is a successful brand mascot but it also stands out in a way – that it is one brand which doesn't needs any celebrity to ride the brand bandwagon. Infact, she pokes and observes as to what is going on in a celebrity’s life and eventually they feel lucky, embarrassed and even provoked at times – but there is no stopping as Amul Moppet is very much accepted as a voice of common man. She reaches out and connects through the campaigns.

If one checks the chronology and background of Amul, we would realize that it is the positioning of the Amul Butter and the mascot really getting to the zest of it.  Since the inception -

The Brand Image is that of a Cheerful, Fun Loving, Naughty, Healthy, Youthful and Family Oriented at the same time.

Later, it went on to become a Social Observer. Campaigning with strong messages, there by reaching the common man became a brand style. Amazing Strategy -  the Amul girl is better recognized now as a Social Observer. You talk of anything which is on air, breaking news, controversy, talking change or even a talked about movie – Amul girl will share her review – largely a common man’s take on the issue.  She is a remarkable social observer with a great 'sense of humor' which is hardly seen backing down.

Leader -It always remains a mass marketer and lead through cost and quality both.

Emotional Connect – The taste of India and the very campaigns with almost all alarming national issues, kept the emotional connect intact and the brand a success. The brand is still leading with right spirits and living upto its very basics – value orientation, sociable and Indian.

Market Adaptations – Like the campaigns even the product and competition was not backed out. Amul Butter launched Amul Lite, to adapt to the market players.

A beautiful example of an exemplary brand - Amul Moppet still have decades to go!

Aamir Khan teasing India :)

Aamir Khan – an actor known for his passion for perfection in whatever he does. Be it acting, art, film-making, film marketing etc.  And now did you notice the teasers of his upcoming tele-program ‘Satyamev Jayate’.

The TV promos have perfect blend of teaser marketing and a very unconventional promotion for the not so popular time slot of 11am for a Sunday. I am sure even the biggest TV lovers are not hooked to television on a Sunday morning. But remember, we have all grown up with Sunday mornings being special as we were all glued to – Mahabharata, Ramayana and even Jungle Book. Well, why not – now? I am excited.

Have a look at the promos – they are so unconventional, they are about all of us, they are about truth and yet so secretive. Secrets – another successful marketing mantra.  We humans, love secrets, we have an appetite for them; we follow them until the truth is out. All the promos revolve around one theme – ‘Truth Alone Prevails’. And Aamir is going to bring the truth, like he says it is the most ambitious project of his life. Remarkable marketing campaign with absolute road map,

Teaser>> attention>> teaser>> intention>> teaser >> engagement (of thoughts) and secrets

A perfect social campaign, facebook already has got more than 4 lacs likes, youtube hits are increasing every hour, the anthem is reaching out to souls, the visuals show India, talk India and sing India.

Another great thing about the show is – it is bound to reach out. The social media and Star Plus are not going to limit the reach to urbane and tier II cities, ‘Satyamev Jayate’ is going to be aired on Doordarshan(DD) as well.  Aamir surely is going to go places and touch hearts.

‘Satyamev Jayate’ Starts 6^th May, 11am Sunday on Star plus.

Advertising: Old Hindi Songs vs Jingles

A popular old hindi movie song remixed for an ad jingle.

The trend is picking up greatly in the Indian Advertising. More and more brands are hooking to Old Hindi Movie songs to advertise their brands. Of course, few of them are great and are sure having raised an instant stir among consumers. But there are also those – which do not even link to the product category or even brand message. They are just there for ‘attention’. And you surely tend to listen to the song but leave the TVC just there so it certainly doesn't works to I.D.A (Interest.Desire.Action) levels of AIDA.

While my mind, noted this observation, I found myself pondering, Is it a new Consumer Insight?

Well, I really do not feel that it is due to a customer insight. Because many of the songs do not even show any relevance and there are many which suit the Brand Personality. But then too if they create an instant buzz among the consumers, I really feel they are all short-lived. The brands who adopt old hindi songs for their brands have to evolve constantly. An instant hit might end up short-lived.

 

Some of the most recent TVCs with Old Hindi Movie songs are of Parachute Hot Air Oil – Humdum mere maan bhi jao featuring Narghis Fakhri, Godrej Hair Dyes – jawani janeman haseen dilruba, TVS Scooty’s – Jane do na etc.

These remixed songs turned jingles will not be able to create a magic like the originals. People have not and will not forget the magic of Vodafone’s 'You and Me in this beautiful world’ or even an oldie ‘Lifebuoy hai jahan-tandrusti hai wahan’.  Remember, the Amuls – dhoodh-dhood-dhood...pii sakte hai roz glass full and the forever, Sunday ho ya Monday – roz khao ande and even the Close-ups 'Kya aap close-up karte hai' and Cadbury's 'Kuch Khaas hai' with ever refreshing jingles. These are eternal and have got brand, benefits, relevance, truth and message.

My current favorites include:

Coca Cola’s – 'Ummedo wali dhoop –sunshine wali asha' persuades us to, Believe in a happier tomorrow.

Hero – 'Hum mein hai hero'

Both of these, have instant connect, a straight & solid message and are bound to live long in the consumer’s heart. Watch out..

McDonalds - Communication Strategy

McDonald’s –The Joy of little things!

Disclaimer: The intentions behind the post are not to promote Junk food. The post is about the effective GLOCAL marketing strategy of McDonalds and consumer relevance created by the advertisement messages for its Indian market.

We have been watching them create the magic like what a tinkle does to a child. A tinkle just reminds a baby that someone exists close and cares for the baby’s smile.

Look at the Mc Donald’s advertisements, they are just meant for reminders and sweet are the reminders that they make you fall in love with the brand and ultimately takes you to experience happiness. And believe me – they talk all. That too in everyone’s language. Excellent consumer research & communication design.

Remember the messages……..I am sure you all do. Let’s Recall few:

Bahamas TVC – that was meant for our grandparents – to tell them that we welcome you!

The College Gang TVC – Reminds you to celebrate little things and that’s possible in you pocket money.

The Latest TVCs – Oh! They are my favorites, very cost effective; they don’t ask the viewer for a prolonged attention and just leave the message that suggests celebrating little joys at McDonalds. And those little joys are – First Whistle, Being the 12th Man in the College Cricket team etc. And with every little communication they are eventually promoting the product range in Happy Price Menu. If the whistle copy talks about the ‘Aloo Tikki Burger’, the 12th man is shown sipping the ice tea.

As far as their Communication Strategy is concerned - I m lovin' it!