Presentation skills is perhaps one of the most neglected aspects of training in advertising agencies. Ironic, since it is a business of persuading people to agree with your point of view. Depending on the agency culture, the suits get to make presentations to client either at middle or senior management level. Either way, the presentations are going to be boring. The common approach to handling a meeting where an idea or a proposal is to…
Advertising was once described as ‘salesmanship in print’. Given the explosion in media choices, we may have to revise it to ‘salesmanship in print, TV, online, retail, viral, ambient, search engine marketing, mobile, SMS, outdoor, radio and everything else in between’. There has been a quantum change in the way we consume media and brands over the last decade. Are we geared to address these changes? The answer sadly, would be a resounding ‘no’. The…
One of the legendary campaigns in the oral confection category is the one for Altoids. It was popular for it tagline: ‘Curiously strong mints’. Created by Leo Burnett, the campaign stood out among the clutter of freshness claims. The masterstroke was to focus on a differentiated product attribute and go to town with it. The execution took the idea miles ahead with a combination of intelligent wit and retro-chic. They have been consistent with the…
Came across this great post titled, ‘An agency driven by fear is a nightmare’. Every word of it rang true for me in the context of a typical client-agency relationship, here in India. In the above article, the author says: By definition the creative process is fearless. Scared people don’t make anything well except walls and weapons The Man of Fear often has a big title. He wears it to meetings like a medal. Always…
The debate on scam ads continues. Sreekant Khandekar, the editor of agencyfaqs has articulated his views extremely well. Clients too have joined the debate and have disowned scam ads and the resultant awards. Client opinion on awards and scams come in different shades. There are those who mistakenly equate any creative award with ineffective advertising. For them, safe advertising is the best option out and they justify the work that they approve by saying ‘Hey,…
Every once in a while, the ad industry gets a fillip in terms spends with new or emerging categories. It was telecom a few years, then insurance and so on. The IPL advertising is not really a category in itself but its got huge visibility thanks to the brand and team advertising. Now the channels have joined the fray. Check out this hilarious ad from SET MAX. And then there is this bummer for…
Much has been written about the business aspect of Indian Premier League – the enormous bidding amounts, the franchisees etc. From a marketing communications point of view, I think IPL (the official website is pretty sad, though) and its agency have begun to hit the right notes. In my view, the challenges ahead of IPL were these:Create a brand idea: while the Twenty20 format received favourable response from cricket fans, the lukewarm start to the…
When its advertising awards, can controversy be far behind? In typical Times Group style, the furore over the Luxor ads hit the front pages. The ad which won a Grand Prix for Leo Burnett is actually a client of Lowe. The ad was released through an approval process from the Luxor marketing head who is no longer with the company. The report actually clarifies that the entry was legit, but ends with a quote from…
I am one among the unfortunate lot who did not visit the Goafest’08. Sour grapes aside, I could not help notice the total lack of blogging activity from the participants. Maybe I missed them, but apart from Manish of Indiadrant, I did not come across anything in terms of regular updates via blogs. Maybe its just because its Goa. I mean, who in their right minds would give up the sun, sands and beer to…
Seems like kids never had it so good. And parents have never had it so tough. Apart from the tonnes of brands targeted at exclusively at kids, several mainstream brands have launched a kid-focused variant. The brands that come to mind include Pears Junior, Parachute Advansed Starz, Colgate and Pepsodent. The logic for such variants is sound: without too much of an extra cost, one can acquire new customers and expand the brand franchise. The…