Today, is the big day for Apple fans – His Stevenness is supposed to make announcements about new iPods (and maybe new Macbooks – though that’s unlikely considering that the event invite said ‘Let’s Rock’) at a special event in San Francisco. So like with all Apple events, here I am (and I am sure there are scores of others around the world) following the event through live blogs. Except that this time I am…
Entertainment with a twist seems to be the key to touching a chord with the youth. The new Virgin Mobile Yo Yo spot carries off in the same tradition of the earlier ads. The product feature of ‘cheap calls between friends’ and therefore ‘find any reason to call your friend’ is a bit lost in all the humour. The link between the offer and the idea is a bit tenuous, unlike say the Vodafone Conference…
There is a new ad for Levis Signature featuring Deepika Padukone. The last one was simply a pretty lass cavorting around a street and this one thankfully has semblance of an idea. Just as you expect our hero to be welcomed with open arms by Deepika, thanks to the improvement in his sartorial taste, she continues to rebuff him, albeit differently. The self-deprecating humour is captured in the line ‘Thoda fark toh padega’ (there is…
In 1982, when Levis was planning to launch their Black Denim, they got BBH to create a poster. It was a poster with all the white sheep going in one direction and in the middle of it was a black sheep going the opposite direction. And it just simply said, “Black Levi’s. When the world zigs, zag.” The black sheep later became the company logo for BBH. Over the years, Levis has become the benchmark…
This campaign doing the rounds of Indian ad blogs. The idea: create buzz about a new technology that ‘cleans up any image’. As an extension, the idea has been taken on to a dedicated website, a viral video, teaser outdoor and a blog. It works because it creates curiosity about what the damn product is – a TV channel, a washing powder? Turns out its for this brand – let me not spoil the effect.…
DNA is set to launch in Bangalore from October 1. A door-to-door survey and pre-booking is underway in some parts of Bangalore. The survey began with me being presented a ‘Bangalore Guide’ – a nice touch with some utility value. The survey itself was pretty basic – how much I believe in Bangalore, what topics I would like to see covered in the paper etc. The pre-booking involves a Rs.300 subscription for the year and…
You’ve got to hand it to the Kiwis. They had earlier created a promotional billboard for Kill Bill, which was bloodier than the movie’s main promotion. Now, they have done something equally ingenious. To promote the telecast of the movie Knocked Up, they created signage in a shopping mall that involves tadpoles and fish-food stuffed egg sponge. The plot of the movie may explain on all this. According to IMDB, “Slobby Ben and up and…
I quite liked this ad for its execution. Be it politics or sports, America gets extremely polarized reactions – Democrats vs. Republics, Soccer vs. Baseball etc. In this context, the literal use of many voices speaking as one, to convey the idea of ‘speaking in one voice’ against poverty is attention grabbing. And the contrast is set up nicely with Matt Damon speaking to camera. The voices include those of Michelle Obama, Michael Bloomberg and…
I am no car enthusiast so car commercials don’t really turn me on as much as say, commercials for – you guessed it Apple products. I mean, I like good car ads as much as the other bloke – purely for the creative idea & execution. But I am not deep into features and car types, if you know what I mean. Among the recent Indian car commercials, the one that caught my eye was…
I don’t know how I missed this. These set of spots for Coke have been around since the middle of this year and are way up on the entertainment quotient. The simple idea of having to hug someone ‘unhuggable’ was dramatized in a series of short spots, which ran in sets in a clutter. Don’t ask me stuff like why Coke fits in there and not any other brand. The ad is good for a…