It’s that time of the year again. A time to reflect on the year gone by and to make lists. Instead of making a list, which sounded too pompous, here’s revisiting some of the ideas that were ‘seen and noted’ by this blog since Jan’10. I have attempted to focus on the ideas and not group them by medium. While I attempt to share my views on most creative ideas I come across through this…
Promo ads are often given low priority in advertising – you know, the ones offering a comb free or aproduct bundled with something else. In telecom & FMCG you get them a lot and you can spot such advertising from a mile. They are usually direct and straightforward, the focus being on getting the message across unambiguously without any pretense to engage or move the audience. Fair enough. Sometimes brands have attempted to weave in…
Motorola is set to announce their tablet device, based on the Android Honeycomb platform at the CES 2011. Their teaser video aimed at building excitement around the launch, disses both the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The iPad is referred to as just a giant iPhone and the Galaxy Tab’s Android version (more suited for phones) is also ridiculed. As comparative ads go, this is typically tongue-in-cheek with barbs aimed at the competitor. We’ve…
This represented media innovation just about 3 years ago: You know what I mean -unexpected use of a medium was something common. So you had plastic forks as tree trunks (for a vegetarian restaurant), a gap between 2 hoardings to demonstrate a small car…and so on. Over the last year or so, media innovation and use of technology have become inseparable. Perhaps a reflection of the times we live in. In India, we’ve seen QR…
Came across this set of ads for Hubba Bubba bubble gum over at Ads of the World. I thought it was a fresh take on ‘big size’ – a common enough theme when it comes to bubble gum brands. Agency: Gitam BBDO, Tel Aviv ‘Blown out of proportion’ is an interesting take in a category which has dramatized ‘big bubble’ in myriad ways over the years. Herewith some samples: All images: Via I find it…
Got an iPad? Got a toddler or a pre-schooler at home? Trust me, the iPad is made more for them than us folks. They seem to take to the device like fish to water – I guess the touch interface, the ease of use and the magic of audio, video and interactivity on that big screen makes the experience ‘magical’ for them, as His Steveness promised. My daughter, all of 5, gets wide-eyed about using…
Since the breakout of SARS, it’s been boom time for hand sanitizer brands. Their creative propositions have usually been generic promises either focusing on convenience (‘because you can’t carry soap, water & a basin everywhere’) or dramatizing the problem they solve (‘germs everywhere’). This category has seen some really memorable work over the last few years. A new ad campaign for Sanzer Hand Gel continues the tradition as it were, by presenting a refreshingly new…
If you are a quizzing fan, you probably would have come across this question: Which brand, from one of India’s oldest menswear manufacturers, founded by M.Y. Noorani, is associated with Dhunji Rana, its famous model? The answer is of course, Zodiac. A lot of people of that generation still remember those ads (anyone got scans of those?), thanks to the striking, dignified looks of the bearded Dhunji. And then there are others who remember Atul Tandan…
There was this old joke about how if you search for ‘world peace’ on the Internet you are likely to get a few thousand results. But if you search for ‘sex’ you are likely to get millions more – proving that the we need sex more than world peace. The tenuous link that I am trying to create is to do with the media buzz (or lack of it) around The Effies 2010, as compared…
I had written about Boulder Digital Works in an article for the Financial Express. Even in other articles I had talked about the need to create a new breed of advertising agency folk, for whom Digital is at the heart of creative solutions. As experts have pointed out, Digital is still an also-ran, especially in India. In light of this, I was filled with envy reading about the experiences of Lex Bradshaw-Zanger at the BDW’s…