We’ve seen this in advertising for mobile handsets: a majority of brands put out a laundry list of technical features and hope it will dazzle the consumer into buying. But when it comes to purchase decisions it is the emotional brain which rules.
Of late, there’s been a debate about the use of Adblockers, with some calling it immoral (see a rebuttal here). Needless to say, Adblockers are popular: 300m people in the world have downloaded an ad blocking extension and about half have actually installed it. The crux of the argument against their use is that Adblockers deprive the ‘content creators’ an earning and that it will eventually lead to content creation becoming unviable. Some have even argued that…
At the #Zeemelt15, there were a lot of sessions and workshops which I wished I could attend. It was a case of being spoilt for choice as many interesting sessions clashed in terms of timing. Of course the event had its share of presenters who drone on and on or do a sell job of their company. Nevertheless, I hope Melt becomes a permanent fixture in the advertising world and travels to other cities too. More importantly, I hope the entire advertising industry supports the event through active participation across levels.
Quick. What is the best way to get a brand’s attention? Tweet something nasty about their product or service. This is what many of us believe for a variety of reasons: (a) it is true that when brands are publicly embarrassed, especially by ‘influencers’ they are shamed and feel the need to get into damage control mode (b) cribbing is natural Twitter behaviour; the platform seems to be ideal for complaining as one can get…
We often see ads were the role of the product is minimal. The trouble with this approach is that memorability and effectiveness depends a lot on execution and media spends. I love product-centric ads and among such, creative product demonstrations are a favourite. Herewith a few classic product demos over the years.
Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account has been set up finally. I say ‘set up’ because to me (going by the two tweets thus far) it seems to be a medium to broadcast his activities, views (maybe). Nothing wrong in that – several politicians, national leaders and other celebrities are known to have a social media team who tweet on their behalf. Many Twitter folks commented on the handle (@OfficeofRG) as being too aloof & distant, while…
I love everything about the Snickers ‘you are not you when you are hungry’ campaign. It is based on a great insight, articulated well and the central idea is so ‘campaignable’. We’ve seen some great theme and tactical ads as part of the campaign. A new outdoor campaign takes it to the next level – actually showing people what the downside of being hungry.
No advertising & marketing industry conference is complete without the mention of mobile being the ‘next big thing’. Everyone agrees that the platform offers great potential and speaks of the need for a ‘mobile-first’ approach. But is the potential of mobile fully exploited by brands?