Lays is on a marketing overdrive with their new Saif-Dhoni ad. I guess Bingo’s success both in terms of market & mind share is giving them the heebie-jeebies. The earlier effort with Saif, pitching Lays as central to any ‘program’ in a day was middling. The attempt was to create a buzz phrase (a la ‘mera number kab aayega’) with the line ‘What’s the program?’ – I didn’t think the idea caught on like wild fire. Compared to the likeable madness of the Bingo films, these fall flat. The ‘Chala Change ka Chakkar’ was an interesting idea as far as consumer promos go.
I find the new politicians TVC cacophonic. Two protagonists rooting for a particular flavour is a nice idea but the execution left me cold. I know many find it funny to have Saif-Dhoni in politician garbs and have assorted tongues sticking out, I don’t. The TVC is a screaming match from frame 1 and has a high irritation factor. Turning the idea into an interactive initiative is also nice. The website is a carry-forward of the film. The flash intro is a ‘fight’ between Dhoni & Saif. I was expecting interactive games in the site but could only find a poll, which was already promoted in the TVC. The Fun Zone has wallpapers and screensavers. Pretty much standard stuff. To download the wallpapers one has to register (give your mobile number & email!) and validate the registration.
I thought there was scope to have much more fun with interactive games – updates on which flavour is ‘winning’, tidbits on famous fights from around the world and so on. Overall, the web initiative left me disappointed – a huge opportunity wasted. Given the track record of Frito Lay with marketing success of Kurkure, this could have been a tad more imaginative.
What did you think of the TVC and the interactive stuff? Do comment.
