I love short duration ads – the ones which are 20 seconds or under. The ad commercial is a challenging audio visual medium – telling a compelling, engaging story that too with a business objective in 30-seconds is fascinating. And to do it in even shorter duration is no mean feat (Miller Lite ran 1-second commercials during Super Bowl in 2009). Shorter duration commercials also have an advantage from a media investment POV – the…
Between bookmarked sites, Twitter and RSS feeds which showcase advertising, I come across many new creative ideas every week. As with advertising in real life, only a handful are memorable. Here are my picks for the week ending 8th April, 2016: SK-II’s Marriage Market takeover in China, Milka chocolate and more. SK-II: Marriage Market Takeover Brand’s associating themselves with a cause and creating a touching video which tells a story (usually with a surprise or…
There was a time when news was what we read in the papers about events which happened the previous day. Opinions and commentary about news were left to editorials and periodicals. Later television channels became our go-to destinations for live news – such channels had the power to shape our views on current affairs too. The digital age ushered in a 24×7, ubiquitous, all-pervasive news through social media. In my view this re-shaped news landscape…
Will stand alone digital agencies survive or continue to be bought over by the big network agencies or simply shut down? My two bits going by the trends and what clients are likely to look for in their creative partners.
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 one level, advertising is creativity with commerce. The creative ideas developed by ad agencies help businesses drive awareness, sales and build brands. We are all familiar with ads peddling toothpaste, soaps and mundane everyday things. In doing so, advertising comes under the microscope for having to promote controversial categories like fairness creams. Advertising also comes under fire for creating make believe worlds and promoting stereotypes. Amidst all this is the belief that advertising can…
A new video created by McDonalds for the FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014 has already raked up close to 100k views on YouTube. The video is a compilation of trick shots and even for a non-football fan like me it makes for compelling viewing with repeat value. But it is not just another YouTube video going viral. At the heart of the campaign is a mobile app which is hardwired to brand purchase. The iconic…
Years ago, when I was working on a MNC account, the MD of the Indian operations (a Canadian) asked why his ads (for an FMCG brand) were not shown on sports channels during telecast of golf tournaments. When I told him that the numbers didn’t warrant it, he said, ‘but all my friends watch golf’. That’s the trouble with hanging out with only a particular kind of like-minded people and being completely out of touch…
Of late, several Indian brands have created campaigns specifically on Twitter. An interesting aspect about it is such campaigns are finding favour from big, mainstream brands who traditionally rely largely on mass media for advertising. Social Media platforms like Twitter continue to find favour among media and retail brands for whom there is a natural fit. Also, Twitter campaigns have become the centrepiece of a marketing campaign and not just an add on. The ‘Tweets…