Much has already been said about the MakeMyTrip ad released on the day of the India-Pakistan cricket match on Oct 14, 2023. While I saw some social media posts praising it, many were trashing it – calling it inappropriate, in poor taste and unsporting. Some have sought to bring in a political angle claiming this reflects the India of today (unsaid part meaning ‘all this is happening post 2014). Some others on LinkedIn have ‘cancelled’…
I have been out of ad agency life for over 10 years now. As a consumer and as a mere observer of goings on in advertising, I can clearly the see the priority given by brands to what has come to be known as moment marketing. Aside from occasions such as Women’s Day or festivals, brands are putting out social media posts (which have become mandatory expectations from a digital agency) anchored on whatever is…
Advertising funds much of the media business. Even back in the pre-digital era it was acknowledged that the cover price of news papers & magazines would be prohibitively expensive for the reader. In markets like India, major dailies and magazines have been incredibly affordable. When the television industry took off, both GEC and niche channels depended on advertiser monies for support. Since the rise of internet media brands, display ads have contributed to their sustenance.…
It’s natural that businesses love the festive season – be it in India or elsewhere. Every region has a season where consumer spends increase – be it Christmas or the Chinese New Year. In India, Diwali ads aim to capitalise on the consumer sentiment of celebrations, auspiciousness and traditions. Christmas-themed advertising is usually anchored on shopping, gifting, relationships and travel. Such ads have a strong dose of ‘do-good’ factor in them and mostly trigger positive…
Advertising competes for our attention. We tend to ignore it as we have more important issues occupying our minds. Add to it the general clutter of media and we have to appreciate creative ads which get noticed and stay memorable. My weekly compilation of clutter breaking creative ads is a small tribute to such efforts. Here are a few creative ideas which caught my eye this past week: Pinterest: ‘Don’t don’t yourself’ I liked this campaign for…
A majority of ads are simply ignored. That’s a fate worse than being disliked. In the case of the latter, at least the ad was noticed. In this context, creative ads which are noticed, liked and recalled are a rarity. My weekly compilation of clutter-breaking ads are a salute to the brand & agency teams behind the. Here are a few which caught my eye this past week or so: Volvo Electric: The Chase Electric…
A LinkedIn post triggered an interesting conversation on the role of social media for both legacy and (for lack of any other phrase), ‘new-age’ brands. As is obvious now, many brands – both in B2C and B2B, consider social media presence to be mandatory. The common reference in this context are brand activities on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. A brand maybe active in a few or all of the above platforms – depending on…
I recently came across a post on Twitter which shared a response from a digital agency to a comment (complaining about the agency’s ‘toxic’ work culture) posted by its ex-employee on Glassdoor. The official response from the agency justified late nights, working on weekends and even giving up on personal life as normal – almost an expected thing to do to survive and get ahead in the advertising business. I happened to go through a…
Over the last few days, couple of ads from a deodorant brand Layer’r Shot caused widespread outrage (and rightly so) in India. Both the ads are anchored on cheap word play around the brand name and lewd. In one ad, four men at a department store aisle look in the direction of a woman and ask, “Hum char, aur ye sirf ek? Toh Shot kaun lega?” (‘There’s four of us and just one of it? Who will take…
Advertising, by definition, is meant to grab people’s attention. If a campaign goes un-noticed, it’s just waste of money. In that context, what has come to be known as ‘shockvertising’ – the attempt to deliberately shock or even offend people into noticing (and discussing) an ad has come into vogue. It is certainly not a new phenomenon. A common example of such an approach is the ‘United Colors of Benetton’ campaign featuring images which were…