Advertising has changed over the years. Or shall we say it has evolved and adapted as it always does, to suit the media environment, consumer trends and changing times? Deep down, the fundamentals of advertising and marketing have and will remain the same forever. Products & services have to meet a genuine human need, solve genuine problems or capitalise on valid opportunity. Communication has to break the clutter, offer a proposition which is relevant in…
The dearth of good ads during the IPL 2020 broadcast was discussed in social media and trade portals recently. The use of celebrities as a default option was also mentioned in this context. Some asked if working remotely led to a dearth of good IPL ads this year. In my view, the constraints of the lockdown periods were applicable to all. Yet, some managed to still create clutter breaking communication as seen even in the…
Do brands and enterprises need tag lines? As with most questions pertaining to marketing & advertising, the precise answer would be ‘it depends’. The death of the tag line has been written about in trade portals for years now. The thinking behind this approach could be the need for ‘flexible branding’ – in which they present different identities to express their range or a targeted brand strategy, in which they target specific brand messages to…
Competitive advertising has been an effective strategy for many brands., particularly so when consumers see two equals or a ‘worthy competitor’ take on a category giant. Some of the examples and legendary campaigns include rivalries between Coke & Pepsi, The Hindu and TOI in Chennai, iPhone vs Samsung (fueling the flame wars) and Mac vs PC. A few ad campaigns become so popular that they are spoofed by brands in other categories. Apple’s iconic ad,…
Over the last few days, many enterprises and brands have put out branded communication in support of what has come to the known as the ‘Black lives matter’ campaign – with the recent riots in the US being the context. Essentially, such ads or corporate messages call for an end to racism. ‘Being silent is not an option’ and variants thereof are the most common expressions or reason-why brands are taking a stand or at…
Every week, I attempt to share a few creative ads which I thought were clutter-breaking and compelling, aside from some views on topics relevant to the marketing & advertising industries.. As many have said, the most important task of an advert (or any social media creative for that matter) is to be noticed. If that does not happen, everything else – a great strategy document or big media investment is academic. Last week too brands…
The advertising industry had it relatively easy for many decades when media clutter was nowhere near what it is today. The media choices were limited and commercial messaging did not try too hard to be clutter breaking. Ads which were pretty direct & straightforward (‘Surf washes whitest!’) were the norm, as they did not have to fight for the consumer’s attention. In an article originally published in 2013, HubSpot said that it took us nearly 400…
For the past few weeks or so brands have attempted to create communication with the crisis triggered by COVID-19 outbreak as the context. These fall into two buckets: one expressing concern and solidarity (‘We are in this together’) and other urging consumers to follow safety guidelines such as staying home and maintaining social distance. I find the former lot a bit stretched and irrelevant to the brand. In the latter case brands doing their bit…
According to some estimates, brands are expected to spend $15bn on influencer marketing by 2022. But media reports also indicate that the influence of influencers in marketing circles could be waning. A brief look at the issues involved: Influencer marketing: origins and after About a decade ago when blogging was popular, automobile brands would first reveal details of a new model to that community instead of a traditional mass media ad. Even prior to that, Sunsilk from…
Another new term has entered the new age marketing & advertising vocabulary: moment marketing. It is essentially topical advertising but since turnaround times are not measured in days but in minutes it is called so, I guess. It is also a country cousin of occasion-led advertising where brands attempt to gain leverage from big news events or calendar events such as Mother’s Day, April Fools Day or Independence Day. In India, such calendar events are…