good day no more

I love the way Unibic Cookies has publicly started challenging Britannia's Good Day. Why have a good day when you can have a great day. Ha. Good to see challenger brands in India waking up. Well, I wonder if only a smart headline will do the job for Unibic or will they also challenge the marketing might of Britannia. Whatever it is, about time to give Britannia a good fight.

Issue of the Week

What is the new Coca Cola Corporate Campaign launched this week supposed to mean? Are they trying to cover their arse over the pesticide issue? Are they trying to show they are a Responsible Corporate Citizen of India? Or is it that McCann suddenly decided to give a twist to the successful "Happiness Factory" and Indianize it with "Little Drops of Joy." Why a Corporate Campaign for gawd's sake?

Discuss.

Happy Birthday Tissue Issues

Tissue Issues is one year old, today. On 26th Sept last year, Tissue Issues was born to keep track of pooR_Planner's musings on ideas, impressions and insignificant issues happening all around. A place where poor_planner can ramble his thoughts and put up stuff that interests him. 200 posts and still going strong, Tissue Issues has remained true to its essence - Issues that matters.

Happy Birthday Bloggy Page.

Colour Me Red

Vodafone is the talk of town amongst marketing/advertising/communication professionals in India at the moment. Vodafone Red is painted all over the town and you cannot escape it, be it the streets, malls, ring road, airport, patli galli and gawd-only-knows-where-not. True a logistical nightmare and they have done it fast, done it well. But look closely and you'll find a sea of sameness. RED is the preferred brand colour of most brands in India. Be it Airtel, Levis, BBC, Hero Honda, NDTV, Kingfisher, Coca Cola, Britannia or many others trying to stand out in the cluttered visual media. Red also seems to be the colour of season in Wills Fashion Week, recently held in Delhi.

Consumer blind spot, huh?

Kolkata is a plastic free city

Dad has come to meet me in Bangalore. I'm happy and even more happier because he shared a wonderful news with me. Kolkata has banned usage of plastic bags in the city. Good to hear small things happening back at home. Kolkata - the City of Joy will surely become a happier city very soon. The state government has passed a bill, banning usage of plastic bags in the city and imposed severe fine on people who disobey the law. The municipal corporation is keeping a strict vigil on the city dwellers. People have started using recycled newspaper/paper - 'thonga' as we call it in Bengali is back by popular demand.

As part of green marketing, I think retailers and grocers across India should immediately start implementing the same. Two clear benefits of using recycled paper bags - 1) keep your city green 2) wonderful opportunity to generate employment.

Yay, there's lot to learn from Kolkata.

Have you tried this

Have you tried Mindmeister yet? A mind mapping tool that allows you to collaborate with others who are online. Its fantastic. Its brilliant. I just love it. Have fun.

Tell me you love me more

In the last week, if statistics are to be believed, the new iPod Nano commercial has been hitting the right numbers. Consumers have gone crazy searching for lyrics and the singer of this simple, magical tune of the new commercial. Who is the voice behind this magical tune? Search has gone up 350%. Apple mastered the art of getting attention long back. But what surprises me is the fact that they do so in the most interesting and innovative manner every time. The power to surprise everyone, every time requires a vision and a visionary - Steve Jobs and someone like Lee Clow on the other side of the table.

I guess the one line brief for the creative was "A little video for everyone," and the result is a superb simple yet powerful piece of work that is creating all the right buzz. Long live iPod.

Do

'Do' says SRK


'Time to fly' says Sr. AB

This is the latest Lead India campaign from Times of India. Striking similarities with their previous 'India Poised' campaign earlier this year. Don't you think so? Two biggest superstars of Indian cinema used to convey two thought provoking speeches. Don't you think both scripts were written by the same person. And that both films were directed by the same person. And ofcourse for the same client. So while one is asking you to do, the other urges you to fly. And in the process you get confused, shall I do or should I fly? I'm not too sure in an effectiveness scale of 1 - 10, how much will these two campaigns score? All in the name of readership and viewership, huh, really doesn't matter how much people feel about DOING. Isn't it?

When dads and sons fight for attention

Wilkinson has a launched a new campaign which I found quiet bizarre. Making dads and sons fight for attention and kisses of their wives and moms. As Richard put the insight as, "The new dads can feel neglected, even feel jealous about their offsprings" seems interesting, the execution remains poor. Maybe they've given a movie trailer like look and feel on purpose.

And then they created this site which has some cool stuff to download. Seems like all experimentation is only possible in the digital space.

Via Adliterate

Some ads...

...make you smile. Isn't it?

what makes them famous

I don't know why but recently I've been thinking a lot about Brand Engagement. Well, Brand Engagement is not about Activation or On-Ground Activity. There are several definitions and books and articles and speeches by eminent marketing/advertising guru on the same topic that will give you better perspective. Anyway. I've been thinking more about the "Stickiness Factor" of Brand Engagement. By 'Stickiness' I mean methods of bonding better with the audience. Some brands really do it better. Since you're all so knowledgeable, I thought it would be better to share some examples rather than give gyan on Stickiness and Engagement.

Lego:


Lego is doing some awesome stuff inviting artists who engage consumers with their artistic creations. Phenomenal positive response. More images of Lego Art.

Lynx:

Lynx is another brand that has always found innovative ways to engage consumers. This time it's Manwash. Male-scrubbing by stunning Manwashettes that leaves you pure once again. Ha.

Absolut is brilliant case study. They have done every imaginable engagement stuff possible to make their brand sticky. Remember Nike Run?

Planners need to slowly transform themselves as engagement officers. Ha. If you have some good examples, do share.

Yeh Orbit mujhe dede Thakur

Another good one by WebChutney for Orbit. But hey, don't you think Webchutney's stuff is becoming cliched and predictable? The same 2D animation stuff with some goofy, slap stick creative stuff. I do agree it makes you laugh but not memorable. What do you think?

Skull Fracture

Agency: O&M, Frankfurt

Via The Hidden Persuader

Brand not Bland

A friend of mine has this unusual habit rather hobby of collecting airlines Check-in tags. Those small tags that you tie in your hand bag with a rubber seal on them; Yes, I mean those. Interesting isn't it? And he has been doing these for ages.

Anyway, the point that am trying to make here is how every single touch point helps in building a brand. On the left is a tag from Qantas which say things that are important and on the right is a similar tag from Virgin which makes the same point quiet distinctively. Which one do you like?

Brands need to engage consumers. Don't we all know it? But not many brands think that way. Marketing 2.0 is how to surprise not repetition. Marketing 2.0 is not giving information but the experience.

Marketing 2.0 is about I & E. I stands for ideas, imagination, intuition, insight, inspiration. And E stands for empathy, enchantment, excitement, edge and emotion. If it's Bland it's not a Brand.

don't buy button

Neuroscientist's have identified a "Don't Buy Button in the Brain." Now, these are the latest researches by Neuroscientists Marcel Brass from Ghent University and Patrick Haggard of University College London have found an area, the dorsal fronto-medial cortex located just above the eyes, which appears to be responsible for stopping impulsive behavior.

Read the full article here.

Another screen in your life

Increasingly screens of different shape and size are invading our lives. TV Screen, Laptop Screen, ATM Kiosk Screen, Mobile Phone Screen and it goes on and on. So, ladies and gentlemen, here's one of them coming soon to invade your life - Interactive Window Shopping Touch Screen, installed at the Ralph Lauren store in London. Read the full story here.

'Retail Media' in India will witness a sea change in the coming years. Retail giants like Walmart, Future Group, M&S and whoever comes to India would want to enjoy that share of the pie. Media agencies or the advertising agencies can't do much about it. Technology will play a major role and they will reap all the benefits of their investments. Manish did discuss about Last Mile Connection in one of his earlier posts. And let me assure you, it will be the retailers that might just play a bigger role when it comes to advertising in the future.

Do share some more examples if you come across any.