moods please

Moods - 'My Man' is very hot these days. Err... I mean , they're doing a good job in the digital space. All new website. Interactive. Interesting. And playful. Moreover Olivia promises to answer all your questions. Pack of condom that comes with a vibrating ring. Ha. I'm lovin' it. Check it out here. Finally marketers in India are waking up to the digital medium. They are experimenting with new stuff. I say the future looks bright.

Do share some more examples (ofcourse in the Indian context) if you come across.

M Player

Disney did it again. This cute little M(usic) Player or M(ouse) Player or whatever you think it is, is really a sexy device. It's a fashion accessory. It's a toy. It's a mp3 player. It's a key chain. Simply lovable. Kids will love it. Your girlfriend will love it. Your granny will love it too.

is facebook the new play ground

Sure you've a profile on Facebook. Your friends poke you. Now how can brands sit alone. So they've started poking too. Facebook is the new playground. And social networkers ain't complaining.

Have a look here. Also read Iain Tait's post too. It might just make sense for you - Brand Managers of India Inc. to get on board, since young Indians are getting crazy about social networking. Especially young Indians from Tier II/III cities are joining the bandwagon. It's fun and excitement for them. They're spending several hours "adding friends" and being part of "communities" at cyber cafes. A brilliant opportunity for you to connect. Now just find the right way to approach them and they might love you. But careful, don't misuse the platform or else you've to face a social wrath.

building a flying brand

Office work is keeping me busy these days. No time to blog, read or party. Anyway, I was working on a project and had to present a case study to one of my client. After spending time to understand his needs and things needed to make a real case study that is interesting, add value to his business plan, I found Kingfisher to be the perfect example.

Now, if you go by the books of marketing then Kingfisher seems to be the only Indian brand that surely is flying. I mean a holistic brand that has managed to capture the heart and head of people. You might ask how? Well, Kingfisher has managed to create a strong aura around itself. It took them several years and now Kingfisher is truly flying. A great example of brand building using all sensory touch point (The Martin Lindstrom Theory, ha!)

So it goes something like this:

NDTV Kingfisher Channel - A true case of disruption in media. For the first time a TV channel and brand together brings great content for the changing urban India. A win-win situation for both. NDTV gets more viewership. Kingfisher gets to hammer its brand message. (Co-marketing is the new marketing mantra. Expect a post on it soon. And don't confuse it with co-promotion)

• Sensory Point - Eye and ear
• Eye - The constant display of the Kingfisher logo
• Ear - Different rendition of "Oooh lala looo"

Kingfisher Airline - What a brilliant example of diversification. That beside the point, the Experience of KF Air has changed the category rule. The world class service, cabin crew in red skirt, gourmet food, personal valet, great lounge, in-flight entertainment. All this put together has allowed consumers to truly experience a great service.

• Sensory Point - Eye, Touch and Feel
• Eye - The leggy, sexy, beautiful cabin crews
• Touch and feel - The food, entertainment, the feeling of being special
  

Kingfisher Beer - The best Indian beer. Drink it and you know.

• Sensory Point - Taste
  

Kingfisher Event - Some of the best events in India. Hot parties, memorable moments. Good times

• Sensory Point - Feel

So, if you observe this is one brand that touches most of our senses at different time to create an aura/association that we consumers love, remember and care about. And Mr-Richard-Branson-of-India is investing in the right kind of things (Kingfisher is bringing F1 in India) to further enhance these experiences. A perfect example of how a brand can build long term credible values for its consumer.

Can you think of any other brand in India that has managed to do something similar - creating touch points that works so perfectly to build an iconic brand? Do discuss.

Go Play

This is the new Sony Playstation 3 ad. Those of you who haven't seen it yet, go here. Done by TBWA Chiat Day. Its awesome. Its brilliant. Its visually appealing. It holds you. Its something you want in your portfolio. Enjoy.

Diwali SMS (Simple Mind Semiotics)

Morning newspaper says, "Average noise level in Bangalore yesterday was 122 Db." Authentic news and I can assure you that because no amount of ear plug, muffler, sound masking or closed window could help me reduce the noise. Isn't Diwali supposed to be a celebration of light not sound? Anyway, "We Are Like This Only."

Around 4 pm, my mobile started beeping continiously, some 70 SMSes in one go. Felt enlightened on the festival of light. SMS is a great subject for semiotic studies.

So here are few observations and my take on the human psyche:

Type 1. "Wsh u vry hppy Diwali n prsprs Nu Yr" or "Thnks wsh u da same" - Good understanding of the medium. Heavy user of the medium. Technophobics. Non Experimental. Boring. Single. Nanominded (believes in short and simple) Less emotive. Individualistic. Schizo. Busy. Talks straight and less. Politically (grammatically) correct. Non-multimedia phone owners. One to one communicator (P2P).

Type 2. "Wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali and Prosperous New Year" or "Our best wishes to you and your family for a most blessed and prosperous diwali...x, y, z1, z2" - Straight. Simple. Happy-go-lucky. Understands the medium but value conscious. Uses the medium on only purpose. Mostly group message senders. Techno-ambivalent. Feature driven. Narrow-minded. Family oriented. Very emotive. Lazy. Fun loving. Talks more. Non Multimedia phone owners. One to many communicator.

Type 3. "You received a Flash File SMS/ Picture Message/ Emoticons (.flv .swh .jpeg)" - Creative. Expressionists. Confused. Energetic. Image conscious. Heavy user of the medium. Technophile. Experimental. Gizmo freak. High Sociability Quotient. Late adaptor. Possessive. Multimedia phone owners. Many to many communicator.

Type 4. "Bursting cracker in front of the house. Have a blasting Diwali. MMS (.mpg.4)" - Heavy user of medium and features. Creative. Technophile. Experimental. Gizmo freak. Trend setters. Early adaptor. Family oriented. Thrill seeker. Gamer. participator of group activities. P2A, A2P communicator, oops many to many communicator.

Well, this is how I did a quick classification/ segmentation of the 70 SMSes. As a planner, I think this small observations and mental notes help is developing hypothesis that can be later used to validate brand problems. VAS (value added service) is the highest revenue generator ($ 1.2 bn) for service providers yet not many brands are utilizing this medium effectively. So, how can a brand talk to these four types of SMS users. Which brands will talk to whom? Only HSBC, RR City Taxi and Airtel were kind enough to send me a Diwali wish. Where are other brands present in this medium? No one will sue you or get offended when you send a good wish unlike your irritating messages like buy now, discount on immediate purchase, send SMS to 4455 etc. Now, isn't this an interesting hypothesis?

Do discuss.

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to everyone. Be happy. Be safe.
And please don't burst loud crackers.

We Feel Fine

A hectic week. Suddenly the agency is buzzing, papers flying, servicing guys screaming at production, creative throwing tantrums over brief, endless call from client, office boys running twenty times to publication for delivery of material. Madness of the festive season. But let me tell you, this is what brings you back every morning.

In between all these chaos, I managed to find "We Feel Fine." This web site offers the exploration of human emotions in six different movements. Madness, Murmurs, Montage, Mobs, Metrics and Mounds. We Feel Fine has been harvesting human feelings from large number of blogs. Every few minutes, the system searches the world's newly posted blog entries for occurrences of the phrases "I feel" and "I am feeling". When it finds such a phrase, it records the full sentence, up to the period, and identifies the "feeling" expressed in that sentence (e.g. sad, happy, depressed, etc.). All of this information is saved. The result is a database of several million human feelings, increasing by 15,000 - 20,000 new feelings per day. Using a series of playful interfaces, the feelings can be searched and sorted across a number of demographic slices, offering responses to specific questions.

If you're not aware 'I feel' :-) you should explore this. This is really amazing and am sure the site will keep you glued for quiet sometime. Wondering if this is the future of communication? Different technologies joining hands to form new ideas and ways of interaction.

Wish you all a very happy, lightening and a cracking Diwali.

Indian Terrain - Characteristics Lost

We do understand, fashion advertising today has become more of a catalogue than advertising, displaying shirts and suits in its fullest glory. Every brand does the same and that's exactly what Indian Terrain has decided to do. let me know if I'm wrong. But hey, what's in it for me? Just because you have Kunal Kapoor as the face of your brand, doesn't mean anything to me nor to anyone. Why will someone buy you? Why will I choose Indian Terrain over other brands? Does Indian Terrain have a belief system, something that consumers believe too? Are you trying to be cool by simply showing his cool attitude. Do you think the photography will do all the talking? Huh. This ad rather reminds me more of Milind Soman in Excalibur - more manly, more macho, more cool.

Wonder what will happen to the brand when Kunal decides to shave and cut his hair short?