The erotic history of advertising

I just got my copy of 'The Erotic History of Advertising' by Tom Reichert. Love it. Truly inspiring. An interesting review of the book here. Sex sells but how you sell sex, matters the most. Grab one for yourself.

shopper's stop

Shopper Marketing is a new area of focus for agency head honchos these days. With organised retailing becoming big in the country and increasingly contributing more to the GDP, Shopper Marketing is seen as the potential growth area for agency business. Yes, after Digital, it's Shopper Marketing now. Agencies are gearing up to set up specialized units and teams to deliver more values for their clients. Paco Underhill's 'Why we buy' is nicely stacked in the bookshelves of most agency heads.

Even big retailers are trying to understand the science behind Shopper Marketing. So the top boss from a client's office calls up and asks if I could spend sometime with his young team and explain them in simple words what is the meaning of shopper marketing. Honestly, with my little knowledge on the subject I did manage to put a quick ppt and presented it to the team. In the process, we had a healthy discussion about the changing face of retailing in Indian metros, future shopping habits and trends to watch out for in the tier II/III cities, dabbled on the eternal debate of kirana store vs organised retailing, how Walmart will bring changes in the existing retail clutter, how futuristic is Future Group, new areas of retailing etc. etc. A long and a hectic day, but a fruitful one because in the process I got to learn lots.

So here are few slides from the presentation. Go ahead and feel free to use them in-case it helps you for similar exercises:

Please do share your thoughts and comments on the same. Let me know what is your take on Shopper Marketing? How will it bring a change in the way retailing is seen in India? What are the things we should look out for? Are there any hidden opportunities that can be explored? Or you can point me to some interesting articles and topics on the same subject. Basically, enlighten me.

Not well but hey how about lil Hoopla

I honestly don't love these rainy nights. Running a high temperature. Blocked nose. Bugged with bodyache. Bored to death. Cannot do much except fall flat in bed. Read book (eyes are straining). Listen to music (head is heavy). basically in a bad situation.

Anyway, I picked up "Hoopla" last week. Authored by Porter, Bogusky and Warren Berger. All about how the great agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky works. Their internal ethos. The idea generation process. The secrets of the agency. How they run their factory (not agency mind you). Lovely colourful book. Just started reading it and let me assure you it's damn interesting. Get yourself a copy too. By the way, all you digital advertising freaks and gods, visit CPB here and see how brilliant interactive work they created for VW. Truly interactive. Truly inspiring. And that's the way the digital medium is supposed to be used.

I've an important presentation coming. Not prepared anything. Need to write a brief for the same and have a sitting with the creative folks at office. Man. But am sick. No going to work. No taking calls. Just sleep and snore.

Old Idea, New Inspiration

I'm sure you must have noticed the ad above in the Times of India off late. Lux Coffee Table Book is all about the gorgeous Divas of Indian Cinema. Lux is a soap for the Cine Stars. Bollywood Diva's have endorsed Lux for ages in every piece of their communication. The Coffee Book from Lux is an extremely beautiful way to engage consumers. Though an old idea but in the Indian context it is really a great thinking from the agency and the marketer and executed in a brilliant manner. Suddenly Unilever seem to be doing all the right marketing tricks to woe consumer in India. Isn't it?

Honestly, it feels good to see the marketing guys at Unilever pushing the boundaries of traditional media and creating cutting edge communication. Well, what's next is my question. After the Lux Coffee Table, will they explore other avenues? For example, a Photography Exhibition of Bollywood Diva's or create a Lux Diva Museum which has all memorabilia of the Stars etc etc.

Good work and do keep it up. Consumers today want more of what you are doing.

No one belongs here

I found this brilliant website (via Servants of Chaos) and let me tell you what a great way to promote a book.

Folks at Rediff Y&R, you should have thought of doing something like this for Midland Book Store to win real awards.

Creating equity

We have a lesson or two to learn from the Sony success story. Sony undoubtedly is one of the best and smartest marketer in the world. Here I'm referring to the success story of its mobile telephony business.

Sony first created the Walkman. Created a hugely successful brand out of it. Technology developed rapidly. MP3 took over the Walkman space. Sony quickly responded and launched the Walkman Phone. They regained their lost ground albiet with a new device.

Next they created the Cyber Shot. A leader in its category. As competition in camera/imaging technology heated up, Sony quiet smartly integrated their mobile phones with the camera technology to create another sub-brand Cyber Shot Phone. Am sure Cyber Shot phones will become a success story in due time.

Vaio is one of the best laptop brand in the market at the moment. And Sony has the potential to integrate its computing technology with their mobile phones. Probably a Viao Phone will be up for grabs very soon.

Mobile TV is the future. Sony already has an advantage there. Maybe Bravia Phones by the end of next year.

Sony is indeed breaking new grounds, everytime. And am sure these individual brands will add up to create a better brand equity for Sony in the near future. First movers advantage or smart thinking or both. Lot to learn from Sony. And it starts with this book.

Can you think of any other brands that has successfully integrated two seperate products/brands in it's own portfolio to create another niche product/ brand? Examples anyone?

Lynx - The UGC Effect

UGC (User Generated Content) is touted as the new baby of the marketing world. Alex Wipperfürth's book Brand Hijack is a great read to understand the basic working principles of UGC. Well, at least it provided those basic seeds to me. And I am fan of his work. Visit his website here and you will find some very interesting white papers worth reading while getting bored at work.

This recent videos on Youtube is a great example of UGC at work. The Brand - Lynx.

Lynx Effect on Married Man


Lynx Effect in Real Life


I regret the quality of the video. Makes me wonder if put in the right context UGC has the true potential to bring people together. Any marketer in India, bold and wise enough to take it forward?

I also found this interesting Lynx Blow page.


Enjoy.

Updates

I haven't updated my blogroll since long. Was reading Mr. Jon Howard's blog this morning and his updates reminded me of so.

Reshma Anand: She writes a wonderful research blog, which I found via Indiadrant.

Herd: Off let I've been reading Mr. Mark Earls' blog after I completed reading his latest book Herd - How to change mass behaviour by harnessing our true nature. A great writer, he opened my eyes to lot many new things and ways to look at a particular problem.

Cognitive Daily: I found this via Living Brands. Very interesting since I like to read more about the functioning of a human brain.

Anyone out there know the URL of Mr. Jon Steel's blog?

Character - Weak or Strong?

Well, I just completed reading this book. Carol S Pearson is a renowned author and Director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership and a Professor of Leadership Studies in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Parkanother.

Her previous work "Awakening the Heroes Within," was also an interesting read. She spoke in great details about the classical archetypes of human behaviour and how brands seems to follow a similar trait.

The use of archetypes as a part of brand strategy is nothing new. A truly effective tool. At least in our country where the rate of Idol worship is high, Brand archetype actually allows us to create strong brand characters. Since advertising is the new form of entertainment, in-depth characterisation and storytelling becomes important.

Creators of great brands have intuited this simple truth. Madonna has always been the outrageous rebel. Jack Nicholson has always been the bad boy outlaw, while Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is always perceived as the wide eyed innocent. All successful brands have a strong character. The archetype like those in classic mythology drives the brand’s behaviour, character, tone etc in the marketplace.

There are twelve archetypes at work with possible brands that fits the bill:

• The Caregiver - Johnson & Johnson, Saffola
  
• The Lover - Victoria's Secret, Moods
  
• The Creator - Apple, Fabmall
  
• The Hero - Nike, Nokia
  
• The Outlaw - Thumbs Up, Kingfisher
  
• The Magician - Disney, Yash Raj Films
  
• The Ruler - Microsoft, ITC Cigarettes
  
• The Jester - 7Up, Mentos
  
• The Explorer - Royal Enfield, Cafe Coffee Day
  
• The Casual Guy - Proline, Timex
  
• The Innocent - Bata, Dove
  
• The Sage - P&G, The Hindu
  

Santosh Desai in a recent article mentioned how characters in our advertising and communication have become so predictable and cliched. We had our own share of memorable, distinct and easily recognizable brand characters in Lalitaji, Lola Kutty, Sunil Babu's neighbour, Gattu, Amul Girl just to name a few. But those were good old days.

This book provides interesting insights about how important it is to understand the archetype of your brand. Probably understanding and using a brand archetype can give us a headstart in the story telling process.

So what's your archetype?

Law on Open Minds

It's been a busy week for me. First a meeting in Mumbai and once back got cold. At the Mumbai airport I bought this book. My flight was delayed by 30 mins, so I managed to complete the first 20 pages sitting in the lounge.

Open Minds by Andy Law is truly an inspiring book. More so because I work in TBWA and how Andy Law denied to merge with TBWA. How he negotiated with Fred, how he created St. Luke's, the team and the works, it's breathe taking. This is a must read book. Provides food for thought on people management, negotiation with tough bigges and how to build something which you strongly believe in.

Grab your copy.