The Bombay Elektrik Project picks up Abby's

Good work JWT India. The Bombay Elektrik Project picked up two metals at the Abby's 2011. The whole initiative has been an excellent endeavor. Hope more agencies come together more often to create something beautiful like this.

You can check out more about The Bombay Elektrik Project here and here and here and also here. Great show guys, you can give Coke Studio a run for their credibility.

Cleartrip with a Purpose

Wish I had done this work. Awesome work. But let's first see it through the lens of my sarcasm. Client asks agency to do a qualitative consumer research. Planner writes DG. Asks a question - What is the purpose of your travel. Does vox pop. Shows the vox pop to CD. CD bulb is turned on. Positioning - Every trip has a purpose. Edits Vox Pop... Bingo!! You've created magic. Anyways. Let's talk about the magic later.

Every trip has a purpose - great thinking. Communicated in a series of TV Ads, very pleasing to the eyes, fresh execution (could have been better though :-) and attention grabbing. Good thinking + nice execution + different format = lethal combination. It's working. Perfect time for the brand to start the conversation. That's the magic I was talking about.

15 sec TVC is a very effective innovation from the media agencies. You get to create a series of content unfolding the story of the brand. More inviting rather than being intrusive like any TVC playing on telly. Vodafone Zoozoo is a great example, Tata Docomo logo animations is another recent example, Nescafe "Neighbours" is the 30 sec format of the same thing am talking about.

By asking travelers to reveal their purpose of the trip, gives you an instant creative freedom to play with three different things - experimentation with formats , creating unlimited content and optimizing media. More purpose I bring alive, more content I create. it can be Renne, Phunchok, Dr. Tripathi, Mr. & Mrs. Khandelwal, Sujoy, Surya, Prosenjit, Pooja, Priya, vaishali... millions of people would love to share their purpose of travel.

At the heart of Cleartrip.com's brand strategy lies a dynamic creative core. A core that can be activated anytime by just listening to people. An outside-in approach to communication instead of the other way round. There lies ahead immense potential in this campaign. Activation, social media, user experience... the magic is here. Creating a content eco-system around the brand.

Well done. Wish I had done this one.

The Economist & why Ogilvy understands them better...

The latest TVC's (via Campaign India) of The Economist made by Ogilvy India is another example of Branded Content. Excellent music, great execution and clear simple message said in the most interesting manner. Ha. This is one agency that gets it right all the time. How?????

Let me see if I can simulate the Strategic Planning effort of the agency and how they are building brand Economist in India. And I can be horribly wrong, might even sound like crap... but what the ...

It is important to know however that somewhere in-between the game plan lies the glue - The the insight, the creative idea, flawless execution, tone of voice, reason to believe ...

Anyways.

The Game Plan (3 yrs plan): The Economist way to enter India

Step 1. Launch The Economist and create awareness - (Print/ press, Outdoor, OOH)

Step 2. Create awareness and generate more subscriptions - (Digital, Activation)

Step 3. Hold back and observe - (Data Analysis, Research Findings, Return on Involvement Measurement)

Step 4. Reach out to a larger audience - (Television, Cinema)

Step 5. Hold back and observe - (Data Analysis, Research & RoIM)

Step 6. Interact with Audience - (Digital, Activation & Events)

Step 7. Dominant Media Vehicle - (Debate Forums, Digital Forums, CRM)

Naah. Can't be so easy.

Anyways but I do believe the issue lies in the tissue.

Stay Drenched.

Clever Hamsters Jazz Band indeed keeps you drenched. Nice one. Enjoy.

By the way, one good simple script/film can open a whole new chapter on Brand Connections. Imagine creating a real band - The Clever Hamster's Jazz Band. Album, videoes, feature movies, dvd's, mp3, merchandises... Shows & Events with Drench as the Beverage/ Spring Water Sponsor... Co-content... longevity... stickiness...anyways... similar to Cadbury's glass and half full productions. Or Coca Cola's happiness factory. But indeed a noble thought.

I guess very soon we'll find every possible content made available as some form of a physical object. More marketers, I think will now understand the importance of "Surrogate Revenue Creation" and experiment more with formats. But thats for marketers in the west.

Experimentation is what we lack in here. Anyways. I guess 2010 will be interesting.

How are you guys, by the way? Cheers!

Awesome

A friend just forwarded me this. Bloody awesome. Just couldn't resist sharing this with you guys. If only a condom brand was smart enough to add a "Be Safe" sticker below it. Viola.

Brand the content, stupids. Why can't marketers be creative in their thinking. Hein?

Ok, back to sleeping mode.

I want my Lady Noire

The Lady Noire Affair. The lovely lovely Marion Cotillard (gros gros bisous, bébe). Branded content at its best by Dior. Indeed content is the king. Am sure there will be a series, coming out Rouge very soon, maybe a Blanche or a Vert or a Bleu in the days to come. You can follow Lady Noire on Twitter here. Or join the Facebook fan club. Or simply buy the DVD's when they are released.

Good content - always leaves you wanting for more. Remember the craze BMW Films (starring Clive Owens) started few years back. I just love the idea of making 'brand cinema,' it is much more engaging and entertaining than a 30 sec TVC. And it is thousand times more interesting than in-film product/brand placement. Why place products for few seconds when you can create an entire brand film.

Though not a strong argument, I agree and you will give examples like Taxi (the film) made Peugeot 406 famous or how after watching The Bourne Identity fans just got behind a Mini Cooper, or the legendary story of Easy Rider and Harley Davidson. But there's a huge difference between in-film placement and Brand Cinema. The Night in the Museum, not only made the American Museum of Natural History famous, number of visitors increased too.

If automobile brands have done it successfully, outdoor gear brands can do it, hotels and resorts can do it, food brands can do it, Pet food brands can do it, heck even the banks and financial sector can get into making successful cinema as part of their marketing communication strategy. its about how open minded you are as a marketer and to what extent will you gamble. Personally, I like the idea of Brand Cinema. Now how well you execute is a different ball game which i won't get into but its possible as long as the content is interesting.

Nice work from Dior and I love that Lady Marion.