Advertising Opinions

The word ‘chips’ normally conjure up an image of potato wafers-------- which is fried food, junk food, unhealthy food. The health conscious consumer tends to resist temptation and prefers to keep away from such products. Besides, the market is flooded with these products; obviously the competition in this segment is quite stiff. By taking the health route in its commercial, Parle Monaco manages to draw attention and entices the consumer to try out the product. Well I do not know about anybody else but the message that the chips are “Not Fried” but baked definitely appealed to me and I went right ahead and purchased a pack. At the back of the pack there is a nutrition chart comparing regular chips with Smart Chips which further reinforces the commercial’s health claim. After opening it I realized it was essentially a biscuit------- a different version of the Parle Monaco biscuit. The ingredients do mention potato flour, not surprisingly therefore; the taste is a cross between a biscuit ...

The purpose of an ad is to communicate with the target audience, evoke interest, highlight product attributes and also instill a certain degree of confidence in the consumer’s mind. The latest commercial for Godrej Security Solutions fails on the last two counts. It does communicate with the target audience; it also manages to evoke interest with its comic tone but fails to highlight the product’s attributes and ironically for a product range promising ‘Security Solutions’, fails to instill confidence. It in fact manages to scare by almost making a veiled threat. The commercial opens with two well- dressed gentlemen talking to a resident of a flat, in a very polite and courteous tone; one of the two gentlemen asks the flat’s resident to open the safety door or else they will have to break it down. The confused and frightened resident complies with the demand. Once inside the two put on their burglar masks and ask the resident, to relax while they loot him, assuring him that if they nee...

The ESSAR TV commercial currently on air has caught my attention. It is a well executed ad, what I like about is its simplicity, it does not exactly have a big idea so to say. It conveys skillfully and clearly through animated graphics which appear as chalk drawings on a blackboard. The animated chalk drawings keep morphing to depict the diversified activities of ESSAR. I do not know the true purpose of this ad campaign, perhaps because I not one of their target audience; may be it is goodwill building exercise but what ever may be the purpose it is truly engaging..

Havells have launched a TV campaign for their products, it comprises three commercials, I am not aware if there are more. The message is that if you use Havells you save on energy. In one ad, one sees a servant accidentally breaking a vase while doing the cleaning, when he realizes his mistake he prays that he be saved from punishment. In the second ad one sees a young student rushing into an examination hall, he not only late but to his utter dismay he realizes that he had prepared for the wrong paper, he too prays that he should be saved. The message in both TV commercials is that whether any one saves you from a difficult situation or not thanks to Havells you save energy. It is about saving alright but I really don’t see the connection between saving electricity and saving oneself from embarrassment or difficult situation. How does one save electricity by using Havells products is not explained at all. The third Havells ad is among the most bizarre ads I have ever seen; it shows an...

On February 24, 2010 I happened to see half-flap ad of Godrej Protetekt in The Times of India, Mumbai. This was actually the first sheet of the newspaper which covers the first page of the paper, it is a vertical sheet; the purpose of this sheet is to carry a specially designed advertisement on both sides. The width of this sheet is slightly less than half of the width of the newspaper. I hope I have made myself clear, if not please take a look at the photo here and you will know what I am trying to explain. The ad appears to be simple; one may not consider it to be uniquely creative. To my mind it is an effective ad since the message is conveyed quite directly without much fuss. The message here is: You may need to protect yourself against infection by washing your hands but you may not be always able to do so. In situations like this if you use Godrej Protetekt you will be able to protect yourself against germs, after all it is not possible to ca...

In any ad campaign the creative idea plays the crucial role. It is the idea which makes us notice the ad stay hooked to it, even get entertained by it and may make us feel like trying out the product if we are part of the target audience; the ad also differentiates the product/brand from its competitors. When ad agencies cannot think of a great idea they may suggest using a celebrity to draw attention to the product. Celebrities are also used when it is felt that the celebrity’s popularity and status will strengthen the brand. The TV commercial (TVC) made for Himani Fast Relief was said to be the most expensive ad ever made. It cost Rs. 1.80 crore plus the fee paid to Amitabh Bachchan. The idea was interesting; an analogy was drawn between humans and machines. The 60seconds TVC showed a bus and machinery in a factory entirely made of humans, the bus was shown to be moving around in the city roads. There was more, but I do not fully recall the details of the TVC. The makers of this com...

The Mortein campaign reminds me of another memorable campaign which happened in the late 1980s, that was the Onida TV campaign. Most people are aware of this campaign since it is truly memorable and one of its kind, it has been much discussed and written about, and is an excellent case study for students of advertising. When you photograph a product for an ad it is taken for granted that it should look its best but in the Onida campaign it was exactly the opposite, the product, that is, Onida TV was shown with a cracked screen with a stone hurled at it. The devil was the mascot, but this devil seemed more friendly than sinister; he also looked funny to me. Jealousy was used as the buying motive. All this was truly path- breaking. It was a very successful campaign and it made Onida was one of the leading TV brands in India. In a way the Onida devil was similar to Louie the mosquito of Mortien, both essentially being negative characters but used positively.