The Thought Press

The Most Dangerous Expression in Advertising - My review

2011-05-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just another day at work and I encountered this article above.I at at some level I disagree, both with the above said 'list' mentioned in the article as well as the context of the article itself. We all(marketeers and advertisers)have conceptualized and executed one to many campaigns ourselves. How often have you got a reaction "I like it." and not "I like it, but...", while sharing a layout. Weather its the Client, the consumer(Pre-campaign launch research), a very senior creative or account management guy from the other team, they all seem to have some or the other suggestion, to make it a little more understandable by the consumer, esthetically appealing, relevant to the brand, etc, etc, etc.

The one thing that all marketeers and advertisers check in a pre-campaign launch research is, that how much does it rank on the 'likability' scale. And more often than not, people like the communication which is lazy and obvious to them and their lives and yet have a element of surprise.

In case of tactical communication which is usually focused at increasing sales, such promotional communication work best when the consumers realizes how pocket friendly the offer is(30% discount on i-Pad 2, 3 years maintenance free with the new Chevrolet car, etc.), than weather it has a human connection with them or not.

And last but not the least, whenever I talk to my target audience, I would like to talk to them in the language that they understand and not the entire universe. Baby, beer, microchips... they are all very different universes in them selves. A shared commonality among them is something that I can only imagine in utopia or wait a lifetime to witness.

Whats up with Linkedin?

2011-04-01T02:53:00.001-07:00

How Different Brands Talk

2011-02-21T05:38:00.000-08:00

Rin vs Tide

2010-03-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

Recently Unilever launched a new TVC for one its detergent brands called Rin. This TVC is now commonly being addressed as the Rin VS Tide ad(because of obvious reasons). Now being part of this crazy industry called advertising, the first question that people ask me is... "Is it right? Can they actually do that". well this question based on moral and ethical ground still doesn't bother me as much as to WHY would they do that.

Well, there is something that we all are forgetting over here, that this kind of a brand war is not new. Don't we still adore the great Pepsi - Coke ad war. Or the Apple - Windows ad stints.

Moreover we all know that Unilever is actually one of the oldest, biggest and smartest entity, where some of the most appreciated and intellectual marketeers breed.

Questions: Then why would such a company do what it did. Spending a decent amount on the creative, and then a mammoth chunk on the media buying. Taking such a high risk, as if "all in" and that too on a blind fold.

Reasoning: If we compare the Brand DNA of both Tide and Rin, Tide has always overshadowed Rin with its international look and feel, which further suggests that Tide being and international brand (as compared to Rin) offers better results on usage (whiteness/ fragrance / cleanliness/ etc). Now this is merely a perception (as the end consumer himself lacks the measurement tools to scale the above mentioned results) strongly embedded in the consumers mind. And one of the best proven methods to do break such a strong perception (not a belief) is to take it down head on.And this is where Rin choose to attack via shock.

Results: Everyone's talking about it. People are discussing it in their peers, thinkers are blogging about it, marketeers are debating on different forums about it. Bottom line... people are actually comparing Rin and Tide on the same grounds, where its no longer like comparing apples with oranges.

My radio spot for Almond Board of California.

2009-07-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to my......JULIET

2009-07-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

OH!... Juliet...

Why did you love Romeo…

I’ve loved you even more then him...

And more then you’d know……

I know…

You've always cried for him……

You even have died for him…..

But love…

I would never cry for u

I Wouldn't even die for u

Because…

I wanna live in your arms

I wanna feel the warmth...

of yours & only your SOUL…

Kuch adhure khayal.....

2009-07-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

Bikharte khyalo mai,

titter -bitter hota hua.

aa pahucha hu teri galiyo mai...

Nashe aur hakiquat ki jugalbandi mai,

tere khyalo ko sahej,

palko pe rakha hai....

sochta hu yeh sham,

teri zulfo pe lipti to lipti kaise...

Aur na jane teri kalmo ki harkat pe,

luti to luti yeh duniya kaise...

woh tera palke jhukana,

balo ko sawarna,

danto ke beech,

ungliya dabana...

nasha ijat karta hai,

ya hai ye surur sharab ka....

kru to karu baya kaise.....

par ye asar hai tere shbab ka.....

kaliyo se komal tera yeh jism,

suraj se garam tapan rakhe hai....

gagan jalake, samundar pighla de,

esi teri taseer kehti hai.....

19/05/2009 Delhi dust-storm (A dramatic version)

2009-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

It was around 8.15 pm according to my cell phone, when I realized that I am the only one working in the office. So I quickly packed up my bags and started walking down the fourth floor ( the lifts don't work after 7.30 in our office building) and the moment I step out of the building I realize that a huge dust storm was in its full glory.

Thinking whether to turn back or go head, I wondered what a shame it would be not to experience the harshness of mother nature at its best. And so I decide to walk along and see what she had in stored for me. So I put on my phone's earplugs and start the music and Into the night by Chad Kroeger and Santana it played.

I reach my scooter and the wind is still blowing...not too harsh, neither too calm. I sit on my ride(An LML that I am not too proud of...) revive the engine and take off. The moment I reach the parking gates I start feeling the the loud blows of wind,....coming, and yet to come. I by default decide to take the Ring Road as I felt it'll be the safest way back home...trust me I don't wanna get crushed under a tree.

But before I could even reach Ansal plaza, I start getting second thoughts about going on with this stupid venture of mine. For there was dust blowing all over as if Delhi was to become the Sahara. I could already see huge chunks of tree branches on the road. And the wind blows were so high I could barely keep steady.

But finally I managed to reach the Ansal plaza somehow. I was indeed glad, but my joys were short lived as then suddenly, it became more and more and more windy. I didn't realize what was happening as I was trying too hard to keep my eyes open and stay steady at the same time.
It was then, that reality struck me " Shit! I am actually in the middle of a dust storm". There was no turning back now, even the song changed, and before I knew it I was listening to Areosmith's Taste of India. Taste of India? I am not sure, but dust...I almost can. I had to go on.... not to prove a point to anyone, but out of curiosity.

I was exactly parallel to Ansal when I just had to stop, for moving on at that point of time seemed like nothing less than impossible. While to my amusement I kept moving, fighting the wind, fighting mother nature. Somehow I manage to reach the Ring road, the south ext flyover i.e. The storm had calmed a bit till then. And I thought now the journey would be uneventful.

I took a left turn, and there I was right on the Ring road. And in the middle of south Ext Pt-II, I get face to face with the dust again. I could actually feel sand piling up in my eyelids and nostril's . I kept my mouth shut the entire way, for I knew I'd chock to death if I dare open my trap. trying to ride steady, not able to keep my eyes and head normal, I notice the wave of sand flowing....and actually flowing on the concrete road. It felt like being a part of those Arabian nights stories and your in a camp fire in the middle of the desert. And all that I could hear was Come on baby light my fire...by Jim Morrison. It was a scene that no words can express.

It was not before I crossed the AIIMS flyover, that the storm began to rest. Suddenly there was a smooth cold chill in the air. The cruel dust storm had suddenly turned into soothing breeze. It was almost like standing right next to the Niagara falls. Now I know for sure that the dreaded dust storm is at rest. Felling relaxed, I was now driving with full control.

Noting much happened in the rest of the journey, though right before the Hyatt flyover I saw a sing board which guided the way to the airport, except that it was in the middle of the road. And from there till my home in R.K Puram I kept wondering, what if someone was underneath that sign board when it fell.

I parked my scooter in my lawn and started walking towards the main gate, marking the end of this whole encounter with storm, I hear....Riders on the storm By Jim Morrison.
Dammm....... bad timing!

In reaction to.....Star Plus: Go 'break-free', get GRPs

2009-05-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

While just surfing through random articles on net, I came across this interesting article which read "Star Plus: Go 'break-free', get GRPs". The article primarily mentioned about the current programing strategies adopted by Star plus and Colors, the two most popular Indian satellite channels in the GEC category. It basically talked about how Star plus has managed to get back its No 1 position by airing 15 movies in a week instead of the usual 6-7 and out of which around 8 were shown without a break for commercials. The results were definitely fruitful as Star garnered additional 24 gross rating points (GRPs). Seeing the huge success of this new programing tactic even Colors decided to follow the unbeaten market leader.

While critics argue that dropping advertisements is not a sustainable strategy for the respected channels, I believe that its only a short term strategy.

But yes, the concern that it doesn't turn into a long term strategy still holds significance, as in the fight to get the maximum GRP's the channels could turn towards dropping ads. But keeping in mind the amount of business loss that they would have to bear, I think this tactic would continue more like a featured element in the programing schedule. Its like something to the tone of say....Saturday night movie or Sunday afternoon movie or both without a break.

Including elements like these would definitely yield higher GRP's but their frequency per week is something that the channels would have to take a call on.

Making of zoo zoo (Vodafone).....

2009-05-14T03:31:00.002-07:00

Yo sangi jokes...

2009-05-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Check it out its coming up cool!!!!

http://yosangijokes.wordpress.com/

BTW I started it...heheheheheh....... :)

Blog It Out !

2008-07-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Blogs! Blogs! Blogs! wherever I went, and most of what I read, had the "B" word all around. And then I really got inquisitive abut all this blog thing that took ever most of the literary world and even the world wide web for that matter. So I did my little old research, on this whole "BLOG" thing that everyone was talking about. And found out what this whole thing actually is.

According to Wikipedia: "A blog (a contraction of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

While blogger.com defied it as: "A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules."

And after reading a vast variety of blogs and different things written, about it, I came to a conclusion, that blogs are actually nothing but a persons thoughts, feelings, emotions, views perspectives and comments, in written and published, on anything and everything that surrounds him/her. Blogs give us the power to express ourselves, to the whole wide world. It not just provides voice to our thoughts, but also the medium to express it. According to me, if used wisely, blogs today can change the face of the world that we live in.

And as they say that with great powers comes great responsibility, I after a long , long thought into it, felt that even I should contribute in shaping a newer and a better tomorrow by the power of blogs. And thus I dedicate my blog site i.e thethoughtpress.blogspot.com to a better tomorrow, to my views, emotions and feelings, and to myself. And hope to respect this power and use it judiciously.