Saturday, August 29, 2009

Intel Star - Sponsors of Tomorrow!!!

Ajay Bhatt - Co-inventor of the USB.

Intel - Smart organizations, intelligent people working in it, brilliant culture. Reflects all of it in this commercial.

"Our superstars are different from your superstars. We are an intelligent organization believing in intelligent people making your lives easier for you. We are the sponsors of tomorrow. Our superstars are normal people with the right attitude of making a difference" - I hear this in this commercial.

Once again, a brilliant execution. Wonderful advertising and one of the rare extremely well interpreted ad in Hindi too - 'Banaye apka kal'.

LIC Pension Plan

Simple Insight..simply executed. Clever advertising to put across the point we all are scared of 'What if our life changes tomorrow?'

Pension plans - the product established for precisely the same reason. We intend buying pension plans that our lifestyle doesnt change tomorrow, tomorrow when we are not earning as much as we do today, we are not young or healthy as we are today.

This statue commercial reflects the truth from the child's perspective of what she has been taught as the result of the 'Statue Game' and how she moves ahead wanting to keep all the good things around her.

When the commercial begins, you are left to wonder as to why the kid is doing what she is doing and then ONE line from her and it explains it all. Makes you think definately. Here's a look at it

Monday, August 03, 2009

Maruti Suzuki – Service Film 2009

Brilliant Execution, Crisp Thought and Clear Messaging – Need I say more of this commercial?

As an existing and as a prospective owner of any Maruti vehicle – it drill downs the message extremely deeply ‘Take your Maruti only to an authorized Maruti Service Centre’! What an amazing film! What better ways to show this message than a mother-child connect!!!

Kudos to the creative team behind the film. Really!

Check it out on you own!

Center Fresh – Zubaan pe lagaam

Hilarious!!! Is the only word which comes to my mind after watching this film. The way this film opens, it seems like some heavy duty ‘Shine India’ sort of campaign or film. Starting with an extremely serious note, it leads one to show what is it behind the scene.

Classic case of ‘Don’t believe everything you see’. Amazing execution of several shots such as the Politicians (since they are mostly the subject of humour in our country), the Doctor (since it connotes seriousness to the situation).

Others aren’t bad but the worst is of the Cricket scene – the movements are not at all in rhyme with the dialogues hence I believe the shorter edits work better for this commercial.

As far as the category connect is concerned, I believe it very weak since I could not even remember the name of the chewing gum in my office discussion of this film. It makes me think maybe that’s because I am not the TG for this product – but then if I am not the TG and the kids are, then why make such a brilliant commercial – hence I go back to the point of the category connect being weak.

The proposition ‘Zubaan Pe Lagaam’ stays strong and moves a step further from the earlier commercials.

Overall, a good ad which will create news through a positive ‘word of mouth’. At least, I have been asking my friends ‘Hey, Have you seen that commercial?’

Here you go, Enjoy!

Monday, May 04, 2009

Vodafone – ‘Zoozoo’ ..the saga continues!

Post the long weekend, there have been 3 new commercials which were released in the IPL series. I was not connected over the weekend so the delay in posting.

The commercials seem to be losing its sheen. They are nice and funny no doubt but somehow the excitement seems to be fading away. Every new commercial brings a message but I am only interested to know how the message has been executed with ‘Zoozoos’. I’m hardly interested in the proposition. There are two ways to look at the aspect as to why am I still excited about the Zoozoo series:

1. Weak Link – The various expressions highlighted by the Zoozoo. The laugh, the sigh etc is funny but this is a weak link and will not hold the viewer too strongly.
2. Strong Link (till now at least) - The excitement of one new commercial is what is keeping me hooked to look forward to new matches everyday. It has been very strongly established that the new commercials are aired during IPL 8 PM matches since I only get to see earlier ads in the 4PM matches. Vodafone is not breaking its new commercial on the 4PM slot.

The digital version of promotion in the meantime has taken itself to a different level.

“Have you seen the new Zoozoo ad for the day? You haven’t?? Oh! I have and its very funny!” seems to be the conversation starters since some have the privilege to view the ads before their peers.

Fans do not have to wait to see the match in order to view the new commercial everyday. The commercial is up for viewing on the day of its launch on the FB community. I think its brilliant so that the fans do not have to keep waiting and can view their favourite Zoozoo ad every day without any time constraint. It drives traffic to the online promotion and makes it a topic of debate within the social circle.

To sum it up..since the commercials are made with the humour aspect, it is indeed valued and surviving on humour but Vodafone very soon would have to think of a strategy to penetrate it in consumer’s mind more sharply…Go on…Enjoy!

Friday – International Roaming




Saturday – Bhakti Sagar



Sunday – Dating Tips; Love Guru



Check out the excitement on the lady zoozoo with the thought of getting a gift! The gift is another zoozoo face popping out of the box and the expression of the guy zoozoo when he get hits by his girlfriend with one of his eyes going black!! Awesome execution! Not to miss the funny laugh!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Vodafone Cricket Commentary

I am back..with the latest Zoozoo Vodafone commercial..this time they are promoting 'Cricket Commentary'. Ad has great production value and it grows on you. 2 things which catch my attention and notice it when you view the ad:

1. It works on the phenomenon of the Indian Audience and their passion for cricket. Have you ever noticed how people forget all differences when it comes to watching or listening to live matches!! This commercial just captures that spirit of Indians and showcases how all the Zoozoos line up with each other to listen to cricket commentary.
2. Notice the 'toing' sound when one zoozoo is getting attached to other zoozoo. Thats the sound of their ears joining/pasting together. Wonderful execution by Vodafone

Enjoy the video people...

Havells- Recession ka shock laga!

Creative Agency – Lowe


Brilliant piece of advertising connecting to the recent times, showcasing the two most prominent slashes of recession – no increments and downturn in real estate (by showcasing a property dealer/realtor shutting shop eventually after cutting prices several times). Special mention to show the effect through the lighting of the property dealer/realtor shot – it turns from a bright sunny day to gloomy day to grey day and eventually to a run down feel day.



A wonderful execution of the already established jingle ‘Shock Laga Laga Shock Laga’ from the earlier commercial.

Vodafone Magic Box

Apologies for the delay in posting this one at the right time..

This one is the latest one in the Vodafone series...frankly, fails to impress but regains the attention with Zoozoo's laugh.

Also, the product benefit is showcased by replacing the magic bix zoozoo..the product offers 2 year warranty of replacement but this is something which is cryptic in the ad.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Vodafone Zoozoo of the Day - Stock Updates



Too good...simply check out the expression on the face of the first zoozoo who is reading the paper and falls...i think this one's falls in the category of 'good ones' from the series so far...

Would bring in more everyday!

New Tata Sky Ad with Aamir as Sardar – Brand Jingalala…TVC Jingalala

Creative Agency – O&M (For the Sardar ad)

A suave, urbane Aamir Khan for Tata Sky Plus and a mass, nautanki type Aamir for the regular brand? Difficult to establish connect when you use someone as strong as Aamir. Once again, the ‘Aamir look’ is more talked about than the brand itself… Aamir overshadows not only the brand, but also the brand proposition. The brand frankly has taken a step back from a specific benefit messaging to a generic messaging.

This one is the latest Tata Sky Ad which showcases Aamir Khan as an old sardar – Sodhi Ji. You would be seeing some outdoor creative as well for the campaign. In total, not so impressive! The make up and look being extremely innovative – In fact, one of the newspaper supplements also ran a quiz on ‘Can you identify the celebrity’ contest before the launch of ad. A case of bad advertising. I must say for the target group which was excited and felt associated with the Aamir-Gul Panag series of commercials. Check it out for yourselves and compare it with the series of Aamir-Gul ads. Maybe the ad is targeted at a different target group. Frankly, the look reminds of the Paresh Rawal look in the blockbuster ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’. Maybe it has been positioned for lower SECs and smaller cities where a celeb recall will still help the brand. Also, I fail to notice that he is driving a vintage car…the look of it tells me he is indeed driving a Taxi!

Tata Sky – Aamir Khan as Sardar



TATA SKY had roped in Aamir Khan as their brand ambassador. He was on air with new advertisement where he plays a double role of a ‘bride and a groom’. He enacts a discussion between bride and groom on honeymoon night wherein both are played by him. Aamir as always is different. was a part of campaign that encapsulates television, print, outdoor and radio along with on-ground activities and marketing on a digital platform. This campaign was tolerable since Aamir was the core audience interest but it tremendously failed to impress me as I could in the ad itself see him turning around portraying both parts (it failed to deliver the ‘Kishore Kumar’ impact of portraying both man and a woman himself for a song). That song was my benchmark for such a gimmick and hence this Tata Sky ad failed to deliver against that benchmark.

Tata Sky – Launch of Aamir series – Punjabi Couple - Showcasing Tata’s Trust and Sky's world class technology




Wonderful series of ads for existing set of Tata Sky customers move to a Tata Sky Plus or for new connections instigating them to opt for Tata Sky Plus. The series showcases the household as a double income household with very upper class look of the house. The various tactics of Aamir do not fail to excite me and promptly delivers to the brief of showcasing the most prominent feature and benefit to record shows and watch them later at your convenience. Brilliant! I Must say. Here’s some of them for your viewing…

Tata Sky Plus – Aamir Khan & Gul Panag – Tata Sky Plus Launch



Tata Sky Plus – Aamir with a friend



Tata Sky Plus – Late Night Sports Ad



Tata Sky Plus – Kid’s exams and Cartoons

Zoozoo story continues...

Creative Agency - Ogilvy
Nirvana Films

Couple of new film on the block -

Block Unwanted callers


Maps



Star of the Match - Part 2


Games


There are 25 commercials shots for IPL and the idea is to reveal one film a day. Also, these are not animations but live people with body suits and have been shot.

What a great concept..also, what a treat to see a new film everyday...watch out for this space for more ZooZoo fun...

On the online space, Zoozoos are currently featured on a specially created microsite – http://www.vodafone.in/ipl09/zoozoo.aspx, (your cursor turns into a emoticon when you visit the site, one can take in quizzes and contests, including the ‘What kind of Zoozoo are you?’ quiz. Each Zoozoo has a unique set of characteristics and traits allotted to it. The microsite also allows for goodies to be downloaded (including wallpapers, screensavers and ringtones), and offers details on the IPL. With a specially created YouTube channel on the site, the TVCs are provided there for people to watch and share.

Apart from the microsite, a Zoozoo fan page has been created on Facebook, which has more than 5,600 members already. Fans have access to special tag-me images, Zoozoo sounds (such as Zoozoo laughter and music tracks) and ad previews. People are also following Zoozoos on Twitter and get updates whenever new commercials go on air.

What brilliant method to take the brand story forward - even if they are not trying to make Zoozoos a part of the brand story, with the kind of craze it is gathering, it will gain momentum.

The only risk the company has of 'Zoozoos' becoming bigger than the brand..they have seen it with the Hutch Dog (A Pug)

Friday, April 24, 2009

Vodafone – ‘Zoozoo’ series launched during IPL

These are the various ads in the ‘Zoozoo’ series of Vodafone ads launched on TV during IPL matches’09.

Zoozoo is a character introduced by Vodafone for these ‘transactional ads’ taking humour as a route to showcase various facilities which a Vodafone user can enjoy. Zoozoo is an extremely funny and adorable character. The ads make you laugh and they are a classic.

Zoozoos!!! Those cute, lively and funny characters have now become an icon for Vodafone. Fresh from the Vodafone shelf, these characters promote the telecom giant’s Value Added Services in a quirky and interesting way. – This is how ZooZoos are described on a social networking portal Facebook. You can also become a fan of ZooZoos.

The ‘Hutch Dog’ series was a brilliant advertisement but somehow it faded in the memory of consumers with the brand change of ‘Hutch’ to ‘Vodafone’. There was a series which Vodafone ran with the Dog called ‘Happy to Help’ series – which is a good to see advertisement but clearly there was no distinct establishment that the dog did to Vodafone. People still call it a Hutch Dog and hence it extremely important for Vodafone to establish an identity / a character of its own. ZooZoo is the new Brand Ambassador of Vodafone – and we are inviting it happily into our lives.

Zoozoo, I believe is an attempt towards the direction and as far as I believe, I think it’s a success. It is a treat to watch these ads. In the tense moment of IPL matches, these are some of the things that make me laugh.

Thank You Vodafone!

Cricket Alerts


Beauty Tips


Phone Back up


IPL Contest


Musical Greetings


Chota Credit

Monday, April 20, 2009

Max New York Life – Retirement Commercials – ‘Out Partying’ & ‘Wedding Card’

Creative Agency – O&M, India

http://www.afaqs.com/perl/advertising/creative_showcase/index.html?id=11295&media=TV
http://www.afaqs.com/perl/advertising/creative_showcase/index.html?id=11296&media=TV

An absolutely fresh take on ‘Retirement’ in terms of TV commercial. Both the commercials showcase the same family and the protagonist(an old man) who is full of life and looks for excuses to enjoy the free time he has. Both the commercials come as an absolute change in these times. Humour still works! For me, as a consumer, there is so much depression around with the times, this commercial comes as a welcome change for me – that there is something good stored in the future.

Both the films have been made by Corcoise Films, (Prasoon Pandey) and we can just see the quality in the films. Both the films are in line with MNYL’s take of life in its earlier brand campaign 'Karo Zyada Ka Irada' and child 'Czechoslovakia' film – both are absolutely fresh in treatment of Pension Plans.







MNYL’s earlier Retirement film ‘Ab Koi Samjhauta Nahi’ was extremely strong on customer insight but was in the negative zone as far as the film is concerned. The characters and treatment of the film completely put me off as audience. But these ones – Wow! What a change and the company should feel proud of its achievement.



The commercial leaves me smiling/laughing and I will surely remember them – primarily what a TV commercial should do. I can associate with the family and the setting of the household – It has been targeted at service class people in India – which is the majority of target group for life insurance plans.

The first commercial ‘Out partying’ starts with the mother screaming at someone for being late without informing. She goes on and on, you think she is screaming at her son – when suddenly the son joins her from the back with a sheepish smile on his face and the camera moves to show the father! Yes! The father who is out doing ‘Awaaragardi’ because he has money and time on this side. What a wonderful thought! Don’t we want to do this when we retire!

The second commercial ‘Wedding Card’ shows the father making his plan to go to Kolkata for a wedding. The wedding is of some person who, on insistence of wife, audiences know is not even related to the man. Comes the thought that when you have time and money, why not utilize it to live life the way you want to and enjoy the small frivolous things in life.

Way to Go MNYL!

Coke – Open Happiness – ‘Bike’ & ‘Chess’

Creative Agency – McCann Erickson, India





These two new commercials seen recently on Television from Coke seem to be a disappointment. Both commercials have Aamir in the cast but frankly, he is a waste. The ad per say is a new positioning of ‘Open Happiness’ but I think the makers confused us audiences somewhere in between.

The settings looks old, the ads lacks freshness in the quality of the film and Aamir is introduced all of a sudden in both commercials. I do agree that Aamir is more in the background – as a narrator of events and as a messenger of the Happiness story but do we need him to appraise us of the message – he is not bigger than the brand – I would much rather hear Coke’s take in the commercial than Aamir’s.

The message “Aap Muskurayenge, Bulbuley Gungunayenge” is a classic Prasoon line and can be figured from the way its spoken – but frankly it doesn’t do much for me. There is no hook – its not a line I will remember from the ad (which I believe is the intention of the makers).

The commercial has no relevance to its earlier ad or to current times. The only thing working for this campaign is that it’s a Coke campaign and Coke as a brand has no dearth of money for media buying because frequency is the only thing which saves this campaign from being ‘forgettable’.

I do hear that there are another 5 commercials in the same series to be released within due course of time – Lets hope there is some “happiness” about the coming ads at least!

Bhay Ho! - BJP's campaign for 09 elections!



This is the most recent campaign of the BJP to counter Congress' campaigning song 'Jai Ho' for which the rights have been purchased.I am not an expert in politics and neither is this forum to discuss politics and various agendas of different parties - ruling or otherwise. I only want to comment on the ad which has been created.Though the attempt is good, couple of things crossed my mind when i saw this ad for the first time:
Its hard hitting only because it is playing on our emotions. Our emotion of loss - be it a bomb attack or the downturn of the country.
  1. This ad lapses on the forward looking pitch from the advertiser - the development we all want to see!
  2. It is only a cheap tactic to get back to Congress and hence did not settle down well with me. You really dont have to bash the other party - trust yourself to be good
  3. It is not on the main media - myth - I saw it first on a TV channel (zee cinema) rather than youtube or internet. All the election campaigns are a waste of our money - the money we pay in taxes are being utilized in media buying and the frequency with which these run isn't funny (you will know if you have an idea of media buying)
  4. A cheap take of 'Slum' making these children sing in the train just to establish that the original song is from the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'

Whoa! Lets see what's more in store from these!