Robin Wight, the man behind the Engine group, which has clients like Coke, BMW, Sony, GSK, among others, and currently a crusader of what he calls Brain Science in Advertising gives BE the lowdown on some Indian ads.
[1] Airtel
I thought Airtel was a mobile phone brand. The ad is dealing with a difficult challenge of demonstrating picture quality on a television set, which has lower picture quality than the one you’re promoting. So I think it’s an effective way of dramatizing and drawing attention to what is a very hard challenge. In the beginning I found it a bit confusing, because I didn’t understand what’s going on. Perhaps, they’re trying to get you a bit confused. If I saw it several times I think I’d understand the point.
[2] Sony Bravia
It’s in a sense doing the same thing as the first ad. That’s also interesting because it’s another commercial trying to demonstrate picture to people who’re watching that on a lower quality TV. That slow motion, simple as it is, goes to a part of your brain called the amigdala where it will be processed and remembered as high quality.
[3] Coke
Well, I’ve seen a better Coke ad. The miming one with the two people on the bus. I know this is their latest campaign but I don’t think it was as good as the one on the bus. That concept of getting people to say ‘Brrr’ – they’re trying to create an idea that spreads. Do you think people start going ‘Brrr’ to each other? For me that is less powerful than the core emotional ads before. This is an advertiser’s intent to impose slogan action on consumers. And I’ll be very surprised if lots of Indians will be motivated to do that.
[4] TVS Wego
What was that for? The scooter? It says it has body balance? What is body balance? Obviously we all like sex. When we see an attractive woman doing exciting things to the young man on the scooter, it’s looks good. Many people will be engaged and interested in the romantic behaviour on the scooter that they may not remember the product message. Though I love the filming, I’m so engaged with the glamorous qualities of the young lady that I’m not very excited about the scooter.
[5] Pepsi
That’s a classic sponsorship ad. It’s not exceptional. I think that’s alright, but I’ve seen better sponsorship ads. Pepsi could do a better ad than that. But well, the result was very good.
[6] Spice Popkorn
This is a phone that projects? That’s a completely new product concept. I’ve never seen a mobile phone that does that. So my first reaction is ‘That’s such an interesting thing’. You don’t need all the other pieces of the ad which becomes quite distracting. You’ve got an amazing thing – a phone which projects pictures and videos. I think you should focus simply on that. When you have a really unique point to sell, you have to make sure that the complications in the advertisement don’t drown it.
[7] Ceat
The metaphor takes the cars out and uses the people walking along the road as cars. The concept of ‘The streets are filled with idiots’ is very good. But the only thing is that I didn’t hear anything particular which made that tyre special. It’s a very good line.
[8] Nike
That’s a better ad than the Pepsi one, because it’s created engagement. It links the point with the young boys who want to be world-class cricketers. It’s a very straightforward idea. I can see lots of young boys thinking ‘They understand me’ than the young boys who would drink Pepsi cola. It’s not a great ad, but it’s a very good ad, and I hope it worked well for Nike. It positions them as a brand which understands their younger audience, which is the reason why they’re so successful.
[9] Vodafone 3G
That’s a campaign which I know about. I worked in mobile phones, launching Orange in the UK. What’s really good about that is that it’s a campaign. Most ads are one-off. That’s a property. It’s very distinctive. it’s a brilliant campaign. This is a superman story. I think it’s a good metaphor for 3G, although it’s different from the actual truth. It’s like that only in an ad.
Disclaimer – This article has been picked from Economic Times because of its academic value
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About Hitesh Bhasin
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