Soft drinks ads in the summer of 2013

I have observed that most soft drinks brands today are getting more and more dependent on celebrity endorsement. The three cola brands have used celebrities for decades; among mango drinks Slice has been using Katrina Kaif for some years. This year Maaza has jumped into the celebrity bandwagon by using Imran Khan and Pariniti Chopra, till last year Maaza ads were pretty good without celebrities. Humour was very well used so why are celebrities being used now? Well at least the basic message/proposition has remained consistent –“Har mausam aam”.

What surprises me this summer of 2013 is the Frooti ad campaign featuring

Bisleri 500 – ‘Kiss to drink’

The three ad TV campaign for Bisleri 500 is surely among the good ones I have seen in recent times. The 500 ml pack is now a special pack with Bisleri 500 prominently shown on the label; the ad campaign aims to popularize this pack as a convenient-to-carry pack for all age groups. In a category like bottled water it is difficult to say anything new in its advertising in order to bring about any kind of product differentiation, after all how different one brand of bottled water can be from another? The only differences there could be are the shape of the bottle and the design of the label. After a point

Hitting out at cockroaches

Godrej Consumer Products Limited recently launched HIT Anti Roach Gel. A product in this category was first introduced by Godrej Hicare Ltd. some years ago, though not in the FMCG space but was part of the pest control services offered by the company; today there are other companies offering pest control services who also make use of anti cockroach gel. Use of anti cockroach gel is relatively a new concept; it is a simple, clean and by far the most effective way of getting rid of cockroaches. The gel is applied in form of small spots at places frequented by cockroaches, it attracts cockroaches that eat them and die, and other cockroaches who feed upon the infected dead cockroach also die. This is truly a revolutionary concept and I

do not think there are too many players in this category in the FMCG space. HIT Anti Roach Gel is not the first anti cockroach gel to be introduced in India in the FMCG sector as claimed by Godrej Consumer
Products Limited in their ad, at least not technically; there is one more product which is older than HIT Anti Roach Gel, it is Care & Guard Cockroach Killer Gel but I am sure it is not distributed widely, maybe it is available in pockets only in south India.

The TV commercial (TVC) launching HIT Anti Roach Gel shows a man noticing a cockroach on the wall, he removes his shoe and throws it at the cockroach and instantly kills it, after this there is some drama that is enacted

Advertising Property: Creativity and Innovation rising high

For over the last decade or so advertising in the property market in India has been becoming increasingly vibrant; I had written a post on this subject (see Selling Property Creatively) earlier but I felt an update was necessary. In the past print ads of properties presented only bare facts that the prospective buyer needed to know and usually carried an architect’s illustration of the building, ads of this type can still be seen but increasingly several property developers have been going beyond presenting basic facts and are addressing the various other needs of today’s buyers; thus making ads increasingly creative and innovative. However some developers’ ads merely carry stock images with cleverly written copy in the name of creativity; but there are developers who realize the importance of brand building in order to secure a place in today’s competitive market.  This article is based on ads seen in Bombay, I am sure that the story will be more or less the same in the other major cities of India also.

According to Wilfred Fernandes, Founder and Director at Young, ad agency for the Ekta World, innovation and creativity in advertising properties has

Faaso's -- Let's have a bite!

The above press advertisement caught my eye both at Pune and Mumbai and I decided to write about it; since I was curious to know more I contacted the ad agency ICOMO Advertising (I) Pvt. Ltd. and they were kind enough to answer my queries. 

Before I begin discussing the ad let me give a brief background of Faaso’s. Two young engineering-management professionals set up Faaso’s -- a chain of quick service restaurants. Currently Faaso’s has several outlets in Pune and in and around Mumbai. Fasso’s specializes in various kinds of rolls or wraps as you would choose to call them, kababs, biryanis and few other items; these items can be ordered by phone or through the internet. The founders of Faaso’s identified a gap in the market between the western style

My Favourite Ads of 2012

I wanted to post this article at least by 5th January 2013 if not on the New Year’s Day itself, but could not manage it; anyway better late than never so here goes. I have listed below ten of my favourite ads launched in India in 2012, they are not arranged in any order of preference; I  also wrote about one ad which has left me bewildered. 

1. Sprite:  "Uske paas car hai..." and "Uske paas guitar hai..."
This ad is very entertaining and high on energy, an excellent way to get the message across that one who drinks Sprite is smart and quick thinking. I like the way the main model has acted.

Short Comments - 2

Full page ad

 This is continuing from my earlier post. There are two press ads I would like to write about one is the full page jacket ad announcing the diamond jubilee of Vicco Laboratories and the other is that of Silk Museum, well there is nothing much to write about because the copy in these ads speak for themselves; the Vicco ad is quite interesting in peculiar way, but I have not understood the headline. What does 'Affluent Tradition & Opulent Heritage' mean? I am totally foxed!

The above is an ad of a saree shop located in central Bombay. The copy reads ans you can see,'Enhance The Status of the wives of the Own of Private Plane,...' This according to me, as I understand strictly from the above ad, means if you buy sarees from Silk Museum you will be enhancing the status of the wives (how many wives is not specified) of one guy who owns a plane, helicopters, luxury cars and he also happens to own film stars, politicians and one industrialist; this guy, whoever he is, surely is unique and has no parallel any where in the world. Now what are Hi-Fi sarees, as far as I know hi fi is short form for high fidelity, what does it mean here? 

Thanks to to such interesting ads, they surely bring joy to everyday humdrum and stress, don't they?