Kumbh Mela the biggest Pilgrimage in the world – A marketing Bonanza for the companies!

The pilgrimage widely considered to attract the most visitors on a single day, potentially reaching tens of millions, is the Kumbh Mela in India, particularly the "Maha Kumbh" held in Prayagraj. It is often regarded as the largest religious gathering in the world.

On 4th Feb 2019, an estimated 50 million 5 crore people visited Maha Kumbh daily. That is the entire population of Uganda or Spain coming to a small place like the Prayagraj Ghats in a single day, and the population of the USA and Egypt visiting the Maha Kumbh in just 45 days!

Maha Kumbh 2025 is set to attract 450 million or 45 crore people over 45 days. it is a once-in-12-year marketing jackpot that all companies big and small would like to dive in and reap the benefits.

It is estimated that over Rs 2,00,000 crores revenue would be earned from the Maha Kumbh 2025. The helicopter facility itself is estimated to garner a business of 3.5 crore rupees per day.

According to the Times of India, Indian brands are expected to spend Rs 3,600 crores on advertising and marketing.

Campa Cola: Reliance industries want to quench the thirst of the pilgrims but offering (free?) Campa Cola bottles for the pilgrims to be hydrated and spiritual at the same time.

Mangaldeep: ITC's Mangaldeep brand of Agarbattis will be in full force to cash in. It is the product that directly connects to the pilgrims at a spiritual  level. I am sure that ITC's Mangaldeep would be in great demand. whether offered free or sold at MRP!!

Bingo: ITC’s Potato chip brand Bingo is also jumping into the fray. It will pop up the spirituality by playing local songs at its booths and offering typical Uttar Pradesh dishes blended with what else - its signature brand of Potato chips Bingo - Tedhe Medhe.

Dettol: Reckitt with its omnipresent hygiene brand Dettol is  associating with 15,000 sanitation workers of Maha Kumbh by training them in better sanitation practices and providing them with free Dettol soaps.

Coca-Cola: Not to be left behind Coca-Cola India has come out with Maidaan Saaf a drive to make the Kumbh free of waste and encourage visitors to make Kumbh a place that crores of visitors can visit and enjoy.

Pepsi:  its competitor had come out with a 30 30-foot illuminated Mountain Dew bottle that electrifies the place and provides better navigation and visibility.  The most brilliant strategy is to have 500 charging points under its now famous energy drink brand the Sting. So, with Mountain Drew and string pilgrims can get electrified and charged and recharge for the Maha Kumbh

Bank of Baroda:  will provide a Digital Payment facility at various points but the most innovative eyeball-catching marketing exercise comes from Amazon India.

Amazon India:  will provide portable beds made from its rugged cardboard packaging boxes, providing comfort and at the same time reinforcing the point that packages from Amazon are both safe and rugged and that they would not get damaged in transit.

Eveready Industries:  is providing 5,000 Siren Torches (DL102) with powerful safety alarms to the Maha Kumbh Police, along with Ultima batteries. Eveready's torches not only illuminate the way but also help ensure a safer environment for millions of attendees.

Additionally, it enhanced the spiritual experience by installing 13,000 advanced LED lights, including 150W streetlights and 250W floodlights, across the expansive grounds to ensure safety and vibrancy for millions of attendees.

Paytm:  is installing soundbox and card machines across the event for hassle-free digital payments. The brand has also launched the 'Bhavya Mahakumbh QR' to support merchants.

Relaxo provides footwear

KDM  chargers:  are providing 90 tent charging stations that will charge 16 lakh mobile phones in 45 days.

KUKU FM: Kuku FM has launched the 'Bhakti App'. This app offers over 2000 hours of devotional content, including bhajans, audiobooks, and spiritual shows. It will be promoted at the mela through a 360-degree campaign with on-ground presence, kiosks, and giveaways.

How to set up a blog and be successful - Patience and Perseverance pay in the long run

Man is a funny being. We always crave things that come in the future rather than live in the present.

Great, but this can lead to stress and maybe a burnout later. 

Take, for instance, we want to go to Tirupati. We are on pins and needles till we get train reservations, then we wait for the day of travel, then for the taxi to arrive, the taxi to reach the railway station, and once we are at the station we are anxious if the RAC ticket will get confirmed or not, if the RAC is confirmed, if we would get a lower berth, if it is confirmed, anxious when the train would start, and so and and so forth. 

Similarly, my blogging journey started humbly in 2010. 

The thrill of setting it up was over, and then the wait for the first post, the first reader, the first 100 readers, the first comment, and the 10,000 reader mark, the 50,000 readers mark. 

In 2014, 2015, and 2016, when The Hans India was publishing my feature regularly for 156 weeks, interest in blogging took a back seat. 

Once The Hans India discounted my feature my interest in blogging picked up again. 

There were days when I would be thrilled to get 50 readers a day. For many years, I would got used to 300 readers per day. 

But from the last year, there has been renewed interest in reading blogs, and readership has started to climb, and in the last few months, I am getting 400 to 500 readers per day. 

But things have changed dramatically in the last one or two months. 

Nowadays I have started to get 1000, 1500, and for the last 3 or 5 days I am even crossing 2000 readers/day. 

I am in no way overreaching myself. I am staying committed and humble and will try my best to share whatever little I know about marketing and business.

Axis Max Life Insurance campaign - sheer bad luck or bad timing!!

Sometimes, ads pop up at the wrong time. Axis Bank came out with a new campaign, Double Bhorosa, highlighting the point that Max Life has become Axis Max Life. The endorsers are Rohit Sharma and his ever-bubbly wife, Ritika. 

The assumption is that they make a great team. The campaign wants to promote the concept of "double bhorosa," how Rohit and Ritika Would provide double bhorosa for their two children. 

Creative and cute, but a doubt creeps into my mind about the timing!!!  Both the so-called Bhorosa guys in the Indian team, Rohit and Virat are not doing well. In fact, Rohit is not even playing and the ad is doing rounds! Bad timing, Axis Max Life Insurance!!.

Worst Indian advertisements of 2024!!

 March 29, 2024

1. Indira's Rasam advertisement - Racist and Sexist

It is a very racist and sexist advertisement. It says, "If you have a North Indian wife, you just need a minute to make rasam, with our Indira rasam powder you can make Ghuma Ghuma Lade rasam (piping hot rasam) in a few seconds". 

This ad on this Karnataka bus had gone viral. the advertisement assumes that if a South Indian husband has a North Indian wife, she does not know how to make rasam, a South Indian dish.

Basically, that is the crux of the matter. The statement smacks of gender discrimination, there is regional philosophy that rasam is south Indian, north Indians cannot cook southern dishes, that southern men should not marry north Indian girls, and, that if they do, they should forget their favourite south Indian dishes, give up on their main dishes, etc. At best such promotions should be avoided.  

April 10, 2024

 2. CENTURY PLY ad in The Economic Times - Good Promotion or Bad!!!

It's intriguing to see the CENTURY PLY advertisement in the Economic Times, India's leading daily business, particularly as it coincides with the Sensex reaching 75,000! Whether the timing was deliberate or coincidental remains uncertain. 

What adds to the curiosity is that the model featured is Pratik Gandhi, renowned for his work in Gujarati theatre and cinema. He gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Harshad Mehta in the Sony LIV series "Scam 1992" (2020), where he depicted the controversial figure of Harshad Mehta.

Harshad Mehta's character is subject to much debate - was he a hero or a villain? While some may justify his actions, many view him as a criminal who manipulated the system for personal gain, resulting in significant losses for investors and even suicides.

CENTURY PLY advertises itself as a sound investment for the future, yet the choice of Pratik Gandhi, associated with portraying Harshad Mehta, raises eyebrows due to the latter's tainted legacy in financial markets. The question arises: Does such advertising generate positive or negative publicity? Perhaps most readers may not even recognize Pratik Gandhi, let alone associate him positively or negatively.

One could argue that CENTURY PLY should have chosen a more recognizable face, especially from the financial sector, for such an advertisement. Moreover, the decision to place the advertisement in the Economic Times, a finance and investment-focused publication, raises questions about its target audience. 

Perhaps it would have been more fitting to place the advertisement in a general interest newspaper like the Times of India. The readership profiles of The Economic Times and Times of India differ significantly, suggesting a potential mismatch in targeting the desired audience for the advertisement.

April 14, 2024

3. Kit-Kit or Kit-Kat, very confusing Upstox Commercial!

I am confused about Upstox's KitKit ad. Is it Kitkit or KitKat. I know that it is KitKit or yapping but if one is not paying attention it sounds like KitKat.  I know one company that is not complaining at all. Nestle the makers of KitKat. They will take all the publicity that comes their way. 

April 22, 2024

Lost in Translation - Hindi to Telugu ads and one great Tamil to Hindi - Paying back in the same Coin!!

4. Po Ra Po, Surf Excel: Sometimes I feel very annoyed that I seem to be the only person who critically analyzes the way advertisement campaigns are made and executed. Take for instance Surf Excel’s “Po Rub Pu” campaign. 

The campaign (yawn) takes the usual tack of dirty clothes becoming sparkling clean with Surf Excel. But what makes the ad annoying is the language (Hinglish). Everyone in the ad mouths the words Po Rub Pu which is the short form of the phrase “Pour Rub Pour” or saying that a a little Surf Excel is enough to make the toughest stains disappear. 

But an issue crops up when a Telugu-speaking person sees the advertisements. It sounds like Po Ra Po (పో రా పో). Po Ra Po is slang, it means “you!! Get lost”. children can never say Po Ra Po to their elders. It is quite jarring to see young kids saying Po Ra Po to elderly women. No one has even protested and it is business as usual. 

5. Na Cheez Anta - Amul Cheese Telugu Advertisement - Lost in Translation - Translation blunder!:  

This advertisement was funny, and I want Hindi readers to comment (Clue the key word's meaning in Urdu). Of course, Hyderabad being quite Urdu-dominant, many Telugu-speaking Hyderabad friends might also get it. As they say, the devil is in the details! Nacheez is an Urdu word that means 'nothing'. But it is often used to describe oneself. E.g. Nacheez ko Maneesha kehte hain—I am known as Maneeesha. It is used to convey or denote a sense of humility about oneself.

6. Parimatch Sports’s ఆమె ఆడుతుంది, మీరు జరుపుకోండి:  

The above advertisements were on the metro pillars in Hyderabad during the WPL tournament in March. This became a talking point on social media. It means, “She plays, you celebrate” in Telugu.

I had many doubts racing in my mind. Celebrate? How should I celebrate? Why should I celebrate if she is playing? (don’t even know the person). Not my wife, daughter and I don’t even know her remotely?

The mystery was solved when I googled to find the original English version. The English version was “She plays, you win”. This app is a game, and we can bet as the game progresses. The more we interact the more is the chance to win.  

7. The dosa ballebaaz (batsman): Idly/Dosa batters are the saviours in many houses. The cumbersome process of making the batter is taken out of hand with the onset of ready-made idly/Dosa batters. Very convenient and reasonably priced they are hugely popular. Wanting to take advantage of ready-made Idly/Dosa batters a Tamil company foraged into the Hindi markets ( north Indian markets).

 

So far so good. The package said Idly/dosa batter in English and Tamil. Trying to attract the Hindi buyers they translated idly/Dosa batter into Hindi. Google translate feature nicely kicked the company in the rear side. 

Idly/Dosa batter became Idly/”Dosa Ballebaaz”, Literally idly/dosa batsman. The buyers would have scratched their heads in bewilderment. They must have thought that this Idly/Dosa mix was only for CSK batsmen. Jokes apart never trust Google Translate when your life, brand, and career are on the line.

April 25, 2024

Telugu Translation Goof ups – Wolfa and Telugu Gibberish from Om Raut

 8.  Wolf Became Wolfa in  Telugu 

Nowadays it is trendy to release the same movie in different languages. But most producers don’t take enough care and make silly mistakes. Prabhu Deva acted in the movie “Wolf”. In Telugu, it was translated as “Wolfa”. Wolfa in Telugu means a useless fellow or a good-for-nothing person.

9. Adipurush’s does not care a hoot for the Telugu Language.

What a sad situation. Telugu film industry is known for making the best mythological movies which are still a great draw. Thus, it is a pity to note that Om Raut takes Prabhas the Telugu superstar and makes him a caricature of a Ram.

Rubbing salt into the wound, the tweet put out by the director himself has some gibberish touting to be the Telugu language.  It was written as

The above is not Telugu at all! The line should be శక్తివంతులం.. భక్తివంతులం. 

The Bollywood promotion designer team couldn’t read the Telugu lines, so they ignored the mistakes and posted them as they were. The movie makers have spent nearly ₹500 crores to make the movie, but can’t they spend a few hundred rupees to get the Telugu lines properly written in their promotional material? No, they used Google Translate.

May 02, 2024

10. Locks and Mocks: Confronting the Shame of Facial Hair Blame - The sordid case of Prachi Nigam and Bombay Shaving Company advertisement!!!

It is customary for every state board to announce its 10th and 12th school exam toppers. All the state boards do it and most of the time these go under the radar. But this time the announcement from the UP-state board caught the attention.

The 10th topper Ms. Prachi Nigam who scored 98.5% garnered unwanted attention due to her facial hair. Hirsutism is excess hair growth on the body or face. It's caused by excess hormones called androgens. For women, the hair may grow in places where men often have a lot of hair, but women often don't. This includes the upper lip, chin, chest, and back.

Most of us looked at the announcement and ignored it. But the social media netizens did not spare Prachi. They heavily trolled her. The body shaming came as a huge shock as we should appreciate Prachi’s intelligence and not make fun of her body hair. It was reported that even though Prach was hurt, she was determined to achieve her goals in life despite what people say about her appearance

.

When things were settling down an advertisement appeared in the English newspapers. It was Bombay Shaving Company. This advertisement came under heavy criticism for its “insensitivity”.

Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of the grooming brand, shared a picture of the newspaper ad that read, “Dear Prachi, they are trolling your hair today, they’ll applaud your A.I.R. tomorrow.”. At the bottom of the advertisement was the sucker punch “ We hope that you never get bullied into using our razor”

Sharing the picture, Deshpande wrote on his X (Twitter) account, “It was shocking to see the amount of hate targeted at a teenage girl who had TOPPED AN EXAM because of her facial hair. Our simple message to this amazing young woman with such a bright future. Love to see my team ooze class. No opportunistic sale, QR code, nothing. Just a heartfelt message to a fellow Bae.”

Shantanu Deshpande thought he and his company were being considerate. They thought they were supporting Prachi for her achievement. Bombay shaving company was just being opportunistic. They wanted to cash into the hype and the buzz surrounding Ms. Prachi Nigam.

“No opportunistic sale, QR code, nothing”. But the ad is what it is. Exploitative. They take a full-page advertisement at a heavy cost in all the English newspapers and then say it is not opportunism. Also, they include a snide comment at the bottom about the “usage of the Razor”.

If Bombay Shaving Company wanted to help Prachi, they could have arranged for a scholarship and helped her overcome her medical condition. But no, they took the easy way out. The easy way was to be clever and release an advertisement in extremely bad taste. Not done, Bombay Shaving Company. 

June 19, 2024

Copywriting Blunders - PhDs from WhatsApp University - Prakash Ads and Lalitha Jewellery

11. Prakash Ads: Common Sense is not common. It says, "where culture and chaos coexist". Really why is it that no one found this offensive? The picture shows women celebrating the very iconic Battukamma festival the pride of Telugu pride!!!

BATTUKAMMA is culture or chaos? And who writes this type of copy? Maybe a Ph.D. from WhatsApp University with a Postdoctoral from Chat GPT!!!  Dictionary meaning of chaos "Complete confusion and disorder: a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything. For example, the loss of electricity caused chaos throughout the city. When the police arrived, the street was in total/complete/absolute chaos".  Maybe the greenhouse wannabe copywriter was trying to rhyme. Like they say in Telugu, " ప్రాస కోసం పాకులాట"

12. Lalitha Jewellery: 

Gundu sir is selling "100% No V.A Chargers, they mean Charges". Another gem from PhD copywriters from WhatsApp University!!!

 October 29, 2024

13. Not so Sweet Jab: Paytm takes a playful dig at Zepto's free Soan Papdi Campaign!!!

Paytm's new campaign, ‘Iss Diwali gifting ka naya tareeka shuru karo (this Diwali starts a new trend in gifting),” comes as a surprise. Paytm is a fading brand in the payment apps. It is seen as a Nokia in that category. Just like Nokia, it grew the segment only to give way, market share, word of mouth, and top-of-the-mind awareness to Google Pay and Phone Pay. Phone Pay and Google Pay have become the default payment apps, and Paytm is slowly fading into the background.

The advertisement shows a family visiting their friend’s house on Diwali night. As they are ringing the bell, they hear voices from inside the house. The husband is commenting, “What did you get as a gift from your office?" His wife says, “Soan Papdi, what else? and adds, “If anyone else gifts me Soan Papdi, I will shove it down their damn throats.”.

Hearing this, the visiting couple hurriedly dumps the offending soap Papdi gift packet into the bushes. Pleasantries are exchanged, and the cheeky little boy asks, “Uncle, what gift have you brought us?”. The friend couple is nonplussed for a second but recovers dramatically and transfers Rs 1,100/- on Paytm, and the day is saved. But rubbing salt into the wound, he cheekily comments, “With that money, your dad can buy you gifts or can buy you—Soan Papdi!!!”.

In the present scenario, it is quite strange that Paytm launched this campaign. It was okay to talk about its own USP (it is no longer Paytm’s USP) and try to promote itself. Instead, it is trying to make fun of Zepto, who is trying to do a noble thing in trying to bring back glory for Soan Papdi.

While the Zepto campaign brings a lump to the heart and makes us smile, the Paytm campaign tries to be too smart for its own good. It is smart alerky and sounds like a campaign executed by a fresh behind-the-ears management school employee trying to be funny and falling flat on his/her face.

And while Zepto and Paytm have a symbiotic relationship. Each is dependent on the other for survival. Customers use Zepto and Paytm for convenience. So, is it worthy to make fun of your business partner? Not in my view. Both need each other to survive. All in all, a campaign that could have been avoided. 

November 22, 2024

14. "THE TIMES of INDIA" does it again - Plays with its Masthead! But not the first Time!!!

At ICBM-SBE students are given two newspapers per day. "The Times of India and The Economic Times." Today they were excited to receive a third, the Paneer of India! Jokes apart, can you play around with the sacrosanct masthead? 

The Fake Masthead 

The Real Masthead: 

This type of stunt was tried by TOI once, maybe 20-25 years ago for the first time. On that day the first page screamed,  "LET TIMES OF INDIA WAIT" : The body copy talked "breathlessly" about the impending launch of a new variant of chocolate (or something else; I don't clearly remember). The entire masthead was changed. It was the love of the lucre!!

The Puritans were furious with the wordplay involving the Sacrosanct Masthead. Arguments raged for weeks and months. But in the overstimulated modern era, anything is passé. Your opinions are welcome.

December 02, 2024

15. Make AI Mediocre Again - a Cadbury Initiative when irrelevance becomes the new relevance!

What is happening? It is too much stimulation!!! Is it déjà vu? Or is irrelevance the new relevance? I am not sure, and I am sure many of our generation are floundering with the same type of doubt or self-doubt!

Of course, I am talking about the latest ad from Cadbury 5 Star. In the last decade, Cadbury Five Star has decided that its main target group is millennials and that it must shock people out of their pants to achieve that objective.

They have done many “in-your-face campaigns” that seem to resonate with their target group, like “Eat 5 star, do nothing” campaigns, and the latest campaign, “Make AI Mediocre Again.”.

My generation has grown up watching and admiring Cadbury’s iconic ads and campaigns, like Cadbury cricket, Khaane Waalon ko khaane ka Bahana Chahiye, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye, Khaane Ke Baad Meethe Mein Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye, Shubh Aarambh, Raho Umarless, and Bring out the child in you, etc. This one is and sounds sacrilegious!

The ad talks about how AI is making our lives miserable and making us work more. The solution? Make AI mediocre by submitting a lot of trash in farm search engines. According to Cadbury, this will make AI mediocre again, and we can be back at our workstations—doing nothing but eating Cadbury 5 stars!

Is Cadbury serious! I don’t know. They ask us to submit our worst answers that will make AI mediocre! I scanned through the comments section of the ad airing on YouTube, and 99% of the viewers liked and even commented on how doing nothing is the best thing. I might belong to the minuscule minority, but I dislike the advertisement! I don’t get it at all. Can we fight AI? I suppose not! That is what Cadbury is trying to do!

This ad is prodding the millennials into inactivity! But active in consuming Cadbury 5 Star! Welcome to the digital world—where irrelevance is the new relevance!

December 29, 2024

16. Change the Soch - Really, nothing has changed! Franklin Templeton's Latest Campaign

Change the Soch campaign by Franklin Templeton was launched with much fanfare. It TomToms the fact that it tries to highlight women's role in giving advice in all aspects of life, including offering financial advice. But surprisingly, I find that advertisement to be regressive, sexist, and even propagating existing stereotypes.

The advertisement opens with a youngster lazily telling his family about his salary rise. His quip: “What should he do with it?”. This is where the advertisement confirms the stereotype. His father is shown repairing a grinder/mixer. His mother is cutting onions, and yes, she is weeping.

She tells him, “What is there to think? Top up your SIP. This is the right  time." Her son is puzzled. He gives her a puzzled look and says, "I don't understand." His mother gives him an exasperated look clears her voice and says in a very masculine voice (imitating her husband?)  "What is there is think. Top up with SIP. It is the right time".

Her son's face breaks into a smile. He smirks and says, "Now I understand." The message appears: Women = Men in financial advice too. Is this supposed to be a pathbreaking Changing Soch advertisement?

The lady is still cutting onions, and she is still weeping. Her husband is still doing manly jobs like repairing mixies. Her motherly advice is ignored. The minute she talks like his father in a masculine voice (like a man), her son immediately responds.

Even the message smacks of male chauvinism. Women = Men. What do you mean by speaking equal to? In a country that worships women, call the country Bharat Mata and revere her as Maa Durga; the ad comes through as regressive and supporting and conforming to age-old stereotypes. Please have a rethink. Franklin Templeton.

best 10 Indian ads of 2024!!

 March 28, 2024

 1) Common Sense is not common; Thums Up Should have done this 30 years ago.

Common sense is not common. We Hyderabadis have known this for generations, so much so that Coca-Cola has five zones: North, South, East West, and Hyderabad. 

There is nothing like a nice "Thanda Toofan" after a heavy Biryani. It is not a cool drink; it is a Thums Up. It is a pity that Ramesh Chauhan sold the brand to Coca-Cola. It would have given a run for the money to both Coke and Pepsi. The point is why wait for so long. This ad should have been released twenty years ago.

April 06^th, 2024

 2. Fingers crossed with KitKat - a beautiful concept

KitKat, fingers crossed, is a brilliant advertisement. It's very topical and right on the button. The question is, "Who could have been the celebrity endorser?" (If KitKat had used one).

The person who comes to mind is Ritika Sajdeh, wife of Rohit Sharma. It is well known that Ritika keeps her fingers crossed all the time when Rohit is playing. It is a superstition, just like Mohinder Amarnath, who always kept a white handkerchief in his pocket.

Another very apt association was for a television programme called “Chutki Bajake,” which featured the famous Marathi actor Ashok Saraf. The hero in the serial snaps (Chutke) his fingers and gets involved in very interesting adventures.

Fevikwik was the sponsor. The connection? Fevikwik was running an advertisement that showed a boss (Satish Shah) clicking his fingers and getting frantic attention from his harassed lady secretary (Renuka Sahane). The solution to the problem is that the secretary puts a small drop of Fevikwik between the thumb and the index finger of her boss. He can no longer click, and when he can’t click, he can’t order his secretary around.

Whenever Ashok Saraf clicks his fingers in the serial, one immediately gets reminded of Fevikwik. The double whammy in the title of the serial also reminds the viewers of the Fevikwik. There is a wonderful marriage between Fevikwik and the programme.

April 13, 2024

3. CRED UPI latest advertisement - David Warner and Rajamouli - Deadly Duo and a Deadly Duet!!!

What a wonderful advertisement. It is IPL time and Cred UPI is cashing in (pun unintended). UPI payments have become omnipresent, and the brand has become generic. Cred wants to break the clutter. It wants us to think, "UPI means CRED, and CRED means UPI.".

The clutter-breaking advertisement using Leander Paes was brilliant. Leander Paes, a winner of 18 grand slam titles, flounders when asked to kill mosquitoes with a mosquito bat in a restaurant. Hapless, he turns to CRED UPI for better discounts and better service.

The latest advertisement for CRED, pardon the pun, is a blockbuster. It features a shy Rajamouli, the ace director, pitted against Davis Warner, the star Australian cricketer.

Brash and aggressive David Warner became a darling with the Telugus during his stay with SRH. He loved Hyderabad, and boy, oh boy, Hyderabad loved him back. He was christened Warner Miya.

Warner loved Telugu movies and performed spoofs of many Telugu movie scenes and songs on his TikTok handle. Warner's wife and daughter, too, became part of his goofy spoofs. Warner loved Telugu movies, period.

Warner was one of the reasons why the signature move of Allu Arjun became one of the most popular ways to celebrate in cricket, especially in T2O and ODI cricket. Thus, it was a coup of sorts when CRED roped in David Warner and pitted him against Rajmouli.

The rib-tickling advertisement is worth watching again and again. To get a discount on his non-CRED UPI, Rajamouli faces harrowing times. Warner makes Rajamouli cast him as a hero in his next film. And what follows is a laugh riot.

Warner appears in a song with a bat, dances totally out of sync, roughly asks Rajamouli if it is RRR or Rrrr, bashes up the baddies too enthusiastically, asks for a kangaroo instead of a horse, and has the cheek to tell Rajamouli, "See you at the Oscars.".

In total desperation, Rajmouli surrenders and switches to the CRED UPI. What makes this advertisement effective is its timing. India has switched to IPL. Warner is a known figure, and so is Rajamouli. My bet is that this advertisement will garner tremendous eyeballs and if shown in the stadiums, will make the spectators roar its approval. Wonderful advertisement, CRED. Way to go. Creative, topical, and hits the bullseye.

April 15, 2024

 4. Tick hai to Teek Hai - Google Pay Hai - what a Brilliant advertisement

It is IPL carnival time, and brilliant advertisements are being aired. It is now the turn of Google Pay UPI to come out with a 'Sab Tik/TeeK hai'. Online payments, especially UPI payments, have become the order of the day. Two of the best advertisements of this year's IPL have come from two UPI platforms: CRED and Google Pay.

We have always been worried about fraudulent payments using UPI. We use many UPI platforms but are still concerned. Is it safe? Google Pay is used by many, and Google's reliability is rubbed onto Google Pay UPI too. Unlike other UPI payments, Google Pay comes with double authentication: one linked with the QR code scan and another with the entry of the secret six-number password. Without the password, the transaction does not go through. There is no tick (It is not okay), or it is not Teek (Right).

India has grown comfortable with the usage of Hinglish (a mixture of Hindi and English). We see a lot of advertisements using a combination of Hindi and English, and in a way, it is quite remarkable how this lingo has become a part of us.

In the advertisement, Kajol Devgn, the film star is shown using Google Pay, and a sceptical bystander asks, 'Is it okay (Teek hai)?' The waiter who receives the payment says, 'Tik hai to Teek hai'. This, I thought, was brilliant wordplay. The waiter first puts out the tick mark with the thumb and the index finger (which becomes both a tick mark and a smiley face too). The tick mark comes in Google Pay once the payment is done. That is the mark that the Google Pay authentication has been completed successfully. The advertisement ends with 'Tik hai, Google Pay hai'.

This is Google Pay's way of countering CRED's argument about discounts. I would stay with my Google Pay UPI as I feel it is more secure, and Google Pay has never betrayed me. Tick hai tho Teek hai. 10/10 for a brilliant advertisement.

September 2024

5. Parle G (G mane Genius) Batch of 95th • recall teacher and explain a girl | emotional all

June 20, 2024

6. Brilliant Advertisement - Hats off Colgate Visible White - An Absolute Man biting a Dog!!

I often tell the students that it is not news when a dog bites a man. It is news when the Man bites the dog. Do something that makes people wake up from their social media-induced slumber and take notice. 

We are swarmed and bombarded by messages resulting in overexposure.  Most of us are jaded and are no longer stimulated adequately by media and promotional messages. 

So how to cut the clutter, especially in Print Media?  Print media is no longer the darling of the masses. The readership is dwindling, and many advertisers are questioning its legitimacy and relevance.

Print media still has a huge charm. Print media is seen as more reliable, and more responsible and it has the advantage of featuring an advertisement that can linger for a longer period and make a long-lasting impression. 

The precise reason why Colgate's visible white campaign chose print media. Check out the advertisement. at first glance, the ad looks innocuous but at a second glance, it looks as if the Colgate Visible ad is occupying the bottom part of the paper ( Like a solus or a single ad). 

But then we scan down and read the caption "Visible White  Saamne Aaye, toh Achhe Achhe Daant Chupayien (Meaning that even famous people hide their teeth when they come face to face with Colgate White or a person brushing their teeth with Colgate Visible white}. 

For a microsecond we are nonplussed. We don't get it, and the people featured in the News items catch our attention. The movie watcher, the couple on a Goa trip, the Girl with the VR device, the author at the book launch, and the traveler to a foreign country are all "HIDING THEIR TEETH". 

Then it hits us. THE ENTIRE PAGE WAS AN ADVERTISEMENT. The ad drove us from itself to the so-called "New Items" Presented in the regular newspaper format. This is a brilliant concept. Well thought out and superbly executed. The next page also has an ad for a Colgate Visible white.   

7. June 21, 2024

ESAF Small Savings Bank's Dabba Savings Account - Inside the Dabba but innovative out-of-the-box thinking!!

Women are the backbone of the rural economy. Rural women manage everything, including the farms, working silently and without complaint. Once they are educated and empowered, the entire economy flourishes.

The population decrease in South India compared to North India is due to higher education among all sections, including women. When a woman is educated and empowered, she will have a smaller family, irrespective of her religious affiliation.

Indian villages lack basic banking facilities, and women, being natural money savers, found a solution close to their hearts and minds - the kitchen!!

Traditionally, women stored the surplus money in the rice container (sacred rice). They would bury it deep in the rice. Many stored cash in the Populla Dabba too. Women store their surplus Cash in a kitchen container or dabba! But the problem was that the other members of the family also knew about the dabba, and they would frequently take the money without consent.

ESAF Microfinance Bank hit upon a bright idea. It came out with an Inside the Dabba idea. Rather, very out-of-the-box thinking!! The scheme was the “Dabba Savings Account.”. 

ESAF gifted a stainless-steel rice box to every woman. From the outside, the rice container looked like any other rice container. The lady could store rice in the upper portion. It had a secret compartment at the bottom. The secret compartment was for keeping excess cash.

Every week, the women go to a designated area in the village and deposit the saved money with ESAF bank officials. They got a passbook, which showed the deposited money. The money thus deposited earned interest.

EASF went a step further. It tied up all the shopkeepers and Kirana shops in those villages and supplied them with payment machines with embedded microchips. This helped the women make seamless purchases without paying cash.

They could pay at these shops with the money that they have in their ESAF bank account. The Aadhaar card was the interface, and the women could pay money through biometrics. All the transactions were visible through SMS on their smart or feature phones.

Brilliant campaign, ESAF! It identified a cultural nuance and came up with the concept of helping rural women. ESAF has expanded its own footprint. It also tied in with the local shops to make the process of using the deposited money as effective as possible.

ESAF understood that rural women save for their families and that the saved money would be used to buy household items. Thus, the entire rural economy would benefit from the catalyst, the ESAF Micro Finance Savings Bank.  

8. October 20, 2024

Great one Zepto, "Make Soan Papdi Great Again" Campaign

In a world filled with overstimulation, overexposure, and Deja vu, I had to be triggered off my Sunday slumber to write this piece. This campaign shook me up!

In India, everything is a status symbol including sweets. Once Padma, my wife hesitatingly asked me, what is your favourite, "sweet?".  Without batting an eyelid, I answered "Ravaladdu". Padma watched me with a wide-open mouth. She was astonished "Ravaladdu?". 

She expected that my answer would be Ajmer Kalakand, Kaju Katli, Badam roll, dry fruit laddu, Matka rasagulla, or something costly and exotic. She sheepishly told me that her favourite was an equally humble sweet, "Jilebi". 

I could never understand how sweets could even become status symbols. I worked in a country where eating sweets was considered a sissy (girlish) habit. There are no sweet shops in entire Ethiopia!!

I am puzzled why Soan Papdi is the Butt of all jokes when it comes to sweets. It is not preferred and is among the least-liked sweets. It is rarely gifted during the festivals and even if gifted, is rarely consumed and the lovely Soan Papdi hardens into lumps and finally is thrown into the dustbin. 

What a pity. This mouthwatering sweet that is easy to eat, and ridicule is quite tough to prepare. It needs great muscle power to prepare Soan Papdi. It does not create a mess like the syrupy Gulab Jamoon or the Rasagulla. 

Thus, it is heartening to see Zepto partner with a Soan Papdi maker to run the,  “Make Soan Papdi Great Again” campaign. This festival season with every delivery,  Zepto customers would receive a free box of Soan Papdi and stand a chance to win prizes worth 5 crore rupees. 

Brilliant campaign Zepto!! You have hit the bull’s eye. This one resonates. Triple whammy I would Say. Firstly, Zepto is giving a sweet box and receiving a sweet box is considered auspicious, secondly as the sweet is Soan Papdi, Zepto would get a great deal as it is a generic promotion for the product.

The cost of Soan Papdi is reasonable and Zepto would not have to burn a hole in its pocket to get huge quantities. The well-known Soan Papdi makers would give their Soan Papdi free to get favourable word-of-mouth publicity and to garner eyeballs. 

Thirdly as there is a chance to win Rs 5 crore worth of prizes many customers would switch to Zepto for their parcel deliveries. Great way to go Zepto,  a man biting a dog campaign.

Update 23-10-2024

My Cousin Mrs. Vasundhara Nanjappa from Bangalore sent a WhatsApp message saying that 100 grams of Soan Papdi was given. Karachi Bakery a Hyderabad-based company has tied up with Zepto for the supply of Soan Papdi. Thanks for the update.

 

9 - November 20, 2024

Thunder Strikes again - A perfect Match between Tumps Up and Allu Arjun's Pushpa's 2!!!

“Thunder striking soon,” the latest campaign of Thums Up, has a twist. One needs to see it twice to understand what it is conveying. Show it to a Caucasian American, and he would be nonplussed. He would understand it as a promo, but it would not make any sense to him.

But for Indians and Indians throughout the world, it makes perfect sense. Thums Up has partnered with Allu Arjun; the Thums Up teaser is for the much-awaited movie Pushpa 2.

Does it make sense? You bet it does. For Allu Arjun, who is endorsing Thums Up, it is free publicity for his movie. For Thums Up, the teaser gets tremendous eyeballs, and the image that Allu Arjun portrays in the movie matches the positioning tack that Thums Up has consistently used.

The positioning is that of a macho man who wants the strongest cola in the market. And even better if that strong man borders between lawfulness and lawlessness. That is Sona Pe Suhaga (The icing on the cake). The present generation wants to be a rebel—with a cause or without. A perfect marriage between the brand, its positioning, the brand ambassador, his on-screen image, and movie promotion.

10 - November 23, 2024

Print Media is dead - Nope - It is alive and kicking - Next level Flipkart interactive Rubbable first page ad in THE HINDUSTAN TIMES

Print, they say, is dead. They snicker, "Who reads newspapers?" Reading is so boring, man. Everyone seems to be on the digital gravy train. Everything is online, including a country - Tuvalu. Tuvalu is furiously trying to become the first virtual online country. 

But popular beliefs, myths, and hearsay have no standing in real life. The Indian Newspaper Society (INS), the central organization of newspapers and periodicals in the country, said its member publications recorded an 11% rise in ad revenue for calendar 2023 at ₹16,472.40 crore, compared to ₹14,892.34 crore in 2022. 

Print is still a big draw, and its primary advantage is its credibility. Readers still believe in the printed word, and somewhere there is a grudging admiration for journalists and the editorial fairness and impartiality. Newspapers are still respected, and people working there are seen as part of a trained professional team. 

This is in stark contrast with the Wild West of social media, where anyone can be a digital creator. All one needs is a mobile phone. There is no training, qualifications, degrees, or communication skills needed, and best of all, no editing and censorship. One can do as one feels. The first page of a newspaper still has an irresistible appeal and still grabs instant attention. 

Headlines always make news, and they stay as headlines for a day, unlike digital media, where headlines can change in a matter of minutes. It was refreshing to see Flipkart and The Hindustan Times try out a new innovative print media advertising campaign.

 

Last Sunday Hindustan Times newspaper readers woke up to an intriguing headline. The front page had a picture in which the milk was splashed liberally. The headline said, "Doodh ka Doodh aur Paani ka Paani Ho Jayega (meaning don't worry; everything will be as clear as clear water)”. 

The Advertisement also said, "Rub some water on the split milk and see what happens"! On rubbing or wiping the split milk with water or with a soft tissue, the message magically appeared: "Flipkart MINUTES—Everything in minutes, Toh Tension Mat lo. Khyunki Sab 10 minutes mey Replace ho jayeega (don't take tension; everything will be replaced within ten minutes)". 

The pitch was for the super-fast 10-minute delivery service from Flipkart. It was a wonderful attempt by all three parties: Flipkart, its advertising agency, and the Hindustan Times. They hit a bull's eye, garnered huge eyeballs and curiosity, and created a buzz on social media. It was a very innovative and creative interactive print advertisement that stayed in my mind.