Watchman advertisement of Star sports for Dream 11, IPL 2020, glamorizing poverty?

 

The latest advertisement for Star Sports is puzzling, to say the least. I sympathize with Star Sports for all its tension about the conduct of IPL and the delay but the latest advertisement seems to have been executed in haste.

The advertisement features a watchman of an apartment block. He is shown being ill-treated by the residents. Why? No one knows! The watchman is shown talking to his family on his mobile. He tells them, “It is five months since I have seen you and it is not possible for me to come”. The Covid-19 pandemic is suddenly brought into the picture.

A good Samaritan notices all this and arranges for a Star Sports connection, LED projector and a set of speakers for the watchman, Mr. Alok. Alok is about to have his meagre dinner and the entire apartment block suddenly is abuzz with activity. The residents have suddenly become very friendly and start screaming “Alok, Alok”.

Alok watches the Dream 11, IPL 2020 on his newly gifted entertainment set and thanks the apartment block owners with profuse tears in his eyes. How very filmy! And how very crass! 

Poverty is a harsh reality and we need to respect it and it should not be used to create an unnatural feeling of bonhomie and try to score cute advertising points! The advertisement is as refreshing as yesterday's morning coffee, warmed and served hot albeit with sparkling eyes!  

It looks as if Star Sports is making fun of the poor watchman. Why don’t we understand the person, the poor watchman? Is it worth spending 20 to 25 thousand rupees just to promote a vulgarly dressed up commercial product? Would it not have been better to give the watchman the money collected? He might have bigger problems to solve and watching cricket might be the last thing in his priorities.

Come on Star Sports, have a life. We know that cricket is fun but it is not the only thing in life. And the internal bickering is on. Ten sports which is telecasting the England Vs Australia is already proclaiming that its series “England vs Australia is the asli (real) thing” and hinting that IPL is just pyjama cricket. Pyjama cricket was what puritans referred to the cricket series started by Kerry Packer. The world series started by Kerry Packer later led to the popularity of ODI cricket which later gave birth to the T20 cricket!

Other new catch phrases used in Marketing of automobiles (cars and motorcycles)

     

      These entire list of catch phrases have been Research and submitted by Madhusudhan Kota a dear friend of mine Thanks a lot Kota for a lovely collection 

1.   TDI: Turbo Charged Diesel Injection used by Volkswagen. TDI allows for greater engine efficiency, and therefore greater power outputs (from a more complete combustion process compared to indirect injection), while also decreasing emissions and providing more torque.

2. CRDI: Common Rail Direct Injection used by BOSCH. CRDI helps to improve the power, performance and reduce harmful emissions from a diesel engine. Conventional Diesel Engines (non-CRDI engines) are sluggish, noisy and  poor in performance compared to a CRDI engine.

3.   AMT: Automatic Manual Transmission used by Magneti Marelli. AMT gives the driver peace of mind of clutch less shifts; something metropolitan dwellers are direly craving for, it is also as fuel efficient as a regular manual gearbox. And it's a cheap technology which doesn't increase the cost of your car too much. Maruti is using this technology and hoping that it will create a differentiator that will be hard to beat.

4.   MPFI: Multi Point Fuel Injection used by most car manufacturers. MPFI  offers operational benefits to the driver of a fuel-injected car including smoother and more dependable engine response during quick throttle transitions, easier and more dependable engine starting, better operation at extremely high or low ambient temperatures, smoother engine idle and running, increased maintenance intervals, and increased fuel efficiency.

5.   DTSI: Digital Twin Spark Ignition used by Bajaj Auto. In DTSI instead of one spark plug two plugs are used. Because of this fuel is burnt completely and delivers more power.

6.   DDIS: Direct Diesel Injection System used by FIAT. DDIS allows the fuel to burn more evenly and  thoroughly. For the driver, that can translate to better mileage and greater power to the wheels.

7.  VTT DICOR: Variable Turbine technology and Direct Injection common rail Engine used by TATA Safari. VVT DICOR improves fuel economy, performance and reduces emissions.

8.  CVT: continuously variable transmission Used in India by TVS group is a transmission that can change seamlessly through an infinite number of effective gear ratios between maximum and minimum values. CVT allows a small car to have acceptable fuel efficiency at low cost.

Zing thing, PSPO, MSP, EDLP and other catch phrases used in popular advertising campaigns

An advertisement is a story told in 60 seconds. The story has to have a taut screen play and catchy phrases. The sound, the sights and the scenes have to integrate seamlessly to create that memorable advertisement. Just remember “the Zing thing” campaign by Limca. Advertisements use catch phrase sometimes even technical terms to create an aura and mystery around the products It is akin to weaving a web of mystique around the products. 

1. PSPO: Peak Speed Performance Output. This term was used by Orient fans to talk about their products’ USP, a design which can deliver more air to a large area. Orient has designed its motor and blades in such a manner that the fan can cover more area and deliver more air. From a technical term PSPO became a marketing term. A great transition.

2. MSP: Maximum selling Price. A new concept just like MRP which is a concept of maximum retail price offered by the seller, MSP is the maximum selling price is what a customer can get for his products (mostly used and second hand). This catch phrase is currently being popularized by OLX.com.

3. PUF: Polyurethane Foam. In 1958, Godrej was the First Indian Company to manufacture Refrigerators and Godrej has become synonymous with the category. It was a unique selling proposition that customers remember even today.

4. KILB: Kam Insurance Leneki Bimari.  The insurance company Aegon Religare has done the popular KILB campaign. Religare had launched a catchy campaign urging people to guard themselves against the ills of under insurance or 'Kam Insurance Lene Ki Bimari' (KILB). The campaign spear headed by the actor Irfan Khan proved to be very popular.

5. STC: Standard test condition. A term that is very popularly used in automobile sector. For example the advertisement would say “85KMPL” under STC. The standard test conditions would mean a cemented road with a rider weighing only 60 kgs driving at a steady speed and neither accelerating to much not breaking. And to top it all it is quite possible that the driver could drive on 100 ml of petrol and get a mileage of 8.5 Kilometers. That is simply multiplied with a factor of 10 to get a mileage of 85 KMPL. 

6. NTS: Not to scale. Many diagrammatic representations are quite deceptive. They tend to glorify the product. Thus the manufacturer hides under the guise of NTS (not to scale). This way then can get around the tricky issue of challenges from the customers.

7. NQAR Policy: No Questions asked Return Policy. A marketing concept from the USA. It means that the customer can return the merchandise and the retailer would not ask any questions as to why the merchandise is being returned. In simple words the customer should not be made uncomfortable by the probing question of the Customer care personnel.

8. DIY Kits: Do it Yourself kits. A Concept made popular by the Sweden maker of furniture IKEA. The furniture is supplied in knock down condition and the customer has to assemble the same at his house with the help of a illustrated manual.

9. FAQs: Frequently asked questions. A set of question that the customers frequently ask. The salesman has to be well versed to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the customer

10. EDLP: Everyday low prices. A term that is often used by WALMART. Most of the customers tend to procrastinate when buying a product that is not immediately wanted. WALMART dangles the bait so that he/she would buy the product immediately. Every day low prices guarantees the lowest price each and every day.

11. SOHO: Small Office Home Office. It refers to the category of business or cottage industry that involves from 1 to 10 workers. The small office home office has undergone a transformation since its advent of the  internet which has enabled anyone working from a home office to compete globally.

12. ZPTO: zinc pyrithione, PTO or zinc pyrithione is a chemical compound with anti-fungal properties, meant for topical application. ZPTO is an effective and relatively safe treatment for dandruff. It works well on mild and moderate cases  ZPTO also helps in curbing hair fall, where it is caused by dandruff. Used by Shampoo companies.

 13. GSM: Grams per square Metre.  The paper density of a type of paper or cardboard is the mass of the  product per unit of area.

 14. Zing Thing: A brief high-pitched humming or buzzing sound, such as that made by a swiftly passing object  or a taut vibrating string. The Zing thing was popularized by Gold Spot  the soft drink marketed by Parle  Industries. Zing became synonymous  with the youthfulness and excitement.

Depiction of women in Indian advertising

Advertising is the window to the society. It is a story told in a minute. Thus it is not surprising that it reflect what the society’s prevailing views about a particular topic. Let is examine 4 popular advertisements and show you how they depict a woman in the society. 

Bajaj Motorcycle: The first advertisement shows two loving sisters fighting like dogs. They are at each other, they claw, spit fire and have murder in their eyes for the each other. One finally throws the other into the bathroom and locks the door. She takes a helmet and triumphantly leaves the house. Waiting for her is a young man on a Bajaj Motorcycle. She seats herself and is driven into the sunset. The lesson: materialism is everything in life and you can half kill your own sister for a ride on the latest motorcycle.  

CEAT Idiot series: CEAT wanted to highlight the grip of its tyres. It hit upon a funny series. Both the advertisements show women in mundane and inane activities. One of them shows two young ladies involved in shopping. The small child of one of the ladies wanders into the busy traffic. She is almost overrun by a motorcycle only to be saved by a guy with CEAT tyres. The IDIOTS (in this case the women) assail the young man about his driving skills. The voice over says “the streets are filled with idiots……” The young man is shows looking at the women with a bemused jaw  open expression.

The second one shows a lady driver jabbering away with her aunty seated in the rear seat. The driver is overly excited, can’t control herself and cant resist partaking a huge homemade laddu. In her haste to gobble down the laddu, she almost collides into a two wheeler. The two wheeler driver saves himself with a sudden break. The tyre obviously CEAT again. The women are again shown as half-witted bimbos. Is this the real depiction of women drivers or is it the manifestation of deeply rooted stereo types?  

Axe chocolate advertisement: Axe takes the cake (pun intended). The axe advertisements are excessively sexy and too overboard. They show very puny guys suddenly becoming Greek gods with a liberal dosage of axe perfume. The advertisement shows a man covering himself with the chocolate Axe. He turns himself into an axe chocolate man. He becomes an instant sensation. He is adored and women literally take parts of him. The advertisement shows the women biting off his ears, his buttocks and even one of his arms. So women only think of one think is it. Always below the belt! It is funny to a point. After that it becomes blasé. Too predictable and no longer funny. Remember there has to be something in the advertisement hat hugs your heart strings - case in point the recent ICICI Prudential’s – Per Bandhe acche hai advertisement.   

World's most outrageous Product Promotions

Enter half-naked and leave fully dressed: On January 2, 2012 hundreds of customers lined up outside the store of Spanish brand Desigual at their Regent Street store dressed only in their underwear. No matter what the weather is the customers will have to wait in a queue only in their undergarments. The first lucky 100 in the queue will walk away with a free outfit (one top, one bottom). The customers will get an hour shopping spree to pick out the perfect outfit, plus 50% across the store on all summer collections, a great reward for embarrassing themselves. A fair trade for the humiliation, especially as this stunt goes down at 9 am on one of the busiest streets in London,

But as a brand Desigual is renowned for its fun loving philosophy and bold collections, this is a great way to get noticed. When they first did this ‘Enter half-naked and leave fully dressed’ event in Barcelona in 2006 hundreds of people turned out and the craze has since been hosted in Madrid, New York, and Amsterdam, and as well as London Berlin and Stockholm

Giving Away Cars free – Oprah Style: On 23^rd November 2010, TV host Oprah Winfrey gave away free her studio audience 275 Volkswagen New Beetles Monday as part of "Oprah's Favorite Things" promotion. Unfortunately, her audience members could get their cars immediately as Winfrey gave them 2012 New Beetles. At that time the new version of the iconic curvy little car has not yet been revealed to the public.

On the show, Winfrey showed only a silhouette of the new Beetle. Winfrey owns and drives a New Beetle and approached the automaker to arrange giving away the cars on her show. Volkswagen was only too happy to oblige the TV queen. Volkswagen donated all the cars, plus money to cover taxes and fees for all of the audience members,

In 2004, Winfrey gave 276 Pontiac G6 cars to her audience. At that time audience members were able to go out to the parking lot and inspect their cars immediately.

Giving Away Cars free – Daewoo style: In late 1995, Daewoo India the company that made Daewoo cars in India realized that it needed to give its flagship model Cielo a strong push to improve the sales. The company devised a innovative promotional campaign, called the ‘Diwali Bonanza scheme’ for corporates, offering one Cielo free on purchase of every ten cars.

This was followed up with a lottery scheme for individuals, wherein the winner was awarded a car. But it led to customers to look at the car with suspicion.

To top it all Cielo announced a test drive scheme to lure the buyers in April 1997. The scheme entitled all car owners to participate in a draw where 200 Cielos were given to the winners for 18 months. On completion of this period, the winners had the option of either buying the car by paying 70%of its original on-road price or returning it to Daewoo. The company claimed to have successfully tried out this scheme in the UK and Korea earlier. The scheme was intended to enhance Cielo’s credibility in the marketplace. However, the low finance rates and the test drive schemes faced the same criticism the free Cielo scheme did. These effectively doomed the fate of Cielo in India. It got branded as a cheap car that no one really wants and finally exited out of India. 

Has the death knell been sounded for the Television advertisements?

   

Television is the ultimate idiot box. It allures the viewers and dulls them into thinking uni dimensionally. Many have become addicted to Television. But watching television comes with a catch. One has to watch the advertisements to see the serial or the programme. It is the advertisements that drive the programming and the audience are forced to watch the advertisements continuously. 

 

The viewers got their break with the invention of the remote control. Now the control was back in the hands of the viewer. With a flip of a button the viewers could swap the channels and watch two TV programmes at the same time (popularly called Zapping). The following are some of the strategies that the advertisers have tried to make the viewers watch their advertisements.

1. Increase the sound of the advertisement in relation to that of the programme. As the sound is louder it attracts attention.
2. Have an advertisement that is totally silent. Television falling silent would also create attention.
3. Have an advertisement that has rerun value. An advertisement that is memorable or is humorous is tolerated or even welcomed. Some advertisements have attained iconic status, are admired and get watched repeatedly. The Fevicol series of advertisements of India are a case in point.
4. Advertisements that run as a series by themselves. Many advertisements have been made as a serial so that viewers watch them to see the end of the advertisement.
5. Many advertisers have induced the viewers to watch their advertisements by creating contests centered on the advertisements. Viewers who could correctly answer the questions got a prize.
6. Advertisers also have put some numbers in their advertisements. Viewers have to see the advertisements to know the numbers. The viewers who saw the advertisements and sent a SMS with the numbers mentioned were awarded a prize.
7. Advertisers have also made their advertisements a part of the programme. When the next part of the serial (that will be aired after the commercial beak) is being shown the name of the main sponsor or his product is displayed.
8. Many advertisers have tried the crawlies. Crawlies are small messages or advertisements that crawl from left to right at the bottom of the television screen.

The ultimate threat is the invention of the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). DVR is a revolutionary product. It can record live television and it has a memory capacity in excess of 500 GB. That effectively means that many hundreds of hours of live TV can be recorded. Viewer can now practice time lapse Television watching. 

Time lapse TV watching is watching TV at  time convenient to the viewer. The biggest sufferer in time lapse television watching is the advertiser. His advertisements can and will be fast forwarded by the viewer. The biggest challenge for the TV advertiser is to make the viewer watch the advertisement and not fast forward it.  

Religion and advertising - Look before you leap

Products needs promotions and marketing a product without promotion is like winking at a girl in darkness. Fully convinced marketers are leaving no stone unturned to garner eye balls. The case of United Colors of Benetton can be taken as example of a company that shocks for shocking sake. Their advertising campaigns are deliberately provocative and tend to generate lot of noise, furore and finally get banned. But they serve the purpose - United Colors of Benetton gets talked about and gets free publicity. 

Recently a shocking trend has been noticed. Religious symbols, religious figures and pictures of gods and goddesses have been used to promote products. Sometimes it could be a innocent mistake. One former Indian captain signed his name on the brand of shoe that he was endorsing. As the name of the captain is also the name of a holy person it created a furore and the caption had to tender a public apology. 

Similarly Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) had objected to an advertisement of Cricket star Harbhajan Singh that featured him with his hair open. Sikh Religion does not permit Sikh men to open their hair even at the time of eating. Later Harbhajan Singh apologized to the SGPC.  

In a recent fashions show in Delhi the visitors were shocked to see a model wear a dress that has the image of the Prime minister of India Dr. Man Mohan Singh.

 







International designer Lisa Burke had to scrap her swimwear line for Australia Fashion Week after protests by Hindu groups at her use of images of the goddesses on bikini bottoms. She apologized and halted production of the bikini line.

A statement issued by the designer's company of Lisa Burke claimed that usage of the goddess's image was "an attempt to celebrate different cultures".

Italian designer Roberto Cavalli similarly seven years ago had to hastily withdraw his spa line after the eruption of the Hindu sentiment the world over. His usage of images of Lord Ram, Vishnu and Goddess Saraswati on intimate wear for women was the reason for the outrage.

French shoe brand Minnelli withdrew their shoes with religious images after protests. 

Heidi Klum used Kali as a Halloween outfit, and popular brand Guess sparked protests with tank tops that sported Lord Ganesha images and the words "Handsome elephant!”

Danish cartoonists who drew cartoons that made fun a major religion had to face death threats and the sale of Danish products suffered in many countries as the citizens boycotted Danish products.

Marketers have to remember that they are not operating in vacuum. They are part of the bigger scheme of things and they need to understand that religion is one thing that is very personal and tends to whip up emotions. A small spark is enough to ignite the cauldron. Indian news papers have understood this aspect and thread very cautiously when dealing with the issue of religion.

Irani cafes in Hyderabad have become very smart. One Irani café very boldly says “Do not discuss religion, politics and horse racing”. All three topics lead to time consuming discussions and to heart burn. An eatery wants his clientele to eat and exit. Customers who sit and talk for hours together are a drain on resources!

Cricket advertisements that caught the Eye (Part - II)

Weather report:  one of the most exciting things on the television is when the dapper Ravi Shastri explain the pitch and the weather condition. Thus it is not surprising that the weather report is a plug for Berger paints – the paint that claims that it can withstand any type of extreme weather conditions.

Slow motion replays: BPL (British Physical Laboratories) sponsored this feature. Whenever the ball is shown in slow motion the logo of BPL rotates in a ball. Whenever the slow motion or the super slow mo is on, it is a plug for BPL – in pursuit of excellence. The field chosen, audio-visual equipment.

Toyota: The innovative campaign was noticed by the author on the channel nine of Australia. All the spectators in the stadium are given banners with the logo of Toyota (the logo resembles the earth but for the uninitiated it looks like the letter O). The spectators are encouraged to write their caption on the banner. As the graffiti is funny it gets the attention of the television cameras. Toyota gets free mileage. The cost incurred is a piddling amount spent in the supply of banner and writing material.

Today pens: This campaign was inspired by the Toyota campaign. Today Pens has used the same strategy. The cricket world cup of 1999 was awash with the banners of today’s pens. The banners which the spectators warped around themselves had the colors of the Indian flag (of course with the Ashoka Charka missing). The wording can be anything as long as the message starts or ends or with the word Today. One that comes to the mind immediately is India will win – Today.

4, 6, 9: Pepsi and many other companies used this clever ploy. The placard that the spectators wave to the cameras has the company and brand names printed on them. A company can get lots of free airtime. Of course Pepsi stood the strategy on its head by its commercial. The Pepsi commercial had a delighted Shah Rukh Khan waving a placard which says 6. Delighted at a very good shot Shah Rukh Khan reverses the card and 6 becomes 9. Ye Dil Maange More.

Pepsi over: As soon as the over is completed the sign or the crawlie appears at the bottom of the screen “Pepsi over”. It can interpreted that the company is saying your stock of Pepsi is exhausted. It could also be inferred that Pepsi is sponsoring that particular over and that as the over is up it is time for a Pepsi. Akin to a break being Pepsi break or a break could be a Kit-Kat break.

Hit the board: the concept again came from Australia. The idea is to hit the advertising board placed at the boundary line and get money. In India MRF tyres used this concept.  There was a prize for any player who could hit the board placed at the boundary line. Adequate publicity was given for the scheme and it was mentioned by the commentators.  

Cricket advertisements that caught the Eye (Part - I)

 Nothing official about it - Pepsi: The trendsetter in the tongue in cheek or below the line campaigns. Popularly called ambush marketing this was one campaign that gained enormous popularity and finally it led to a regulation preventing this from happening once again. This campaign had Pepsi saying “nothing official about it”. This campaign became the talk of the town.

Youngsters or the generation Xers made the campaign their own and it symbolized the mood at that particular point of time. At that particular time everything official was portrayed as old, boring and outdated. Unofficial was new, exciting and trendy. Unofficial is the rebel and all things that are anti establishment  are attractive to the youngsters or generation Xers. By using the campaign “Nothing official about it” Pepsi got more mileage for its campaign than the official sponsor Coca Cola. This campaign was done in the 1996 world cup.

Hands Free comfort – VIP: This very entertaining advertisement of VIP garments makes the point very dramatically. Tight under garments make the wearer very uncomfortable and they tend to scratch themselves. That means lots of hand gesturing. The umpire gesticulates once a wide ball is bowled. The crawlie immediately appears which says “Hands free comfort” If one uses VIP one can experience hands free comfort. Whenever we watched the umpire makes hand gestures we were reminded of the advertisement and the campaign.

Coolest one - Kelvinator: This one was from the Kelvinator Company. Kelvinator was the refrigerator that kept all the things at their coolest best. Kelvinator was the sponsor of the spectacular catches. It was saying you need the coolest mind and the coolest hands to hold the spectacular catches. It was quit natural that Kelvinator sponsored the spectacular catches.

IBP Red – Aaj Ka Sikhar: IBP Red was the company that made lubricating oil for the vehicles. IBP Red Sikhar was the most menacing bowler who took the most wickets. The connection – Aaj Ka Sikar is the hunter just like IBP Red lubricating oil that hunts the rust and keeps the engine going on and  on.

Close Shave – Godrej:  Whenever there is a case of a batsman escaping from a  close run out or a catch being spilled or LBW (leg before wicket)  decision being turned down the graphic immediately comes on – Godrej close shave. That is the closest that a batsman got to getting out. As close a shave that you can get from Godrej shaving cream.

Wide country wide Finance:  Whenever there is a wide declared – on the screen there is a caption – Wide – country wide finance. The car financing company was cleverly associating itself with the word wide to denote it very large base of offices in the world. Whenever the television viewer sees a  wide being signaled he immediately remembers country wide finance. A sure way to gain top of the mind awareness.