Manchester United, Arsenal, Tezer and Foosball - The heart of Ethiopian Games - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no - 21

(Continued from Blog post no - 20)

watching EPL match in a hotel

What do the Ethiopians get in return for the two birr they paid. They get to watch the live telecast and also get a free chilled coca (Coca-Cola). The regular price of the coke in the market too is two birr. So how do Ethiostar or the other hotels that extend the same service get benefited? Simply it’s the hotels’ way of paying back to the society. Most of the youngsters watching the live telecast are from the local community and they are literally the ears and eyes of that area.

And as we know that it is always better to be in friendly terms with the immediate environment in which a business operates. Coca-Cola missed out on building more good will. If Coca-Cola had added some Kolo or a Dabo Kolo, the good will would have increased by leaps and bounds. Delight the customer and make him the brand advocate for a life time!

Manchester United Fans, Ethoipia

But the rivalry that generates the maximum fun, enjoyment, and ribbing and sometimes even clashes and scuffles are the bi-annual matches that involve Manchester United and Arsenal. Manchester United and Arsenal are top notch Premier clubs that boast of fierce fans who are ready to do anything for their team.

Arsenal Fans and Flags 

Come Sunday and we have supporters coming with huge towels or flags with their team colours and logos  and they would boisterously support their own teams. The support for both teams was uniform and other wise close friends almost come to blows over a penalty missed or some injustice meted out to their teams. Arsenal was more popular than Manchester United as Arsenal had more black and players of African origin. Once I watched a Manchester United Vs Arsenal match in BDU auditorium and it will remain as one of the most enjoyable interactions with the football crazy Ethiopians.

Another interesting ethnic game that I saw being played is ‘Tezer’. In this game first a suitable pole is chosen. A long rope may be of two or three feet is firmly tied to the middle section of the pole. At the other end of the rope a small round ball made by a roll of plastic sheet shoved into socks is fixed. The rule of the game is that the players should not touch the rope to which the ball is tied. Also the ball should not touch their clothes. When kicked, if the ball finishes revolving around the pole unchecked by the player in the defender position, the player who kicked the ball will be a winner. I found the acrobatics involved in the game to be of very high calibre!

I should thank my student and now a distinguished faculty at department of accounting, BDU,  Dr. Elefachew Mossisa who has guided me in identifying this game and telling me its name. Betam Konjo (very Good) and ahmesugenalew  (thank you) . Also I should also thank Hider Ali, who has sent very old and rare photos.I will be use them later Hider. 

Of course fun loving Ethiopians also play the loud and very boisterously ‘foosball’. Ethiopians call it Joteni (thanks to Dr. Elefachew Mossisa again) . Table football, also called fuzboll and sometimes table soccer. Foosball is a table-top game that uses figures representing football players, fixed on rotating rods.  To begin the game, the ball is served through a hole at the side of the table, or simply placed by hand at the feet of a figure in the centre of the table. The initial serving side is decided with a coin toss. Players attempt to use figures mounted on rotating bars to kick the ball into the opposing goal. Expert players have been known to move balls at speeds up to 56 km/h (35 mph) in competition.

It is a very engrossing game, but tends to get very noisy. In the chilly evening breeze slightly tipsy Ethiopians and sometimes even foreigners engage and enjoy this maddeningly intoxicating ‘foosball”.

20th article published in HANS INDIA today (25th October 2014) It is titled "World's best Promotions - The Power of the Punch".

20th article published in HANS INDIA today (25th October 2014) It is  titled "World's best Promotions - The Power of the Punch". 

World's best Promotions – The Power of Punch

It is said that only three things are definite in this world. Two of them are death and taxes. And the third one is advertising. Advertisements are meant to inform, influence and inspire people to buy and experience products and services. They can aid marketing in many ways including acting as remainder, shocking people, and to dissuade some customers from buying (de-marketing) and also in making people avoid or not to buy some products (negative marketing).

But there are some advertisement campaigns that make people change their perceptions, their ideas, feelings and make them look at products more favorably than what they were before.

1. Volkswagen Beetle - Think Small (1959): was created by Helmut Krone with the copy written by Julian Koenig at DDB agency. It was ranked as the best advertising campaign of the twentieth century by Ad age in a survey of North American advertisements. The campaign has been considered so successful that it did more than boost sales, it built a lifetime of brand loyalty for Volkswagen.  

 

The message "less is more" is geared towards car buyers. Like the VW Beetle the advertisements were simple and uncluttered, featuring photos of the car against a plain background. Can one sell a car with a headline that reads "Lemon”?  In one of the advertisement, Volkswagen was pointing out that the car in the photo didn't make it off the assembly line because one of the many inspectors found a blemish. "We pluck the lemons; you get the plums," was the slogan.

2. Coca-Cola - The pause that refreshes (1929):  was designed and executed by D'Arcy Advertising Co. With the advent of the great depression of the thirties corporate America was worried that sales would suffer. Not so with Coca-Cola whose advertisements depicted carefree people and an idealized view of American life when real life was rather dull. During the first year of the campaign, sales actually doubled. The economy may have been depressed, but "the pause that refreshes" appeared to have been just what Americans needed to lift their spirits.

3. Nike - Just do it (1988):   The founder of Wieden Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden met a group of Nike employees to talk about a new advertising campaign. He told them, "You Nike guys . . . you just do it." The result was one of the most effective taglines in advertising history. During the first ten years of this award-winning campaign, Nike's market share went up from 18 to 43 percent. Today, the Nike name is so recognizable that it doesn't even need to appear in the advertising. The iconic "swoosh" is enough. 

4. MacDonald - You deserve a break today (1971):  Needham, Harper & Steers advertising agency successfully pitched an upbeat, catchy slogan to McDonald but they struggled with the lyrics. Noticing that the word "break" continuously surfaced in focus groups, copywriter Keith Reinhard finally wrote the perfect lyrics for the jingle “You deserve a break today”.  Within the next few years, global sales jumped from $587 million to $1.9 billion. The song was named the top jingle of the 20th century by Advertising age. 

5. Debeers - A diamond is forever (1948): De Beers pioneered the iconic positioning of diamonds in the contemporary culture, as a symbol of everlasting love because just like true love, a diamond is forever.

Frances Gerety, working for N.W.Ayer & Sons coined the famous line "A Diamond is Forever".  Frances Gerety, was given a brief to compose a line that encompassed and expressed the physical attributes and legends surrounding the diamond. She came out with a sentence which would later be voted as the most iconic advertising slogan of the 20^th century.  From then onwards the diamond became an integral part of the modern-day ceremony of love, engagement and the celebration of enduring relationships. Through De Beers the diamond has come to speak a universal language, conveying its messages of love, rarity and desire.

6. Avis - we try harder (1963):  DDB the advertising agency came up with one of the most controversial and revolutionary campaigns for Avis. The first print advertisement, designed by DDB art director Helmut Krone with copy by Paula Green, appeared in March 1963. It was headlined, "Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us?" The body copy began, "We try harder. (When you're not the biggest, you have to.)"

A series of "We're No. 2" advertisements were made by DDB. Avis' share of the market increased by as much as 28%, and Avis came to be considered a co-leader with Hertz in the field. "We try harder" became a cult advertising mantra.

7. Honda – You meet the nicest people on a Honda (1963):  Motorcycles had got a very unsavory reputation in the USA during the 50s and the 6os. People riding motorcycles were seen as tough and mean guys. In short motorcycles were seen as vehicles for the tough and the anti-social elements. The tough image of the Harley Davidson riders and the looks of the Harley riders did nothing to bolster confidence that motorcycles were for the entire family.

Honda did an entire campaign that said ‘you meet the nicest people on a Honda’. This campaign was done by Grey advertising, USA.  The advertisement depicted housewives, a parent and child, young couples and other respectable members of society-referred to as "the nicest people" riding Honda motorcycle for a variety of purposes.

Honda succeeded in its appeal to the American public. It was seen as a casual vehicle for daily activities, and as such was an entirely new consumer value as a vehicle for the entire family. It erased the motorcycle's deeply rooted image of evil and discontent.  This iconic campaign legitimized the motorcycles and made motor cycles and motorcycling reputable again in the USA.

8. Liril - Come alive with freshness (1975): The "Liril" bath soap advertisement campaign was created by Alyque Padamsee for HLL. Padamsee explains that the five minutes that a Lady of the house gets when she is bathing is the only private time she gets in the entire day. The Liril advertisement shows the enjoyment of a lady taking her bath. The locale, the exhilarating music and the sheer exuberance of the model (Karen Lunel) defined what the best Indian advertising was all about.

9. Hamara Bajaj (1989): made for "Bajaj Scooters". Hamara Bajaj stood the test of time and regularly tops the list of the best advertisement campaigns that was made in India. The most impressive thing about Hamara Bajaj was the not so subtle message that Bajaj is totally Indian and having a Bajaj scooter is most patriotic. And Bajaj was the most secular of the products that were available.

10. Fevicol – Dam Laga Ke Haisha (1989). Fevicol a product of Pidilite is a low involvement category product.  It is not a product category that people get excited about. After all, it is a product that one never sees once the furniture is made.  It took a creative genius Piyush Pandey to turn a boring product intro a talk of the town.

The body of work that Piyush and O & M have done over the years is a stellar example of India’s creative brilliance and execution.  The Fevicol advertisements became a hit because they are "son of the soil" kind of campaigns. They are rooted in India but with ideas that touched Indians.  There are hardly any words but people find it funny and yet meaningful. Today Fevicol is one of the top most trusted brands.  Fevicol (dam Laga ke Haisha), Fevicol (egg) and Fevikwick (fish) are among the most loved Indian advertising campaigns.

Second Time lucky for Pepsi ? - Pepsi Atom Introduction after the Pepsi Maxx disaster

 

Pepsi did it again. On Thursday 25^th April 2013, Pepsi India introduced its second brand of Cola – Atom. Pepsi wants to cash in on the summer rush and also add weight to its product sales by piggybacking on the hype and popularity of the IPL cricket tournament. It believes it has a winner in hand – and its name Pepsi Atom.

Pepsi Atom will be available across the country in various packages including a 250 ml can at an introductory price of Rs 15 and a 500 ml PET bottle at Rs 25 and a  200 ml returnable glass bottles (RGB) which will be available in select markets at Rs 10.

Pepsi is sitting pretty in India. It outsells Coca-Cola but still Coca Cola sells better than Pepsi overall in the cola market as it has strong winners from the through bred winners that it bought over  from the competition.  These are the brands that Cola-Cola bought from Ramesh Chauhan of the Parle group – especially Thums Up. Thums Up is a out right winner. It outsells both Coke and Pepsi in India.

Pepsi must be kicking itself for not considering buying Thums up before Coca-Cola. They had all the chances. Pepsi moved into India the second time in 1989, four years before Coke. But the top guys at Pepsi must have felt that Thums up would pose a challenge to Pepsi itself. Whatever it was it proved to be a decisive mistake. Pepsi along with Thums Up would have sounded the death knell for Coca-Cola in India.

But that is all water under the bridge. Pepsi wants to counter Coca-Cola in all segments. It brought in Pepsi Maxx a zero calorie drink in August 2010 to counter Diet Coke and failed miserably. Now Peso is firing the next salvo.

Atom will be launched with a campaign and a tagline: “Piyo Josh Mein Jiyo Hosh Mein” and its endorser will be Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Pepsi is hedging Atom against Coca-Cola’s Thums up.  It is being positioned as a stronger, fizzier cola with a sharp taste. It is going to be a all-out war. The knives are out, already. Check out the words of Deepika Warrior, VP-President (beverage marketing) “the brand positioning redefines masculinity and portrays the modern Indian in a new light”

She goes on to say "The atom  campaign would be more relevant and projects relatable definition of masculinity as opposed to much hyped mindless action”

No prizes for guessing whom she meant by “much hyped mindless action (Thums Up!)”. Watch this space in the coming days for more action.

New advertisement from Frooti, Parle’s Agro featuring Shah Rukh Khan

The latest Frooti campaign christened " the magic of Frooti" is different from the earlier campaigns. Frooti is the home grown challenger for the Coca-Cola’s Maaza in the mango juice category. Incidentally both Maaza and Frooti belonged to Parle’s Ramesh Chauhan.

 

Chauhan made the biggest marketing mistake in the corporate Indian history when he sold Limca, Thums up and Maaza brands to Coca-Cola. That too at a very low price. Well that how life pans out.

Even when Maaza and Frooti were with the Parle group the positioning was very clear. Frooti was seen as a children drink with its funky tetra pack. Maaza was more an adult drink for drinkers in the 20 plus category.

Frooti has come a long way. It did the very innovative Digen Verma campaign. It experimented with the ultra-small tetra pack of 65 ml costing Rs 2.50/-.  But lately Frooti realized that it needs to move away from its predominantly tetra pack, child targeted positioning.

So in comes the funky new bottle of Frooti. To get the eyes balls and for increased visibility Frooti brought in the darling of the masses – Shah Rukh Khan. So far so good. But the latest advertisement campaign "the magic of Frooti" of Frooti leaves the viewers bemused and confused.

 

 

The advertisement opens with Shah Rukh Khan hungrily gulping down a Frooti. He is watched by many footballers including some very young children. The young children are salivating but Shah Rukh Khan keeps on gulping down the Frooti. He drains the bottle and the crowds of footballers come out of their stupor. They break out into huge grins (what for?). The final shot of the advertisement is that of the football toppling a full Frooti bottle.

This is a classic case of a creative running wild. There is no story line. No emotional connect or a nice jingle to remember and hum. Shah Rukh is totally wasted and Frooti is alienating its core customers – the young children. If the ideas was to attract new customers (making Maaza drinkers to shift to Frooti) the ideas is still born. Maaza drinkers are not given solid enough reasons to shift from Maaza to Frooti. Frooti Definitely need to rethink its creative strategy.