When Advertisements Came Alive: Long Before Gen Z Called It Immersive Marketing!!

My dear friend, Dr. Madhusudan Kota, recently shared an interesting LinkedIn post on sensory advertising, advertisements that go beyond merely being seen. They can be touched, smelled, or experienced, making the reader an active participant rather than a passive observer.

Dr. Kota referred to two memorable examples from The Times of India. Today on the occasion of world Biryani Day, Daawat Biryani Rice came out with an advertisement that made the newspaper itself smell like freshly cooked biryani. Another edition carried the fragrance of a fabric whitener Comfort, allowing readers to literally experience the freshness being advertised.

Many from Gen Z and Gen Alpha may consider this a breakthrough innovation. While it certainly feels modern, the idea itself is far from new. Back in the mid-1980s, Hindustan Lever Limited (then HLL, now HUL) created one of the most memorable sensory print campaigns I have ever seen.

On one page of a newspaper advertisement, a small piece of cloth was stapled to the page. The copy suggested that it had been washed using "the detergent that claims to be the best value for money" an obvious reference to Nirma. The cloth appeared reasonably clean, but it lacked brightness and sparkling whiteness.

Turn the page, and another piece of cloth was attached. This one was sparkling white. The message simply stated that this cloth had been washed with Surf Excel. The advertisement ended with a brilliant line: "Do you need any further proof?". And the Surf washed cloth appeared soft when touched.

The product demonstration was literally in your hands. Instead of making a claim, the advertisement invited readers to verify it themselves. It transformed advertising into evidence. There were many other examples as well.

Several glossy international lifestyle magazines used to infuse pages with perfume samples. As youngsters, we would eagerly visit the magazine stalls in Abids, gently rub those scented pages with our fingers, and carry the fragrance with us long after putting the magazine back. It was a delightful experience that no television commercial could ever replicate.

Closer home, Telugu magazines that brought out their special Deepavali annual editions often infused their pages with the unmistakable fragrance of Punugu. That aroma blended beautifully with the festive mood, complementing the sounds of crackers, the glow of oil lamps, and the spiritual atmosphere of India's most celebrated festival. Even before reading a single article, the festival had already begun.

Today's marketers speak of immersive experiences, multi-sensory branding, and experiential marketing. The terminology may be new, but the thinking is decades old. Great advertisers have always understood a simple truth: the more senses an advertisement engages, the stronger the memory it creates.

People may forget what they read. They may even forget what they saw. But they rarely forget what they experienced. Perhaps that is the timeless lesson from these remarkable campaigns.

The best advertisements don't merely communicate. They create memories that linger, sometimes in the mind, and sometimes, quite literally, in the air.

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De Beers, Your Desperateness Is Showing: What Happens When Western Luxury Meets Indian Sentiment – and Misses the Mark!!

Yesterday was Friendship Day, and very soon it’ll be Raksha Bandhan – that ever-resonant Indian celebration of love between brothers and sisters. Festivals like these are sacred, emotional... and yes, highly monetizable. And as always, brands want to climb onto the gravy train – chasing eyeballs, engagement, and, of course, money moolah. Fogg tried the brother-sister track for the first time. But not to be left behind, the elephant in the diamond room – De Beers – made its move too.

Nostalgia or Strategy?

Yesterday, De Beers unveiled its “Best from Bestie” campaign – in vintage black-and-white sepia tones, aiming to tap into the nostalgia of old-school friendship. But look closer, and you’ll see the play is deeper.

DeBeers tried it all. Gifting a diamond on the birth of a baby, Daughter getting a diamond from her  Father, Lovers for ever strategy and even a daring I, Me myself tack where a woman can gift herself a diamond! 

De Beers has long tried to crack the Indian market, but with limited success. India remains gold-obsessed, and De Beers’ "diamond forever" proposition hasn’t quite struck gold. Their previous “father-daughter gifting” angle fizzled – mostly because, let’s face it, in Indian households, gifting control lies with the mother. Dad is just a debit card. Or now, a UPI app.

So what next? Shift the lens. Enter: friendship day meets Raksha Bandhan gifting – with a 35+ women-centric campaign that walks a very thin line between intimate friendship and coded lesbian overtones.

Target Missed?

Of course, the LGBTQ+ audience might feel seen – and that’s a win. But what about the general consumer? The average Indian family watching ETV Win – a bastion of traditional entertainment – is left confused or worse, alienated. And then there’s the Western couple shown in the campaign. Aspirational? Possibly. Relevant to Indian gifting dynamics? That’s debatable.

The question isn’t whether the campaign is inclusive or bold. The real question is: Who is it for? Why push a message that doesn’t align with the behaviors, beliefs, or spending patterns of the core consumer base?

Final Thought

Some might accuse me of reading too much into an ad. But isn't that what an academician, researcher and a marketing blogger is supposed to do? Ask the uncomfortable questions, open the debate, and push brands to think deeper than surface-level sentiment? Because nostalgia may sell, but misplaced messaging? That’s a harder gem to polish.

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