What's your moment?

It’s 11:11 on 11.11.11 – an auspicious moment to do something significant. 

So what is that one thing that you always wanted to do and feel inspired whenever you think about it? 

Something that makes you just get up and do it with so much passion that if you don’t get up, you regret the most? Something you dream of on every frustrated or lazy day? Something that brings that small unknown private smile on your face every time you think about it? Something that makes you believe in yourself, gives you an identity and tells you – yes, you lived your moment? 

My moment is here – and it’s moving every bit by bit every bit – if it’s one thing that I stand for when all the 1s stand together – it’s the creation of a healthy World :) 

What’s your moment of 11:11 on 11.11.11? 

Keep watching this space for more moments from Healthy World. 

Have a happy 11.11.11!

Ready…Get Set…One decade…two decades .. three decades…GO!

Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Months…. I have kept the count, the count of “inactiveness”, but that’s not all what I have done about it. The silence here has been duly compensated for, outside this forum. Change has been partnering with me for quite some time now.

Change - of location, from the lazy Delhi to the hyperactive Mumbai, from the insecure bachelor to the responsible family man, from the cushy professional to the struggling entrepreneur and from the fantasizing planner to the realistic doer.

Few more hours and I shall complete 3 decades on this planet. Not an easy thing to digest the fact, when the ten’s digit of your age changes.

As I move forward, few things are nearing closure, and few things beginning to take shape.

Last birthday as a bachelor, Last month as a ‘single’ status, Last time to feel am still in the twenties, Last 20 days to marriage, Last few days of abysmal revenues

First company to be proud of, First setup I can call my own, First sale in 4 digits, First DPIN number, First TIN number, First designation as a “founder”, First instance of being called a CEO, First testimonial from a consumer, First sign of translating my dream into reality – and putting bricks and tables on it

The firsts and lasts would continue to be listed. But the optimistic in you realizes that more often than not, the “firsts” would be more than the “lasts”, and that is how we move on. Interims would be remembered and forgotten as well. The days would go ahead, and translate into successes and failures. The journey continues.

However, something will stay where it is. This dormant partner shall get up again. The phoenix shall rise, maybe not for revenge, but maybe, just a laxative, to help me digest, that life is moving, and the clock is ticking.

The ship of my dream has set sail, when the sun shines for a brighter new day, and the sea roars shouting out loudly the endless opportunities it offers. The journey continues..

Your blessings, dad, and your support. Love you

The mind is no longer in Ps (peace!). It is time I begin from where it paused. Its time I fuel the engine, and it makes some noise. It is time I break the Ps around me, and read…read between the Ps.

Creative Advertisements of Cars - For those who are first, and those who aren't!

You can always learn creativity from Car Ads - they have something new to offer everytime one of the big companies (or their agencies) come up with their adverts. Sometime back, an Ad from Honda won them the Grand Prix at Cannes. Since then, Honda Ads are always popular among Creative enthusiasts. Last year, even Fiat "eco Drive" won them a grand prix at that Cannes Lions.

So here are 2 more I could manage to fish out, for their sheer creative brilliance - one in print, and the other a video clip.

The first one is a creative from Lexus Hybrid Cars - leveraging their superiority in Hybrid cars, claiming to be the first ones to conceptualize the "hybrid" technology in a brilliantly executed manner.
Click here for the video - worth a watch!

The second one, is completely on the other side, from BMW - claiming that even if the cars are not the first one, the experience is simply out of the world for the user (or that is what one can interpret!)

Worth a watch...even if you are not the first! ;-)

P&G – Proud Sponsor of Moms (Olympics)

Holly would always come up with something that inspires you – that triggers that naughty bug that is sitting inside you wanting to jump out and explore that whole new world – this time, it is the world of moms – full of only moms and to-be-moms – young moms, new moms, happy moms and tired moms!

This time she gives a direction to work upon, to make commercials women love – an old, light piece, but an insightful read - be where the moms are, talk to them, ask them questions, listen to them when they are talking and pay attention to what they are saying. “You’ll have fabulous, relevant, memorable commercial ideas coming out your ying yang” says Holly.

If it sparked a thought in your head, shoot out and explore the world of moms – for that is exactly what I would attempt to do, in one of my next few entries (after of course, Tiger Woods and Japanese Consumers have been talked about!).

As a thought starter, have a look at this wonderful ad shown during the Olympics Opening Night - Rated almost A+ on emotive appeal, this ad from P&G makes you fall nothing short of appreciative of the sweetness of the creative, and how wonderfully it engages you during the entire piece. You can have a look and agree / disagree with me:

The ad speaks for itself. Fabulous job of tapping into exactly how moms feel. Excellent Corporate branding by P&G, with the tagline “Proud Sponsor of Moms”!

Coke and the Toyota Ad are there as well, worth a look – but of course, nothing beats this commendable emotional piece of work!
[Via Marketing to Women Online – Why I love Moms and How to Create Commercials Women Love]

Smoking Creativity on a Burning Issue – the old and the new! (New York & France)

If you are into creatives, you would know (more) - Chicks, Children, Canines and Cigarettes – you don’t need to sell them, for they sell on their own. But for the sake of sheer creativity, though, they are, what one can say, ‘essential ingredients’ of any viral campaign.

No wonder this space has mentioned Cigarettes in a lot of previous entries (as it has Chicks, Children and Canines as well)

Imagine cigarettes being a cure-all for physical and emotional ailments, or one your kids are proud of, for their daddies or best case, smoking curing asthma for you!

A brief report by Adage raises a question which I keep asking myself, while appreciating the creative geniuses behind some of these campaigns – whether one should criticize the horrific results that these campaigns entail, or appreciate the stunning creativity behind them! Even though the video is inconclusive, unfortunately, one can’t help but go for the latter sometimes (at least I did)!

Click here to see the report about the exhibition that was displayed almost a year back at the Science, Industry and Business branch of the New York Public Library, and covered ad agency output from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Though this exhibition was displayed more than a year ago, it reflects the various facets of cigarette advertising in the first half of the 20th century, with the subtlety in their advertising, where cigarettes are recommended by one and all – from children for their “daddies” or dentists to their patients, women for their sex appeal, or, doctors to cure various ailments, and even Santa Claus in some cases! Some great work around Cigarettes – worth a look!

A key insight about the industry is what pains you though – according to the report, most companies target the entry segment, which is children in the age group of 12-22 years, spending billions of dollars in enticing children to smoke! Adults, once regular smokers, are loyal to their brand, and do not change brands easily. Hence, this segment is their focus! Also, 40% of these young consumers belong to 2 countries - China and India! Quite sad and unfortunate!

But there are people / workgroups that are concerned about this fact, and work on exactly the opposite – enticing children to come out of smoking, or better, not get into it at all! One such creative, in France, done by BDDP & Fils, has come out with a brilliant campaign on anti-smoking, where Smoking is termed akin to slavery, and might also make you so addicted to tobacco that you might just be ready to do just about anything to get it!

But, if you were to read (rather ‘over-read’) it as Smoking alluding to Sexual abuse, it might not go down everyone’s throat so well! As expected, this campaign has received criticism for its allusions!

The tagline reads, “Smoking is being a slave to tobacco” – I personally liked the subtlety in the print. However, not everyone appreciates such black humor. According to a report at Youtube, Sexually-charged Anti-smoking Ads Rile France, the ad is misinterpreted as smoking leading to sexual abuse.

The ad, according to critics, gives the impression more about sexuality than anti-smoking and alludes to oral sex, which has irked a lot of parents! Though the supporters of the campaign argue that the harsh message is deliberate and the sexual connotations are inserted to make young people aware of dangers of smoking

As mentioned above, the worst hit are the teens - Teen smoking is a health issue in France, where a third of 17-year olds smoke, despite ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. And other campaigns don’t work with them! So it was required to send out strong signals that dissuade them from smoking. Hmm – would sexual allusions / innuendoes actually push them away from smoking or attract them further?

And do bans on smoking or its advertising really help? I don’t think so, as revenue streams continue to flow almost at the same pace for the cigarette companies, whether advertised or not!

So, as I said, one of the 4 “Cs” – does it really need advertising to sell? Or let me put it the other way around, does anti-smoking advertising really help in de-selling? Maybe, just practicing creativity for such virals is good enough! And all this talk of ban on advertising and anti-smoking campaigns, is probably, just “Smoke in the Air”, literally!

[Advertising Agency: BDDP & Fils, France ; Via Ads of the world, Adage, girl smoking, Girls Smoking]

Puppy Marketing at Pedigree – ‘Catch’ the Cuteness (Toronto)

Can cuteness sell?

Well, in case of puppy lovers, it can –for a new commercial of Pedigree definitely has created ripples in the online world, with more than a million views, which, in all probability, would entail positive publicity for the brand, which, in turn, might or might not translate into more packs being sold for Mars. Spend 2 minutes to appreciate the simplicity behind the creative:

Simple. Creative. Masterpiece – excellently shot!

According to Creativity Online (via Mashable) , the video was shot with a Phantom camera at 1,000 frames per second, which explains the underwater-like quality of this viral commercial. Director Bob Purman (Agency: TBWA, Toronto) explains the spot thusly:

“The ‘Catch’ spot was to be a series of shots of dogs looking with anticipation as a piece of dog food is flying through the air towards them. We shot close-ups of the dogs at 1000 fps. The result was really wonderfully anthropomorphic. The super slow motion really captured this intense sense of desire in the dogs’ eyes. To me it was equal parts awe inspiring and hilarious to see so rich a palate of personality in a dog’s facial expressions…(the ad) really exploits the dynamics of the dogs’ athleticism and their emotive personality in slowed time.”

According to Lori Luechtefeld at iMedia Blogs, this ad is rated high, as it not only has Adorable pets, but also no digital effects to make it more appealing, and so is worth every penny that is invested on it.

Natural Videos of cute Pets are bound to get attention, which is why this ad has a high emotive appeal as well, considering the “viral” quotient of this ad.

But, does this mean any ad with pets will sell? Not always, says Lori. Another ad of Friskies has a cat and a lot of digital effects. However, it lacks the punch and the connect completely. Reason? The audience is pet lovers and not ‘Avatar’ lovers, and so the flavor does not go down well with the right target group. A leaf to be picked from Marketing 101, I presume!

Also, some argue that is a copy of the another ad from Vitalic and the creative team did receive some flak for copying the essence of an existing ad. However, looking at the cuteness quotient, TBWA seems to have done a far better job of getting that emotional flavor out of a lot of us! Kudos to the team for this one!

[via Mashable, Creativity Online]

Leveraging Social Media - Crop or Crunches (Costa Rica)

Just realized that I still haven’t posted the post on Tiger Woods, that I had been working on for almost 2 weekends. Actually, I was too busy with my social media world and trying to exercise.

That’s why, when I glanced through a campaign which is a mix of social media and Gymming, it had to be posted here. Have a look at this campaign, and if you are a regular at Facebook, twitter or messenger, you would realize that it does reflect the situation around most of us.

The tagline reads as “What you leave out of Twitter, put it into Gold’s Gym” or “What you leave out of Facebook, put it into Gold’s Gym”

Very well connected with the Couch Potato Gen Y! That’s what Social Media does to us. So you have an option - for those who are too lazy or busy for crunches, learn how to crop your pics! :) Others can choose Gold’s Gym!

Few more examples on what you can do with your pics (Messenger editing and Cropping) (for those looking for some tips)

[Advertising Agency: jotabequ Grey, San José, Costa Rica, Print Ads-Twitter, Messenger, Facebook]

Secrets of the Mountains - in the 'Fast Movie-ing Consumer Goods' Space!

When you see the world's biggest retailer teaming up with the world's largest FMCG Company for a totally different field that none of them are more famous for, you know there is something cooking!

According to C21 Media, Walmart and P&G are getting into movie production starting with their first tele-film titled “Secrets of the Mountains” to launched on NBC in a couple of months from now.

Starring Paige Turco and Barry Bostwick, the two-hour film is about a mother playing a single mom who ends up taking her kids to a mountain cabin owned by her uncle, who embark themselves on the adventure of a lifetime (according to P&G Productions, which has been producing soaps, variety shows and telefilms for many years)

Why movie production of all the things?
The rationale given by Stephen Quinn, Chief Marketing Officer for Walmart is to give what shoppers want, and delivering their brand promise to "help families save money and live better".

On the other hand, Marc Pritchard, global marketing and brand building officer for P&G, said: "As a company of family brands, we know that context matters," adding that the films coming from the alliance with Walmart would allow P&G to "advertise our brands in this broadly appealing content."

However, according to one of the reports at thewrap.com, the movie is intended more as a "backroom pilot" for a possible series, as the time slot for airing the film do not pin very high hopes on the project.

So, even though big names are producing the movie, the movie per se doesn't seem to be a promising one! So is this another source of cheap advertising for the company (s) or another hot sector they want to enter into, given the limited cash flows FMCG sector has to offer?

Whether it is an extension of their growth strategy, or just a cheaper option to advertise to a captive audience, only time (and banks) would tell.
Maybe that is why the title of the movie has aptly been taken as Secret of the mountains ;)!

[References - Paige Turco, The Wrap]

MarketingProfs Articles : Don't Let This One Get Away!

An interesting way to keep your price-conscious consumers stuck to you - Employing a pricing tactic like this one, which creates a unique sense of urgency, may encourage wary consumers to buy more immediately.

The concept, called "steadily decreasing discounting" or SDD, by researchaers, entails discounting in a manner to keep the consumers attracted to the offerings.

Either keep on reducing prices, adding promotions to your offerings, to keep the consumers engaged (leveraging the transactional utility) or once reduced significantly, raise prices with one/two intermittent break - to create a sense of urgency that prices are going to be raised shortly.

Net net, Higher future price expectations and greater anticipation of inaction-regret appear to be the underlying mechanisms that lead to the effectiveness of the SDD tactic. Read the article and the research to get more details.

Photo Ref: Tollipop

In the Shame of God!

This Christmas, St Mattews Church (Auckland, New Zealand) decided to celebrate in a different way – it put up a controversial billboard on Joseph and Mary, challenging Christians the very foundation of their religion!
Result – Thousands of criticisms, hundreds of praises, and tones of vague logic. But most importantly, global publicity of the campaign, engaging half of the “clicker universe”!

The advert was designed by M&C Saatchi, Auckland, with the brief that it had to be sufficiently provocative to keep most other churches from allowing it. It was designed to challenge stereotypes about the way that Jesus was conceived, and get people talking about the Christmas story.

The initial intent behind the campaign was to invite people to think about the virgin birth and the nature of God, be open to more than one Christian way to think about God, to promote the Progressive view of Jesus having 2 human parents and God being the power of love in his life and to invite people outside of the church to see a type of Christianity here at St Matthew’s that they might be able to relate to.

What turned out was obviously far more provocative than they expected. The billboard, carrying the slogan, “Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow” received global attention..

According to the article, “Losing Your Message but Gaining Publicity”, "Most Protestants & others with no church affiliation thought the billboard was simply comparing Joseph’s ability in bed to God’s. Catholics were outraged as the billboard implied Mary wasn’t a virgin. Others thought it was a good joke and it was about time “the church” got a sense of humor.

It outraged many Christians throughout the country--so much so that it was defaced within a few hours. The church replaced it with another print. That, too, was ripped apart by a knife-wielding vandal. And the church replaced it with yet another print. The billboard was stolen again, and the church finally decided not to replace it. "
For more on the campaign, read A Tale of two billboards!

Bottomline….Did heads turn, and were links double clicked? Yes – A BIG Yes in fact – it did manage to break the clutter and get noticed – not only in its local community, but virtually around the world!! However, from a marketing standpoint, does this fall into the right “spirits”? (No pun intended!) Did it fall in line with the often misused term in business, “ethics”? Can this be generalized and reapplied across religious institutions the world over? Did people over react, and not allow any space and respect to others with a different point of view?

Specifically speaking, what is the bigger point of contention? Is it a question of crossing the line to grab publicity or is it a question of superimposing one’s beliefs and interpretations on others?

According to a research report on Marketing of God, the term ‘spirituality’, which encompasses beliefs, social changes as well as cultures, is often decontextualized, and is often co-opted, commodified, and misused for purposes that are anything but spiritual. It took me some time to get this piece, but with the examples below, I realized the true essence of this statement. Read on...

Back home, there have been numerous cases recently wherein certain desperate attention-seekers not only disrespect others’ beliefs, force their own unto them, but also are shrewd enough to manage good publicity behind these cowardly acts. Attention of local media, rebuke by mature citizens, thoughtful debates by over-intellectual political analysts and elaborate discussions by lazy bloggers (like me) follows them and their immature acts. What emerges out of such controversies are brands like “Bajrang Dal”, “DYFI” and “Sanskriti Bachaao Manch” – I wonder then, who actually is responsible for ‘marketing’ them?

Consider this - here is the local version of the ‘hard act to follow’ – does this look similar?

Well, this is a picture, not of another God, but one of God’s Own Country - a local politician (Former Kerala PCC General Secretary Rajmohan Unnithan) was arrested few days back for “allegedly indulging in immoral activities”. Well, simply put, a woman and a man were caught together at night in the man’s house (ya, and a small piece of info – she was not his wife)!

Though the rest is open to interpretation, and anything might have happened, but then, our value-valuing political valuables barged into his house, dragged both of them out disrespectfully, and called all of this as an exposure of a ‘sex scandal’ - Brand Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)!
And this is the state with the highest literacy rate in the country! Maybe, they should not have skipped their Moral Science classes!

Moving forward, sometimes the crimes that you do might just be notional – like thinking of immoral activities such as sex! So then the chief ministers of the states, who have the highest standards of morals, and all the time in the world, come forward and save you from these crimes!

For instance, consider this - most men (including me) would get distracted by scantily-clad women, and that’s understandable. But, now if you start getting distracted by scantily-clad Mannequins…..God save you! Well, that’s Men who are Pervert or MP state for you……No wonder, the state has the highest number of rape cases in the country registered every year – MP accounts for a shocking 15.0% of total rape cases reported in the country (and these cases exclude mannequins, by the way)!

But, for now, if God cannot help them, the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will – and save the citizens of MP on committing such heinous crimes, atleast on mannequins! So his followers, the saffron brigade, donning the role of moral police, asked shop owners to remove mannequins displaying women's lingerie.
Enter Brand Sanskriti Bachao Manch!

According to an article, "We have directed shop owners of Bhopal's posh New Market to remove dummies (mannequins) used for displaying women's lingerie in an obscene manner within five days failing which the Sanskriti Bachao Manch workers will forcibly remove them", Manch's State President Chandra Shekhar Tiwari told PTI.

And more so, they believe that Ads of condoms would again distract people (they think the men might just start using them!) - Maybe the Chief Minister realizes that if not the economy, one thing that is rising sharply and has made the state proud is (not GDP but) the number of AIDS Cases in the state – Why would someone want to put a check on that, with stupid devices called Condoms! They aren't for humans, anyways!!
(For a different perspective on the tabooed Condoms, you can refer to previous posts here)

Am sure you would are familiar with an existing brand Bajrang Dal. All this was nothing but another campaign of this brand - According to NDTV reports couple of days back,
"Members of the Sanskriti Bachao Manch, an offshoot of the BJP-affiliated Bajrang Dal, tore down condom ads saying they were against family values and ordered shopkeepers and traders dealing in lingerie to 'not hang lingerie in public.'

Marching down the New Market area, the activists raised slogans and issued an ultimatum to the shopkeepers, giving them five days to comply or watch their wares go up in flames in a bonfire. They warned that undergarments must be boxed and kept away.

The activists were apparently inspired by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who had ordered the removal of the poster of a local spa in front of a girls college that showed a semi-clad woman in a chocolate bowl

''Obscene ads will not be allowed in Madhya Pradesh. I have asked concerned officers to prepare new rules that will filter out obscene material in advertising,''

So Madhya Pradesh follows Goa, which recently banned ads with bikini-clad women to promote the state as a family holiday destination (Go here for more details)

So, all men who have families – beware! Don’t even dare look at bikini-clad women – it’s against family values (when you are without family, it is ok!) ;-) Interestingly, India's tourist state is fighting a media tag dubbing it a "destination for sex tourism" and local government has announced it will censor advertisements showing scantily-dressed women. The Chief Minister Digamber Kamat this time wants to move from a brand of “Sex Tourism” to “Clean Tourism” – Brand “Clean Tourism”!

Incidentally, both MP and Goa both figure in the top ten list of sex crimes in the country. Must say, the government there is quite focused on the core issues!

Coming back to the original question, which is the core issue here – privacy infringement or publicity stunts?
In a culture which terms itself as the 3rd world, and is conscious of still calling a “developing” nation, cultural calendars seem to be moving backwards. From clandestine talks on sex to sex education, we are now again moving to a time-zone where Sex is taboo – is this part of a progressive nation? Or are we a progressive nation with a regressive culture?

As for the publicity stunts, there is no harm in going the extra mile to grab attention, as long as you know where the boundary ends. There is always a reason for which those billboards are up there – it is precisely the reason for which such billboards are pulled down, that is why they are put up there – to remove the stigma associated with safe sex, and enable people to talk about it, and save themselves to stay ignorant! By removing the visuals, we are not only eviscerating the concept per se, but also diluting the very purpose of putting it up there!

Having said that, there IS merit to control expressions keeping in the mind the balance that needs to be maintained – if kids start associating feminism with sexuality, then you know that you are crossing the line – which is what happened in Melbourne recently, when a highly provocative billboard advertising the world's thinnest condom was decided to pull down after creating a community uproar.

Objections that termed such acts as “sexploitation” and “sexualizing" children were raised. Such campaigns were “teaching younger girls, especially teenagers, that their purpose in life is to be a sexual object” and "This sort of highly sexual imagery is harming the development of children and teenagers," – one can understand that this is beyond the set boundaries.

But here is a view of our objective shrewd Marketers…. “Marketing experts say although many ads are pushing the provocative boundaries, and some even go too far, they have been sexy for a while and are not necessarily getting worse. RMIT marketing senior lecturer Con Stavros said billboard ads needed to grab people's attention in a split second and sexual images did that.” – Sexcellent point!

Sexcuse me..er..I mean excuse me, although billboards that deliberately provoke the audience to gain publicity have definitely overstepped the line. – where do you draw the line between grabbing the quick attention, and getting negatively influenced? Am sure, there can be an endless discussion over this, as no one in the marketing world would have a clear answer to this

But for now, Lets save our culture – in the Name (shame?) of God – at least that’s what we all say when it starts and when it is over!

Interestingly, there was a nice line in the media reports at NDTV,
Condoms are against family values and lingerie must be kept under wraps. The Saffron moral police is out in Bhopal tearing down posters, knocking down displays and decorously offering clothes to show-window mannequins that turned up in undergarments. They warned that undergarments must be boxed and kept away.

Maybe politics coaches these moral policemen to kick on people’s bums rather than enabling them to cover them!

And here is a nation, where the “culture saviors” will do everything possible to help men not get distracted, except of course, educating the men themselves! – Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala are in – who’s next? WHO do you think will truly redefine the “State of our country”? (pun intended!)

Jai Ho Indian Politics, or should I say, ….Jai “Haww” ?? ;-)
Photo Links: Church Billboard, Angry Man, Mannequins, Rainbow Condom Dog, Unnithan, Condom Billboard, Chocolate Spa

Coca-Cola Happiness Machine - Vending out Happiness

While I spend my time in getting something interesting on Christ, I found this interesting ambient from Coca-Cola’s Shelf.

Had earlier talked about Coke’s “Happiness Factory” campaign almost 3 years back
– the best part is it is still one of most talked about global campaigns in the advertising world!

The new ambient “Happiness Machine” clearly calls out Coca-Cola as a source of happiness – its just that is the vending machine now which vends out happiness, in the form of foodie (mostly) surprises!

Put together by Definition 6 , an interactive marketing agency based out of Atlanta, this one is about putting a vending machine in a college canteen, that gives out surprises – much more than what you order for. So, students inserting a coin for a coke, not only get that coke, but also more cokes or flowers or even burgers/pizzas along with it. In fact, some of them are ‘vended’ out by hand as well!



An interesting campaign. It doesn’t matter if it is staged or actual or if the "venditions" are for free or not – what matters is the idea behind it, and the fact that the gestures do earn a smile from you! Kudos to the creative guys (Paul Iannacchino) sitting up there !

Nicely articulated at Ad Freak - the ambient “ties in seamlessly with the "Happiness Factory" TV work and overall brand theme, and proves once again that college kids will eat literally anything, no questions asked”

First there was Happiness Factory, then Happiness Hub and now, we have Happiness Machine – looks like we have a whole Happiness Plant being setup by Coke! So, Whats next? 'Happiness Candies'? ;) And what happens when we have 'Happiness Failures'? :)

By the way, a nice collection of Coca-Cola Advertising around the globe at its parent site.
And in case you want to read more on the “Happiness Factory” – glance through this link
[via You Tube, Creativity Online]

My Dad - My Soldier!

One has to muster a lot of courage to write about pain. It is easy to express pain through your senses, but not through your hands. Changing the font, expressing it from your heart and then articulating it, does not seem to be an easy task.

But I think I need to do it, for this is the thing I want to – as I was told it helps to let out. You never know, it just might reduce the pain.

Time and effort, as they say, kept me away for a long time. 2 years away from myself, this reflection that I call my own, did not have me around. My effort to be ahead in the ‘rat race’ and struggle to be ‘out of it’ kept me confused. The fear of losing my most precious valuable kept me lost and ignorant.

The end was perilous, Darkness was imminent, but the little shades of gray is what you bank upon – and you rest your shoulders on the fragile layer of hope, ironically putting more and more weight on it, as it trembles. Does that happen every time just before a person gets completely shattered?

I always hated compromising – maybe, now I have to learn to live with the biggest compromise!
For I know what I have lost – no matter what I think, no matter howsoever hard I try, something I considered more important than my own life – of course, then, everything now seems secondary.

Dad expired on 26th June 2009, just a little later than 9pm. It is a loss that cannot be articulated - even an attempt towards it sounds like an inane effort.

I am still trying to collect the pieces, one by one, trying my best that they don’t hurt – I know if I try to get all the pieces together, something somewhere is going to hurt pretty badly. So, the best thing one can do is to pick the big pieces, lift the smaller ones, and then, brush away the smallest pieces.

“Anyways….” sounds so familiar. You always end up with a ‘but’ and ‘anyways’, trying to act more mature, more responsible and of course, more understanding. Least realizing that you just stopped expressing yourself for all reasons – Your vulnerability increased and your exposure minimized.

Dad always told me to follow my path – “always follow what you want to do, son!” – Nothing echoes more than his advice now. Just that the echoes is what I have to make do with.

You look at the loss as a failure and it shatters you. But I know he is giving me the strength to move ahead, even with greater assumed responsibilities. He has his hand over my shoulder that gives me much more confidence now to accelerate myself to pursue my dreams and for once, my dreams are now translating into goals.

He said one thing, “Son, don’t stop writing”. This one line is now my inspiration, motivation, and of course, ambition. Maybe, this can also be taken as a “dedication”. But all these big words collapse into one single assertion, “a promise”!

I promise to bring life into this place again – and not only get back to what the engine propelled, but put even more coal into it!

Luv you dad. This is for you.

Dutch Bus Stop Scale

A billboard by a Dutch Health club that makes you conscious of your weight. Though it is being called something that triggers public humiliation, I really appreciate the "Creative Quotient" of the advert. Worth learning from!

read more | digg story

Sustainability of Modern Retail

An interesting and critical link to understand the challenges faced by Organized retailers in India, and how it is critical to balance debt, equity and internal accruals!

read more | digg story

Contribution Currency in Web 2.0 - How much have you earned?

A great post by Vanessa on Social Media - a 101 on Web 2.0 actually. Going on the concept of "contribution currency" on the Web. She has given a simplistic, yet beautiful difference between Web 1.0 thinking and Web 2.0 thinking - "give instead of take" - worth a read for sure. I like one of the sayings she refers to, by Eric Hoffer, “In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”. :)

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Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!

Today is the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin – hit upon the event through the Google icon only! But while chain-browsing the links on the greatest face of science, something interesting caught my attention…..the concept of natural selection in the theory of evolution, as explained by Darwin himself, in his Origin of Species

Darwin, during his studies, wanted to determine the ‘specific mechanism’ that permitted animals and plants to change over time. Eventually he realized that the mechanism underlying the process of evolution was that of ‘natural selection’

………… individuals having any advantage, however slight, over others, would have the best chance of surviving and of Procreating their kind? On the other hand, we may feel sure that any variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection. Variations neither useful nor injurious would not be affected by natural selection, and would be left a fluctuating element, as perhaps we see in the species called polymorphic.

How is this relevant to this forum where we mostly talk of the Ps? Precisely, that is the whole point. There are still lessons learnt from this text written almost 150 years ago, on the way forward in Marketing. When we talk of Consumer behavior, what is it that we are studying? Isn’t it nothing but a combination of elements from psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology and economics? Where do sociology and anthropology get it roots from? Maybe, Natural Selection and the theory of evolution aren’t directly related to the Ps of Marketing, but when you map anthropological roots to the symptoms mentioned above, does it ring any bells? Could the entire concept of domestication, natural selection, procreation and evolution help us in not only determining the rationale behind certain behavioral patterns but also identifying variables that help us form a predictive model for the same?

Let me evolve this study a bit more – worth exploring for sure – nothing that has not been explored so far- am sure there are thousands of theories on this already, but a different practical version from a learner is worth exploring, isn't it? Ah! Do I need a Beagle now? ;-)

[Source: Darwin Day, Wikipedia]

Colgate – Don’t Forget (Thailand)

A great outdoor for Colgate on ensuring High Brand Recall and effectively communicating the benefits. Created by Y&R Bangkok for Colgate-Palmolive, the creative reads -

Colgate normally gives out small product samples at annual events like “Oral Health month” to remind target consumers, especially kids to take better care of their teeth after eating sweets. This method does not drive strong results as most consumers tend to forget the message, even if they have collected the samples.

Instead of giving away product samples, Ice cream and cotton candy were given out. The stick carrying the ice cream and cotton candy carries a hidden message. Once consumers are done the message printed on the tip of the stick shaped like a toothbrush reveals “Don’t forget” with the Colgate logo. This simple message effectively reminded consumers to brush their teeth.

For sure, this simple message ensures high recall and that too, through a new smart medium – the candy / ice cream sticks – a new place to do wonders! I am not sure how much this medium has been used before, but it is definitely worth exploring!

Won’t forget, Colgate! ;-)
[Via Best Ads / Source]

Scary Butts…of Cigarettes! (Peru)

Found an interesting effort-intenstive Outdoor campaign on Anti-Smoking. Created by O&M Lima, for their client Liga Contra el Cancer (The Peruvian league to fight cancer) for their no-smoke day

According to BestAds, Using 15,000 cigarettes butts, glued together one by one in an outdoor panel, level to the sidewalk, Ogilvy dramatized the threat that cigarettes represent for a non-smoking person, in this case, a little girl.
A month and half before the campaign, with the help of many volunteers, Ogilvy was able to gather 15,000 cigarettes butts. An artist was in charge of pasting them together and to maintain the essence of the original idea, he painted the little girl in oil paint.

Scary Butts – aren’t they? ;-)
[Via Best Ads / Source]

You oughta know..Inbound Marketing …says Alanis Morissette!

Found an interesting creative at Ravi Kiran’s blog on Inbound Marketing -

As a parody on the famous song by Alanis Morissette, “You oughta know” (watch the original Song here) , the musical takes you through the specifics of Inbound Marketing. Comparing with outbound marketing (TV Ads, Direct Mailers or cold calling), the creative ‘sings’ and musically conveys why and how inbound marketing is beneficial and how can it be made effective.

The lyrics go like “Marketing is like torture as they hang up on you”, “Cold Calls, Direct Mail and TV Ads fail” and “Every time I try to sell, did you know they say you go to hell”. With details like SEO, inbound links, blogging, landing pages, tagging content, and page rankings – the song says it all…..truly, something, we oughta know!

A nice way to use parody to talk about a theoretical topic and explain it so well – Kudos to the creator Rebecca Corliss, of Hub Spot

Incidentally, this creative took me to Hub Spot - An excellent blog on Inbound marketing – worth going in detail and learning about the concept. If you are using online marketing as part of your professional efforts, you can go there before me :)

[Via Bright Secrets and You Tube]

I need MySpace…Literally! (France)

I never knew that there is such a bad Housing Crisis in France until this strong Guerilla campaign hit me at Best Ads.

Made for Foundation Abbé Pierre (France), the objective of the campaign was simple – to raise awareness among the general public and the government of the bad housing crisis in France. It wanted to present an in-your-face reality that thousands of people in France have as little space to live as a car in the street or a bus stand or a billboard - posters of real-size 7m2 (the size of a parking space) apartment were stuck near symbolic sites in paris (The National assembly, The Senate, The count hall, the City Hall, and the Paris Stock Exchange)

They used the space of billboards, parking spaces, bus stands, put real-size posters matching up to the actual space that people managed to stay within, demonstrating the struggle for space within the country. As you can see in these pictures, the way it was communicated, instant connect could be established with the intent of the posters, thereby getting sensitized to the issue at hand. And that’s all what the campaign set out to do!

Although the theme seems to have been used earlier (Amnesty International Campaign TBWA, Poland), this guerilla campaign has managed to not only communicate the real issue, but also connect with the appropriate framework as well, quite effectively.

Great Execution – the campaign received exceptionally wide multimedia coverage and appreciation for its operation, and deservingly so. So before you log on to MySpace, I hope we realize that there is a set of people for whom, these words carry a totally different meaning altogether!

[ Via Adsoftheworld Ad 1, Ad 2, Ad 3 & Best Ads]

Durex - Animals having a "Ballooning" pleasure..

Bumped into another nice creative on Durex (had earlier posted an out of the box piece and another creative ambient. Whatever the brand signifies, I really appreciate the out-of-the-box ideas the agency (Fitzgerald + Co, from Atlanta) comes up with.

From a creator's perspective, it seems like someone built upon his "pervert" cells while playing with the product in the office...can visualize someone playing with these pieces, and doing different interesting things with it to attempt a creative...

Must say, nice output - you DID IT...the creative I mean :)
(seems like your "pervert" cells never stop working, eh?)

Here is the link to the ad. Have a nice watch....Parental Guidance advised!

By the way, do you know where did the brand derive its name from? "durability, reliability and excellence" :)

[Via Martina's Adverblog]

An Ad of Ad (agencies) – Did the Fox Pass?

I am not an ardent follower of advertising agencies – I simply admire their creativity, and respect the marked improvement agencies have made in the quality of their work. However, rarely have I seen agencies applying their own creativity on themselves. So when I noticed this piece from Rediffusion, Mumbai, I could not stop talking about it.

The ad is for the promotion of the yearly Brand Equity Agency Reckoner, published by Economic Times to enlist advertising agencies, rating them across relevant parameters, relative to each other.

The event has built a blog as well around it, but does not pick anything exciting from the ad circles. It would have definitely created more buzz, had it been built more strongly, and engaged a larger audience. There are other interesting ads as well uploaded on the blog, that reflect an out-of-the-box attempt - However, this one is definitely an impressive one

For now, look at the “Fox Pass” of the advertising world – the biggest blunders made in common work life of agencies - an interesting list for sure. By the way, how many of these blunders do you yourself commit even today? (I do 5!)

More on the event can be read at ET

Ramblings for my own sake…

The previous phase is moving to its closure – the phase that ignored the Ps – the phase that did not have a place for this expression. As a result, even though a conscious effort was made to keep the breathing alive - I knew this was in a semi-conscious state. The phase isn’t yet over, but the closure is visible – not the end of this phase, but definitely the beginning of another.

The phase was full of reflection – of establishing an identity within a system – and then, of forming a framework that breathes its life of its own – of revival of a white elephant. Now, as it begins breathing on its own – as it moves closer to forming a self-sustaining system – it is time for one to pause, take a deep breath, and reflect….

The old set of challenges would drift away and new ones would emerge – priorities would always remain priorities – and as long as passions are attached to those priorities – they won’t come down – they would always be cleped as “top priorities”. But at the point of reflection – one needs to realize that perspectives matter – perspectives that ignite passion to express – for me as a blogger, and you as a reader – passion to absorb beyond the obvious – passion to build that extra brick of perspective over anything that excites you – and then, sometimes, proudly claim that brick to be yours – it is this passion that is being tested now – a test that would truly and deeply be judged by you – by me, and by the very nature of itself – the test that rightly shall earn back its own identity, the test that was once called – “Read Between the Ps”!

So, here is another attempt to come out of the cycle of enforced P of priorities - and move towards the P of perspective on the P of my passions :)

P.S. – If you cannot make sense of anything mentioned above – its good – I never wanted you to! :)

[Pic Source]

The evolving cartoon - From Silent Spectator to Energetic Athlete! (India)

Cartoons and caricatures have long been one of the best modes of expression – to voice out the sentiment of the public, to express implicit reactions, and to use satire to get your point of view across. One strip that has done this wonderfully for generations (since 1961) has been RK Laxman’s most famous Common Man’s strip “You said it” – There was a time when we used to look forward to the daily strip in the Times of India whenever something happened, for the strip reacted responded effectively on any issue – truly echoing the sentiment of the public - it mocked at the current issues at hand, but ensured it made relevant points strongly. Such was the power of print media then.

Then came our dear Amul Moppet, coming out with silent billboards almost every fortnight that talked about issues at hand, or latest Bollywood or Cricket gossip – taking a topic every time, and interpreting it in a humorous manner – called “topicals” by the Da Cunhas. Instant connect was what this girl executed fantastically, something that exists even today. Be it the recent fuel hikes or the trust vote of the government or the presidential nominations for the country’s leadership – Moppet has managed to grab a part of the attention pie for itself every time.

However, as the consumer evolves, so does the media – as consumers today move into the digital world, one needs to evolve into more engaging ways of communication – more involving ways to articulate one’s point of view. This has led to media entering the digital era as well, with cartoons translating into online games and caricatures translating into virtual moving icons!

Talking of icons, every point needs a story, and every story needs a character – so while earlier it was the Common man, and then the Moppet, now it is the central character or the hero, which we, as players, enact! And how do you find the hero? With a comprehensive search for strong impressionable icons around us, one can naturally think of one such personality who manages to develop an aura around him every time – and is at the centre of most of the controversies – for why not – he is holding the prime minister’s office – our very own Dr. Manmohan Singh!!

Dr. Singh has a huge fanfare of cartoonists – who have managed to make him do almost everything possible – from balancing on a rope to running behind Sonia Gandhi to running from a flurry of ministers – he seems to be the talk of the cartoon town! So much so that one academy, Kerala Cartoon Academy, is even publishing a rare collection of 123 cartoons on him soon. And guess what? Maybe the hero himself would be there to release the book!

Coming back to the digital world - So how do you ensure instant connect, as well as top of the mind recall for the target audience in online games? – Simple – mix the most connectable bollywood flavor with the most impressionable politics, and you get a fine mix of top of the mind games – something that the new game on our Dr. Singh has excellently managed to do (and why not, if you get 300000 users within 3 days of launching, you better take this as the “right” mix!)

Reports Monika Adlakha from Hindustan Times,
"Games2Win’s online game ‘Singh is King’ tracks the PM’s political career. And the obstacles in the game are out of India’s recent political past – from the Indo-US nuclear deal, to farmer suicides, the communist parties, spiraling inflation, rising oil prices, crashing markets and allegations of cash for vote."

Have a look at some of the snapshots of the game. Obviously, nothing beats real action and experience of playing this yourself! The game has been smartly described as “He's smarter than your average PM and this time he's truly proven that Singh is King!”



Definitely, the face of the Indian citizen has changed – from the times of the silent spectator in the form of the Common Man, to the energetic athletic Singh, who does not act dumb when politicians talk openly about bribing or their lethargic affinities, but overcomes all the challenges enthusiastically, jumps and tugs wherever required, runs athletically, and eventually, defies his opposition by wearing the crown, and deservingly claiming the throne – with true style of a Real King!


Want to get in his shoes virtually? Click here to feel like the PM for some time! – But mind you, if you still think you can stand like a silent spectator, try it...you might just get lifted by the opposition if you aren’t fast enough! ;-)

[via Hindustan Times - reported by Monicca]