Read Between the Ps

If you thought that the “ feel good ” factor can only be attributed to the shrewd brains of the profligate BJP Government and a high-budget campaign can only be their prerogative, think again! A New Ad campaign has been launched to motivate the Germans, who are facing a crisis situation, as a result of which the confidence level of the country has plummeted over the past few weeks; Resulting in a deep sense of dissatisfaction and skepticism in the minds of the Germans. Called “ Du Bist Deutschland! ” ( You are Germany ) the non-commercial campaign was launched on 25th September and would run for 4 months in print and TV media. The basic issue that triggered the need for such a campaign is German Mentality! In an article in BBC, the Organizer Bernd Bauer substantiates this argument - "You know, we simply tend to see things even more negatively than they actually are, and that's where we want to initiate a change and that's one of the reasons for this campaign." As

If you are in Belgium , and have traveled within the past 5-6 days, there is a good chance that you would recognize these faces (but a bad chance that you would be reading this blog :-D ) They are Ange and Maria – the New faces of Innovative Advertising. Titled “ Ford Miracles ”, the campaign has been designed my Oglivy Belgium . I read the article from Adfab – the entry on First talking Abribus . It involves an actor who is hidden in some other booth, and based on the response of the audience, he replies, and is reflected in the expressions shown on the character’s face. It looks like the character is talking to you. And you already know Ange and Maria by now, right? Have a close look at them…they might wink at you anytime! Want to try? ;-) The only issue I think they might face is sustenance . Once people know about the character’s originality, it would not be too late, when they start looking for the “ hidden ” booth. Also, how long can you hire one single person for a single

She reached the 34th rank in the world , after losing to Maria Sherapova in the 4th round in the US Open last week. Though she might have lost the match, there is much more she earned from it – fans, respect, recognition, endorsements, and of course, money! According to an article in Times of India , Sania has become the 2nd best pick for the advertisers for endorsements, and is now positioned with Rahul Dravid, just behind Sachin Tandulkar. The Endorsement Fee has increased to more than Rs 1.5 crore per endorsement per deal annually. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar, despite his bad form and injuries, commands Rs 6-7 crore per endorsement. Preference Order for Advertisers - - Sachin Tendulkar - Sania Mirza and Rahul Dravid - Narain Karthikeyan - Virender Sehwag - Sourav Ganguly Though most of these names are of cricketers, Economic Times mentioned that Corporates have started to look beyond cricket. Attracting attention from Advertisers is often an arduous task, especially f

Oglivy & Mather, New Delhi has come out with latest print ads for Duracell Both the Ads trigger a thought process, but one has to think a bit more than the “ average thought period ” for other ads. More so, the second Ad can be comprehended only because it follows the first one. Had it been displayed in isolation , it would have become slightly difficult to understand it. Maybe the picture could have been clicked a second earlier, and we could have had a better glimpse of the car ;-) Anyways, the second one would not be my pick for billboards and hoarding displays, since there is limited duration of exposure to it on highways – and it would not be a very good idea, if BEFORE the message gets to the viewer, he moves past the hoarding ! Visit the website of Duracell, and it does reflect technology.. Specially, “ Explorations TV ” – a hub of innovations and cool videos . Have a look . Of course, it is “ Powered by Duracell ” ;-) Incidentally, the website of Duracell does not have

Acknowledgements for this entry go to the interviewers in my last mock-interview, who asked my about the SEC bands and specifics! SEC, i.e. Socio-economic Classification is a classification made in the urban and the rural sector, to identify the consumption pattern and the household purchase behavior. Based on education levels, occupation, type of household , etc. the population is divided into separate bands, called the Socio-economic Classes. The Urban Sector is divided into SEC A1, A2, B1, B2, C, D, E1, E2 (Calculated as a function of Educational qualifications of the CWE* and his occupation) The Rural Sector is divided into SEC R1, R2, R3, R4 (Calculated as a function of Educational Qualifications of the CWE* and the type of the household he stays in – Pucca, Semi Pucca or Kaccha) Following is the exact division in the Rural Sector: ( Source : Ficci Press Release ) Unfortunately, I have still not been able to find out the exact details about the urban classification. But Accord

Another addition to the P's off List! More P's - This time it is 10 P's of Marketing I am not sure if this list is " Necessary " and " Sufficient " to include all the dimensions of Marketing, or to be more specific - points that can affect the Purchase Decisions . Will have to delve more into it and comment. Meanwhile, there is already a group of experts with their perspective operating on this topic in Marketing Profs - " What are the 10 P's of Marketing? " For the records, here is the list: - Price - Purchases - Point - Partners - Prizes - Pro Bono - Privileges - Personalization - Participation - Presto How do Partners figure in here? And in Business, does one start with a "Pro Bono" mindset? How do you perform the "Presto" in Marketing? Loads of questions....but answers would come soon.. By the way ..the way this is going, I can simply cut and paste the entire list of words starting with P here, and call them the Ps o