You’ve come a long way, baby! What an Idea, Sir ji!

When the cellular network Idea was launched, believe it or not, it used a Sumo Wrestler as its brand ambassador! I guess they were desperate to break clutter and differentiate from the well entrenched brands. But there was no relevance. A couple of years later, they came out with a jingle ’98 la la la….’ which was catchy but again made no impact. Idea was yet another me-too brand trying to fight for mindspace in the cluttered environment.

But when Aditya Birla Group took over the reins of Idea, their strategic intent led to a quantum jump. One major difficulty, which even the Vodafone marketing head admitted in a conference I attended a few months back, is that the TG for any cellular network is right from a vegetable vendor to a CEO. How does one create an ad which is SEC independent and effectively appeals to all strata of the society?

Idea came up with the big ‘Idea’. Make the brand communicate a socially relevant message which is relevant to a cellular network. With the help of the brand ambassador, Jr AB, they came up with a commercial where a priest/father of a convent school used cell phones to teach children who could not travel to school. Brilliant! They then followed up with politicians using SMS-based polls to take policy decisions. Outstanding! Here was a brand that created communication which appealed to one and all and the relevance was bang on. Also, this is a glaring example, where a brand is much above the brand ambassador. Even if Idea has to part ways with Jr AB, it would only have minimal impact. While, I am a little disappointed with their latest ‘walk-n-talk’ campaign, I still give Idea full marks for its sound strategy to drastically change the way a brand is perceived. What an Idea, Sir ji!

Wanna start something new? And stupid too?

Shoppers’ Stop is my favourite store. I simply love the experience. They don’t hard sell, don’t bother and leave you to enjoy the experience of shopping. Their mantra of ‘Experience while you shop’ was bang on! But when they changed their logo, something happened! They came up with a bizarre tag line of ‘Start something new’. Why? What was the relevance? I am still trying to figure out. How does starting something new help a brand in garment and lifestyle retail? Not sure at all.

And then I saw a hoarding of my favourite store at Juhu Circle one day. It showed a sexy girl with ultra short skirts with the headline ‘Wear short skirts. Hitch hike. Conserve Fuel. Start Something New’ It left me stunned for sometime. What was that all about? They were actually literally saying that you can lure, intice and create a lust in drivers with your well waxed legs to give you a lift? And that too to save energy and contribute to the cause of global warming!

This is not some perfume brand where I would expect this kind of sexist communication. This is my favourite store we are talking about. What is the all oomph about? And would women get sexcited by this thought of getting a lift by seducing someone? Completely ridiculous! One takes years to build a brand and how easily it can all go down the drain. Wake up Shoppers Stop! It’s indeed time to start something new.

Aaj Pehli Tareeq Hai – Want some chocolates?

I have always respected Cadbury for their strategic branding. After all they changed the way chocolates were consumed in the country by making it appeal to all ages rather than only kids. The jingle of their famous TV commercial in the nineties showing a young lass celebrating the success of a match on the field with a chocolate – ‘kuch khaas hai zindagi mein’ still resonates in my mind.

But of late, I have been very disappointed with their communication. After parting ways with AB, I guess they felt that they needed a breakthrough idea. The one that they came up with was to make chocolates a monthly affair rather than only being a festival food. Aaj Pehli Tareeq hai, its pay day, so come on and grab some chocolates. I was not sure about the strategic intent. Whom were they trying to target? Only those who live hand-to-mouth and wait for the 1st to get a 10-buck chocolate! Weren’t they trying to alienate the others who have chocolates regularly by perhaps implying that you need to have chocolates only on the first of the month?

‘Mera Munch Mahaan’ Nestle completely decimated the campaign. The smart team immediately came out with a counter campaign that Nestle Munch is affordable and so you don’t have to wait for the first of the month – you can have it throughout the month. They got this opportunity on a platter! Using a competitor’s share of voice to get your proposition across is a marketer’s dream. Kudos!

Often, brand communication is like chess… you must foresee what the competition is likely to do in response. Cadbury had to overnight withdraw their ‘pehli tareeq’ campaign. And Nestle Munch had the last laugh! Check Mate!