Youngistaan ka wow! Way to go, guys!

Finally, an ad from Pepsi that brings a smile on the face! After the disastrous ad featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt on the lines of ‘Pepsi bhi gayi, sexy bhi gayi’ (how ridiculous is that!), this one’s a winner. A perfect entertainer communicating the brand proposition effectively and instilling a sense of country pride.

Ranbir Kapoor is shown as a butler working in a presidential palace of a country that looks like Germany or Russia. The Prez needs a Pepsi and Ranbir notices that there’s a last one left, which he was vying for. The Sergeant orders him to take the Pepsi to the Prez directly. Ranbir, on his way, deliberately tries hiding the Pepsi and starts shaking the bottle as if to show that he has mixed the drink with something. The CCTV of the palace catches that and asks the Sergeant to intervene. The Sergeant who is quite positive that Ranbir has poisoned the drink, forces Ranbir to instead drink it. Ranbir seizes the opportunity, drinks it one gulp, leaving the rest confused. And Ranbir then leaves the scene with a tongue-in-cheek comment in Hindi which says ‘They couldn’t even save a Pepsi’. Very creative, indeed!

Pepsi’s brand ambassador, Ranbir Kapoor, is a perfect fit for the brand value proposition of ‘Youngistaan ka wow’. He is a promising star in the next gen and is surely idolized by the aspirational youth. And considering that Pepsi is an impulsive purchase product, they needed an ambassador, who would truly represent the youth of India and to whom the youth will look upto. Also, since the youth in the country is the largest percentage of the population, it’s a smart platform to take as well. Specifically, what I like in the ad is the fact that it instills some amount of national pride through the youth. I am not a fan of patriotic ads and honestly quite disappointed by some Indian brands like Siyaram who use the country as the differentiator coercing Indians to use Indian brands rather than MNCs. Don’t think Indian brands need to do that; they should be competitive enough to sell on their brand image. Pepsi, being an MNC, has managed to do generate patriotism with a lot of finesse. Kudos! Here’s raising a toast (of Pepsi) to Youngistaan.

The IPL Ad Blitzkrieg

IPL Season 3 came to an end finally on April 26, 2010. And as Lalit Modi, the now suspended Chairman of IPL, was giving his Mark Antony-akin speech quoting sholkas from the Bhagvad Gita, I was reflecting on the Rs 800 crore odd that TV advertisers had spent on the live telecast of the 56 matches on SET Max.

There were several campaigns that were launched during this season and I thought it prudent to dedicate this posting to the best and worst of IPL Season 3.

I must admit that the quality of the ads from most brands were far below their normal potential. I have always believed that for an ad to be successful, it should be relevant, communicate the brand values and above all entertain the audience. If an ad can’t bring a smile or a wow from the viewers, it has made no difference to the brand. I suspect that most ads were unsuccessful in doing that.

I was quite disappointed with the Idea Oongli Campaign, though it did have an element of humour. My concern is the brand’s digression from its socially relevant messaging. The Godrej ‘Go Jiyo’ campaign was completely senseless. What were the animated characters communicating? And what was Vidya Balan trying to achieve by spraying Good Knight on some enemies in the animated space? If you’ve successfully decoded the Godrej campaign, do fill me in. I have already decimated the Havells Hangman campaign, though the shock laga ad of the pati, patni and the maid on a hair dryer did force a smile. The Pepsi campaign was bizarre. Some strange SMS options were flashed on the screen. And Ranbir Kapoor declaring to the villain that ‘Pepsi bhi gayi and sexy bhi gayi’ was the last nail in the coffin of this ridiculously stupid campaign. The customer centric ICICI Bank Khayal Aapka ad was quite absurd too. I wonder if a bank executive needs be so patient with an irritating customer. Where’s his productivity if he’s spending all afternoon with an old lady! The Hyundai i20 and i10 campaigns were so-so; and so were the campaigns of Indian mobile players like Maxx and Spice. nothing great. The Samsung corporate campaign was quite striking, though not clutter-breaking.

And now for the honours. I think that the three major telecom players took the cake. The Airtel campaign featuring Sharman Joshi was relevant, communicated the brand features well and did entertain. Especially, when he scares his girlfriend’s brother to study for next day’s exam or is trying to extract more pocket money from his dad. Extremely impressive. So was the Docomo campaign – sophisticated, premium and is giving Vodafone a real run for its money in the premium brand perception space. The ads of the tattoo on a lady from a traditional South Indian family or the loser getting a job were quite innovative. And finally, my heart goes out to the Zoozoos. I had spoken about their end of innocence in an earlier post and the fact that they have not been able to create a furore like last year. But I completely agree that the ads were highly creative, intelligent and I give the O&M team an absolute thumbs up to take the zoozoos to the next level.

The way its going, not sure if IPL Season 4 will happen at all. Quite a few advertisers like Samsung and Godrej have expressed their concern on being associated with a sport that may not be clean. Though, from an advertiser’s perspective, IPL has been a dream-come-true; as long as one has the money. The reach and visibility for a brand is tremendous and can translate into an enormous competitive advantage. IPL has been, perhaps, the biggest reality show of all times!