Stephen Leacock once famously defined advertising as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. This Indian summer has been about two things — Baahubali2 and IPL, two big dreams that turned bigger after execution. IPL, which has brought about a revolution in India as far as sporting leagues are concerned, revolves around turning cricket into family entertainment. When entertainment is here, could ads be far away? A look at what the advertisements look like at prime-time shows clear patterns.
What has a selfie got to do with being yourself, you may ask. Everything, the ad-maker would probably say. Oppo, Vivo and Gionee – three smartphones, where Deepika, Ranveer and Alia are busy taking selfies could be case studies for this. Are the ads trying to say that in contemporary society, the primary attraction of a device that brings you all the knowledge in the world, is attractive selfies? Food for thought.
In the Vodafone ad, an elderly couple is painting the town red in Goa. With a mobile network like Vodafone, how could you possibly be lost, except in the charms of the Dil Chahta Hai fort or while socialising with people in a tattoo parlour. The ad plays on uses of Google Maps and video calls, but which network doesn’t provide that these days? However, an elderly lady parasailing – well, that’s emotional connect.
MakeMyTrip uses Alia Bhatt and the versatile expressiveness of Ranveer – in rather weird disguises, to sneak in information about its own offerings. Havells impressively used the quirky Puliyattam art-form to drive home the message. Ambuja Cement’s depiction of Khali’s problems before he builds a house strong enough to be his home, is yet another quirky, laconic ad that conveys the point without being noisy.
“Break the clutter’ is the mantra that’s repeated ad nauseam (excuse the pun), when an ad is conceived. Every brand wants recall value, but not all can manage it. What dominates the message is based on the zeitgeist of the season; a few years back it was sex, now it is activism – LGBT rights, racism and feminism,” says Tony Sebastian, a digital media marketing manager. One is reminded of the unpleasant deodorant ads of the past in contrast to contemporary ads like McDonald’s Happy Price Combos, coaxing people into accepting each other’s differences. “Brands need to be careful that the story ties closely with the product. For instance, I remember in detail an ad about a transgender mom, but had to google the product just now – Vicks,” Tony quips.
Amazon has designed a humorous, seemingly low-budget campaign around the IPL with Chonkpur Cheetahs, a parody of sorts around a small-town T20 team, playing around the Apni Dukaan campaign. Unlike the Jio ad which has the T20 stars dancing – rather awkwardly– Amazon keeps the celebrity quotient low but the emotional connect high. The female wicket-keeper in the team is a nice touch!
Different brands raise different questions. The Vitara Brezza ad cajoles you into increasing your Facebook-likes. Would you spend lakhs just so you cross 500 likes on your profile picture or is the ad-maker trying to touch a chord on improving the social quotient by playing on the ‘glamorous’.
“It’s not diversion actually. Ads try to resonate with customers at an emotional level instead of comparing features. Emotional connection will help brand recall,” says Dinesh Chandra, marketing manager for a major multinational corporation.
A the end of the day, ads are trying hard to sell, while being relevant, interesting and sensational, all in 90 seconds!
