Matwala's reflections on 05 ad-world. Review on General Tips on the Advertising Industry

I love the adage, which says the only thing ‘static in life is change’ it means nothing is static. One must learn to adapt and move with the times lest they become archaic. The same would be true of the ad world as well. It’s tough to be in the shoes of an ad maker for not only does he have to keep pace with the times but also ensure that the integrity, image and message of the brand remains intact despite the change. Brand image is not something, which is built overnight; it takes a long time of single focused effort on the part of the ad makers and the marketing team. He cannot allow the image of the brand to get diluted with the times, yet he has to ensure that the ad highlights the brand message that belongs to today and not yesterday. Having begun on that note let us analyze some of the changes that the year 05 brought about in the way ads were made and conceived.

Lights sound camera…EMOTION the loud and clear mantra to success this year. We saw the ad makers go berserk trying to latch on to the emotional bandwagon in 05. Some brands changed their entire marketing focus from some other theme to emotion while some brands which have underplayed the emotions card till now stirred it up just a wee bit more. Brands like TOI belonged to the former category while others like Airtel, Surf, and Maruti Alto joined the fray in 05. Some regular emotion players like the automotive segment had the Chevrolet Optra, lifestyle products segment had the diamond brands of Sangini and De Beers while Life Insurance ads were ruled by the likes of State Bank of India and ICICI Prudential. The ad makers have woken up to the golden rule of marketing that brands are made in the hearts and not in the minds and that’s precisely the reason why we had so many ads, which did not harp about the features, services and differentiating factor vis-à-vis the competitors.

I am an INDIAN baby another hit formula used so successfully by so many brands this year. Ad makers have realized that no matter what the product is if you can smartly relate it to the Indian ethos and culture it can be a winner. The increased use of Indian festivals, costumes and lifestyle in the ads is an indicator to the shifting focus. Brands like Rajnigandha, TOI, Tata Salt, Visa, Chevrolet Optra all focus on their Indian imagery. If you see all the multinational brands tried to give their products an Indian touch to them I feel they have realized the importance of the adage ‘ be global locally’ where in you maintain the international appeal of the brand in local languages and hues. So we had more and more ads using Hindi as a medium of expression be it Nokia, Hutch, Coke, Pizza Hut or HLL they all had ads in the local lingoes.

KIDS here and kids there there was a barrage of ads starring kids, suddenly all that the ad makers can think of is to have kids in their ads no matter what they sell. The logic being put behind this is that kids bring about certain innocence, genuineness and approachability to the product. Also since off late kids have had increasing say in any buying decisions of the family it is only apt that they played a role in marketing them also. For instance the ads for Surf Excel, Asian Paints, Airtel, Lifebuoy Soaps, HDFC Mutual Funds, Visa, Hutch, Pepsodent, Rin all had kids in their ads. Kids have always found a special place in ads, remember the Dhara ad? But now they are used for anything and everything, over exposure to anything is bad for instance the ads of under vests and all putting kids in them was in real bad taste.

Catch em YOUNG another mantra that dominated the ads this year. We had ads, which focused on the young 20 something executives and entrepreneurs who not only have the money but are also compulsive buyers. With the easy availability of loans buying of things are no longer postponed till he actually has the money for that. That’s precisely the reason why we had ads like Chevrolet Optra, Maruti Alto, Sangini and De Beers Diamonds, Toyota Corolla and Innova, Bajaj Avenger, Tata Safari Dicor all high-end lifestyle luxury products talking exclusively to the young guns.

Me, the ROMANTIC ah that was another visible trend this year. Love and passion came out loud and clear in so many ads, I feel that has got a lot to do with the increasing openness with which we express our feelings and also the freedom with which they are accepted. No more is holding hands, kissing and cuddling in public seen as a taboo in our cities and towns and the same open ness has percolated in our ads also. Skoda Octavia, Chevrolet Optra, Maruti Alto, Liril Soaps, Asmi Diamonds, and Airtel had a marked open ness and expression of love visible in their ads. I also feel that these ads appeal more to the happily married couple who feel that a brand, which uses such imagery, is both cozy and comfortable.

My HUMOR was insipid generally the winner trend each year, this time around humor in ads was not of the same standards. Humor has always found favors with ad makers as it promises clutter breaking and recall for the brand. This year most of the ads with humor content were cold and failed to break the morass both figuratively and literally. Use of humor can be tricky, if it works you got a winner and if it is not done tastefully you have a big goof up and disaster, which damages the brand equity as well. Some of the better ads with a humorous subject were those for Tata Indica, Mentos, Chlormint, Alpenliebe, Naukri.Com, Jeevansaathi.Com, Monster.Com, SBI Bank and Times Job. Most of the other humor tinged ads failed to make any impression on the audiences.

COMMON man rules and how. The year belonged to those friendly neighborhood gentry. Ad makers have realized the importance of making ads with which their audiences can relate to. We had ads for Air Deccan, TOI, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, Pepsodent, Ponds, Dr Marino’s etc which did not have celebrities or models endorsing the product, but people like you and me. Slice of life ads have come of age it seems with a day-to-day life of a common man on the streets is finding increasing acceptance as subject matter in the ads.These ads always have a feel good factor to them, a certain amount of veritable feel to them. Use of celebrities on the other hand does ensure a good opening for the ad but then it does suffer from brand caging, where the brand gets shadowed and sometimes totally invisible in front of the celebrity.

In case there were some other trends that you noticed please do let me know. Adios amigos to 05 and welcome 06 in my own inimitable matwala eshtyle.