CRASH BURN! DESTROY! CAN DISRUPTION WORK IN AD-LAND?

4Ps B&M's Monojit Lahiri examinies an amazing phenomenon that challenges legitimate logic by celebrating the virtues of DHAMAKA!

Advertising has often been described as a calling that deals single-mindedly with the business of ideas …ideas that connect with their prime constituency and patao them to leap towards products or service advertised. In this exciting kabaddi, several routes, avenues devices (humour, insecurity, charm, fear, pride, envy, snob-appeal, rebellion) have been successfully developed to seduce the prospective customer, but the one that has bewildered, shocked, intrigued, even provoked several zillion people is the use of disruption as a bait! C’mon, can disarray, disorder, dhamal, split or severe ever hope to woo customers into an affirmative or approval mode? Isn’t it unsettling and fundamentally frightening? Why would anyone sane, deliberately disrupt anything? Can disruption really be a force designed to create something dynamic from something that has gone static?

TBWA’s moving spirit Jean Marie Dru believed it could. The objective of this revolutionary approach according to the great communication visionary was: Reframe the brand in a manner that is so startling that the market begins to look at it differently. De-familiarise or re-complexify it in a way that force consumers to see and notice brand characteristics that they had overlooked earlier. This leads to a fresh renewal of interest in the brand. Brilliant examples include McDonald’s selling fast food to the “snooty” French. Playstation selling computer games to adults. Most hilarious, the US buying Absolut Vodka that is not Russian!

There is more. Apple’s disruption (for example), slung out the time-tested, sacrosanct notion, which pronounced that communicating product features were the key to selling hi-tech products. Apple’s maverick visionary leader, Steve Jobs believed that a brand was not solely about “bytes or boxes but values” and proceeded to provide the perfect example of an organisation that knew how to constantly re-invent itself by disrupting the status quo. The introduction of Macintosh is an outstanding model. Its premise rested on challenging the hallowed premise that “people should be computer literate.” Jobs’ startling and revolutionary retort was “computers should be people literate and designed to work the way people do!” What followed was a pure, high decibel marriage of theatrics, showbiz and hard headed selling. For 60 seconds during the 1980 Super-Bowl (the mother of all major events in USA), he unleashed the (by now legendary) 1984 TV spot, which promised everybody a brave new world, free from the de-humanising effects of computer technology.

The words were simple yet cataclysmic… On Jan 24, 1984 Apple launches Macintosh. And you will see why1984 won’t be 1984 (a chilling connect with George Orwell’s ominous book). It was reported that the very next day over 200,000 people stormed showrooms across the US and within six hours, sales reached over $3.5 million! A decade and a half later Apple disrupted again with their landmark ‘Think Different’ campaign featuring great creators of the 20th century who are not fond of rules and have no respect for the status quo. Apple (Jobs announced) was a company that made ‘Tools for Creative Minds’. Today with iPods and iTunes music, Apple continues its path-breaking disruption mode.
 
To celebrate disruption, creativity has to happen at strategic levels before real creative work begins. The BIG IDEA is called for… and the answer is to look to the outside world for cues, guidance, hints, tips, inspiration. Look to the world of history, science, business for ideas that drove dramatic changes in perception. Before Copernicus (for example) the heavens rotated around the earth. Before Pasteur, there were no germs and so no immunisation. Before Ford automobile transportation was a relatively expensive indulgence and the privilege of a select few. Disruption changed it all… Copernicus and Pasteur are said to have had intuitive feeling about theories they went on to prove… and Ford had very definitive ideas about democratising automobile transportation.

The Guru of Disruption, (Jean Marie) generously offers a simple four-step guideline. One, identify the conventions and unquestioned assumptions that shape and form an organisation’s blue print. Two, look at how the different facets of its activity fit together. Three – enter disruption – challenge these conventions to find flaws in its thinking. Four, identify a vision or a projection of the company that represents the future. This vision is much more than a proposition or positioning statement. It’s a total culture – a destination against which all strategic and marketing decisions are/will be measured.

At the end of the day, disruption is neither a seismic shakeout, dramatically lobbed gimmick nor myopic anarchy. Beyond a mere formal procedure or process it is a strategically directed shakeup, a perceptive way of both thinking and looking at that killer opportunity. Its about seeing the world with an open and curious mind accepting nothing on face value and taking on odds, fearlessly… The basic point about disruption is – Disrupt before the world disrupts you. Invent the future instead of being evicted by it.

So crash, burn and destroy, guys. disruption is the way to go!

CRASH BURN! DESTROY! CAN DISRUPTION WORK IN AD-LAND?

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4Ps B&M's Monojit Lahiri ventures a close-up of the recent double-role being played out by an increasing number of gifted ad-film makers, balancing ad films with the biggest lure of ’em all – feature films!

In the beginning came the great god Ray – Satyajit to 7-stars morons! – who after doing time in the hi-profile D. J. Keymer in the fab ’50s (as a distinguished Art Director) left, for two reasons. One, as a passionate film aficionado (he started the iconic Calcutta Film Society with noted film critic Chidanand Dasgupta), he was getting increasingly drawn into the world of feature films. Two, he discovered that ‘hawking cigarettes, biscuits and tea, day in and day out isn’t really the best stimuli for creativity!’ Dry wit at its acerbic best from the master!

Over the years – Shyam Benegal, Muzaffar Ali, Robin Dharamraj, Zafar Hai, Chidanand Dasgupta, Harisadhan Dasgupta – there has been a decided shift-of-focus happening, with the to-day guys really turning on the heat. Shoojit Sarkar, a brilliant ad film maker, switched lanes a couple of years ago to give us Yahaan. Pradeep Sarkar, another renowned ad film maker and ad agency veteran took the leap with Parineeta and Laga… while Lowes hi-profile NCD Balki let loose Cheeni Kum with the customers begging for more. The brilliant Abhinay Deo – another outstanding ad film maker – threatens to join the club any moment. Some other eminent players in this ad films-to-feature game include Dipankar Banerjee (Khosla Ka Ghosla), John Mathew Matthan (Sarfarosh), Mahesh Mathai (Bhopal Express), Rakeysh Mehra (Rang De Basanti), Rajiv Menon (Sapnay), Ram Madhvani (Let’s Talk)…

What’s the problem? Why this ‘khujli’ to move towards the bigger format? Is the 30-seconder getting a bit too restrictive, limiting and tight? Over time, are these guys getting bored doing the same old stuff – after all how hot can your creativity get in this time frame? Having learnt the critical aspects of the art and craft of the discipline, are they now in the mood to embrace the real thing?

Abhinay Deo opens the batting with typical panache and starts scoring immediately. Contrary to popular belief, he does not believe that it is a “logical or automatic transition because both have their respective – special – areas of challenges and opportunities. For me, as a passionate film lover, they are both amazing avenues because they come under the common umbrella of film making.” However, he is quick to confess that the ad film-maker, sometimes, has an edge over the feature-wala because of the former’s constant, 24x7 drive towards creating, achieving and delivering a product that is fresh, unique and clutter-bustling.
 
“This makes innovation a part of our DNA. After all, selling products and services to a new-gen, promiscuous target-base in a way that delights and surprises, is no easy task. It demands speed with quality and provides us with a fantastic sense of perspective that certainly helps in the long run,” he explains.

Pradeep Sarkar who made his debut into the world of feature films at the “young” age of 48, has a different take. He believes that ad films and feature films are definitely inter-connected, in some fashion. Both have a product to sell and in both the disciplines, the aspect of “story-telling” is critical. Both are audio-visual mediums with their own compulsions.

Balki believes that the attraction for the big screen for most ad-film makers is natural because “once you’ve tasted blood, you want to go for the big one.” However, it’s not as easy as it sounds because from 30-60 seconds to holding audience attention for close to three hours can be very daunting.

A sharp media tracker who has seen this phenomenon grow over time believes that all these guys are suddenly and unnecessarily playing coy and cute. The real reason for this shift, he believes, is simple and two-fold. One, every creative animal, after a while, feels hemmed in by continuously doing stuff that has a limited creative bandwidth. The motivation and hunger – despite all the clichés about constantly re-inventing oneself blah blah – wears thin and soon technique rather than inspiration, take over. The solution is (literally) the big picture… a canvas he can truly take-off with. Secondly, hey c’mon guys, who doesn’t want to hit the big time, rub shoulders with glamorous stars, be perceived as a successful film maker, appreciated by the media, classes and masses instead of just cranking out (as Ray rightly said) stuff hawking tea, cigarettes and biscuits… and now colas and condoms!

Beyond the incestuous and industry-specific tamasha at Cannes and ABY’s, their product gets to be seen and loved by the most significant and desired target-audience they can dream of – the hydra-headed creature called the aam junta! That is the real high – and let no one kid themselves!

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PESTER - POWER!

HAS THIS WESTERN NIGHTMARE INVADED INDIAN HOUSEHOLDS?

What is Pester-Power? At its simplest it means kids – from age 3 to 18 – pestering (read: nagging, whining, badgering, irritating, harassing, annoying) the living hell out of their parents to buy advertised products! This terminology was born – where else but the capital of obscene conspicuous consumption – in the USA in the late 70’s when this phenomenon first raised its ominous head. Very soon it became an uncontrollable epidemic-like reality-turned-nightmare!

Truth is, kids (traditionally) have always nudged and pushed their parents to buy stuff, but never was it a hair-tearing, cardiac-arrest routine, right? This avtaar is a fairly new phenomenon and accurately reflects the changing contours of the child-parent relationship in a fast-altering sociological landscape. Today, thanks to an insatiable, all-pervasive consumer society, sharper kids, exposure to a 24x7 media onslaught, peer pressure, double-income families leading to more disposable income and finally the “guilt” factor, parents seem to be caving in to pester-power much more quickly. Marketers, (forever tracking which side the bread is buttered and how fast the cookie crumbles), have been quick to leap in and create a whole array of irresistible children-friendly wants and needs that get the kids really charged! Today’s kids want more and they want it now!

Fact not fiction. According to the recently released Disney’s Kidsense 2007 survey, 63% kids are discussing products that span not only conventional kiddie categories, but go across the spectrum. This means that they go beyond the traditional clothes, sweets, bicycles and toys range to embrace DVD players, cars, mobile phones… even holiday destinations! The interesting and revealing part is that many parents today actually turn to their children for information regarding hi-ticket, hi-end, techno stuff. So the age of the Alpha pup is here and kidfluence is getting bigger each day. Communication guru Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands believes that today more than ever before, “we are all children of the age of consumption. Kids are hotter and hipper with the new lingo jargons of this phenomenon than their elders and therefore more comfortable with it.” No wonder they are constantly tuned-in or logged on to the latest trends! In this new environ of KGOY (Kids Getting Older Younger), soft toys and board games are quickly dumped for ACs and iPods. In fact, apart from booze and condoms – insists the irrepressible Prahlad Kakkar – kids today have a say in pretty much all the purchases made at home. And boy, do they exercise it! Moon-Moon Dhar, a working mother with two kids (aged 12 & 6) has that glazed look when talking about Pester Power.
 
“Oh, Pester-Power has arrived in India and is a total reality! My six year old tells me that I should take Tata Sky and cable is crap! I have to spend close to two hundred bucks a strike to see Bhool Bhulaiya and not Laga Chunri Mein Daag because the kids say so. As for their own stuff – food, entertainment, clothes, toys – that’s a different (and scary) ball-game! He has his own birthday list, dictates the menu (“no samosas please. Kids hate it!”); and explains why two varieties of Pizza’s should be ordered (“there are vegetarians also and everybody doesn’t like chicken, mamma?”). Amit Sahai, Media Manager, Perfect 10 Advertising and father of a 12 year old son, categorically believes that everything is not negative about this phenomenon and it’s wrong to perceive it in that manner. “Today’s kids are smarter, savvier, powered with a stronger sense of curiosity, more exposed to the media (than us in our early years) and in every way more knowledgeable about some categories of products than us. So, if they advise – or demand – something, it might be a good idea to see it in that light instead of pester power!” Also, he believes the age of self-denial and simple living and high thinking is clearly over. Parents slog to give their kids the best. Also the parent-child equation has changed dramatically “to the extent that they go beyond information to becoming consultants in the final purchase pattern.” Sahai lays bare a very critical point. “If your child is a pampered, spoilt brat, whose fault is that? If your parenting is right then there is no fear of pester power. The decisions will be informed and mutually agreed upon. At the end of the day, if you give your kids the power of freedom, responsibility and accountability, it can work wonders.”

Designer Seema Sethi – with two daughters aged 14 & 8 – doesn’t waste any time agreeing to the trials and trauma let loose by Pester Power! She gives the example of her younger daughter dismissing locally made pencils (NATRAJ) to go for foreign makes because “they are really cool!” Also, she just had to see OSO (Om Shanti Om) ASAP, otherwise she would not be considered with it and trendy!” Journo Sapna Khanna agrees. “My seven year old daughter made me take a conducted tour of at least 3 shops before she condescended to approve of a dress! Madam certainly has definite opinions and I dare not go against it. It won’t work!” As for her 12 year old son, he is into hi-end techno stuff and luxury cares, “which frequently makes us very nervous, but in some ways forces us to work harder and raise the bar to fulfil their expectations.” However, both Seema and Sapna concede that when the crunch comes, they know where to draw the line. So, do the kids listen then? “They moan, groan, complain, sulk … but eventually get the message.”

So, eventually, what does Pester Power mean to you… an early loss of innocence or a leap of knowledge and awareness? Your call!

PESTER - POWER!

“Why does Recruitment advertising suck?”

4Ps B&M's Monojit Lahiri wonders why this “genre” regularly produces ad’s that stink!

Advertising has been defined by the big daddies’ as salesmanship in print & the only business solely engaged in the business of ideas. New-age hi-flyers have added their numbers by labeling it (stylishly) as the persuasion industry and (cynically) as a conniving smooth, hydra-headed seductress obsessed in the manufacture of needs & creation of wants – mostly of an unnecessary nature! While a zillion other definitions can scream into focus, there is one simple definition agreed upon: Advertising is essentially about ideas, products or services to a pre-determined target base to attract/garner, a required, pre-determined result.

While huge strides have taken place in the creation, crafting and delivery modes straddling various categories & segments, why is it that similar progress has nowhere near touched the terrain of recruitment advertising? Why are most ads so achingly dull, boring and one-dimensional without the faintest trace of energy, excitement or engagement? Are they perceived as a get-it-over-and-done-with exercise, a mandatory statuary need-based function that does not need any imagination or creativity? Why does one get the feeling that most of these listless ads are done with clenched fists & gritted teeth by their creators who believe it’s “crap” that they are doing, away from the exciting, award-winning world of FMCGs?

Grey’s brand new NCD, Priti Nair, blasts off in style. “Time was when kids fresh into the copy arena, used to celebrate when they got a recruitment ad! They believed it represented a huge creative opportunity & pulled out the stops to make it rock. Why? Because, they feared, it could well be the only chance they got to showcase their potential as imaginative animals. In those days you really had to prove your worth & earn your spurs to catch the Creative Director’s eye…nothing came easy.” Today, Nair laments, times have changed. Everything is “democratised & everyone gets a chance to do everything.” There is no pecking order or heirachy any more. The result is the value & worth of opportunities is slowly disappearing; learning is no longer a big deal & now with technology, anyone can produce a decent ad quickly. The ideation process has really taken a big hit! “I also blame clients for the lack of importance they attach to this category of communication. Right from the brief downwards; the process is most shabby and un-focused. No wonder most ads look like cheap pamphlets distributed outside railway stations!”
 
Equs Red Cell’s Swapan Seth offers his own take. “In the entire scam scenario, recruitment advertising is a low-hanging fruit. How often can you get away with a smart visual & logo? Besides this category requires listing of jobs which is generally perceived as a data-processors job.” Seth believes that despite all the road blocks, recruitment advertising can be interesting & cites the example of the legendary Neil French’s stuff for the Ball partnership. “We did some good stuff for Equs Red Cell a few years ago too. They can be interesting provided one is interested & has interest in them.”

Mumbai’s creative queen Elsie Nanji is totally bewildered by the complete lack of freshness (dull as hell) in this segment. She confesses that she’s always loved doing recruitment ads & remembers the first one she did for Lakme over two decades ago. “They were swamped with applications, tore their hair while trying to deal with it & immediately signed us – a small fledging agency in those days – as one of their agencies. Soon we became their only agency & the relationship endures, strong as ever, even today. Same with another client, Water Kingdom, looking for life guards. We received heaps of awards, at home & abroad.” Nanji genuinely believes that companies are letting go of a great opportunity to “romance the brand” in a simple yet profound manner.

Sumanto Chattopadhya, O&M’s ECD (South Asia) with his rock-star looks concludes the debate in his own special way. He believes that when demand is greater than supply, all an ad needs to do is announce availability of whatever is being advertised. “No matter how tackily this is done, it will find target. So it is with jobs. People are so desperate to find them, they will devour them, no matter how badly they are done. Further the fact that there are dedicated recruitment pages & supplements completely decimates the initiative of imaginatively, interestingly crafting these ads. Pity, because these are ads that offer astonishing creative opportunities to go out-of-the-box & fly… Mohammed Khan’s 10th anniversary ad for Enterprise remains a masterpiece in this genre. It’s so sad that it’s an ‘endangered species’ today…”

At the end of the day, admittedly, there is no ideal recruitment ad, but it is astonishing that even top class advertising agencies – who fancy themselves to be professional custodians of the art of branding and masters of creativity that works in the market place – remain totally oblivious to the simple fact that this genre can offer huge brand equity to the product (organisation).

After all one is selling the companies corporate image to prospects with the sole intention of attracting the best talents. Doesn’t creativity and imagination – like in other categories – have a part to play? It must be remembered that in today’s image conscious world, vision, mission, strengths, achievements, environment and most importantly what it has to offer in terms of growth and development, is the key. A strategic fusion of how an exciting ad today can take the prospect to a rewarding tomorrow is what good recruitment advertising is all about. Finally, recruitment advertising should be understated (no tom-tomming & boasting, please!), warm and projecting a people friendly space allowing the respondent to feel good about the place… even before being a part of it! Ready for a change?

“Why does Recruitment advertising suck?”