FRIENDSHIP

FRIENDSHIP AS AD PLATFORM… SIMPLISTIC OR SHARP?!

4Ps B&M MONOJIT LAHIRI ATTEMPTS A DIPSTICK, AND GUESS WTAH SHOWS UP?

Friendship as a special, precious and unique bonding between people has been hymned and celebrated in popular culture – movies, songs, stories – from ages. However, as a canny marketing mover n’shaker … well, let me think about it! Sure there have been loads of ads touching this theme, but it is the recent bunch – Airtel, Vodaphone, Cadbury – that has got people talking. Overnight this amazing communion and bonding (with special focus on Youngistan) has zoomed centre-stage, winning friends and influencing people in a manner that would make Dale Carnegie beam till his face exploded! With Airtel’s iconic Hare ek friend, and now Jo mera hai leading the pack, with Vodafone and Cadbury ads following, this category of Relationship Marketing seeks to clearly (explore? exploit? leverage? front? use? capitalise? cash-in-on?) celebrate this human emotion to achieve a commercial purpose, right? Is it right? More importantly, is it working?

Veteran Ad person Ayesha Sehgal (earlier with Delhi-based Clarion) is first off the block and wastes no time in small talk. “At the risk of being a killjoy let me come straight to the point. Sure the Airtel ads are hugely popular – as are the others – but my belief is that it is because of the feel-good factor and brilliant execution, rather than any great, ground-breaking concept. They are all too simplistic, basic, naïve, lame, and even lazy! For me they typically amplify the seductive dangers of new-age film-making – superb casting, great direction, fab camera work, amazing lyrics and music … but is it saying anything special that would persuade me to be converted from charmed-audience to determined consumer? I don’t think so,” she tells 4Ps B&M.

Ace Ad filmmaker Ram Madhvani – who has incidentally supervised the terrific camera work in both the new Airtel ads – brings his evolved and mature take to the table. “While it’s a free country and opinions will happen when ads hit the public domain, some critical points really need to tbe considered,” says Madhvani. The veteran believes that the Airtel advertisement’s connect and focus – as per brief mandated – demanded a connect with its constituency. What better than popular culture, tapping youngistan and their lingo? Political Commentator Sudheendra Kulkarni aptly elaborates this point by saluting the youthful idealism of the mind-blowing lyrics … I-Me-Myself boring hai / Us and we interesting hai / Internet hai to friendship hai / Friendship hai to sharing hai/ Main aur tu se hum bane / Humse bane humsab / Sabse jude to zindagi / Hey Zindagi, wassup!

Ultimately, Madhvani believes, that some fundamental questions need to be asked … “Are you humming along? Does it make you smile and feel good every time you see these ads? Do you remember this words? Does it, in any way, inspire bonding? The objective was not to demonstrate our communication skills through heavy-handed esoteric experimentation and creative leaps but showcase the connectivity aspect, with warmth and memorability,” Madhvani tells 4Ps B&M.

Lloyd Mathias agrees, Founder-Director of GreenBean Ventures (and Former President & CMO, Tata Teleservices), he takes the case forward. “As a category-fit, the Airtel ads are bang-on because the telecom business is about connectivity. The brownie point, however, come from their superbly creative interpretation and rendition of friendship vis-à-vis youngistan! To Gen Y, friends do define their life and world, and playing out this feeling / experience in mad-cap, care-free ways is the name of this game. Friendship, as anchor, works brilliantly here,” he tells 4Ps B&M. However, Mathias warns that friendship as a team / platform must be carefully leveraged, otherwise it could well appear both corny and contrived.

ECD Bates (Mumbai) and film scriptwriter (Vicky Donor), Juhi Chaturvedi is up next. For her these work brilliantly solely on the brand-fit quotient. “Airtel, Cadbury, Vodafone and some others have smartly hit the emotional route via the friendship theme because, in terms of profile, it works best. It’s a great strategy. In all these cases, the magic of youth and bonding form the soul of their communication smartly tied with the product proposition ensuring a very successful and rewarding audience / consumer take-out,” says Juhi.Anjali Nayar agrees. The Chief Executive of M&C Saatchi (Delhi) just loves “the basic simplicity that drives these ads powered by warmth, spontaneity and honesty. In these complex and tension-filled times, the full-throated, open demonstration of friendship is a hugely re-assuring factor and does evoke memories of our youth and what bonding is all about.” The energy, charm and excitement that infuse these ads, along with the amazing, inspirational and focused lyrics, make it stand out, for Mrs. Nayar.

Veteran Ad-watcher Saurabh Vyas winds up the debate, raining on the parade and playing serious Devil’s Advocate. “We live in a time when style gobbles up substance, form rules over content and appearance is perceived as reality. In this dumbed-down environment where the Bollywood influence is all-pervasive and is constantly referred to – wrongly – as Indian Cinema and even otherwise sane people like Sudheendra Kulkarni (shockingly?) Compare Jo mera hai to the iconic Mile sur mera tumhara … what can I say? These and definitely finely crafted and engaging ads on the theme of friendship, but do they impact the product they are meant to promote … Or truly celebrate friendship, youngistan-style? They are far too superficial and populist like the Bollywood movies, cleverly designed to manipulate and patio the emotional, feel-good quotient of Gen Y – which they successfully seemed to have done. For me it’s certainly a hugely over-rated, over-hyped song and dance extravaganza signifying nothing … but in a space where the Rs. 100 crore club calls the shots and popularity has hi-jacked quality, minority voices hardly stand a chance …!!” says the acerbic critic. What’s your take, dear reader?

FRIENDSHIP

AMUL GIRL

50 CHEERS FOR THE 5 DECADES... AND THE LESSONS WITHIN

YOU CAN CRITICIZE THEIR MARKETING IF YOU REALLY WANT TO NITPICK, BUT EVEN THEN, YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET A STRAND OFF THEIR LEGENDARY ADVERTISING. 4Ps B&M MONOJIT LAHIRI TRIES TO DECODE WHAT MAKES AMUL’S ADVERTISING SO ENDURINGLY ENDEARING EVEN IN ITS FIFTH DECADE AND WHAT CAN INDIAN MARKETERS LEARN FROM IT

It, is arguably the longest running outdoor campaign in the world and – along with Air Indian’s Maharaja ads – the most eagerly awaited and consumed slices of communication, this side of the Suez! How did it all begin? Whose Big Idea was it? What made it catch fire and become the legend it has? What powered and inspired its continuing march into history? What magic makes this transition from imagination to sketchpad to billboards to a zillion hearts and minds, for 50 years, such a riveting and compelling journey?

FLASHBACK TIME – CIRCA 1966

Amul Butter had already been in the market for at least 10 years, positioned as “processed from the purest milk under the most hygienic condition by a dairy co-operative in Gujarat.” It was up against the much more popular Polson Butter. “The communication needed features to be converted to advantages, in look and spirit away from the lantern lecture to an indifferent audience,” recalls the founding father of this legendary campaign Sylvester [Sylvie] Dacunha, who headed the agency handling the account. To again with, it needed a snappy, cool yet simple and memorable slogan to define it. His brilliant (English Lecturer) wife Nisha suggested ‘Utterly Amul’ to which the creative Dacunha added in a flash ‘butterly’ – and bingo, a deathless slogan was born! While he was convinced of its connect with the public, his client wasn’t so sure, but it was a sign of the turst and confidence of their hedad honcho the visionary Dr. Varghese Kurien’s in Sylvie when he said “I think its utterly mad, but if you think it will work, go right ahead!”

Slogan frozen, the ad next needed something more vital, critical and central – a presence, spokesman who would act as an appropriate counter-point to the popular Polson Butter Girl, portrayed as a sexy village belle, in tantalizing choli, all but covering her upper regions! “I sensed it had to be a child, impish and lovable” flashbacks Dacunha and explained this to his brilliant Visualiser-cum- Cartoonist Eustace Fernandes. “He came up with this utterly delectable polka-dotted, frocked moppet, with matching ribbons, smacking her lips, as if to say Utterly Butterly Delicious!” Naughty, cuddly, innocent, and amart, the duo sensed they had a winner! From their earliest advertisement “Give us this day our daily bread with Amul Butter” till today, cries of “how cute”, “how clever” and “how smart” have been flailing the air. What’s the real secret behind this four-letter word that continues to move from strength to strength seducing each generation with unfailing doses of surprise and delight?

In fact, a host of celebs enthusiastically raise their hands wishing to respond in Amul’s India, a compilation of essays by knon personalities including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajdeep Sardesai, Harsha Bhogle, Shyam Benegal, Shobhaa De, Alyque Padamsee and others. For instance, Big B believes “it is a departure from the straight, in-your-face pronouncements of products, offering a winning three-fold-edge over others – brand, humour and topicality.” Columnist Shobha De reckons that their “lovable, wonderful, non-intrusive style could never have been strategically planned. It was bound to have emerged, intuitively, in a blinding flash of inspiration.” While sexy Sania Mirza enjoys their relevance and “play on current events”, ex-Wall Rahul Dravid happily confessers that for him and his brother, they were a fun-part of their growing-up years in Bangalore. “Years later, to be featured, felt nice!” says Drivid. Cricket Commentator Harsha Bhogle is up next, perceiving these iconic ads as “charming chronicher of our times, not with the weightiness and gravitas of historians & academicians, but delightfully light-weight & tongue-in-cheek”, while veteran Ad-Pundit Alyque Padamsee reckons that they stole a march over those great Maharaja-led Air India ads because they were – and remains – more rooted and gloriously in-sync with the India story. “Also the ability to combine audacity with humour that is never loud, low-brow or insensitive, and always audience-friendly is remarkt-able,” says Padamsee.

Great – but times, they-are-a-changin’! As this template steps into its golden year, what are the new challenges that confront it? In the restless, promiscuous and impatient times that we live in, when nothing is sacred, everyone/everything is up for sale, and cynicism is the ruling mood, will the charm, gentleness and innocence that graced this brand-story be able to resonate with youngistan and today’s blasé junta? Rahul Dacunha – son and heir to the throne and present brand custodian – responds with elaninherited from his illustrious dad: “We are fully conscious of the transition and have made every effort to not be bogged down in a time-warp or nostaligia. In the nano-second times we live, change is the only constant and we have tried to tap into this through creative chutzpah, converting challenges into opportunities.” How?”By dividing India into five zones: Mumbai, East, South, the Hindi belt and Facebook because of its huge relevance and popularity with one kind of TG. Also because it has a life and personality of its own,” he answers. Every morning Rahul and his small, gifted team sit down to identify what is topical, relevant and lends itself to an audience-friendly send-up. These ads (mostly) are not pan-India in thrust because of region-specific reasons. What tickles, amuses or delights one region may be irrelevant to another. “Our strike-rate seems to be good by the response we receive. We strive to do our best, everyday, for three reasons. One, because of the unconditional faith, trust, confidence the client continues to repose on us. Two, the people’s expectations. Lastly, the deep awareness of living up and taking forward the great, iconic Amul brand-story that the name symbolises,” says Rahul.

Social & Media Commentator Santosh Desai aptly sums it up when he calls these billboards “moving timeline marking what we have considered significant at various points of time. It is also one of a country coming in touch with itself, even as it transforms beyond recognition. From a somewhat disconnected class liveing in a world of its own, we see a new narrative, distinctive language, its own set of heroes & issues... a running commentary on what it sees, feels and experiences as it accompanies us on this glorious ride.” Even priceless will be an understatement for these four letters (Amul), we would say!

AMUL GIRL

A SALUTE TO KERSY KATRAK

THE BIG DADDY OF BIG IDEA – THE (UNOFFICIAL) MEMOIR

4PS B&M’S MONOJIT LAHIRI GOES DOWN MEMORY LANE TO SALUTE KERSEY KATRAK, THE FATHER OF INDIA’S CREATIVE ADVERTISING, THE BIG DADDY OF BIG IDEAS AND THE GENTLEMAN WHO SEDUCED HIM – AND SCORES OF OTHERS – TO HOTFOOT IT TO THE MOST EXCITING PROFESSION ON PLANET EARTH AS PLAYED OUT IN THE MOST EXCITING AD AGENCY OF THE DAY, MCM!

Living down a famous dad’s name is never easy in any calling. Advertising is no different. For years, I pasted on a fatuous and moronic smile every time my surname came into play, invariably leading to the inevitable “Oh, so you are Sanat Lahiri/Sanatda/Sanat Babu’s son? Naturally, advertising is in your blood!” Proud and happy as I was – and a bit embarrassed, awkward and inadequate too! – the truth can now be told since both my dad and the guy who turned me on to mosey across to Adville are up there, bogeying in the biggest Ad Congress of all!

No, advertising was not really in my blood; and no again, I did not come into advertising because of my famous [ex – Lintas, Dunlop, Tata, ICI. First Asian President of the IPRA, past President of PRSI & ABC, moving force behind Kolkata Ad Club, and Communication Consultant to the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia & Far East] dad. It was because of a maverick called Kersey Katrak, and an advertising agency called MCM (Mass communication and Marketing)!

It all began in college when, accidentally, a couple of ads slammed my retina. It was my first introduction to the supernova and his audacious take on advertising. Sharp, in-your-face and brazenly unapologetic, the ads challenged you to ignore them, as they teasingly went eyeball to eyeball with you! It really shook me up! Instantly – I was in my final year of English Honours at Kolkata’s St. Xavier’s College – I dumped all thoughts of journalism and zeroed in on knowing more about the freako who’d made the ads and his shop. I had discovered my Camelot!

My dad [while not doing a tango as he listened to my breathless whoopee about those advertisements and wild plans for the future] was supportive. I am forever grateful for that. Coming from a different space and conditioned to the politically correct and conventional stuff dished out by the likes of JWT, Ogilvy and Clarion [Bates] of those distant [60s & 70s] times, Katrak’s provocative and way-out stuff could well have freaked him out – but he appeared cool. It was my life and he was there to guide – not monitor – my moves, if and when called upon to do so. In the break that existed between exams and results, I did a quick orientation course at JWT to get an authentic reality-bite into the industry I was dying to join. After completing it – loved it – I immediately left for Mumbai… Operation MCM!

After Kolkata and JWT, Mumbai MCM at Colaba (Bakhtawar) and the super-hot dude who authored the show blew my young mind! The advertising agencies back home were nice n’ smart in an old fashioned, conventional way [“We’re here to do business, not entertain, deah boy!”] but what was this? The interiors were surreal and psychedelic! A pub, disco or an Adshop? I felt I was suddenly transported to Lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds land! Man, this truly was a life-after-death experience…! Just as I was recovering from this sublime and heady ambience, a tap on the shoulder got me face-to-face with the man himself…

Sporting Jeans, a cool Tee and comfy sandals, Kersey Katrak of the trimmed beard and glowing handsome face didn’t look a day older than 30, although he was reported to be in his mid-thirties. After warmly greeting me, ushering me to a small anteroom and ensuring that my Elvis-like trembling cooled off [was this for real?!] he did two things that made me love him – and the profession – for life. First he clicked a button that got the shades of the windows to part… in theatrical slo-mo… offering a spectacular view of the sea. While I started zombie-like at the impossibly amazing visual, he politely enquired whether I would like to join him in enjoying a Pink Gin or Gin n’ Tonic? Seeing my chloroformed look, he assured me that it wasn’t fatal, my dad would approve and most importantly, a great way to connect with creativity. “Leaning on the juices and wetting the old tonsils does wonders for anyone keen on waking the dead, son!” intoned the great one. [I was to understand the full import of this, with time.]

After a few sips of the magic brew and lots of help from the Guru, I let fly. I showed him some of my published poems and articles and gave him my expert opinion on advertising and my plans, once I entered the business. He listened with great interest to this greenhorn [whose tongue was loosened by a drop and friendly encouragement to keep going], sometimes inviting me to recite some of my favourite poems. He confessed he loved poetry too and even wrote some “in my lighter moments”. Suddenly, without and reference to context, he said “You’re on, buddy! Join us first of next month. You will have to relocate, struggle, stay away from family and girlfriend. You will receive a stipend but will have to be supported by your old man. Once we see that you are settled and flying, everything will fall in place. Just remember one thing. MCM is not and ad agency. It’s a temple and disco which worships and celebrates ideas that transform lives… good luck!” Exit Kersey Katrak. Enter the incredulous beginning of dream, floating on air all the way to my host’s residence at Bandra… and later, all the way back to Kolkata! For a variety of reasons, alas, MCM didn’t work out for me and I ended up joining JWT, Kolkata, where I was privileged to interact with and learn my craft from another great and towering icon, Subhas Ghosal… but hey, that’s a story for some other time. This one’s about Kersey, who is widely considered the father of creative advertising.

What was so special about the guy, who all his life was admired and envied in equal measure and who, all those years ago, blew my mind through that one life-transforming session? What was so inspirational about him that so strongly coloured my mind about this whole business of creativity in advertising and what a true-blue ad agency should really be … those three magical alphabets (MCM) that was to become the abracadabra of my life? Despite the fact that – tragically – I never had the opportunity of working with him, the aura, achievements and legend of Kersey Katrak in the early seventies were impossible to ignore.

Among the game-changers, was first his idea to create an ambiance first his idea to create an ambiance that attracted the best of quality and talent… send out vibes that pulled, magnet-like, anybody who dreamt – and dared – to be different. The vision to green-light an institution, movement and journey that ideation – without protection! (Imagine, Ravi Gupta, Arun Nanda, Mohmed Khan in Client Servicing and Arun Kolhatker, Kiran Nagerker, Panna Jain and Sudhershan Dheer – all working together under the same roof!). Also initiate, encourage and hand-hold darpoks within the client & agency fraternity to break the rules – both in style and substance – if they wanted to impact mind and market space in a boring, imitative and cluttered scenario. Much before Loyalty Programmes, Animated Heroes, lifestyle Advertising and Event Launches became fashionable buzzwords, Kersey and his team had been there and done that!

Fresh, startling provocative, reality-based advertising mandated to viagrize the dead back to life in never-before manner was the anthem. Charismatic, articulate, daring, flamboyant of style [He was the only ad agency CEO who zoomed around in a Merc and threw lavish parties that were coveted by the who’s who of high society!] and generous of spirit, Kersey Katrak was truly a man among men, whose legacy and vision was to influence the thinking and direction of such hot-shot, celeb agencies as Trikaya, Enterprise, and Rediffusion, to name just three.

Yup, KK was my rockstar, the sexy pied who got me – and many others – into the business and shaped the ad world’s earliest ideas of what advertising can do and should be, insisting as only he could, that people who truly love this business must remember never to be compromised; remember that they have not forfeited their right to dream or lost the ability to re-imagine and re-context the world as they believe it should be…

That was Kersey Katrak, the inspirational samurai, the glamorous gladiator forever seducing the edgy, freaky, quirky and courageous to abandon all Jurassic notions to take that much needed sabbatical from their dreary, boring safety-net-fitted life and finally that leap of faith and touch heights sublime… Kersey passed away in 2007.

When comes such another?

A SALUTE TO KERSY KATRAK

THE LATEST HAVELLS FANS TVC

THE LAST LEARS CAN YESTERYEAR SUPERSTARS RUN THE LAST MILE? 

IF YOU WATCHED THE HAVELLS TVC FEATURING RAJESH KHANNA AND IF YOU RECALL THAT THE AD WAS FOR HAVELLS FANS, THEN THE AGENCY (LOWE) DID ITS JOB WELL BUT IS THAT THE MAJORITY VIEW OR IS IT JUST ME WHO’S, ER, NOT A ‘FAN’?

It all started when a brilliant and celebrated and luminary very recently threw a poser my way – “What is you opinion of the Havells fans TVC starring Rajesh Khanna that is currently being aired?” I hesitated to answer. Having been an ad person for close to four decades and having expressed many of my opinions with the pen on films for an equally long length of time, I sure found the question tricky. Reason: answers to such questions are never one-liners. I knew it.

I must confess. I’ve had the good fortune of enjoying a ringside seat and tracking down the total RK phenomenon all the way. And I have never tired of telling people that there has never been a bigger superstar than Rjaesh Khanna in his heydays. No Dilip, Dev, Raj, Rajendra, Dharam, Shammi, Manoj – or even the Big B or Khans – could match the hysteria he generated in those pre-satallite, pre –zillion media channels and Facebook days. Sure, the Big B’s angry young man’s persona marked the beginning of RK’s end as the emperor of romance, but between 1968-1974, or so, Kaka was the undisputed emperor of Kingdom Bollywood and much beyond.

At one point I recall, this quasi-godly superstar had 2 silver and 2 golden jubilees running in Mumbai at the same time (don’t bother if you don’t understand what a silver or golden jubille means)! And then, as Bachchan’s star ascended the Bollywood sky with Zanjeer, Deewar and Sholay, Khanna’s star tragically nosedived. Rajesh did make some feeble attempts to return – the most horrific ones being fanaa…let’s Fall in love in 2006 and Wafaa in 2008 with little-known heroines, both which mercifully for him didn’t take off – but his mannered, stylized acting was way out-of-sync with the new viewer. The factuality was that kaka had long back moved from sight to memory. In the Famous words of Avijit Ghosh, a veteran journalist, “With half of Rajesh’s acting ability, one-third his waistline and four times his discipline, Jeetendra swept the market down South for weepy socials and mindless entertainers!”

So how about the Havells fans’ TVC featuring Khanna? Lowe and boss man Balki’s team seem to have pulled a yesteryear celebrity out of mothballs perhaps basing their gut-feel on the fact that Khanna might be able to generate huge brand recall. Ponder on this issue for a moment. I recall Khann’s face pretty well – and my virtuous image at the start of this op-ed would be enough for you to guess my age and the age to which I belong. For argument’s sake, even you might recall Khanna; and I can bet my last remaining Edward shilling that you’ll surely be around 40 years of age, if not easily above. But ask a few respondents in the age groups 20-30, and you start realizing that not only do a significant majority of them have no idea of who in heavens is Rajesh Khanna (and that throws the recall issue out of the value chain), but also that there’s no way that they would be convinced to buy a fan because of him. The latter part of this argument applies to even the age groups that know the 70s king of cinematograph. Would you buy a product now because, um, Kaka says so?

Others too have echoed similar feelings. Creative hotshot Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar [NCD, Bates 141] finds the punning – Havells fans and RK’s fans – laboured. Mahabaleshwarkar is disappointed that the attempt comes from an outfit that created the wonderful ‘Fago re!’ and What an Idea Sirjee!’ campaigns.

While Pritish Nandy, media commentator and head of Pritish Nandy Communications, dismisses the TVC summarily as “a silly parody of the ex-superstar”, film scholar and historian Rauf Ahmed believes the ad-film was an interesting opportunity that got derailed by pitching it wrong. Nandan Dasgupta, a Delhi-based legal practitioner, refuses to be as charitable and believes that the ad is made in bad taste and blames one and all responsible for this “regressive commentary on the human condition.” Former ad-professional, author and columnist Bunny Suraiya is equally critical, “The act is similar to flogging a dead horse. Havells must have gotten him cheap.”

But then, there are others who feel that airing the TVC was worth the toil that went into making it. One cannot deny that it was imaginative and bold of Lowe to have identified a decades-old star who had slipped off the public radar. There is not denying that the attempt to spring a surprise on TV screens with RK, and hit the nostalgia button for his many fans – especially of the 50+ variety – was a conscious decision. Brave it was too for the creative heads to imagine that they could do well without the usual clan of actors who pose for hair oils and mango juices. Perhaps there was nothing in the script and dialogue to support and enhance the surprise element of RK, but him spouting unexpected CSR lines wouldn’t have made the case strong for Havells either.

Personally, I found a few clear blind spot in the ad. The Look that the Aradhana golden boy maintains is worrying [Is he suffering from something serious?]; further, shots of him surrounded with fans and a soundtrack loaded with tired clichés [Mujhse mera fans koi nahin chheen sakta] sound more like dirges of a sad era and are difficult to digest with a smile.

The creator of the TVC (Balki), admits that one requires tremendous confidence, sense of security and calm to undertake and execute a TVC of this type. He says that when Havells decided to resurrect the superstar, there were unhappy faces all around. He is however pleased with the reaction to the ad. “A majority loved it and the polarising views work like an event. Emotion runs high. Placing people and circumstances in public memory has been an achievement.” Well, let’s hope that happens. My critique editorial itself is advantage enough for Balki. And as far as Havells goes, tis the seasons for fans I say; not that I’m gaining too many.

THE LATEST HAVELLS FANS TVC