Airtel scores over Kumble gandhigiri
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Today's newspapers were filled with the news of Kumble's "humble" goodwill gesture not to press charge against Hogg. It was splashed on the main page India wide and going by the reaction of public lately, the news was nothing less than a wild fire. More than any fan or sportperson or cricketer himself (except maybe for the main characters of the story) , no one would have bitten more nails than the newspaper wallah's and TV channel people (TRPs scored a high for it).
But if you would have seen the morning newspaper, you'd know one company that left them way behind in branding - Airtel. See the ad below, Airtel came up with the tagline Barriers brake when people talk a month back. There couldn't have been a more apt situation for the ad insert.
But if you would have seen the morning newspaper, you'd know one company that left them way behind in branding - Airtel. See the ad below, Airtel came up with the tagline Barriers brake when people talk a month back. There couldn't have been a more apt situation for the ad insert.
Labels: BTL, Marketing Practices, Print Ad
posted by Jas @ 2:15 AM,
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Whopper Freak Out
Saturday, January 12, 2008
In the time when virals have just become a norm, stings are outdated and launching a new website just for a viral campaign is anything but hot; there is a fresh air of innovation to all this with the Burger King's latest campaign - Whopper Freak Out.
In this hidden camera style video, we get to see how people react when they are told the Whopper (the most popular burger from Burger King) has been permanently discontinued, as well as how customers react when the bags they are given contain not Whoppers, but Big Mac���s or Wendy���s burgers. A dirty game maybe, but surely works for their customers.
I was wondering how ling would they go, and even if you end it all up saying it was all a small joke ; I bet you will lose some loyalty. But thats where the campaign scores, it ends in a wonderful way which you have to see the campaign to appreciate.
Click the snapshot below to see the campaign live.
In this hidden camera style video, we get to see how people react when they are told the Whopper (the most popular burger from Burger King) has been permanently discontinued, as well as how customers react when the bags they are given contain not Whoppers, but Big Mac���s or Wendy���s burgers. A dirty game maybe, but surely works for their customers.
I was wondering how ling would they go, and even if you end it all up saying it was all a small joke ; I bet you will lose some loyalty. But thats where the campaign scores, it ends in a wonderful way which you have to see the campaign to appreciate.
Click the snapshot below to see the campaign live.
Website: http://www.whopperfreakout.com/
Labels: BTL, Business, Funny, New Trends, Viral
posted by Jas @ 7:25 PM,
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Vodafone Alert TVCs
Thursday, January 03, 2008
I was at home for last one week, and whatever time I spent along with our idiot box proved the same point - advertising is becoming more of a noisy clutter! But among the indifferentiables in this clutter, there come some fresh changes that really brings back the charm of advertisements. One among this lot is Vodafone's new series of ads promoting its Value Added Services (VAS) - alerts.
Indian telephony has already become a commodity product. Today people easily switch between the brands whenever they get an eligibility (the serious users of one SIM card are also the long term users, as they prefer to keep same number. Hence switching is not frequent but only on special occasions like location change, serious differences with operators etc will the person change the operator.) Due to this only differential is the VAS.
One of these ads start with a guy entering the life but not getting down on any floor. From the morning, it changes to afternoon, then evening and finally night when even the lift attendant leaves. Then a charming lady enters the lift and acknowledges the guy's encouraging looks. The screen then changes to the SMS alert the guy had got in the morning - "You will find your soul mate in elevator today".
There are series of ads and each one is very nicely executed, backed with a fresh idea and a synergised background music. These ads showcase how the role of a professional advertising team helps in the branding exercises. Last few years have seen lot many ads which appealed a lot, were loved by the general audience but still didn't move the sales figures much. But this ad scores well on all fronts; it hits the right chord to the right target group. Its only the SEC A and B mostly which use three or more VAS and hence the subtleness of ads is apt. But the VAS like astrology, news, stocks etc have the scope of volumes due to attractiveness to SEC C which is quite large in number. It will be nice to see how they react to these advertisements.
Here are the the ads on the roll-
PS: Although all seems well with these new series of Vodafone campaigns, just that only one question remains in heart of Hutch loyalists - where has the Hutch dog gone and why!
Indian telephony has already become a commodity product. Today people easily switch between the brands whenever they get an eligibility (the serious users of one SIM card are also the long term users, as they prefer to keep same number. Hence switching is not frequent but only on special occasions like location change, serious differences with operators etc will the person change the operator.) Due to this only differential is the VAS.
One of these ads start with a guy entering the life but not getting down on any floor. From the morning, it changes to afternoon, then evening and finally night when even the lift attendant leaves. Then a charming lady enters the lift and acknowledges the guy's encouraging looks. The screen then changes to the SMS alert the guy had got in the morning - "You will find your soul mate in elevator today".
There are series of ads and each one is very nicely executed, backed with a fresh idea and a synergised background music. These ads showcase how the role of a professional advertising team helps in the branding exercises. Last few years have seen lot many ads which appealed a lot, were loved by the general audience but still didn't move the sales figures much. But this ad scores well on all fronts; it hits the right chord to the right target group. Its only the SEC A and B mostly which use three or more VAS and hence the subtleness of ads is apt. But the VAS like astrology, news, stocks etc have the scope of volumes due to attractiveness to SEC C which is quite large in number. It will be nice to see how they react to these advertisements.
Here are the the ads on the roll-
Elevator 
Husband and Wife
Onion
Goat
PS: Although all seems well with these new series of Vodafone campaigns, just that only one question remains in heart of Hutch loyalists - where has the Hutch dog gone and why!
posted by Jas @ 10:40 AM,
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Customizing credit cards to individuals
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Capital One has launched America's first - "Do-it-yourself" credit card. It has come up with a Web site called Card Lab that gives consumers the opportunity to “build their own” credit card. The customer can choose among various options for introductory and ongoing interest rates, rewards, annual fee (or none), and card design.
The process is essentially comprised of following steps:
The process is essentially comprised of following steps:
- Indicate Credit Level based on past history
- Select Features and Rewards - like if one wants rewards in form of miles/points or cash back; the introductory APR, annual fee etc
- Pick a Design - one can choose from a given set of 9 designs or one can add own image to the card (now thats customization!)
- Review and Apply
The choices are then packaged together to create a card customized to each cardholders' personal preferences. This concept is being used in the USA for the first time whereas this has been tested before in UK and Turkey.
However, there are some trade offs in this venture. Once the applicant makes a choice, a certain number of other choices are closed for him. So, if you want no-frills, no rewards, you can get a lower interest rate. Want points or air miles? The interest rate goes up. Want a 0% interest rate for a year? Expect a higher ongoing rate. Want two points per dollar charged instead of one? Prepare to pay an annual fee.
From a marketing point of view, it does make an impact on consumers for following main reasons:
1. Empowerment
This concept gives the power in the hand of consumer to design what ever they feel like. This brings in more brand loyalty as consumer identifies more with the product.
2. Transparency
The selection process allows consumer to see the trade offs with every selection, hence consumer can know how the APR or annual fee change on selecting the desired cash back for example. The generic way of personalization was to have an online interview approach and make a product recommendation at the end of the process. This is an abstract way as consumer doesn't know what is full platter looking like.
3. Personalization
The site not only allows user to choose the features but also the card image, which can be of a memorable sunny day you enjoyed at Las Vegas. This creates an emotional connect with the consumer, an important building block in marketing.
4. Behavioral data
The data so accumulated from online behavior of consumers will go a long way in helping Capital One to understand consumer and help them design things better to command more loyalty and consumer base.
All said and done, this is one initiative a lot of marketers in cards domain will be watching out for.
Labels: Business, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 5:23 PM,
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