Maruti’s latest ‘Big Esteem’ quotient...
...directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, the latest ad for Maruti from Lowe Lintas wows!

(column by R. Prasad)

Remember that beautiful ad which leaves nothing but a smile on your face, where an inquisitive, little girl shouts in her squeaky voice, “My Daddy’s bigggggg car” on seeing a brandnew Esteem? And you thought it can’t get bigger and better for the ‘big’ car manufacturer Maruti? Well, they are back and this time completely redefining the meaning of ‘Esteem’ & with quite aplomb.

And once again, you will appreciate the concept. A little girl examining her daddy’s car – an Esteem of course – with a trademark curiosity asks the meaning of Esteem. “Esteem means what?”, she quizzes. To this the father replies “Esteem means honour, pride.” Not satisfied with the answer, the girl probes further. The father makes her comprehend, “Pride means feeling good inside.” Follows an almost instant naïve reply from her, “Like ice-cream?” Amused, the father answers, “Esteem ka matlab andar se you feel big.” As the word ‘big’ registers in her mind, she explores it throughout the journey – “Esteem tree, esteem road, esteem mountain!” Meanwhile, the Voice Over calls out: ‘The easy to own big car. Big on power, big on mileage.” And the commercial ends with the girl explaining to her pal, “I am more esteem than you.”

The story line of the ad surely is ‘wow!’, but just check out the people behind making of the ad – conceived by Lowe Lintas and master-minded by Priti Nair Chakravarthy, the new campaign has been directed by ace Bollywood Director, Nagesh Kukunoor (of Hyderabad Blues, Iqbal and Dor fame) and has been produced by Rajan Vahi.

According to Priti Nair Chakravarthy, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas, the brief to the creative team from the client side was to showcase the ‘joy of a big car.’ Quiz Priti Nair about the usage of father- daughter relation and she is quick to state, “The father-daughter relationship is a very unique & special bond. It’s potent and that’s what we wanted to explore.”

The commercial scores high on the scale of quirkiness and banks big on the small and able shoulders of the girl. Though people yearn to see more of the girl in the earlier ad, the new face in this one does not disappoint one bit, rather delivers a sweet cameo. Both the actors who were part of the earlier father-daughter commercial have been replaced and Priti reasons, “To refresh the commercial, or it would have been more of the same thing.” The ad was shot close to Alibaug, on the Murud Zanzira stretch in Maharashtra and as per Priti, the team had to do a lot of homework in selecting the right location and zero in on the best girl. The journey of the ad from the stage of conception to the final product surely had its share of hilarious moments. Priti Nair fondly remembers, “The ice-cream eating shot was very funny because it went on and on.” But, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And Priti is quite optimistic, “The early reactions have been good. People are finding the commercial sweet.”

The latest from Maruti Esteem is surely set to drive the customer on a highway, devoid of pot holes and increase the ‘esteem’ of the car in their minds. And as they unleash a sentimental piece along with a brand-new definition of Esteem, can we declare, this one is more Esteem than the last?

(End of R. Prasad column)

Time to bet big via online!
JWT finds a fresh way to lure youth

(column by Romsha Singh)

Undoubtedly, creativity and media planning still remains at its best for JWT, but now, the company has started looking much beyond this daily affair. As the world is banking on the evergrowing internet, so no reasons for JWT to lag behind but make hay while the sun is shining. The advertising company is planning to grab a share of the online pie.

An attempt to tap the youth envisaging their dependence on the internet, how can an ad agency of JWT’s fame not make use of the opportunity before anyone else does. Affirms Rohit Ohri, Head of Office, JWT, New Delhi, “Online service has become increasingly attractive to the marketers in the current scenario as the youth gives the internet a lot more time than the television now, and why not, when it is available 24-hours a day.”

With almost every company, be it Pepsi, Levi’s or Nike, making their presence felt aggressively online, there is nothing to hold back any successful agency which wants to go bigger than it already is. And yes, there are some constraints in this dream run, as agrees Ohri, “There are no doubts to some constraints. Some push and pull factors exist, but the fact is that the internet is here to stay and therefore we have decided to foray into this new segment.”

JWT has plans to venture into digital and mobile communication as well, which appears to be its main concern right now apart from making acquisitions of online ad space and eyeing related marketing services in India. It will also offer the employees of JWT to explore and try their hands at various other domains.

As the online advertising and marketing is growing like never before globally, and becoming the norm of the youth, for the internet surfers ruling their purchasing decisions, JWT is betting big on their forthcoming venture. However, still the Indians greatly rely on the idiot box, the dailies and the magazines to find out what is the hottest ‘in-thing’ or what is selling at minimum prices. So, is the online route going to be the golden geese for it? Especially when JWT seems to enter the ‘ad-space war’ online, (where many may join soon), time can only tell!

Movements

Rajeev Karwal (President and CEO of consumer durables, IT and telecom divisions of Reliance Retail) was one of the first high-profile hires of the Mukesh Ambani’s ambitious retail plans and he, interestingly, is also the first to put in his papers. The place of the ex-CEO of Electrolux India will be taken by Ajay Baijal, who was heading the channel business (wireless) at Anil-controlled Reliance Infocomm. The movement also marks the first top-level poaching between the businesses of two brothers.

• In the ad world, Sanjeev Gauba has joined Bates Enterprise as its Vice President after he quit Dentsu Communications seven months back. At Dentsu India, after the recent resignation of its two Executive Creative Directors, Sudip Bhattacharya (Creative Consultant, Dentsu Communications) and Rajat Basra (Associate Vice-President, Dentsu Media Palette) have also called it quits. While Bhattacharya is moving to M&C Saatchi as Creative Director, Basra is tight-lipped for the time being.
• Also, Aiyana Gunjan is joining Dentsu Marcom as Director, Strategic Planning. Arjun Mukherjee, who had resigned from Rediffusion DY&R, has joined Capital Advertising as its VP. Also, V. S. Rao has been elevated to the position of GM of R. K. Swamy, Hyderabad from the post of Associate Branch Director in Bangalore.
• While Vishal Chinchankar, who was earlier placed at Mindshare Interaction (India) as the Business Director has moved to MindShare Interaction, Singapore. Its CEO, Manpreet Singh, has decided to call it quits.
• As Neville Taraporewalla, ex-Yahoo! India Chief, takes over Connecturf as its MD, Yahoo! India has a new addition. Pete Deemer will join as the Chief Product Officer (R&D), Yahoo! India.

Anything but ‘just out of the Blue’!
Boasting a colossal client base, Pinxit Blue is all set to take on the biggies...

(column by R. Prasad)

Over the past many months, 4Ps B&M has relentlessly tracked some of the most eminent advertising agencies in the country and has tried to bring to the fore-front, the USP of the agency. While many of them defined their USP at once, there were others who did not believe in the concept, but have nevertheless managed to differentiate themselves from the herd in their own unique way. Our agency for the fortnight, Pinxit Blue belongs to this very breed of agencies. “We at Pinxit Blue do not believe in the concept of USP. We believe in MSP (Marketable Selling Proposition),” is what Nishigandh, Creative Director, Pinxit Blue has to offer.

In the zeal to progress and evolve, which has won Pinxit Blue an amazing list of clients and a whopping growth of 90% in a span of two years ranging from 2004 to 2006 – more than the average industry growth rate during this period. What sets this one apart is its way of functioning. Pinxit Blue believes in collaborating with clients to help them fully understand the impact of emerging products, markets and technologies. “As the saying goes, ‘50% of my advertising is wasted, the trouble is, I don't know which half’. So we help our client skip that 50% and give him optimum results from the remaining 50%,” says Nishigandh. And he quickly adds, “After all, a client’s growth is our growth.”

Their stupendous growth and amazing fundas surely wow, but a look at their clientele will make you believe that not manyadvertising agencies today can boast a client base that encompasses almost every segment of the market. Pinxit Blue’s clients range from PSUs to retail chains to lifestyle brands to IT companies – Infosys, Deloitte, Google, TCS, Capgemini, Wipro, De Beer's, Tuscan Verve, D’amas, Konkan Railways, Uttaranchal Tourism, to name a few.

As can be seen, IT majors flock heir list. Commenting on the challenge of working for India’s emerging IT sector, Nishigandh states, “Getting projects is not a hurdle, it is rather to have people to do projects. We have helped some of the major IT companies to meet their internal and external communication needs to attract quality people and retain them at the same time.”

In our words, the agency’s USP? Well, it's know-how of the IT industry and a clear focus on the new sunrise sectors like banking & finance, lifestyle, retail and telecom. But, Pinxit Blue has more to offer than just IT expertise. With traditional advertising losing its market share to online, direct marketing and other new forms of communication, Pinxit Blue is realizing the shift in time is smartly transforming for the change. Nishigandh adds impatiently, “We understand the brand first and then we decide on communication.”

Pinxit Blue is moving on a blitzkrieg path and has cemented its place firmly in the minds of the client, and calling it “agency out of the Blue” would surely be at your own peril!

(End of R. Prasad column)