BRAND BUSTERS

BRAND : Motorola
HEADLINE :Tune in Moto
BASELINE : Enjoy FM on the move.
AGENCY : O&M
4Ps TAKE : It’s radio ga-ga all the way, and FM power has become yet another way of enticing mobile customers. The latest Motorola ad is no exception and displays all its models offering one USP: The FM feature! The target audience is clear: The youth, who want to be musically-mobile all the time (be it on long walks or waiting for their boy/girl friend to turn up)! Of course, with the faithful brand ambassador Aby baby around, you can be assured for some eye-candy; Abhishek wows yet again in a stunning shot where he’s clearly grooving to music. Crystal clear communication: Motorola’s FM feature. Not to forget a special mention of the recently launched MOTOFLIPW220. Say hello to FM-loaded Moto!

BRAND : Compaq
HEADLINE : Tomorrow is yours...for just Rs.25,990
BASELINE : Kal Tumhara Hai
AGENCY : Publicis
4Ps TAKE : A clever take-off on the popular TVC showcasing SRK and compaq in a similar role, this one has Shahrukh Khan in a fortune-teller’s attire again, coaxing readers to purchase the Compaq notebook. The power idea behind the ad is accomplished via the headline which says ‘Kal Tumhara Hai’ (obviously a pun on Kal Ho Naa Ho!). The ad touts the availability of a Compaq Desktop + a great tomorrow for just Rs.25,990. With various IT giants closing-in on Compaq, their pricing strategy is imperative for the value conscious Indian consumer. The ad not only targets the youth, but the entire family. The clinching benefit to the brand is the price of the product and the easy learning facility that it ensures to its customers. And, as usual, SRK is utterly convincing; no two ways about that!

BRAND : Shriram Commercial
HEADLINE : CRM is not some fancy technology Platform.
BASELINE : Gets you going
AGENCY : R K Swamy/BBDO
4Ps TAKE : This ad takes the story-telling route to score above others. The story is of the transformation of Madhav, from a simple truck driver to the owner of one, thanks to Shriram Transport Finance. When most banks are busy transforming their customers’ lives (of course, financially), why should Shriram, which claims to be India’s largest asset-financing NBFC, be counted out of the league? The visual of an obviously happy Madhav peeping out of a truck adds volumes to the communique. The clinching benefit to the brand is that getting a loan is just a signature away and there is a touch of relationship management involved too.

4Ps ad rankings for the fortnight
The following points are the ruling criteria for selecting and short-listing the winning ads: Product positioning clarity; clinching benefi t to the brand; presence of a power idea; visibility of brand personality; expectancy of communication; single-minded focus of message; reward to the prospect; visually arresting; painstaking craftsmanship. Here’s a peek into our TVC verdict for the fortnight ended December 1, 2006. Ready to groove?

BRAND : Thums Up
AGENCY : Leo Burnett
BASELINE : Taste The Thunder
DESCRIPTION: An old man holding a bottle of Thums Up explains why he has been drinking it regularly over the last thirty years despite people asking him to reduce the intake of this carbonated drink. They even advised him not to bike down all the way to Goa. Further, he modestly admits that he feels very nice when he consumes Thums Up and compares this happiness with his six-kilometre run everyday. He admits that he cannot claim to live longer drinking Thums Up but showing the Thums Up sign, he proudly states that those who are happy will surely live longer. Next, he is shown enjoying bungee jumping.

4Ps TAKE : This Thums Up ad does not get beefcakes like Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan to strut their stuff. Here, an old man steals the show by ‘tasting the thunder’ – and how! The positioning of the product is to target the old generation as well, apart from the youngsters (through another recent ad, featuring Kunal Kapoor). The old man’s attitude and his loyalty towards the brand brings out the brand personality clearly: macho. This ad also asserts the Thums Up existence for thirty years in the Indian market playing on the loyalty factor toward Indian consumers, which is also the single-minded focus of this ad. This time it seems to be the real thing!

BRAND : Century Plywood
AGENCY : JWT
BASELINE : Century Plywood, Sab Sahe, Mast Rahe
DESCRIPTION: In a busy street there is a huge traffic jam due to ‘men at work’ (road diggers trying to fit underground pipes). Acting smartly, one of the workers lays the plywood plank he was carrying on the trench and comfortably crosses it. But before he has a chance to pick up the plywood and resume his work, other people passing-by conveniently begin using the makeshift path one after the other. It starts raining and finally the man gets an opportunity to pick up the plywood, only to find three kids below the plank, taking shelter from the rain!

4Ps TAKE: The message? To showcase that Century Plywood can sustain the most extreme conditions (it is the strongest and water-resistant)! And the power idea lies in the execution of this ad. For a drab product like plywood, the TVC is decidedly humorous in an understated manner. The painstaking craftsmanship is eminently visible from the exasperated expressions of the worker. Minus the usual wisecracks, the ad scores high on its silent humour. The clinching benefit to the brand is the strength of the product and how during tough times also this plywood stays intact. The will to hold on, is strength, for sure, literally!

BRAND : Aviva
AGENCY : Publicis
BASELINE : Kal Par Control
DESCRIPTION: A young man is working on his laptop. Stubborn post-its keep popping up reminding him to pay his bills. But our man keeps postponing everything. The post-it then explains the importance of investing in Aviva pension plan. The man agrees. The ad ends with the post-it reminding our man that it’s his anniversary and he’s forgotten to buy a gift for his angry wife!

4Ps TAKE: Targetting young professionals as customers, Aviva Life Insurance rings a warning bell to the young generation who seem careless about making future plans. Innovative and visually arresting, the contemporary ‘postit’ concept & the attitude of postponing future plans connects well. The brand personality, which showcases Aviva being concerned about its consumers, comes out clearly. And the touch of humour towards the end, gives the ad a human touch!

BRAND : American Express
AGENCY : O&M
BASELINE : Membership Changes Everything.
DESCRIPTION: The setting is of a high-brow restaurant, wherein, a waitress takes an AmEx Card to her manager for payment. The manager is awestruck when he sees the card with A. Bachchan imprinted on it. He thinks Amitabh Bachchan has dined in his restaurant and sends the hotel’s compliments to Abhishek Bachchan addressing him as the Big B. Aby Baby on phone with dad, explains, that although it was a case of mistaken identity, wearing the Big B tag felt good!

4Ps TAKE: This ad effectively plays on the sentiments of the rich & aspirational Indian consumer, effectively roping in the Bachchan duo to pull off the trick for them. That’s the power idea! In India, AmEx has always been in a different league, and the brand personality is powerfully portrayed via this one too. Junior B’s suave communication with dad over the phone wows. Cute, aspirational, funny and Abhishek is his usual oomphy self... what more could AmEx ask for!

BRAND : IDBI, Paisa Builder.in
AGENCY : Leo Burnett
BASELINE : Wealth is waiting
DESCRIPTION: A man in a thick forest is following a map earnestly trying to locate the hidden treasure. He suddenly falls into a trench. Following a pipe in the trench, he reaches an opening and finds himself inside an IDBI bank branch. Sitting on a workstation, he discovers investment options offered by IDBI’s Paisa Builder trading portal.

4Ps TAKE: If you wanna lay your hands on some treasure, log on to IDBI’s paisabuilder.in portal and discover a virtual treasure trove. It pays off better than a wild treasure hunt, and that is the power idea! At first glance, the ad is reminiscent of Sunny Deol in his latest flick, Naksha, but the strategy finally is well-communicated that IDBI’s Paisa Builder investment options are an easier way to make money. The punch line could not be positioned more clearly: ‘Wealth is waiting’. At rank 5, this ad offers clinching benefit to IDBI!

4Ps Hot Spots
With the ad rankings behind us now, it is time to focus on those print and TV ads, which could not make it to our coveted rankings, nevertheless, they’ve created quite a stir among the ad-frat and consumers alike. Most debated, most discussed, appreciated or blasted, whatever they may be , we bring them all to you. Check out the hottest spots for this fortnight and decide for yourself….

BRAND: Hindustan Latex
HEADLINE: Passion Works Wonders
BASELINE: Innovating for healthy generations
AGENCY: NA
4Ps TAKE: Don’t confuse this with an NGO ad; this one’s a CSR ad of Hindustan Latex Limited. The visual communicates the non-commercial aim of this GOI healthcare entity showcasing its work to uplift the rural poor. The singleminded focus of the message (as the body copy explains) is to communicate their passion for CSR via mobile health clinics, Life-Spring Hospital et al. No power idea here though... just a plain visual with equally plain body copy.

BRAND : Ashok Leyland
HEADLINE : There’s one name... to the Indian Army.
BASELINE : Engineering your tomorrows
AGENCY : NA
4Ps TAKE : Some high-powered shots of Ashok Leyland heavy commercial vehicles combined with the visual of a long highway, go a long way in showing the personality of this brand! In the body copy, Ashok Leyland claims to carry 60 million Indians to their destinations everyday, of having pioneered CNG & vestibule buses in India, among other achievements like delivering the largest number of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army. The clinching benefit to the brand is the communication of these achievements to consumers. A heavy ‘mettle’ ad from this heavy vehicle maker!

BRAND : Coca Cola
AGENCY : McCann Erickson
BASELINE : Coke uthale, Dhoom machale.
DESCRIPTION : Few friends are sitting in a room; someone bangs a 500 ml Coke bottle on the table. Guess who? Of course, our new ‘Dhoom’ man Hrithik Roshan. He tries to open the cap of the bottle, and in the process, fizzes it. Then, the sophisticated Hrithik transforms into a stud, and this time the fizz comes out with lots of panache and force. Cut to scenes from Dhoom-2, where he is dancing with Aishwarya. The parting shot: Coke uthale, dhoom machale.

4Ps TAKE : No prizes for guessing that this is a co-branding exercise between the cola giant and the makers of Dhoom-2. Brand ambassadors Hritik and Aishwarya play out effectively. The result is one cool ad! The power idea is to reflect the ‘glam’ energy of Coke. The classic soundtrack of Coca-Cola has been remixed with the title track of Dhoom to get the desired impact. No Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola with Aamir; instead cool-dude Hritik tempts the audience!

BRAND : SBI Life
AGENCY : O&M
BASELINE : Zindagi Hai Jeene Ke Liye
DESCRIPTION: A man in an art-gallery is examining a vase. After gaping at it for a while, the vase falls and breaks and the man turns red. A voiceover then says: ‘On a few things, you don’t have any control, but you will definitely have control over an investment, especially SBI Insurance’s Unit Plus schemes which are according to your needs’.

4Ps TAKE: In an age of competitive banking, it’s very tough to rise above the clutter, ‘look’ different and manage to convey the brand proposition. This is what India’s largest bank tries to do in this one. The power idea is SBI Life Insurance’s recently launched Unit Plus plans where they advise customers to have control over their investments. The clinching benefit to the brand is the reliability and trust of the SBI brand name. Though the ad doesn’t stand out in its implementation (nothing too original about it), sheer simplicity makes it stand out.

BRAND : LG Dynamite
AGENCY : Lowe
BASELINE : Life’s Good
DESCRIPTION : There’s a party on in full swing; the spotlight is trained on one particularly dishy guy, who is talking on his cell phone. Conversation over, the hunk places his cell phone on the table. As everybody raises a toast, suddenly there’s an explosion & the floor (below the table) rips open under the impact of phone. The handset falls into a kitchen on the floor below. A chef places the LG Dynamite cell phone on a tray and serves it right back to the hunk.

4Ps TAKE: This one is a clarion call by LG to showcase its newly-launched Dynamite series, ‘heavily loaded’ with features to attract the ‘young’ target audience: Video caller ID, call recording, FM and more. The entire setting (party, clothes, music) is focussed on the ‘aspirational’ youth segment. Clear positioning and a visible brand personality. Just hope LG manages to up its market share vis-a-vis competitors, with this ‘dynamite’.