Brand Busters

The following points are the prime criterion for selecting, short-listing and ranking the winning ads in this section:

• Product positioning clarity
• Clinching benefit 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 the 4Ps B&M verdict for the fortnight ended May 4, 2007. First come the print ads, then the TVCs. Ready for a piece of action?

Brand: Surf Excel
Headline: Practice Karenge...le aayenge
Baseline : daag achhe hain
Agency : Lowe
4Ps Take : The visual is truly and completely inspired by the movie Lagaan. We see kids lined up with their respective cricket gears, all set to get the World Cup 2015 home — the only difference in the visual (of the original Lagaan one) is the replacement of dhotis by shorts and track pants. Using stains (daag) as the association, Surf Excel is now building a relationship between the product and the most popular game in India, cricket. But there’s a twist to the tale. This is not the Team India that suffered a debacle at the World Cup this year; this is the new Team India, the future – and this is the power idea that cashed in on the popularity of both the Brand and the game. The communication is bang on with the message clearly sent across the target audience especially the mothers of kids. The cute kids only add to the effect. A froth of emotional connect and patriotism!

Brand: Microsoft
Headline: Any developer can link data, but your quest is for richer apps.
Baseline : Your Potential. Our Passion.
Agency : McCann Erickson
4Ps Take : At first glance you might mistake it with a still from Pirates of the Caribbean — but take a closer look, and you realise it is a Microsoft Visual Studio ad. The power idea is to challenge the competitors and encourage the target audience to use Microsoft Visual Studio and the Windows Vista which would help them to think and act beyond just linking data. The communication is clear-cut: asking the consumers to try the newly introduced Windows Vista in the Indian market, and set up your studio at home. The clinching benefits to the Brand? The advanced technology of Microsoft, that’s what! The power idea is obviously the trusted Microsoft Brand name — that has always dared to be different. The visual of this Microsoft ad definitely gives us the feel of a digital bonanza. Leaves nothing to the imagination — whatsoever!

Brand: Johnnie Walker
Headline: He was punished..... cricketing history.
Baseline : Keep Walking
Agency : Leo Burnett
4Ps Take : No other surrogate ad would have depicted cricket in a classier manner than this Johnnie Walker one. Though the ICC Cricket World Cup is over, the power idea is to link the world’s favourite Scotch whisky (of course, here the ad has to say that it’s talking about CDs and cassettes!) with the most popular game of the nation. The visual tells a story that is linked with the ‘Keep walking’ tagline: the history of perfecting the straight drive in the game of cricket. The reward to the prospect is the matchless Brand value of Johnnie Walker (nothing but the best, as the ad says, talking about the cricketer who perfected the straight drive). The USP is the taste — yes, the one for which anyone would keep walking miles!

Brand: Kwality Wall’s
Headline: Growing up......every evening.
Baseline : NA
Agency : McCann Erickson
4Ps Take : Kwality Walls has just launched a new product, MOO, in the market. Now, does that ring a bell? You bet! You immediately start thinking of fat cows, lush green fields and fresh milk — and that’s exactly the kind of connect that MOO is looking for: the health platform. This ad is packed with tons of information about the product, FAQs, and harps on the health angle (at the same time, it’s honest and says, for instance, that MOO is not a substitute for milk). At a time when health has become all-important, and even kids’ diets are being regulated by concerned parents, this is a smart way of getting into the market. The USP is that the Brand is healthy. The power idea is to introduce a new kids’ product at the right time (it’s summer). The visual is simple – yet effective. The reward to the prospect is the trusted Kwality Brand, that is a household name in India. All in all, MOO does make a point!

Brand: Fair & Lovely
Headline: the ugly side of....
Baseline : Fights 6 signs of sun damage
Agency : Lowe
4Ps Take : Here is one more product that is making use of the summer that has descended on us: Fair & Lovely’s Active Sun Block. It’s a well documented fact that Indian women have a thing for fair skin — and would go to any lengths to preserve one’s complexion. This product promises to fight six signs of sun damage — that’s the power idea. The USP of the ad is the Fair & Lovely Brand name, one that is hugely popular in India. The body copy is almost like a beauty guide, explaining the six ways one can get sun damage. So, if you don’t want to see the ‘Ugly side of summer’, then just slap on some F&L Active Sun Block – and keep all skin problems away!

Now over to the idiot box!
The following points are the ruling criteria for selecting and short-listing the winning TVC 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 May 4, 2007. Ready to groove?

Brand: Sony Ericsson
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Baseline : I love the thump
Description : The delectable Hrithik Roshan grabs his Sony Ericsson W200i, and says: ‘The funk is here.’ Switching the device on, he gets high on the music and begins to dance. Next, two boys are shown dancing atop buses; a man dances inside his office, while two girls go wild with the music at a roadside cafe. A girl in a desi outfit too starts dancing on a busy street. Finally, a troupe led by Hrithik is shown dancing wildly, as non-stop music plays on, on their handsets. Hrithik takes a call on his handset and says that he is making the world dance. He signs off saying ‘the thump is here.’

4Ps Take: The perspiration signs are beginning to show even as the mobile handset war hots up. In a market dominated between Motorola and Nokia, the power idea is to grab a piece of the pie for Sony Ericsson. And what better way than to take the starry route? Hrithik Roshan takes on Motorola’s Abhishek Bachchan – make no mistake about that! The USP of the product: the music you can download and listen to. The music is called ‘thump’, thanks to the woofer effect feature that the phone comes loaded with; the communication is bang on with the tagline, “I love the thump”. The visual is pure eye-candy (at least for Hrithik fans!) and need we mention the reward to the prospect? But, of course, Hrithik! If he’s flaunting it, so should you! It’s your turn now to jump with the Sony-Ericsson W200i’s musical thump!

Brand : MasterCard
Agency : McCann Erickson
Baseline : Accepted wherever ...take you.
Description : This ad begins by showing an old couple at the airport – somewhere overseas obviously! Their son has come to pick them up from the terminal. The voiceover says: ‘Business class tickets for your parents for an international vacation’, which costs Rs 110,000. Renting a luxury car for them would cost Rs 8,000. Tickets to the amusement park: Rs 5,600. And then comes the clincher: watching your parents become children (as they have the vacation of their lifetime!), ‘Priceless’. Then the tagline: there are some things money can’t buy, for everything else there is MasterCard.

4Ps Take: We must give this to MasterCard: the Brand has been going great guns with its ‘priceless’ trump card for years now, without losing its sheen. The single-minded focus of this ad is to connect emotionally with Indian consumers – here, by playing on the old parents/NRI son route. With this, we see MasterCard once again emerging successful in cashing in on the strategy ‘Go Global, Act Local’ and appealing to the Indian ‘family’ bonding. The communication and visuals complement each other with the voiceover narrating the ‘family re-union’ and also the luxurious international vacation made easier and convenient through the Gold MasterCard. For every strategy, this is this Master’s card!

Brand : Surf Excel
Agency : Lowe
Baseline : Daag achhe hain
Description : A small boy chases a ball of yellow wool; he runs through a dusty outhouse, jumps over bushes, falls into puddle and finally gets hold of the ball in a lotus pond. He hands over the ball to his grandmother who is busy knitting. Then he asks his grand mother to smile in front of the camera and the VO says, ‘Kuch achha karte huye daag lag jayein to photo keechiye’ and explains the ‘Daag ache hain’ offer.

4Ps Take: Like MasterCard, Surf Excel too seems to have signed up a trump card with the ‘daag ache hain’ tagline. This ads storyboard has targeted the mothers of young kids. The communication is clear, with visuals of the cute kid getting his clothes stained while trying to find his grandmother’s ball of wool. The power idea is to lure the Indian consumers with the prize: a kid’s camera. The USP is the trust that Surf Excel stands for. We know the goodness of ‘daag’ but this offer is not too bad either!

Brand : Adidas
Agency : TBWA
Baseline: Impossible is nothing
Description : Sachin Tendulkar introduces himself while sketching a cartoon batsman and then relates his story: “My coach used to put a one rupee coin on top of the stump, and whoever used to get him out would take away the coin. All you are thinking of is smacking that ball. I have got like twelve coins as valuable as any medal I have received in my life. Whatever level you reach getting better never stops.” He signs off with the last statement which reads, ‘Impossible is nothing.’

4Ps Take: The World Cup disaster hasn’t still deterred Adidas from giving the centre-stage to the Master Blaster. The power idea is to capitalise on the most popular batsman of the nation. The clinching benefit to the Brand is Adidas’s strong association with the game for years now. The communication is very effective with the superstar narrating the story of his coach and explaining how precious the coins are to him. And finally the tagline — that tugs heavily on the heart strings — says it all. Guess there is no place for impossibility in the Adidas dictionary.

Brand : Logan Mahindra Renault
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi
Baseline : The wide body Logan is here
Description : A girl – a la Lara Croft cum Charlie’s Angel! – jumps out of a helicopter, on to a moving truck carrying the new Mahindra-Renault ‘Logan’. She’s a spy who’s come to investigate what’s hot in the Indian auto market. She unveils the car (covered with a black cloth), and we see maximum boot space and snazzy interiors; she transmits the images to her boss who’s amazed to see ‘India’s first wide body car’. The girl then gets inside the car and drives off.

4Ps Take: After the immense success of the Scorpio, Mahindra Renault introduces its latest car – the Logan – in the Indian market with dollops of fast-paced style. The power idea is to create a buzz around the Logan by weaving an intriguing aura with the storyboard. The idea is to draw audience attention by focusing on its wide body appeal, while clearly listing all features of the new car. Here’s hoping that the Logan zooms off to a great start!