Brand : Reliance Mobile
Agency : Leo Burnett
Baseline : Rang Barse
Description : A girl is reading a book when her Reliance phone rings and suddenly drops of coloured water fall on the pages. Sooner than later, it starts raining coloured water. Colour is all over – falling from the tin sheds, on the windscreen of cars, even from the green cricket ball. The ad ends with everyone shaking a leg in the rain as the VO says, ‘Ab barsenge rang, Reliance colour phones ke sang.’
4Ps Take : Rarely one gets to see sequels of ads and this one is truly a true blue sequel, for it easily takes the viewer back to the prequel -‘Baton baton mein rang...’ Peddling the same features, Reliance gets colourful in a bigger way this time. The ad is well executed and grabs eyeballs automatically. The jingle which has been improvised, ups the fun quotient which automatically comes with rain, dance and colour. All set to lure youth, Reliance offers a fresh range of colourful handsets and a fresher feel.

Brand : Zapakmail.com
Agency : Cyrus Oshidhar
Baseline : NA
Description : Meet Vishnu who is popularly known as Tubelightwa in the village. The reason: he builds his body day and night and even though he has an awesome body, he is dumb. Tubelighwa gets jitters when anyone talks about computers or e-mail. Wherever he would go, he would spread ‘andhiayara’ and the doctor also confirmed that he is a pahalwan but not buddhimaan. Enter Zapakmail.com which is as simple to use as 1,2,3 and pahalwan becomes buddhimaan too.
4Ps Take : This fortnight, it’s Reliance all the way in TVC rankings. At No.1 is Reliance Web Connect, at No.3 is Reliance Mobiles and now its Zapakmail.com – Reliance’s gaming portal which is launching its e-mail facility. Call it the tubelight effect, the ad is funny to the core, every shot leaves one in splits and brings out the core messagewith finesse. The ad’s power idea is clear – Zapakmail.com is simple to use and any Joe can operate it, even someone as dumb as Tubelightwa. The rural setting defines its target audience, the pace of the ad is racy and the use of village lingo ups the humour factor.

Brand : ABN Amro One
Agency : Publicis
Baseline : Making more possible
Description : A crowded train, secluded place and enter dacoits. The Sardar leads and chelaas go about snatching anything and everything – a bunch of bananas and even an elderly’s teeth of gold. They stop at a young man who only has an ABN Amro One credit card to offer. The Sardar takes a good look at it and gives him some cash in return as the VO says, “Cash back payiye har kharche par kahin bhi, kabhi bhi...”
4Ps Take : Ads like these make one believe that the humour quotient in the country has surely upped. Through a very traditional set up, the ad brilliantly brings out the USP – cash back throughout life – in the way that compliments its tagline – making more possible. The fact that even a Sardar of a bunch of goons knows about the offer, speaks volumes about its reach. It is the execution, the details and the crisp editing which makes the ad stand out. Time to laugh all the way to the bank!

The runner-ups...

With the ad rankings behind us now, it is time to focus on those print and electronic ads and billboards, 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...

Category : Billboard
Brand : Coca-Cola
Headline : Thanda karta sabko ek
Baseline : Sabka thanda Coca-Cola
Agency : McCann Erickson
4Ps Take : This billboard is an extension of Coca-Cola’s latest TVC where Aamir Khan plays a waiter. The cola giant is promoting its new tag-line of Sabka thanda ek by hitting the billboards and even radio in a big way. The single-minded focus is to advertise aggressively, reinforce its Thanda matlab Coca-Cola quotient and give arch rival – Pepsi a tough time this summer. Having won the hearts of the Indian consumers, Coca-Cola is now out to beat the heat and grab a greater share of the ‘Thanda’ pie. After all, it’s summer time guys.

Category : Online
Brand : SX4
Baseline : Men are back
4Ps Take : Guess what’s Maruti’s latest launch SX4 Sedan’s claim to fame? ‘Man amongst cars’. Maruti Suzuki is building upon that attitude in this online flash ad too. With such a strong style-statement, the power idea is to show the confidence of Maruti in its new ‘manly’ product, enforcing it through many features of the car. The ad flaunts different features describing each one of them as if it was describing a macho physique. The auto major is trying to lure the high and upper middle income groups through this C-segment machine. The black background impresses and the smart one-liners grip, however, the ad does remind of Bajaj Pulsar’s ‘Definitely Male’ campaign. Do we see competition feeling the tremors on Indian roads, already?

Brand : KFC
Agency : FCB Ulka
Baseline : Finger lickin’ good
Description : A Sikh couple comes to dine at a KFC outlet and the boy asks his girlfriend to close her eyes as he prepares his surprise. Meanwhile, the waiter serves the hot and crispy Kentucky’s fried chickens, which the boy is not able to resist. Tired of closing her eyes, the girl peeps out and finds her boyfriend enjoying the food. Embarrassed, the boy quickly slides over the ring to her.
4Ps Take : It was in 1995 that KFC set foot on Indian soil, but did not taste success. After its re-launch in 2004, this ad marks the fast food chain’s first Indian campaign. An average idea, presented in a humorous fashion (don’t we know of fast food chains and their affinity towards humour) brings out KFC’s USP to a large extent, that is its delicious fried chickens which are crispy from outside and juicy from inside. However, the ad does little to establish KFC’s brand personality. As one of the first ads, it is not something which will stay with a lot of people.

Brand : AMD
Agency : Contact Advertising
Baseline : Smarter Choice
Description : A girl explains what’s multi-tasking for her – dating many guys. For a boss, it is giving 10 different orders to 10 different people at the same time, including one to fire an employee. For a musician it’s playing many instruments. The ad ends with a VO, “Are you as good at multi-tasking as the AMD dual core processor? Participate in the AMD King of multi-tasking contest...”
4Ps Take : Well, this is the age of multi-tasking and the ad cashes in on the quest of more and more people to manage several tasks at one time. The ad ably brings about the singleminded focus, which is to promote AMD’s dual core processor. The storyboard is gripping and well executed. The communication is bang on, as it targets anyone who is all for multi-tasking through a contest. Don’t know how many will participate in it, but AMD will surely establish its prowess through the event and the ads around it. Now, that’s what we call a multi-tasking ad.

Brand : Citigroup
Agency : Publicis Groupe, Paris
Baseline : Let’s get it done
Description : The ad juxtaposes a host of shots with the VO, taking the story forward. It begins with a shot of a child as the VO says, ‘We first believed in you,’ next we see a guy and the VO urges to, ‘Listen to your dream’. The VO then declares ‘We all need a partner and Citi has people and expertise to make it all possible...” What follows are shots supporting the VO which urges people to turn their dreams into realities.
4Ps Take : Part of Citibank’s re-branding exercise, the ad puts forward its new tag-line, ‘Let’s get it done’. This one’s sure to win hearts of the world with its appealing visuals and the messages in the VO which are highly aspirational. The ad scores high on establishing the brand personality of Citibank, bringing out the reward to the prospect and in conveying the message in a simple manner. And it’s the straight forwardness of the ad – everyone needs a partner to turn dreams into reality– is what makes it so touching.

And the Bakwaas Ads...

After you have gushed over the blockbuster ads of this fortnight, here are some, which – we are absolutely sure – will never make it. 4Ps B&M lists the three worst ads of the fortnight... Ads that almost made you swear that you won’t ever buy the advertised brand. And even if you managed a peek at it, you were left with a bad taste in the mouth. Medium error, complex message, vulgar (recently added) or just plain bakwaas communication!

Brand : Su-Kam
Baseline : NA
4Ps Take : A fleeting look at this ad and one might think it is promoting meditation or yoga. With no taglines or VO (?!) and a storyboard that’s weak, this ad has nothing to boast. It completely loses out on the focus. What on earth were the creative directors thinking, that people will buy Su-Kam, for the sole reason that their old inverter stinks and gives out fumes. How many people face that problem? Moreover, only one person in the whole group gets affected by it, how logical is that! The ‘only’ good aspect that one just has to SMS and a Su-Kam inverter gets delivered ‘the next moment’ (an exaggeration!) has also been wasted. A little emphasis on the fact, maybe two lines of VO might have saved this ad (by the way, were all the voice and copy artists on leave?!). Former Gladrags Mr. India, Diwakar Pundir is made to look like an idiot and a flying joker. Guys, compared to any ordinary inverter, a pathetic ad is more dangerous, any day!

Brand : Rediffmail
Baseline : Big enough for anything
4Ps Take : An indecent job of a decent web portal, that’s what this ad of Rediffmail is. Banking on the good old power of suspense, the ad gets beaten up because of this very aspect. It starts with talks between girls in the wash room about Raju’s ‘big’ possession. The possession becomes talk of the town with everyone questioning ‘Is it that big’? Finally when one guy manages to approach Raju and he reveals the secret – he ‘possesses’ an e-mail account with Rediffmail. com which has unlimited memory space and is ‘Big enough for anything’ (Oh! come on...). This is the cheapest way possible to position a feature which is today as common as an e-mail account, thanks to Gmail.com. So, what’s all the fuss about Rediff. A shoddy way to get attention, which converts the whole suspense thing into a big bore and ultimately repulsive. This does leave one amused but only at the mindlessness of the ad and the lack of creative ideas with the agency! Go on Gmail, laugh out loud!

Brand : Amul Macho
Baseline : Crafted for fantasies
4Ps Take : This one has all the factors to make it top the world’s most vulgar ads. First they have the guts to steal a company’s name as big as ‘Amul’ and then they produce a hideous ad, which is just short of showing an orgasm, to say the least. Don’t even ask us for a description, it’s too filthy to be penned down. We had never, even our wildest dreams, imagined an underwear ad to stoop down to such low levels just to get cheap popularity. Guess, the agency and the brand both swear by the adage that negative publicity works best. But, while it might work for a celebrity, beg your pardon, it doesn’t do anything to your sales dear. It manages to grab eye-balls for all the wrong reasons and we are sure all those who go to pick it up after watching the ad, must be a highly frustrated lot. While the nothingshort- of-obscene expressions of the woman, leave you jaw-dropped, it is the persistent ‘Toing’ sound which disgusts the most. We are amazed, no one has raised objection about it till now. This one’s ‘crafted’ to be shown between porn movies. All we have to say in the end is – ‘Yeh toh bada Toing hai’ – whatever that silly thing means!