TV Commercials - The creative hotch-potch

With the blitzkrieg of satellite channels the race for filling up the airtime is hotting up. But this piece is about the content of that space. The TVCs are a reflection of how the companies approach customer communication and how creatively do the ad-agencies implement their clients' vision. The latest Airtel ad featuring Shahrukh getting nostalgic about his Delhi days is a brilliant one. But it again sets u thinking as to why the product-specific campaigns of Airtel are not as eye-catching as the ads of the umbrella brand. Similarly, the Surf ads have always been to watch out for coz its ads are constantly getting reinvented despite the product remaining more or less the same. The "doggy" ad of the Surf is an excellent execution of driving home the point - "daag achhe hain".

Innovation in branding exercise is what the ad agencies and brand managers should be paid for (ideally). However, at times, there is a strange disparity between goals of the agency and the advertiser. The agency seems to strive for creative accomplishment (like an egoistic film-maker) while ignoring the product itself. There are a number of ads which neglect the primary subject - the product. Such ads might catch eyeballs but the customer might not retain the product for which the commercial was made for. The Vodafone campaigns are the cutest ones on the tube. They are short, crisp and have a considerable entertainment value. The recent commercial " i am riding in a traffic......i am working out" is a nice one coveying the message and at the same time high on the entertainment quotient. However, inspite of all the hype, i personally feel that the "zoo-zoo" campaign, though an innovative one, achieved its success due to good PR more than the content.

We can leave out the Cola-wars out of this coz it's commercials have gone from bad to bizarre. In the automobile space, i guess Bajaj normally comes up with some really eye-catching stuff - the latest "Discover India" campaign and the "fastest Indian" campaign of Pulsar. Even in the days of yore, Bajaj always used to come up with campaigns high on emotional appeal ("Hamara Bajaj") for its scooters. But Hero Honda has been a huge disappointment despite being the leader in this segment. Somehow their agencies havent been able to crack this for years now. I believe the best branding exercise for Hero Honda has been MTV Roadies. The credit should go to the brand managers for this coz its agencies have failed them miserably over the years. Their "25 years" campaign also left much to be desired - not able to leverage upon the strength of Hrithik Roshan's personality.

Using celebrity is does not guarantee a kickass commercial. We have been watching loads and loads of crap being dished out using these celebrities but not being able to touch the chord with the viewers. In India, two things work infallibly - a)emotional appeal and b) direct communication. The Vodafone ads featuring Irrfan Khan have relied on direct communication and have succeeded as well. Most of the cosmetic ads also rely on the same albeit with a celebrity. Contrastingly, Fair & Lovely and Dairy Milk campaigns over the years have used emotional appeal with considerable success. But somehow no one has come up with something exceptional in the electronic consumer durable space. Except the "Onida monster" there hasnt been any icon in this space till date. The abstract sci-fi-special-effects ads DO NOT cut ice with Indian audience. It's high time the agencies realized this.

Post your views on this so that we can gain some more insights as to how we (customers and viewers) approach these commercials