Who are the real Blackberry Boys ?

In 2010 Vodafone came out with the "Blackberry Boys" bringing about a tactical shift in the way BB services were sold in India. To start with, it moved on from a target audience of "cool suits and shiny boots" to a more younger and innovative set of people who would use the BB services in lots many ways which the shiny shoes would never do.

The move was doubted by many as losing its stronghold ad trying to go where it will not survive.

But not many knew that it was a desperate move by the company to survive in the only market where it was still on a positive growth trend across the globe, only reason being the smartphone revolution was yet to hit the Indian shores.

And it worked, BB revolutionized the way people interacted with each other using the BBM, sharing pics, sharing videos and what not.

But then came the smartphone revolution in India and BBM got replaced by the generic Whatsapp which could work on all platforms including the BB.

Soon BB users started missing the angry birds and fruit ninja's of the smartphone. and thus began the decline of BB in India.

The latest advert of Vodafone for BBM tries to revive the lost sheen going back to the generation which helped revive it fortunes 2 years back. Vodafone has also tried to reduce the guilt of spending by highlighting just Rs 5 a day for the services. But will just the BBM help revive the falling sales of BB in Indian markets triggered by lack of features beyond the messenger, Im not very confident.

Before I close the post, would like to appreciate the creative genius behind the two adverts, and coming up with a follow up of an already acclaimed advert, its really difficult and the creative team has definitely pulled it off. Just concerned that the brief to them was a wrong one.

Chalta hai ya Daudta hai ??

This is what happens when you do not have a new story to tell your consumers.

You start taking digs at competition :)

The advert openly (with smart use of sound dubbing of course) takes on Hero Motors Splenda and Passion, the biggest competetion to the 125cc category of Discover.

But there are few things that the creative team has done very well. Like the use of testimonials to add credibility to the chalta hai sarcasm. Or the way they the three different stories cover three different target audince for the bike (The young cricketer, the family guy and the working class).

Going back to advertising strategies when you really do not have any new story to talk about, the safest bet is to move to the higher order in Maslow's hierarchy. If one were to design the pyramid for 2 wheelers, bikes like Passion and Splendor will fit in Safety/Belonging level, while through this ad Discover has made an attempt to jump to the Esteem level, a level already dominated by the likes of Bajaj's Pulsar and Hero's Karizma.

When I published the last post, I was amazed at the unexpected response from 'The Hindu'.

But just a day later, I came across a set of print ads by 'The Hindu' in response to the 'TOI's' dig.

Though creative, but its like inviting the mammoth Bennett Coleman & Co. to go against you :)

But I still wonder, will such a tactic help in changing preferences ?
or is it trying to nip the problem in its bud when it comes to TOI in Chennai!!!

Is it just about the News ??

I have been thinking of reviving the blog for many days now, but was lacking the motivation to steal some time off the so called 'busy professional life'. But this morning, I came across something which forced me to go back to the blog.

Times of India from Bennett, Coleman & Co. launched its Chennai edition in 2008 with a catchy 'Nakka Mukka' campaign. The campaign did win a few eyeballs and some rewards too, but was not able to change the loyalties of the over a 100 year old Hindu which dominated the southern market.

Circa 2011, 'TOI' decided to shake things a bit and came up with the 'Wake Up to News' advert taking a direct digg at 'The Hindu'. Im sure the advert would have made some change in readership with few changing loyalties for some 'fresh' news.

But nobody ever expected the laid back stalwart to respond to it. But 'THe Hindu' came back with a reply totally unexpected of. Watch the advert yourself for more :)

Around all the creative fun, I wonder when will one change loyalties in a category like newspapers ?? Its not an impulse category for sure where one can move on with such adverts.

Many media houses including the Bennett, Coleman & Co. have been using the largest readership reinforcement for their audience. But will one ever change loyalties because of that?

More than what meets the eye - Tata Sumo

To start off, a great attempt to change the perception held by the consumer about an old and famous brand, The TATA SUMO.

Known to be one of the most sturdy and durable cars on the Indian roads, The Tata Sumo was reinvented as the Sumo Grande two years back. This is the second attempt to change the perception of the consumer about the car and bring it into a personal vehicle for family uses category from its existing commercial usages.

With changed interiors and polished exterior, the car still suffers from the mental block of the consumers perceiving the car as a commercial vehicle. I believe the campaign intends to change that and invites the customer to have a try at the new Sumo.

This makes me wonder, it has been two years since the launch of Sumo grande and the company is still fighting to change the consumer perceptions towards the name "Sumo". They could have gone ahead with a new name for the car instead of having the umbrella brand of Sumo with it. That would have eased the problem being faced by the marketers. Or was it the brand equity that Sumo garners that caught the eye?

Onida: Tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya

Brand: Onida

Agency: McCann Erickson

Is the devil really dead ???

Well as for now, it sure does seem like the devil is no more. With a series of adverts focusing on various themes of the erstwhile electronic giant, it does seem as if they have finally decided to move on without the devil. Revolving around a young couple, the series of ads seem pretty similar to what LG had done with Abhishek Bachan as the protagonist.

Onida as a brand is now considered an obsolete brand with no new technology products. But all these ads focus on, if not the latest technologies, but much advanced than what Onida is known for!!!

This kind of branding revolves around the concept of a "Silver Bullet". Advertise about the products that are way above your target group, they may not sell, but in turn help the regular products to be sold. Talking about the LCD TV may not push the sales of the LCD TV for Onida, but it surely will improve the brand image and will push the sales for its CRT TV.

Lets see if this image makeover can help revive Onida in the consumers minds.

Here are a few more adverts from the same series of ads!!!

Knorr Soups: Tummy bhi khush, Mummy bhi khush

Brand : Knorr Soups

The need to reposition knorr as a healthy snack before dinner has finally arrived. For a long time, HUL has left knorr soups to make its own place in the consumers minds and their kitchens. But now is the time when they realize that in order to grow the brand and the category, for which knorr soups command a healthy 70% market share, the product needs to be positioned particularly in the consumers kitchens. And what better than a healthy pre-dinner snack.

The use of time 7Pm in the advert also makes it more closer to dinner than the regular evening snacks.

Also with the focus of HUL moving towards food products, knorr soups for a major role in the future growth strategy of the FMCG major. Just a comparison, the foods division of HUL contributes just 16-18% of the total revenues while its global parent Unilever has 50% revenues coming from the foods division. This stark difference has forced the company to shift its focus towards food products. The launch of website www.cookitup.in is also part of the similar strategy.