CCI NG 3.5 Product: ETMumbaiBS PubDate: 04-01-2017 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEPER3 User: sandeep.dutta Time: 12-31-2016 00:35 Color: CMYK Use your life to animate your copy. If something moves you, CLASSIC BE 4 chances are, it will touch someone else too – David Abbott THE ECONOMIC TIMES JANUARY 4-10, 2017 FOR OUR FIRST EDITION OF THE NEW YEAR, WE BRING YOU THE BEST AND THE BEKAAR OF Continued from Page 1 >> BESTBEKAAR LAST YEAR ACCORDING TO THE BE EDIT TEAM. READ ON FOR SOME SHOCKS AND SURPRISES Pan Bahar Jio SWIPE RIGHT sharing the last words of #LastWords Erstwhile Bond-man Pierce Brosnan’s Newlyweds taking a 2016 has not been the best terminally ill patients. Nine year for Indian advertising, out of ten pined for their returned to Indian advertising (after selfie, a monk chatting TO INVEST even though some families, people who weren’t Reid & Taylor many years ago). The on his phone, auntyji in December work may well with them at that time. It choice of brand was surprising, and the rollers swiping right, a And so, Kakar and his team first opted to drive prove us wrong through felt like an honest effort to film incredibly bizarre, with the age- woman Skyping on her a #PaiseKoJagao across social channels, talk- award season. One campaign sensitise us to the ordeal of ing star defeating ninjas and bouncers, bed, another Facetiming; ing about idle money, without highlighting the that stood out for its pure nurses and patients. And while affectionately smooching a tin of where did all those brand behind the message. After five days of intent and neat execution established the need for Pan Bahar. What followed was a furore: people go? When last seen, all of them were launching it gaining social currency, the brand quickly was: #LastWords by Indian palliative care so patients Brosnan being trolled far and wide for into the stratosphere powered by Jio balloons. Will the stepped in, seeing its rivals start to piggyback on Association of Palliative can spend their last few Care (IAPC). An over two- precious moments with agreeing to endorse such a brand, and next lot of space explorers or Baumgartner bump into the hashtag. Kakar admits he knew the category minute long video featured loved ones. A tear-jerker, the star himself coming up with a weak our Jio floaters? Or are they destined to go round and would duplicate the idea right working and retired nurses yes, but one with its heart explanation accusing the brand of “un- round the earth like aimless human satellites? And down to the app but is okay from across the country and soul in the right place. authorised use of his image” claiming what happens when their devices run out of juice? All with it as long as it increases he thought it was for “a breath freshner/ pertinent questions, if you ask us. Almost as much as the quantum of investment. tooth whitener”. Whether the amount of this commercial for what was one of the biggest stories The blitz phase of the cam- IDFC Bank publicity this evoked and the rub off on and launches of the year. paign has seen everything Fate and demonetisation just made IDFC’s cam- Pan Bahar consumption was greater or from a TV commercial to a Installations paign #BankingNibhao “rishteydari nahi” all the lesser than the presumably astronomical #Doobara Poocho strong digital leg via native and registra- more relevant and somewhat prescient. The cam- sum paid to Brosnan is probably the true We half suspect this ad emerged as an in joke, consider- advertising sites and posts on tions hap- paign for IDFC’s 4-minute account activation took a measure of this ad’s success or failure. ing it came from the same agency that gave us the hi- social media. Bira Sun Life pened very well dig at all the ponderous and overly sentimental bank larious Doobara Math Poochna for Chlormint. While hopes to get youngsters to ads we’ve been subjected to over the past few years. depression is a poorly understood, seriously underdi- make their parents aware of with digital. Savlon This one, however, cuts to the sell. It’s not the first agnosed ailment, we were not fans of this ad; where (it and start transacting via the But actual tri- If you’d told us one of our favourite ads time an ad has taken a dig at other ads, an old trick seemed to us) a bunch of compulsive do-gooders badger app. The results are encour- als with money from 2016 (technically very late 2015) in the marketing playbook of the Davids going up their friends till they start feeling bad about themselves aging 4.2 lakh installs as of began once we would feature a product window, we’d against the Goliaths. But it’s a point that had to be and their lives. The worst offender is the morose car the 18th of December accord- started mass have laughed you right out of the room. made. Stick to banking not bonding. driver who drags his buddy (who starts off the ad on ing to Kakar, with 2.2 lakh media which But Savlon proved you can push the a road trip, laughing without a care in the world) into registereing their phones via brings trust, creative envelope even while hardsel- Amazon whatever slough of despond he is currently wallowing an OTP, which indicates seri- recall, visibility ling product benefits. A man looking Amazon managed to in himself. Besides, there are often no pat solutions ous interest. An interesting and the urge for something in the house, bumps his cut through the festive to depression. It sometimes involves counselling by a learning in the journey has to try head against furniture and his wife clutter — no mean task trained professional and a drug regimen, and not just been the role of mass media Ajay Kakar rushes to his assistance, smacking — balancing the warmth talking to friends, no matter how well intentioned. in pushing a digitally driven him in the face with a catapult. The and fuzz with discounts product. Kakar admits, “Installations and reg- point: why add the sting of an antisep- and offers. Simple as it eBay: eBay came up with a moving positioning statement this year: Things don’t istrations happened very well with digital. But tic to the pain you are already dealing may sound; most play- judge. Oh! You don’t say? It called to mind the old man from the SBI Life Insurance ad gently actual trials with money began once we started with? A man in a labcoat prattles on for ers dropped the ball on this. Some took a bizarrely remonstrating with his wife saying, “Arre, heere ko kya pata tumhari umar?” (The diamond mass media which brings trust, recall, visibility a bit, and the product window we allud- esoteric stance that left most viewers confounded. But doesn’t care how old you are). The eBay ad showcases several such diamond-like objects and and the urge to try.” ed to also puts in an appearance. But in Amazon’s festive campaign did an overall neat job of beautifully at that. The only place it goes wrong is that it becomes didactic. Not everything It’s a long slog though for a campaign that claims an age of ‘skip in 5 seconds’, this kept us good casting, crisp direction and just the right amount needs to be romanticised all the time. Watching this, we feel like the guy who shows up at the end as its audience, every one with a savings account. hooked for a lot longer. Savlon moved of identifiable emotions. The entire communication of a memorable Ikea ad from the early 2000s about a castaway table lamp who says “Many of you Kakar signs off, “For those who have the app, on to a more purpose driven plank later was pegged around the theme of ‘tyohaar bade dilwala’ feel bad for this lamp. That’s because you are crazy. It has no feelings! And the new one is much every SMS alert about bank balance should be a last year, but this odd little ad remains and resisted the temptation to transform into a hard- better.” How about #ThingsThatDon’tDisappoint? wake up call to swipe right.”. a favourite. core sales-pitch. It had us saying ‘aur dikhao.’ [email protected] BAWDY COPY Brand Equity takes a look at all the Who’s who and what’s what of all that is Bawdy in the industry The Blue Screen of Debt Let’s Grab A (Health) The wheels are coming off the wagon, if Drink Sometime A Pitch Perfect Fee industry sources are to be believed, for Our ever vigilant in- The quest for a pitch fee is something like this technology driven firm that arrived dustry moles inform the legend of El Dorado when it comes to ad in India with a bang and a multi-screen us there’s a concerted agencies. Some claim to have seen fleeting product portfolio, led by a range of attempt being made glimpses of it, others claim to know someone phones. Unlike many of its countrymen by a (relatively) who certainly got paid. So we are regard- who opted to enter this market relying freshly minted team ing this news from one of our moles with a heavily on buzz and fans to spread the heading an ad agency healthy side of scepticism. Apparently this message, the tech contender went in to bag a key chunk of business from their former employer.