Sep 26, 2003 08:36 PM
5397 Views
(Updated Oct 16, 2003 06:58 PM)
Hey, whatzit in television that we all LOVE TO HATE ? The K serials, cricket matches, chat shows with celebrities (Rendezvous), Kareena Kapoor movies - they would all figure somewhere in the list of most of MS members ..But wouldn’t one common item in all these lists be ADVERTISMENTS ? How often have we switched channels as AB earnestly requested us ''We'll be back so don’t go away'' just to avoid those mindless ads. Considering that its these ads that sponsor the shows, why is it we cant stand ADS? Simple logic under the guise of either ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS, FISH BONE DIAGRAM blah blah blah tells us to ask the question WHY 5 times till we drill down to the fundamental problem.
As an example:
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Why do we avoid ads ? Coz most of them are boring
Why are most of the ads boring ? Coz they all appear one and the same.
Why do they all appear one and the same ? Coz they all speak of the same benefits in one way or the other.
and so on..
Quite often these questions lead to question marks about the product itself but in those cases where the problem appears to zero in on the communication, its time to think afresh. Let me explain this with an example: The last two ad campaigns of HUTCH.
When incoming calls were made free, the cellular industry was agog with excitement. Companies expected traffic to triple and went on an advertising spree to stimulate this. HUTCH came out with a very captivating BILLBOARD campaign. All they did was to capture the EARS of a number of animals in listening mode accompanies with the simple words INCOMING FREE. Rabbits, cats, dogs - we had 'em all over town on the billboards and boy oh boy, did they make an impact ! So simple, so understated yet so effective ! Bull’s eye !
How much can a customer remember?
When ''clutter'' is becoming such a big problem to contend with on telly, its a common misconception that whoever shouts loudest and most often gets heard ! Not always true except if its the cola war ! Bill Cosby once said ''The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague.'' Of course , he was kidding ! Quite a few companies have invariably fallen into one of these two traps.
However, the latest HUTCH commercial on television is truly ''different'' ! HUTCH has come up with this brilliant ad where they show a small kid n his pet dog traversing the entire countryside on a rainy day, enjoying the simple pleasures of life before finally hitting the sack at night. The ad ends with a simple catch line which says '' Wherever you go, the HUTCH network follows you'' 'The shorter the tagline the more punch it packs' is conventional wisdom. Though HUTCH has overturned this logic, what makes the ad still work is that the catch line is clearly in sync with the brands USP and promise.
The other factors which make this ad tick are -
the child and the dog: When have I seen a cuter dog? Hmmmm - Video of ''Please Forgive me '' is the only thing I can remember ! And the kid is soooooooo natural be it kicking the football or answering the call of nature :-))
the jingle: The lyrics are very simple, hummable and repetitive aiming for high recall -
the camera work: simply splendid capturing the beauty of Goa (Thanks to MSians for pointing out that it isnt Kerala) in the monsoons.
In short , this ad has all it takes to make the consumer sit up, notice and say YEH DIL MAANGE MORE (which isn’t quite the case with these stupid cola ads)
However whether HUTCH delivers its promise through its product or not is highly debatable. After all as Jerry Della Famina aptly remarked 'There is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all that the good advertising will do is put you out of business faster'
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PS: I wanted to write this revu on all HUTCH Commercials but Mouthpad has put it only under ''HUTCH incoming'' so kindly forgive it for this error - A li'l flexibility should be ok, right ??
Comments are welcome ! And yes, pls tell me abt those ads which made u sit up n notice !
