Super Bowl XLV - Game On!

From Huffington Post - Super Bowl 2011 Ads: A Preview Of This Year's Commercials

Guest Post: Is Aishwarya's L'Oreal ad - over acted?

This post is by Payal Mukherjee of Kolkata Diaries fame. Her city blog gives readers an insider's view of life in the metropolis and has been picked up by Trip Advisor for its varied content. 

"Need one reason to change your shampoo. Ill give you Five" says Ash. Actually she says... "Ah'll giive you Faaeve"
Whats with the accent. Or the pouted lips while she delivers the dialogue. L'Oreal has brand ambassadors across the globe, a different one for each country and here are some more ads of the same product to compare with Ash's video.

Linda is smart, Cheryl Cole is sweet, everyone is themselves, only Aishwarya is something other than herself.
She has been written about in all major magazines, fashion, news, film, bar none. Her face on the cover sells. Her face sells. But the moment she opens her mouth, the tinted glass of mystique and beauty, which sort of epitomises her, breaks into shards. Pritish Nandy has written about her in the latest Elle magazine, December 2010 issue.

One would wonder why a communication expert like him would put Ash on a pedestal while dumping other female stars in his article. Ash has mistique, others dont. Ash is a star, others arent. Obvious lies in comparisons- others sell themselves to any brand that comes around... well, Ash is the face of L'Oreal, Longines, Lux, Nakshatra (before it was taken away and given to Katrina Kaif). Others come on any talk show before release of their films- Koffee with Karan season 3 started with Ash. And what films anyway. Oh wait, he does say, that Aishwarya unveiled his book of poems recently by reading out her favourites. Having THE Ash at your book unveiling... you get the eyeballs if not the readers. Wait, he is also a producer...

But then her face sells. And she should stick to her core competence. The directors who favour her usually make her look like a goddess. 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', 'Devdas', 'Chokher Bali'... She looks unbelievable in all of these films. But when she speaks I feel like closing up my ears and going yaddayaddayadda. Remember her scream in 'HDDCS', lying on the swing. Mute the screen and watch, you will love her. Hear her and you will feel like laughing at the hystrionics. And her laugh... her well known giggle... who has heard that more than once and not felt like bashing up something, anything, just stop already.

She recently came with husband Abhishek on Koffee with Karan. While Abhishek was his usual mad self, she was contrived and faking it all along. Every bit of her, her words, her moves, the way she looked at both husband and Karan, everything seemed acted, by a very bad actor, may I add. And this is the reason that being gifted by such heavenly beauty, she has not become a global phenomenon like, say, Angelina Jolie has become. Our first crossover beauty in the real sense, she had such potential, and such little sense.


Aishwarya has been brand ambassador for L'Oreal since 2003. When L'Oreal roped in Sonal Kapoor one year back there was a furore about the spat between the senior actor and the newcomer. Ash can also be insecure, the headlines said. Then all was cleared by the company saying, Sonam is their domestic market ambassador while Ash is their global face from India. And so Aishwarya's throne was saved.

Aishwarya is 37 now. She still looks like a goddess, but sadly that is where it all ends. She has not taken her acting career to another level. She has not become a face that would automatically sell a product. She has not become a known face in the charity world to inspire others to join in a cause, or use her fame to the hilt. And her time is running out. An accent in a shampoo ad will not save her anymore.

The Social Network - Play by the Rules



Image via Tom Fishburne: Marketoonist

Every brand, big or small is jumping on the social media wagon thinking it to be the solution to all their problems. What they sometimes forget is that it's not the media which holds the key to great branding, it is how they use that media.

This pic depicts a facebook page for a brand (the cartoon is by Tom Fishburne) and brilliantly sums up the problem that brands high on social media face today. Why should I "like" a page and get updates on my feed if the brand had nothing to offer other than talk about how great it is? Wouldn't you hide the feeds or even block a real person like that?

Right from the start of print ads, engaging the consumer was the most viable part of any campaign and it hasn't changed since then. Brands should find a way to promote themselves not just by bragging about benefits but also offer an incentive to the consumer to make sure she interacts with the brand via the facebook page. Remember that the entire web is vying for her attention and each brand is just a click away!

Social media has done much to humanize brands, more than we ever thought possible. So if your brand was a person and his benefits were say like personal attributes, try building a personality people genuinely like.

1. Don't be shy, rude or boastful.
2. Treat your facebook fans like friends.
3. Be accessible.
4. Have a sense of humor.
5. Share. Don't just dump information.

A Step Back in Time

This framed poster hung from the walls of the Sporting Eagle Saloon beneath the streets of Havre in north central Montana.

On the third day of my week-long Montana trip, my fellow journalists and me took the "Havre Beneath The Streets" historical tour which essentially consisted of a set of business establishments from the last century, linked by narrow corridors. Of all the things on display, this poster caught my eye as I wondered about the advertising business in those days. They didn't have photoshop to enhance the rosiness of the woman's cheeks and neither could they google the tagline to see if it has been used before.

On the other hand, clients had to be satisfied with the basic layout. I bet the art director wasn't told "I thought we decided on a brunette....and while you change her hair color do you mind changing the color of her bow? The pink doesn't do it for me."

Also, going by the size of the logo and the product placement, I would think that the oft-heard request of "make the logo bigger" is a pretty old phenomenon. Well, as they say some things never change!

Talking Rainbows, Boulders and Trees

Click on image to enlarge. Source: popsop.com

"High fructose corn syrup" is the new ingredient to watch out for. Move over "trans fat". It's fructose that we hate now. Food and drink labels all over the nation are being scanned for the F-word.

According to onenews.com "People are concerned that high fructose corn syrup is more harmful or more likely to cause obesity than sugar, perceptions for which there is little scientific evidence. The shift has caused a slump in soft drink sales and a rise in sales of juices and teas, which are perceived as healthier than soda. The nation's makers of high fructose corn syrup are even asking the government if they can start referring to the sweetener as "corn sugar" to change perceptions."

Fighting the sudden decrease in demand, PepsiCo's Sierra Mist Natural (lemon-lime soda) is floating a new campaign consisting of TV, print, digital, radio and OOH. A little bird tells me the budget is 4x the quarterly spend. They
have added "natural" to the name and also modified the packaging design. All fine strategies.

Soda ads usually go for humor, hot models/celebs, computer graphics etc. Sierra Mist Natural's campaign is unlike anything you have seen before. They feature talking boulders, trees and rainbows for starters.You can view some of their ads at popsop.com. It's funny and interesting till you reach the tagline - "The soda nature would drink, if nature drank soda." Wait a second, what?

What does that even mean? This is a case of a good product, good execution and plenty of advertising dollars being overpowered by a kooky tagline bordering plain stupid. I don't know how it will impact sales, but as far as creativity goes, it could have been so much better.

30 Rock raises a pertinent question: Why does Geico have so many spokespeople?

I am relieved. So it's not just me. Last night's premiere episode of 30 Rock had both Liz and Carol wondering why Geico has four spokesmen.

Here's how it goes: we have the Gecko with a cockney accent, the confused and sometimes angry caveman, the stack of money with googly eyes (yeah, creepy!) and of course,  the fake Rod Serling guy. Why do they need so many characters and so many concepts? I can't figure it out...can't say I haven't tried though. Maybe this is exactly what they want, everybody talking and wondering. With a considerable media budget and a motley of accents, attitudes and ideas, maybe stickiness is what they are after. If so, they have got the right ad mix.

Also, no matter how good a commercial is, it becomes repetitive after a point so brands sometimes take on new scripts with the same spokesperson. If that too gets boring, a brand new spot is released.

Geico on the otherhand has multiple spokespeople at any given time, taking the variety to another level. But sometimes quantity affects quality and that is why not all Geico commercials are engaging or funny.

If it's a strategy, it needs to be stream-lined. Maybe have just two spokespersons at a time. Saves advertising dollars, keeps us guessing and doesn't take away from the visibility.

On a personal note, I am not too fond of reptiles but find the Geico gecko exceptionally articulate and funny...the rest of them I don't get so much. As far as their service goes, I am a satisfied Geico customer. Guess that says it all.

Related post: http://thebusinessofadvertising.blogspot.com/2009/02/geico-gecko-strategy-which-makes-sense.html