Seinfeld on Soda Commercials

[image via the Gotham Gotham Comedy Club]

Jerry's opening monologue from a Seinfeld episode titled The Phone Message:

The bad thing about television is that everybody you see on television is doing something better than what you're doing. Did you ever see anybody on TV like just sliding off the front of the sofa with potato chip crumbs on their face? Some people have a little too much fun on television: the soda commercial people - where do they summon this enthusiasm? Have you seen them?

"We have soda, we have soda, we have soda", jumping, laughing, flying through the air - it's a can of soda. Have you ever been standing there and you're watching TV and you're drinking the exact same product that they're advertising right there on TV, and it's like, you know, they're spiking volleyballs, jetskiing, girls in bikinis and I'm standing there - "Maybe I'm putting too much ice in mine?"

Vanity Flies Right Out of the Window

The above is one from a set of three of Jeep's latest campaign. Although hard-core Jeep enthusiasts may not like the new strategy with its lack of a dirt trail, I must say am liking it! I get that this is more of a lifestyle ad than a product communication but given the state of the automotive industry and GM in particular, this seems to be a pretty smart move! And what's more, the core brand value "life outdoors" remains untouched.

Addressable Advertising

TV ads have always lagged behind their technologically advanced cousins...interactive web ads. Not any more.

<- Pic via WSJ Online

According to WSJ Online, "As Comcast gets close to a deal for control of General Electric's NBC Universal, the big cable operator and Madison Avenue think the merger could lead to some major changes in the $65 billion U.S. television advertising market.

The potential new company could speed the development of interactive TV ads and "addressable advertising."

Interactive ads let viewers vote in a poll or use their remote controls to request more information about a product or apply for a coupon. Addressable, or targeted, advertising uses set-top boxes to route commercials to specific households or neighborhoods based on data about income, ethnicity, gender or other characteristics. It lets an advertiser send a sports-car commercial to a childless home and a minivan spot to a home with children."

This summer, Procter & Gamble Co. teamed up with TiVo for Charmin Toilet Paper. As shown in the pic above, the animated ad has an option in the top-right corner with which viewers can interact. If interested, one can apply for a Charmin coupon using their TiVo remote control. For this kind of one-on-one interaction, Madison Ave is ready to spend the big bucks. Of course, the program remains paused and no part of it is lost during the exchange. The coupon is sent by mail but according to WSJ Online, TiVo has declined to provide results for the ads since the campaign is still on.

While this degree of involvement is every advertiser's dream, the actual process behind interactive ads is far from easy. The ads have to be customized for different TV companies which almost always use different technologies. But what seems tough today can be made simple tomorrow. Soon interactive ads may become the norm rather than the aberration that they are today!

Coca Cola - From Santa Claus to Social Media

Advertising plays a larger role in our life than we can ever imagine. Did you know that the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on Coca-Cola advertising?

Before the profiling by Coca-Cola, Santa's appearances ranged from big, small, tall, fat, elf-like, bishop-like, gaunt, strict, spooky...and he wore everything from animal skin to a tan suit. Except for the color of his suit, the jolly old man owes much of his persona to the beverage giant.The traditional red coat has more to do with the imagination of Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast than with any brand color.

Back in the 1920s many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink meant for warm weather. With the 1922 slogan "Thirst Knows No Season," followed with a campaign connecting Santa Claus with the beverage, the company tried to remind people that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any season. Thus started the association of Claus and Coke.

An Excerpt From the Coca-Cola Website:

"Archie Lee, the D'Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The Coca-Cola Company, wanted the next campaign to show a wholesome Santa as both realistic and symbolic. In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus --- showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa. For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa ---an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world."

More recently, as part of the "Open Happiness" campaign Coca-Cola Company is sending three bloggers to 206 countries on Jan 1, 2010 to find out what makes people happy and then blog, tweet, upload videos and generally create a social media buzz around it for one whole year! Consumers will get to vote, suggest and complain as with any social media campaign. - [via psfk]

From redefining an icon to digging deep into the latest trend, the Coca-Cola Company is all about branding and maybe a secret formula or two. Given the composition and benefit of the product in question, that is the way to go!

Progress is Beautiful

Created by San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners

I know how this Audi Ad is dangerous if imitated, breaks all traffic rules and generally makes no sense. But I am not here to judge or over analyze till all the fun is gone. Now and then, I simply love the thrill of a car chase and nobody does it better than the transporter himself. Aired during this year's Superbowl, this commercial shows Jason Statham behind the wheel of an Audi A6.

Last year's Superbowl had Audi do a parody of the famous "horse head in bed" scene from The Godfather. According to the NewYork Post, "Audi says the ad scored well with dealers and helped traffic to its Web site jump almost 200 percent. It reported a 7 percent decrease in sales in 2008, although that was far better than most of its competitors. At the same time, Audi saw its US market share rise slightly, from 0.7 percent to 0.6 percent."

After a gap of two decades, returning to the Superbowl circuit in 2008 seems to have turned out well for the car company. So this year, Audi has increased its marketing budget by almost 20 percent and again targeted the big daddy of media spends. Post Superbowl 2009, American audiences are being shown shorter versions of the 60 seconder.

With most car companies talking directly to the consumer about savings and assurance programs, Audi's tone and style is like a breath of fresh air.

Sometimes it pays to be different. The recession will not last forever. Meanwhile, let's just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Chocolate never felt this good before - repositioning a brand with style

Piyush Pandey, the Executive Chairman and National Creative Director of Ogilvy India has redefined Indian advertising in more ways than one. But in the midst of all his achievements, awards and accolades, there is a commercial from the nineties which can make you feel good like nothing can. Well, almost nothing. See it if you don't believe me.



If Hindi as a language is not your strong point, watch this one. Though I guess the original version is always better, which is Hindi in this case.



Pandey repositioned Cadbury chocolates as an impulse buy for adults. Not a mean feat considering the fact that chocolates and children were synonymous in most Indian households back in the nineties. In the early days of globalization, lack of variety and the popularity of Indian sweets relegated chocolates for the kids in the family. The ad shown above, which is my all time favorite and a series of ads based on the same strategy changed the way Indians looked at chocolates. And Cadbury expanded its target profile by leaps and bounds. When it comes to the parent brand, it is not surprising that Cadbury India has stuck with Ogilvy & Mather for ages, despite the prevalent fickleness in most agency-client relationships.

Apart from making you smile, another striking quality of the above ad is the lack of celebrities. Pandey doesn't believe in spending money on celebs as is quite evident from the best of his work. I have worked with clients like Colgate and Cadbury who would have gasped in horror at the mere idea. They had a point. Some of their brands were built with a certain celebrity in mind and the brand personality matched perfectly. They had the currency, the resources and the contacts. Who was I to complain? Though I still think it is unecessary provided you have a great idea.

Well, Piyush Pandey had it. The "great idea". He did magic with a brand and made it acceptable to a larger population. In India, that means a perceptible increase in sales figures. So everybody from the agency, the marketing and sales department and the consumers are happy. How many brands can say that with confidence?

Super Bowl Commercials - why spend so much money on them?

So much is being written about the Super Bowl commercials. The spots are being rated, categorized, praised and criticized. Well, nothing new about that. What is new though is that companies are reducing costs and struggling to survive in this economic slowdown.

According to Forbes.com, the game attracts almost 100 million viewers, a rather astonishing number given that there are only about 300 million people in the country. In 2008, the official price of a Super Bowl ad was $2.7 million for 30 seconds. This was up from $2.6 million in 2007 and $2.5 million in 2006.

Guess what, this year, it was a whopping $3 million for 30 seconds. Of course, it offers a great marketing opportunity for big brands with big budgets. But does that justify the ad spend? Most advertising agencies in US would jump at the prospect of creating a Super Bowl commercial. For once, the Creative Department would accomodate crazy deadlines and make life that much easier for the Account Management guys. But I can't seem to get rid of this doubt...does spending millions on a commercial make business sense in this economic situation?

Companies are freezing salaries, people are getting laid off, big organizations are downsizing and even the holidays couldn't make people spend like they did last year or the year before that. So why this sudden splurge?

The Super Bowl spot is best used to launch a new product or create long-term brand associations. Remember Toyota Prius and Macintosh? Both made their debut during the Super Bowl. And then we have Coke, Pepsi, Budweiser, Audi, Castrol Oil...the endless list of long-term brand builders with deep pockets and fancy computer graphics. But are today's worried consumers listening? Seems like they are...but only to which concern them.

According to Media-Research firm Innerscope, the top 5 most emotionally engaging Super Bowl ads had everything to do with the present state of the economy. CareerBuilder and Cash4Gold being case in point. Even Hyundai, with their Assurance Program is making an impact on consumers scared of losing their jobs.

Obviously, if an ad sends out the right message at the right time, the target demographic will be engaged but will they be convinced enough to buy something they don't really need? With tips to live frugally flooding the web, will a car-chase or a talking monkey move the American people to shell out their hard-earned dollars? Will a "laugh-out-loud" moment or a "feel-good" ad make us reach out for our wallet?

No, I don't think it will. What it will do though is inject a drop of hope into our minds. Making us imagine a world filled with brand new product possibilities, a healthy rise in consumer demand and subsequently a recovering economy. For now, it is all a dream. But, doesn't all great achievements start with one?

'Trust Me' me on TNT - branded entertainment at its best

Creative executives, Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny are part of the team responsible for creating "Trust Me", a series premiering tomorrow on TNT. The authenticity is provided by the fact that both have worked at agencies like Leo Burnett, JWT and Y&R.

Now, what does this mean for all the brands competing with each other in every possible media in every possible way? Can we hold the television viewer's attention in today's fast paced touch-screen dominated world? Let's hope so, for Unilever's sake. Apart from being one of the sponsors of the show, Dove hair care products are actually being woven into the story-line. Which of course is no big deal since the show deals with brands and products anyway.

And that is why big brands like Apple, Chris-Craft boats, Effen vodka, Green Giant, Hallmark, Frosted Flakes from Kellogg’s, Nike, Pillsbury, Potbelly Sandwich Works and Starbucks have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon. Not all of them have the luxury of being the focus of an episode, some are merely being mentioned or featured...in-show or in-film brand placement as we know it.

To balance out the heavy dose of real brands, the show also has a few imaginary products like Arc Mobile Cellphone Service. But is that enough to ensure that the series maintains its distinct flavor and doesn't become lost in a sea of brand promotions? In order to preserve its individuality, the script of the show may sometimes deviate from what the sponsors prefer.

According to the Jan 21, 2009 New York Times - David Rubin, United States marketing director for Unilever hair brands in Chicago is fine with it. “What is so central on any branded integration,” Mr. Rubin said, “and I’ve worked on a bunch, is that with the ones that do it right, the brand’s involvement adds to the story being told without usurping the storyteller’s job.The show has to be great entertainment for me to succeed in doing what I’m trying to do.”

True, and given the premise of the show, it will be fairly impossible for it to be anything other than entertaining. Having worked in an advertising agency including two of the three mentioned above, I can safely say that no advertising firm can dare to be boring. Ego clashes, weird fashion choices, creative temperament, hard-to-please bosses and unreasonable client demands...all add in making an ad agency unlike any other.

Pod-busting, but of course!

In a desperate attempt to engage viewers, more and more TV networks and advertisers are resorting to creative innovation in US. The last couple of years saw a surge in "pod-busting" which was initially restricted to MTV, VH1 and Comedy Cenral keeping their young gadget-friendly demographic in mind. In 2005, MTV invented the concept of pod-busting which proved to be partly successful though not a radical movement. Slowly bigger networks caught on. Now, what exactly is pod-busting?

According to the International Herald Tribune, "This year, for the 2008-2009 television season, the networks are betting on a panoply of "pod-busters" - unconventional content meant to entice viewers to pay attention during the commercial breaks, which are also called pods.

"It's a form of creative insinuation," said John Ford, president at Discovery Channel U.S., part of Discovery Communications. "It's a little Zen-like: being intrusive without seeming intrusive." On the drawing board is a promotion for "Shark Week" during the series "Deadliest Catch," during which digital sharks will leap from the water.

The clip can be watched at http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/07/01/business/1194817107135/deadliest-catch-on-shark-week.html

The main types of pod-busters can be classified as below:

• Minisodes/bitcoms/ micro-series sponsored by marketers


• Sponsored clips that combine elements of shows and commercials


• Promos of one program shown inside another program, thanks to digital effects


• Content of commercial matched to theme of the program (In fact, the buzz word for matching themes of shows and commercials is TV in Context. While it sounds right strategically, it helps in pushing engagement metrics only when done right.)

Examples of pod-busters to help understand the concept:

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.(TBS) - The cable network started offering "bitcoms" in 2008 — an original comedy sketch involving a brand, followed by its ad.

Sunsilk - The Unilever hair care brand worked with TBS to create Lovebites, a series of two-minute "minisodes" presented by Sunsilk which ended with offers of product samples from the Sunsilk website. This minisodes were aired during "Sex and the City". Yes, similiar content is a major driver in such innovations.

This does not mean that networks are giving up on the conventional 30-sec format which makes up more than 50% of TV advertising. It is cost-effective, it is a standard selling unit and it is very much alive. Marketers are just trying to find better and newer ways to keep the target audience engaged. Not an easy task in these days of TiVos and other DVRs.

If the advent of pod-busters means we will see less of inane logo-driven commercials, testimonials and comparitive ads, then this is definitely the direction of the future. The results are complying. Known for their penchant for pod-busting initiatives, MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central have jumped from -15 percent to -5 percent in their commercial ratings deliveries, according to Adweek of Jan 14, 2009. No mean feat in today's distracting environment and a young demographic with an ever-decreasing attention span.

Is India listening?

Mentioning competitive brands in your commercial

After spending five years in Indian Advertising, I moved to Connecticut, the bedroom of New York. Hoping to get a first-hand experience of US ad agencies and their work, I dived in. Of course, anybody who is interested in advertising can see first-rate ads from around the world, thanks to the Cannes website, ad-based shows on TV and the youtube....but what about the regular Joes? How and where are American products being promoted day in and day out?

The first thing that struck me about American TVCs was the abundance of "comparitive ads". Pain relievers, sandwiches, car insurances....no category is spared. As an ad executive and a consumer, I can say that it does not work. What I am left with is either confusion or the competitive brand.

Let's take the example of Advil, a popular pain reliever in US. It actually shows us a split screen comparison between itself and its competitor Tylenol, complete with a voiceover and on-screen scribbles underlying the benefits of taking Advil over Tylenol. But know what, by the time my mind has juggled back and forth over the two brand names and their pros and cons, I have already moved on to another channel or the next ad.

Next time I am at a pharmacy, my mind has happily glided over the details and I am left with a feeling of "either this or that". Both are good as both are market leaders is the message that I have retained. Differentiation be damned when the basic composition and the usage is similiar. Note how the brand message is lost in a clutter of comparisons.

Also, why would you promote your competitor in your time? You bought space or time in a particular medium to advertise your brand, why waste it on anything else?