A brand can play an important role in creating social awareness. And a well established brand finds it easier to do so as somewhere through its advertising it had connected with its customers on an emotional level. Here are few interesting advertisements and branding exercises from the World War II time that I saw at the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising in London.

Lifebuoy

Lux

Vim

Bovril

Bovril

Communication is an integral part of any advertising campaign and it definitely needs to be in tune with the current situations!

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nds

Ponds

In my travels through Europe, almost every other day I would visit a museum as it is one of the easiest way to bring oneself upto date with the history of the place I was in. Some of these museums had some unique exhibits & almost every city that I had been to did have a local flavor to their museum.

Harpic

But it was in London city that I came upon this unique museum dedicated totally to “BRANDS”. Did you know that Vim is a brand that was launched in 1904?  And Harpic in 1924?  Did you know there was an Indian tonic water by the name Hunts?

Hunts Indian Tonic Water

One museum in London that I would recommend as must visit for all the marketing & advertising professionals who visit London is the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising in Notting Hill, London. And why only marketing professionals…in fact anyone and everyone who is interested in learning about the evolution of the many brands that we use actively in our lives, must make time for a trip to this Brand’s Museum.

Colgate

Gillette

What started as a hobby of a 16 year old has now turned into something very remarkable. Robert Opie, who has authored many books on British consumerism, started collecting wrappers at an early age and what culminated out from this hobby now is history!!

Pears

Comfort

Band Aid

I thought that I would be able to cover this comparatively small museum in 1 or 2 hours but instead I ended up being there for almost half a day! This museum is a one of its kind and has an interesting display of various brands showing them in their different stages of evolution.

A point of note was the fact that – One gets emotionally attached to one’s favorite brand to the extent that the brand you use resonates with your identity! Here are few pictures showing some of the brands through its evolution. Brands whose look and feel has definitely changed with times, but brands which all of us identify with…

Pepsodent

Cherry Blossom

Cadbury's

Kit Kat

Johnson's Baby Powder

Brasso

Eno

Dettol

Horlicks

Dr. Scholls

Well, I can go on for more time since my photo bank is pretty exhaustive…and since I cant share all the pics…I think I will stop now!

It is through branding and advertising that companies talk to their customers. Communication plays a big role in retaining the customer’s loyalty. A few pictures of branding exercises that were carried around World War II will follow in my next post!

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Another ad I actually find hilarious is the one where pretty Katrina Kaif is passing suggestive looks unnecessarily pouting her lips looking at her seductive best. Yep I am talking here of Slice – Aamsutra ads. Please don’t get me wrong, I love mangoes. It’s my favorite fruit….but Aamsutra?? Puhhleease!

Moving to the next ad. Hero Honda’s creative agency probably outplayed the fact that guys during the ‘dating’ period would do any grade of silly stuff to impress their girlfriends. Please show me 1 such guy! Please please… No seriously…just 1!! I am sure there will be girls who will enjoy that kind of silliness so I won’t ask for them I understand that the Honda guys are trying to accentuate on the fact that its bike has an excellent mileage but don’t you think the ad was too overbearing?

How many have you seen the ad where monkeys walk around in vests and brief with the silly “ye to bada tine hai” jingle running in the background? I think almost all of you in India…yeh? Till date I don’t understand this ad or what the jingle means and I am not interested to know also. I don’t have more words to describe this ad. Too stupid for my imagination. Probably the Sunny Deol “ye andar ki baat hai ads” rate better than the one with gleeful monkeys. See how things can get relative! There was a time I hated the Sunny Deol vest ads (I can’t recall the brand – was it Lux?).

That’s all for today….I will add more to the list in the coming times. For now those of you interested to read my old post on Advertising In India click here.

So long!

We wouldn’t have had the pug and the kids and the current favorite for many “zoozoos”! Yeh, ok there would have been something else but surely not the nearly icons pug and zoozoo. For interest of the readers Nirvana Films is a Bangalore based company that has created a niche out of ad-film production and have many award winning ad-films to their credit.

Well, we all have dreams. Paradoxically, only few have the grit to follow them. The rest dwell in fear and self pity. Fear in getting into unchartered waters, fear of moving out of the comfort zone, fear of failure…can be anything. There is self pity on not being able to do what they wanted to do all their life; and you bet they would have reasons to justify it too.

I firmly believe in one thing… You are here because you want to. No point brooding because if you really wanted things to change bad enough you would have done something about it. You live life only once, make the most of it. Do things you always wanted to do.

It can be anything….starting a company; going for higher studies, nurturing your long lost hobby – planting your garden; learning guitar; skydiving, anything! Dream is neither big nor small; it’s how you look at it. My dream might look trivial to others, but my dream is my dream…big enough for me. Do I make sense?

The ads are getting quite mixed reviews though if you ask my opinion, I feel they are clutter breaking, creative and brilliant. Here’s my favorite ad of the lot…

(if you are watching this video through feed, request you to visit   http://tinyurl.com/cwpuj9 to view the video)

The honchos and bigwigs from the advertising world would get together in the land of sand and sun during 2nd-4th April 2009. Delegates would also include media professionals and clients. Advertising gurus or prominent speakers would deliberate in a knowledge session packed amongst eminent people from the related industry.  The event will be held at the Cavelossim beach, Goa.

However, it is a question mark how many companies will participate this year. Considering companies are working on tight budgets, it will be no surprise if the turnout isn’t as impressive as in the past. According to the news release, O&M, that has been associated with this event over years has declined its involvement this year in the light of the market recession or reasons unknown.

Anyways, here’s wishing all the participants all the very best for the Abby award ceremony.

cheers!

Keep it Simple, that’s what Vodafone has done with its new chotta credit ads. Crisp, to the point and (I guess) hence effective. Couldn’t have been a better time to release ads, with kids at home busy preparing for exams. It has a touch of innocence and a moment of truth to which most of us have been able to connect to. Nice ad.

Now let’s look at the Motorola ad. I wonder if the minds behind the ad have kids at home?

I mean just think of a similar situation at home. You are reprimanding your kid for his/her ‘I damn care’ attitude and s/he instead plugs on mobile headphones and nods in exhilaration. Enough to get a conniption fit! Couldn’t Motto guys think of a better way to reach the younger generation than showing something that can be wrongly connoted as “cool?” Irresponsible kid in an irresponsible ad!

What do you think?

We have had some nice and creative advertisements in the recent past. Greenplay ad with a punch line of janam janam ka saathi where a Sikh kid meeting savithri ..his sweetheart from the previous birth (which I find quite funny), or the Mentos ad of that of a college classroom scene, or the superb ad of surf excel showing brother and sister love, where the brother “beats up” the puddle which makes his sister trip. I like all of these. Another ad that I will probably never ever forget is the old Cadbury’s ad where a girl rejoices in the victory of her batsman boyfriend on a cricket field. None of the current Amitabh Bachaan series of Cadbury ‘pappu’ ads (pun intended) are anywhere near to it.

Off late advertisers seemed to be parking their money on creating advertisements on the theory of reverse psychology. It goes like this, how many times do we find ourselves saying “what’s wrong with these creative agencies” after watching the 30 second commercial on television? My guess would be, most of the times. Yet we remember these ads….may be because we hated it?

The train ad of Coco Cola with Aamir Khan, or Kajol in Tata Indicom, the unbearable Sunny Deol ads, Shahrukh and Preity santro corny ads ….wow! as I am writing this blog I realize I remember ads with only celebraties….hmmm

Anyways, be it be creative on uncreative ads, the objective is achieved if the creative lots are able to make their clients’ product and services appeal the customer or for that matter just gain mind share of the aam aadmi.