Dense commentary on social media, PR, marketing, advertising and branding.
The ‘mixie’ that we use in Indian kitchens—now called ‘mixer grinder’; I believe it was Sumeet that had a mixer grinder called ‘Sumeet Mixie’ and the name stuck—is known for one more thing beyond its core function (grinding stuff): loud noise. The…
Can mocking cliches end up being cliched? It did, this Diwali! Let me start in reverse. On November 1st, DIZO, the sub-brand of Realme launched its Diwali 2021 ad film. Created by the agency White Rivers Media, the ad’s idea was to…
Related reading:1. The bindi factor in Indian advertising2. Indian advertising: Submit to my world-view, or else… There are advertising narratives that are called ‘obtuse’, in response to a question that goes “How has marketing during the festive times evolved over time?” (by…
Two new ad campaigns use a classic advertising misdirection to force a particular imagery first, only to change it entirely to make a contextual point. Take a look at the series from Petco, the pet food company, made by the agency Droga5….
Note: An abridged version of this post appeared in The Hindu, today (November 3, 2021). See at the end of this post. “An Indian woman, without sporting a bindi, wearing Western clothing, is seen dancing unabashedly in public to celebrate her boyfriend’s…
Two Indian lighting brands have launched new campaigns with identical themes at the same time! They have been created by two different agencies, obviously. Surya Roshni’s campaign, by Ogilvy, has the theme, ‘Sabko Mood Mein Le Aaye’. It features Shankar Mahadevan who…
Back in 2017, Pepsi launched a new ad featuring Kendall Jenner. The ad had Jenner come out of a photoshoot to see a demonstration happening on the road, joining that crowd, pick up a chilled can of Pepsi from a well-stocked cooler,…