The channel is Star World.
The background is white.
A metrosexual type man, a foreign looking woman.
She has a blood red mirchi in her mouth.
He is licking drops of water off her back.
Instinctively, I finger-flick to another channel. It could be an ad for some fancy perfume. On the other hand, it could be a condom.
Children sit right in front of the idiot box and then later want to deal with their never-ending questions.
Sex education is essential but we don't need a child prodigy in that particular area.
A few seconds later I flick back and to my shock, it's an ad for LIRIL soap. Um, what exactly were they thinking???
Goodbye waterfall
So, the girl and the waterfall became repetitive and boring. The success of the brand became a millstone around its neck.
They tried girls dancing in deserts, on glaciers and even an orange variant. It must not have worked, so they decided to do something drastic.
"The new Liril Soft Aloe Vera and Lemon campaign focused on naughty intimacies among married couples instead of the erstwhile iconic `waterfall' campaigns, " notes Hindu Businessline.
Why this won't work
A brand - like a city - is built on a certain heritage.
Yes, it can be tweaked to a certain extent but if you want to simply throw it ALL away, why not just launch a new brand. Why use the name Liril at all?
a) The ad looked/ felt/ jingle was not Liril. There was some la la la going on in the background (I think) but not evocative of the original tune at all.
b) Selling point was no longer freshness but lemon + aloe vera ie freshness plus soft, supple skin.
As a soap, it may have been quite nice actually (the packaging and shape looked interesting) but it was not LIRIL.
Secondly, the 'married' couple bit did not come across. Which married couple in India looks/ behaves like THAT?
Thirdly, what was this obsession with fair skinned/ light eyed models? How was the Indian consumer supposed to identify with the situation??
Lastly, the red mirchi made absolutely no sense. Was the soap fresh, or hot?
For all those reasons, I thought the ad would bomb. Reminded me of the classic 'new Coke' fiasco which actually led to the old Coke being brought back with a vengeance! Bet the old girl under the waterfall would have made a similar comeback in 6 months time...
Phir bhi
I must however commend Hindustan Lever for taking the risk of doing something different. That particular attempt might have failed but some of their other advertising experiments were worth noting.
The 'do bucket paani hai bachaana' campaign for Surf and the Lifebuoy ads where kids could clean up their neighbourhood were both very bold departures from conventional soap/ detergent advertising. They were in fact what you might call 'socially relevant'.
These ads were being noticed - and achieving a positive impact. An impact which could, eventually, get reflected in sales figures. But probably didn't - in the short run.
Which meant things would have soon be back to 'safedi ki jhankaar' type advertising.
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if soap/ detergent advertising was banned from television for a year. Would we stop buying and become filthy/ unhygienic cretins?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Mall tales
Finding parking at Spencer Plaza in Madras on a Saturday afternoon is as tough as getting a telephone connection once used to be. Demand far exceeds supply, especially since part of the parking area has been cordoned off for concretisation.
But where is the crowd? Mostly, shopping for atta-dal-sabzi in the hypermart - Big Bazaar. Or, hanging out at the eating joints - here too McDonalds and the street-side eateries have the maximum rush. Thoda bahut crowd department stores mein bhi hai.
What's absolutely deserted is the 'Skyzone' housing an array of youth focussed clothing outlets - Killer, Spykar, SF jeans, Wrangler, Weekender. Pepe and Levi's at least had some browsers, the others had 3-4 salespeople twiddling their thumbs behind the ceiling-to-floor glass windows.
Um, so where ARE the youth? I saw a few collegians checking out the junk jewellery at Lifestyle. That's a place any girl could pick up a bauble or two without thinking twice. Quite a neat selection too.
There are probably more young people hanging out at suburuban malls like Alsa Mall in Egmore (which gets the call centre crowd).
But even at Fountain Plaza which is about the only 'happening' place in Pantheon Road in Egmore, the crowd concentrates on the top floor - which has a really nice food court. Or the ground floor which has the Food Bazaar.
The two floors in between which house shop after shop stocking clothes see mainly window shoppers - except during 'sale' periods. Pantaloons is the only shop which seems to have some steady youth traffic.
This could have something to do with the fact that unlike other stores they rotate their stock very often. The same kapda does not hang there for the entire season - every 10-15 days there is new stuff.
And the 'teen' range UMM/ Bare is very affordable. You can pick up a pretty cool t-shirt for as little as Rs 199. Which is not possible at most 'branded' outlets.
Beyond the 'FamilyMall'
I think, as time goes by, malls catering especially to youth will have to come up. Right now, outlets with branded clothing are quite identical to each other. You see one, you've seen them all. The same denims, checked shirts for boys, tank tops for girls.
Where's the excitement? Where's the joy of discovering something that's 'just you' - which is what you get (and at a much cheaper price) at streetside shopping on Purasawalkam High Road.
To attract young people we'll need malls which are less standardised and sanitised. Malls like the graffiti-rich Heeren Arcade on Orchard Rd in Singapore or MBK Centre in Bangkok.
Chaotic but interesting places which feature rows and rows of little shops run by young entrepreneurs who 'understand' their customers better. The kind of shops we have in Madras are currently tucked away in tiny garages.
And, today's branded clothing players will need to put out a larger range, funkier designs and better prices, if they really want to thrive - not just survive.
But where is the crowd? Mostly, shopping for atta-dal-sabzi in the hypermart - Big Bazaar. Or, hanging out at the eating joints - here too McDonalds and the street-side eateries have the maximum rush. Thoda bahut crowd department stores mein bhi hai.
What's absolutely deserted is the 'Skyzone' housing an array of youth focussed clothing outlets - Killer, Spykar, SF jeans, Wrangler, Weekender. Pepe and Levi's at least had some browsers, the others had 3-4 salespeople twiddling their thumbs behind the ceiling-to-floor glass windows.
Um, so where ARE the youth? I saw a few collegians checking out the junk jewellery at Lifestyle. That's a place any girl could pick up a bauble or two without thinking twice. Quite a neat selection too.
There are probably more young people hanging out at suburuban malls like Alsa Mall in Egmore (which gets the call centre crowd).
But even at Fountain Plaza which is about the only 'happening' place in Pantheon Road in Egmore, the crowd concentrates on the top floor - which has a really nice food court. Or the ground floor which has the Food Bazaar.
The two floors in between which house shop after shop stocking clothes see mainly window shoppers - except during 'sale' periods. Pantaloons is the only shop which seems to have some steady youth traffic.
This could have something to do with the fact that unlike other stores they rotate their stock very often. The same kapda does not hang there for the entire season - every 10-15 days there is new stuff.
And the 'teen' range UMM/ Bare is very affordable. You can pick up a pretty cool t-shirt for as little as Rs 199. Which is not possible at most 'branded' outlets.
Beyond the 'FamilyMall'
I think, as time goes by, malls catering especially to youth will have to come up. Right now, outlets with branded clothing are quite identical to each other. You see one, you've seen them all. The same denims, checked shirts for boys, tank tops for girls.
Where's the excitement? Where's the joy of discovering something that's 'just you' - which is what you get (and at a much cheaper price) at streetside shopping on Purasawalkam High Road.
To attract young people we'll need malls which are less standardised and sanitised. Malls like the graffiti-rich Heeren Arcade on Orchard Rd in Singapore or MBK Centre in Bangkok.
Chaotic but interesting places which feature rows and rows of little shops run by young entrepreneurs who 'understand' their customers better. The kind of shops we have in Madras are currently tucked away in tiny garages.
And, today's branded clothing players will need to put out a larger range, funkier designs and better prices, if they really want to thrive - not just survive.
I scream, You scream
There was one of the many hoardings for Kwality-Walls ice cream way back in 2005 in which a boy and a girl were shown in a compromising position with less of clothes and enjoying an ice cream. I guess the brief which produced the ad would have gone as follows:
"Yaar, icecream is seen as a kiddie product. Make it exciting for youth. Make it sexy."
And that, literally, was what was done. Maybe it was an international campaign used in India - the models were quite foreign-looking. But it could have been an Indian campaign trying to look international - 'aspirational' they called it.
As a side-bonus, the hoardings caught the eye of the Moral Police who filed a PIL and provided the brand with lots of free space in newspaper columns.
As happened with VIP X underwear once upon a time.
Aakhir kyun
Something was gadbad. Young people were not eating enough ice cream, which was why advertisers tried to shock them into noticing their product.
Here's what I think went wrong.
When I was growing up - in the mid 80s - the ice cream parlour was THE coolest place to hang out. It was the place you went with friends to give your birthday treat.
There was also the Dollops ice cream parlour - from Cadbury's which had a really good black current ice cream I still remember vividly.
Cut to 2010 and you'll see the coffee shop has taken over hangout status completely. The ice cream parlour culture is dead.
Dollops - which I as a consumer thought was a fairly successful diversification for Cadbury - was apparently not such a good idea. It was sold to HLL, which killed off the brand.
Thanda matlab ...
All that's left now is Baskin Robbins - which has good icecream but is sold from tiny, uncool shops or counters and the ubiquitous paanch ya dus rupaye waala 'softy' machine. Then there's kirana shop icecream. Here, Amul is beating HLL because it's priced lower. And because it contains 'real milk' as opposed to Kwality-Walls which is made from vegetable oil. That's a real selling point in Amul's favour as far as parents are concerned!
The last avenue is home consumption and here too Amul appears to be more popular. They generally have some offer like "20% extra free" or buy strawberry and get a small vanilla pack free and a lot of junta feels their ice cream tastes creamier and better.
Still, I would be more than happy to try out Kwality Walls -if they came up with something out of the ordinary. Sadly, their last such attempt - the Vienetta - was a disaster. The ice cream looked nowhere like the enticing picture on the pack and in fact tasted extremely ordinary.
Still, there's hope
I think ice cream is one of those things people young and old love. It just has to be packaged and sold better - as an experience.
One way to go could be Haagen Dasz - which offers really rich creamy and sinful stuff. If they actually come to India though, they are likely to be too expensive to ever make a mass impact.
So the space is wide open for a Vadilal or a Kwality Walls to upgrade themselves and corner the adult ice cream-as-a-treat market!
I think ice cream is all about flavour and Indian ice cream makers have hardly tried to invent new ones. Vadilal once experimented with gulab jamun icecream and gajar halwa ice cream (because people apparently liked the combination at weddings). It didn't work but hey, at least they tried.
Vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch are 'killer app' ice creams. With trial and error, I'm sure many more are possible!
Creating magic
"Had a bad day? Had a good day? Either way, our four NEW Mood Magic flavors are sure to bring you emotional rescue". That's Ben and Jerrys icecream for you - and I think the appeal is far more effective than sexual innuendo! Of course Ben and Jerry's is the crazy company which sells Cherry Garcia and Karamel Sutra - flavours which were in fact suggested by consumers.
Ben & Jerrys is the google equivalent of the ice-cream world, and retains its uniquely cool and delicious image. Despite now being a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever.
Hey, that means we just might see Ben & Jerry's in India in the near future. Keeping my fingers crossed! Toes too!!
In Gurgaon, the visual with boy and top of girl was replaced with a close up of only the girl. The 'course correction' came after comments from consumers about the 'Pleasure Up' campaign being too daring.
"Yaar, icecream is seen as a kiddie product. Make it exciting for youth. Make it sexy."
And that, literally, was what was done. Maybe it was an international campaign used in India - the models were quite foreign-looking. But it could have been an Indian campaign trying to look international - 'aspirational' they called it.
As a side-bonus, the hoardings caught the eye of the Moral Police who filed a PIL and provided the brand with lots of free space in newspaper columns.
As happened with VIP X underwear once upon a time.
Aakhir kyun
Something was gadbad. Young people were not eating enough ice cream, which was why advertisers tried to shock them into noticing their product.
Here's what I think went wrong.
When I was growing up - in the mid 80s - the ice cream parlour was THE coolest place to hang out. It was the place you went with friends to give your birthday treat.
There was also the Dollops ice cream parlour - from Cadbury's which had a really good black current ice cream I still remember vividly.
Cut to 2010 and you'll see the coffee shop has taken over hangout status completely. The ice cream parlour culture is dead.
Dollops - which I as a consumer thought was a fairly successful diversification for Cadbury - was apparently not such a good idea. It was sold to HLL, which killed off the brand.
Thanda matlab ...
All that's left now is Baskin Robbins - which has good icecream but is sold from tiny, uncool shops or counters and the ubiquitous paanch ya dus rupaye waala 'softy' machine. Then there's kirana shop icecream. Here, Amul is beating HLL because it's priced lower. And because it contains 'real milk' as opposed to Kwality-Walls which is made from vegetable oil. That's a real selling point in Amul's favour as far as parents are concerned!
The last avenue is home consumption and here too Amul appears to be more popular. They generally have some offer like "20% extra free" or buy strawberry and get a small vanilla pack free and a lot of junta feels their ice cream tastes creamier and better.
Still, I would be more than happy to try out Kwality Walls -if they came up with something out of the ordinary. Sadly, their last such attempt - the Vienetta - was a disaster. The ice cream looked nowhere like the enticing picture on the pack and in fact tasted extremely ordinary.
Still, there's hope
I think ice cream is one of those things people young and old love. It just has to be packaged and sold better - as an experience.
One way to go could be Haagen Dasz - which offers really rich creamy and sinful stuff. If they actually come to India though, they are likely to be too expensive to ever make a mass impact.
So the space is wide open for a Vadilal or a Kwality Walls to upgrade themselves and corner the adult ice cream-as-a-treat market!
I think ice cream is all about flavour and Indian ice cream makers have hardly tried to invent new ones. Vadilal once experimented with gulab jamun icecream and gajar halwa ice cream (because people apparently liked the combination at weddings). It didn't work but hey, at least they tried.
Vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch are 'killer app' ice creams. With trial and error, I'm sure many more are possible!
Creating magic
"Had a bad day? Had a good day? Either way, our four NEW Mood Magic flavors are sure to bring you emotional rescue". That's Ben and Jerrys icecream for you - and I think the appeal is far more effective than sexual innuendo! Of course Ben and Jerry's is the crazy company which sells Cherry Garcia and Karamel Sutra - flavours which were in fact suggested by consumers.
Ben & Jerrys is the google equivalent of the ice-cream world, and retains its uniquely cool and delicious image. Despite now being a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever.
Hey, that means we just might see Ben & Jerry's in India in the near future. Keeping my fingers crossed! Toes too!!
In Gurgaon, the visual with boy and top of girl was replaced with a close up of only the girl. The 'course correction' came after comments from consumers about the 'Pleasure Up' campaign being too daring.
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