Sunday, August 12, 2007

I am Thinking

Its been 2 months since i have written something on this blog. Today there was a article in Times of India informing the "illiterate" about the blog (which apparently came about in that fashion, web log-> we blog-> blog ) and reminding the already registered blog user like me to get back to filling in something.

Apparently bipasha basu blogs, therefore blogging has re-arrived. Duh, how can a all bosom define coolness of a blog. Anyway passing thought. But actually Times in its first page says "From mega- stars to moms they are all busy blogging" an in a perfectly Times way a hot picture of Ms. Bipasha Basu. I had to see the page now, as usual there was a lot of trivia, example blogs, "how blogging has affected the universe (duh)" etc etc. and exactly five lines about bipasha. lol. poor "MEGA-STAR".
So what am i getting at. Of course the topic i always enjoy, the topic i wanted to blog about since i started but never gave it a fair chance. ADVERTISEMENT.

First according to me the best ads in the year 2006-2007 have been.
1. Bajaj (pulsar)
2. Maggi (mania)
3. Fast Track

special mention
1. Happydent (rajastan palace one)
2. Orbit (bathaudekar one)
3. Airtel (grand father one)

Worshhhhhht ones
1. BSNL
2. TATA sky (life jingalala)
3. Logan.

Finally,
1. Macho Underwear
2. Wild stone.

The final category i shall leave nameless.

First the best ads,

Bajaj - Remember the late 80's and early nineties Bajaj Ads, with that melodious jingle (will be completely unfair in saying so) "Buland bharath ki buland tasveer... hamara bajaj.. ". Yup bring those sunny, foggy delhi streets with a punjabi man taking his children to school on his bajaj chetak or a bajaj super comes to my mind. Jumping nearly a decade and you'll find pulsar the new USP of Bajaj taking the front seat. Lyrics of " Naye bharath ki nayi tasveer .... hamara bajaj.. " with those amazing vocals and animations. What takes it ahead of all the present ads is the vocals.From folk melodious voice to the metal sounding new one. Where the previous one focussed on the proud developing Indian (middle class) this one clearly matches the "wannabe" status of Indian youth. Rock, Rough vocals but striking the right notes. I have seen this happen, in my office cafeteria, while everyone is busy eating, as soon as the add comes they have to look at the TV once ( for me its the lyrics for some its the cool animation). Whatever be the reason the ad takes Bajaj and pulsar to the heights that the previous add had taken super and chetaks. Though some people might not agree with me, but i feel that the new ad has hit the target (get the pun??!!)
2. Maggi Mania- wouldn't go into the details but. technically brilliant ad. (Bhojpuri lyrics, hep family and good old peppy feel)
3. Fast track-All the ads, with special mention to the tag line "how many you have man". The best part was the way it was delivered, which made it a super hit. So what puts these ads to the top three. Plain and simply - The Success. It took them 7 years to build a strong brand name, Fast Track, but the brand saved TITAN from loosing its status!!

Special mention
1. Happydent- Creativity Galore!!!
2. Orbit - Humor Galore!!
3. Airtel - sentiments Galore!! (this is perfect example of target marketting, once they knew they captured the young ones, it was time for them to attack the "parents")

Worshhhht ones

1. BSNL - what else can u expect from the god of all B- grade ads, The Indian government (may be i am being unfair by undermining the independence related ads or others, remember they were all bharath shah productions). Remember Nirodh ad or say the polio drop ads perfect successor is our priety zinta one minute long ultra boring, plagiarism galore non creative and plain simple ewwwww ad.

2. Tata Sky- god alone knows what TATA was thinking when they made those jingala ads, especially the two orchestra members in a pool one. Man tasteless, stupid, target less add. also might be the most irritating ad in the recent time, oops i for got BSNL ads.

3. Logan - Nothing bad to ones naked eyes, But wear the lens of advertising techniques and u see the problem. Firstly "wide body car".. so what, secondly if you are introducing a international brand ( even though its Renault, aka low level) in India you got to hype it. Man the only hype that mahindra has ever given was for Scorpio, even though it didn't deserve it, but its India man, it was a hit. Sadly it failed there too. No wonder Mahindra is hitting itself on the head for having gone for this massacre. No wonder its a flop.

Finally,
1. Macho Underwear - what was the female model thinking. But i am sure otherwise i would not even have remembered the name of the band, they did their job!!
2. Wild stone- WOW!!

So, whatever said and done I just love Indian ads, they are the best. But i am waiting for the day the ads go beyond sensor, and that day there will be no stopping the creative Indian mind. But i guess its better the way it is now. what say??