Tag Archives: advertising

Blog, Digital

How culture affects marketing communication

How a group of people behave, their views, opinions, and perceptions based on language, ethnicity and race is culture. Culture affects virtually all human behaviour.
Marketing communications are heavily dependent on a particular groups culture. Culture affects not just what is communicated but how it is communicated as well. Depending on how industrialized and advanced a country or region might be affects the medium through which marketing communications are rolled out. A marketeers success is largely dependant on how well he understands cultural preferences, ideologies and behaviours of target consumers.

Advertising, Blog

Comparative advertising and why it should be buried.

Comparative advertising has been defined by Wikipedia to be an advertisement in which a particular product, or service, specifically mentions a competitor by name for the express purpose of showing why the competitor is inferior to the product naming it. It is different from parody advertisement, where a non existing product gets advertised to be made fun of.
Comparative advertising is generally related to negativity and various stories have linked this form of advertising as having a negative impact on the brand and its conception to consumers.
Take for example the recent Patanjali ad campaigns attacking Lux, Pears and Lifebouy soaps. They’ve been injuncted by the High Court.
Their ad campaigns were laced with negativity and could have a negative impact on their brand image. Asking people not to use chemical infused soaps like the celebrities and edging people to stay away from certain brands.
This hitting below the belt advertising should be used as last resort or not at all.

Advertising, Blog

Why Some Agencies Have Personal Projects.

You might have heard that all work and no play makes you dull. This holds true in advertising. Play is sometimes important for creativity. Being in a creative business like advertising means being experimental and being experimental also means questioning the status quo. Agencies take up personal projects because they’re an important way of learning. Like Jessica Walsh’ 40 Days of Dating. They’re like a “mini university” that teach skills which could be applied for more commercial projects. They could roll out into something that could become commercially viable or just something that could be attention grabbing.

Advertising, Blog

Brand Storytelling

Advertising today isn’t just by showcasing what a brand has to offer.
Brands today tell stories, not just of their product and brand but those that might move us, or have a social purpose. This is a strategic move from the traditional ways of advertising.
And I’m talking about not just posting on Instagram’s Story feature, which brands have leveraged on digital today, but of well thought of stories.

 

Advertising, Blog

Controversy in Indian Advertising

The world of advertising is far from being a smooth sailing one. It’s one thats riddled with controversies and drama. One such advertisement that received a whole lot of controversy was the One Plus 3T’s ‘Best Smartphone Campaign’ where one lucky winner would win Rs 1 crore . The campaign features a TVC based on the Kaun Banega Crorepati model, with Amitabh Bachhan and AIB’s Rohan Joshi. Amitabh is the one on the opposite seat this time being questioned. He’s asked to pick the best smartphone in India. Among the options along with the OnePlus 3T are Google Pixel, Apple I phone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Amitabh, questions Rohan for a Rs 1 crore answer– Which is the best-rated smartphone in India? Rohan claims to know the answer and in turn questions Amitabh. Amitabh switches seats with Rohan and chooses to go for the audience poll. The audience poll shows a unanimous lean towards the OnePlus 3T, as the best-rated smartphone in India. Option A is locked and Joshi is announced the winner. Towards the end of the ad an announcement is made where Amitabh asks for a missed call on a number to pick a lucky winner to win Rs 1 Crore in the same format at Sony’s. This is where the controversy settles. Sony sues for using their shows model. Another blogger, Bhawani complains to the ASCI that he ad is misleading. The ad made by BBDO India was taken down two months later.

Advertising, Blog

Let’s Pitch

You might be one of those lucky few who don’t need to pitch. But for those of us that live in the real world pitches are unnerving, competitive and all absorbing.
Some helpful tips towards pitching are:
1. Reputation : If you have a reputed agency of course you’ve cut past most obstacles and are ten steps ahead of being likely to win a pitch.
2. While pitching steer clear of making just advertising the main focus.
3. Try showcasing your work at the very beginning if you’ve reached so far as scoring your first meeting with a client. It will help with your image. It will make clients more comfortable and willing to give their time to you.
4. Focus on highlighting the people in your agency: Sell their     creativity imagination, intelligence and insight.

Blog, Design

Communication is key: Graphic Design

Good communication lies at the heart of graphic design.
What is graphic design?
And what do graphic designers do?
Graphic design is a means of communication,
problem solving through the use of visuals and art,
typography, illustrations, symbols, colours,
amongst various others.
Almost everything that we see,
requires the work of a graphic designer.
Graphic designers are visual problem solvers.
They work in branding, advertising, packaging,
publishing and web development.
It’s always easy to overlook their importance,
but a graphic designers job is gravely important,
not just aesthetically but functionally as well.