Should advertising ONLY show what is socially acceptable? 

I know, I could get trolled for my point of view and reminded of my commitment towards society. I will be chastised for lowering expectations from brands and the advertising fraternity – including clients, media and the creative teams.

I appreciate brands with a more significant vision. I respect their attempts to lead the society towards a better future of equality and empowerment. We do know, soon, Johnny too will have Jane walking alongside.

We also know, most cause marketing initiative are good-feel programmes that will be written about, create positive buzz and go on to win few awards. The best of brands are known to punt on them. They know how easy it is to hoodwink the consumer with short memory is, who is always looking for the next kick.

Simply, there is lack of serious intent to invest and sustain such initiatives.

Much award-winning cause marketing initiative gets buried in annual reports, framed on ego walls, repacked in videos and proudly debated in presentations. Some fortunate ones do end up with real ground activation. However, most get suffocated with lack of financial support, CXO change or the brand team losing interest.

Tiny percentages of brands that successfully work on sustenance driven model end up making long-term impressions. No not using the word impact.

It’s natural that they fuel expectations. They deliver organismic delight to the armchair social media activists. These bloodhounds, the set of intellectuals, social influencers, preachers of multiple causes, ill-informed brand enthusiast and advertising maestros start poking questions on creative that does not to pass their filter of social appropriateness.

Opinions count.

Everyone has an opinion, and we should be respected this diversity. Unfortunately, most of the loud voices hallucinate considering their verdict as final. People seem to have no patience. They reject a POV not mirroring their thinking. The majority opinion gets amplified with the support of fringe groups that sounds politically and socially right. I do not belong here.

There has to be something wrong.

Logically, it is easy to infer that one of two sides; the cribbers or the creators have to be wrong. The win-win is not an option. We must start re-evaluating the situation. We must address the elephant in the room. What is the prime objective of advertising?

Is it to show a mirror to the society and provide a direction? Or to find a relevant, original insight that can be leveraged for brand impact, brand preference and decisive action in the defined TG.

Is the communication wrong, if it fails to get a favourable echo from the arrived-in-life individuals with strong ideologies? Most probably, the message was not for them. They can’t be using the same scale to measure every creative.

Brands have business to do.

 “The purpose of advertising is to sell. That is what the client is paying for, and if that goal does not permeate every idea you get, every word you write, every picture you take, you are a phoney and you ought to get out of the business.” — Bill Bernbach.

Why do we repeatedly forget the business side of advertising? Advertising is targeted communication. A team has found enough logic and reason to invest in and exploit for business gains.  While we can post-rationalise and try understanding their reality, we must not mistake the map for the territory.

“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarise that society. We can brutalise it. Or we can help lift it to a higher level.”  — Bill Bernbach

Even I agree with it. It’s a high intent to have but not the only intent and the yardstick to evaluate.

I share what the readers will agree with.

“Our job is to sell our clients’ merchandise … not ourselves. Our job is to kill the cleverness that makes us shine instead of the product. Our job is to simplify, to tear away the unrelated, to pluck out the weeds that are smothering the product message.”  — Bill Bernbach

If we don’t show, it stops to exist!

Trust me, I am surprised at the ostrich thinking that permeates everywhere. It is going to make no difference. Nothing will change by keeping a purdah (curtain/mask/camouflage) while projecting the empowered housewives, kids, families and any community. Just because you stop showing the ugly side and keep shining the new element of positivity, the issues will not magically disappear.

Here is the recent All-Out strong mothers film. A communication vigorously questioned for its choice of storyline and narrative.

You all noticed the extra-patronising mother-in-law. People ask why it was not a granddaughter. The father raises his voice questioning and taunting the mother if the money that the kid stole belonged to her father?  She does not answer and silently serves. How demeaning can that be? Does she have to be so subservient? Can’t she counter argue? Can’t she take on the goons-in-the-family?

How dare we show this side of the family and mother? Why were these frames in the narrative? Why was the lady of the house reframed for her small middle-class upbringing? Why were others silent in the conversation? How come an agency that is known for its brilliant all-empowering work even make such a film?

How come the creative agency never objected? Was the client not interested enough? Were they blind to the situation?

The conscience-keepers of the industry question the portrayal of the tough mother. They find it a regressive. They may feel so living in metro and mostly nuclear double-income family.  They are far removed from real India. The situation is alien to their sensibilities and the direction we should be moving. Does that make them right?

A film is a call of creative-client-consultants-producer-director nexus. Every brand is cautious in their approach. They all want to be politically right. They also know that an unrealistic goody-goody situation will make the brand-consumer relationship a promise in fantasyland.

All communication has a positive intent.  It has a contextual frame to address a pre-identified target group. And within the joint families, the scenario is not too different. The communication was used as a foundation for the #StandbyToughMoms idea in sync with Times Of India Sports awards. Bill Bernbach would appreciate it.

Look at it from another side. The agency and client are not afraid. They know they are committed to their profession. Maybe including the repulsive behaviour is the brand’s way of waking you up.  Maybe it is their way to get the audience to notice and comment.

Would you notice the obnoxious husband if he had remained silent or polite in the frame? Did you fail to miss the decisive shift with head-of-the-table getting into discussion and decision mode? You can see that along with you the rest-of-family realises something was wrong. The mother-son gameplay is powerfully purposive; it is following unsaid rules written down in the family.

Most likely this was one of the scripts for the job.  It won in the business-need-creative-balance-political-right-budget scale.

Advertising rarely needs to play the role of an activist. There are other organisation and leaders to do so.  It needs to remain grounded in reality. It needs to nudge not revolt against the wrong practices. The uproar shoes that this All-out communication was out-right a perfect nudge.

Should the creative now work under a new set of guidelines that places constraints on the thinking and the creative process? What do we want or expect? Do we want every brand to be cause-centric and CSR-oriented NGO? Do we always need to be hypersensitive with an extreme opinion?  Should we start defining the boundaries of representation in advertising for everything?

So, now onwards, the homemaker must eat with the rest, daughter-son must eat at the same table, daughters definitely should not cook, working-lady must not come home and prepare meals, Working mothers must find extra time to communicate with the child. If she gives cake in Tiffin, she must pack another suggestive nutrition rich lunchbox. She must not be shown washing alone. The wife must not serve tea when the husband has it alone. Marriage must not precede job. Women should still ask for Johnny and forget Jane. The fairness cream and the extra bounce hair gel should not make her centre of attraction and even get her a job.

And Amitabh Bachchan can’t just keep shooting the gun without reloading the chamber.

Or, we have a choice.

Stop defining boundaries. Stop templatisation of behaviour. Stop cribbing. Stop expecting the same behaviour from every brand. Be sensitive.

This does not mean that I ask you to be silent.  Don’t stop questioning. Keep raising your voice in favour of significant issues. Sexualising of communication. Women exploitation.  Racism. Fuelling unnecessary desires by projecting wrong sizes.

#StandbyToughMoms TVC fails to have any brand connect (ALL OUT). Relating ‘silently strong’ motherhood to All-Out is taking things to far. Trust someone will have cryptic answers to these observations too.

Let the consumers decide.

Trust me, if brands ventures against the consumer mindset, it will be rejected.   Let the consumer decide.

BLOG/13/2018

The post Don’t strangulate advertising with socially expectations. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Who should define how news is served?

In fact, you the viewer only should decide what you watch! You anyway do that with the click of the remote. But, what if all channels in a genre (In this case News) were beaming the same content! The option still exists to close the Idiot Box and shift to another medium! Just like you so comfortably do in the digital medium.

Options always exist for people with some common sense.

However, in the recent times the so-called super intellectuals, leaders of the masses, the armchair activists with high decibel voice further amplified by silent tweets and re-tweets, the politically correct spineless social media gladiators have tried to be the reflection of acceptable social behaviour and guardian to rest of the nation.

They are convinced (once again) that News Channels have overstepped the brief and were going out of their way to milk the situation. The channels have knowingly refused to be sensitive to the person the family or the circumstances.

The truth is that the public loved it. The viewers were hungry for more.

Everyone had theories, and everything was vague for too long. The channels played the game on the front-foot. Where was the time to think as rival channels joined the massacre of sensibilities?

There were few creative solutions to control the situation.

The advertisers should take the lead in stopping the ugly show on television. Tell the channels enough is enough. They should do a collective blackout/withdraw/protest and not advertise for one day. And we believe channels will fall in line.

It is slightly an abstract thought full of impossibilities.

I am aware of companies using such tactics in digital media and threatening a pull out at a global level. And if for some magical reasons, if they do it with Indian news channel the message will be home.

On the other side, this will open another front. We viewers don’t want advertisers to dictate or influence what we watch. And they should even think of controlling or influencing the news with their purse strings.

Every one of us for logical reasons must be against such proposals. Knowing advertisers, they will never join forces for such a blatant act of aggression and try the power equation.

It’s different; the advertisers do control non-news programming content by sponsoring and advertising. As for the influence in the news, it is restricted in a very narrow corridor of selfish opportunities with possibilities of direct impact.

The Industry Association can only suggest guideline. They cannot intervene. The I&B Ministry will not interfere. There was nothing illegal or of national interest.

They are intellectually divided on the degree of demonstrated stupidity and journalistic responsibilities.

The rule is simple.

• What is watched is promoted and is viewed more.
• What is sponsored is promoted is watched more.
• What is watched and sponsored is produced more.

This simplistic equation fails to recognise the power of content. If people stop watching, no one will sponsor, advertise or produce it.

On the other side, personally, I think, till its legally safe, news content control must remain with the editorial, it’s their job to curate the content.

Now, this is where the news organisation structure, responsibilities, roles and aspirations start recolouring the reality.

There are unfortunately commitments, policies and internal guidelines, more constraints, few directional freedom for the editor to define the approach to a news item?

Content is there to maximise eyeballs glued for the longest time.

The TRP fight is a never-ending game. And we all know, where the buck grows.

Personally, I was frustrated with the screwed news coverage, but then I could not find a legal angle to it. All I did was the silent protest. I switched off the TV and went back to my video downloads.

It was this simple. If someone is willingly continuing with a legally approved socially acceptable activity as defined by the masses, who am I to stop.

If tomorrow, Marijuana or porn was legal, I could frame my point of view unless I decide to escalate the issue. Unfortunately the armchair intellectually bright super sensitive arrived in life people just tweet and comment.

She no doubt was a public figure and a fantasy icon for many. She died in circumstances that were mysterious and not above suspicion. There were elements of the story that allowed the channels space to manoeuvre their take. Would it been right for the news channels to give a clean chit, be biased, polarised and over sensitive. What if things turned the other way, would the same ugly brigade of misplace emotion s and logic will not lynch the channels for being favourable to rich and famous.

The news channel first responsibility is to the audience.

And if one was to relax the neck, stop reading between the tweeter and Facebook, you will realise the masses at the bus stops, and tea shops, women at the grocery shop and kitty parties were all interested in knowing more. Their crib was not the way content was presented but the limitation of what was available and looped for eternity.

We may call it voyeuristic journalism, but then most of us are voyeuristic bastards. We have a range of masks for every avatar. In our privacy, we remain true to our primal, basic instincts.

Every day we want a different saucy flesh of news to bite into. No wonder people entrusted with the job of providing us with the right flavour of the day and serve us our package are pressurised. They are playing a game where winners take all.

The news is a small section of TV viewership.
But it is a more significant fight. 
There are no rules, and the nation will never know.

In such a situation, it’s like the infamous streets in every town. The seller must close the deal by pushing the wares upfront to hook you. TV News channel when everyone has the same story is such a situation.

Trust me; I will not be surprised that after the funeral some channels brainstormed to graduate to the next level of AR/VR when someone big calls it a day. Otherwise, it is business as usual. It will be just business as usual.

Frankly, it is only the viewers who should/could control, swing and influence the content issue on news channels. The viewers have the power to force the channels to redefine their content strategy, guidelines and norms that it follows.

The big question is, does the Indian viewer is willing to give-up his new audio-visual version of SatyaKahaniya and ManoharKahaniya masquerading as legitimate news channels. Most probably not.

The social media activists can wait for the next event. The channels will set new records of indecency and encroach into the privacy of someone else.

Till then, Keep watching your daily dose of ugly news.

Blog/ 14/2018

The post Who should define how news is served. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

IDEO is a respected design & innovation firm. Tom Kelly, the author of The Art of Innovation, is a partner at IDEO. In the book’ The Art of Innovation’, he takes you on a roller coaster ride of innovative thinking and experimentation. He shares the strategies and the recipe for successful innovation.

“Out there in some garage is an entrepreneur who’s forging a bullet with your company’s name on it. You’ve got one option- to shoot first/ You’ve got to out-innovate the innovation’. Gary Hamel ( Business Writer)

Today, no organisation can ignore innovation.

To Tom Kelly, Innovation is an art and a process. Innovation is a habit and a way of life. It comes from keen observation and hunger to improve.

Kelly would want you to follow a simple process for innovation.

1. Have a Hot team with eight crazy characters assembled to address the problem. These are The trouble-shooter, the iconoclast, the Pulse taker, The craftsman, The technologist, the entrepreneur and the cross-dresser.On hot teams, he says ‘Teams may be ground zero for innovation at most companies, but they start with individuals. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of extraordinary people in your organisation. Match them to projects, challenge them and give them a chance to blossom. And I think you’ll be surprised at the results. There is nothing like a hot team to get a job done’

    

2. Understand the market, the client and the technology.
3. Be aware of the perceived constraints on the given problem.
4. Observe real people in real-life situations to find out what makes them tick, what confuses them, what they like and what they hate. ‘If you are not in the jungle, you are not going to know the tiger’.‘Prototyping, brainstorming and observations are the fundamentals, the reading, writing and arithmetic of innovation. Great teams provide the charge that makes these basic skills flow throughout a company’ – Tom Kelly

5. Visualize new-to-the-world concepts and the customers who will use them.
6. Evaluate and refine the prototypes in a series of quick iterations. Try not to get emotionally attached to the initial prototypes and ideas.
7. Implement the new concept for commercialisation

It makes me feel good about my ‘InNoWait’ approach, no waiting for innovation. If you have to innovate, it must happen now and here in the two-day workshop. We believe in everyone being creatively contributor. In fact, people nearer the problem are most aware of the real situation and are most likely to give wings to innovation. And as Linus Pauling said ‘the best way to get the good idea is to get a lot of ideas’

The book is a well-written guide that shares the importance of thoroughly understanding the situation, the market and observing the real-life users. It asks you to prototype on the run and a tight schedule. It is not the first book that labours hard on failing often and failing sooner to succeed.

Go ahead, pick this for reading. Be warned of too many examples and high pitch of IDEO. If you seek innovation and have a fair bit of understanding- you will enjoy the book.

‘The Art of Innovation’ by Tom Kelly with Jonathan Littman. Hachette India. Pages 306. INR 399. ‘The Inevitable: Understanding The 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future’ By KEVIN KELLY is another book you may want to read.

BLOG/17/BOOK/2/2018

The post ‘THE ART OF INNOVATION’ by Tom Kelly. Book Review appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

BABA RAMDEV as speaker in GOAFEST.
The industry demonstrates lack of collectivism and self-respect.

I am raising a voice because others have decided to conveniently remain silent. It must share with my well-wishers the reason for my proposed blackband protest against Baba Ramdev, keynote speaker at Goafest on April 5, 2018. The fest is the annual event organised by the AAAI (Advertising Agencies Association of India) and The Advertising Club. I am surprised that no one else sees it this way and is seeking an explanation for serious oversight by industry leaders?

pIC mxmindia.com

It is a demonstration of isolation and fragmentation in our industry. We fail to appreciate collectivism. We tolerate people in power and influence not subscribing to the guidelines of self-regulation emerging out of collective wisdom. Were they not supposed to be size, category and celebrity-agnostic?

We will never see a NIRAV MODI or a VIJAY MALLYA speaking at a banking conference celebrating stringent banking security measures. Then why is Baba Ramdev invited to the celebration of creativity?

Baba Ramdev has demonstrated incredible consistency in challenging, the collective wisdom of the fraternity. His organisation has knowingly taken chances and flouted guidelines. Last January, 25 out of 33 Patanjali ads were held to be false or misleading by ASCI. They have challenged ASCI scope in the court of law and called it unconstitutional.  It seems he and his team seem to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) of poking ASCI.

Though headed by smart well-intending seniors who have experience of serving across the industry bodies, we live a cocooned life of isolated celebration.  We rarely demonstrate a feeling of togetherness.  We must some time try and put the collective health of industry before glitter at individual associations. Goafest in my view is one such occasion.

A time when we as an industry should isolate repeat offenders, stand together and strengthen ASCI, we are celebrating Baba Ramdev. What is the signal we are sending?

I have no question for the yogi-turned-businessman, who has shown utter disregard, lack of respect and confidence in the collective self-regulation.

He has re-written many rules marketing and advertising. He has made MBAs, marketing gurus and consultants rethink their strategies. He has taken on the might of MNCs in the dynamic marketplace and succeeded.

There is respect for what he has achieved. However, there is no reason for him to be speaking the celebration of creativity,  the Kumbh of Indian advertising, a festival of ethics and morality in the business.

It is to show solidarity with ASCI, which has been doing exemplary work for the Industry. I see no reason why associations like IBF, ISA, AdClub, AAAI, INS and IAA should not support ASCI.

Show Your Support To ASCI
By WEARING A TOUCH OF WHITE
On 5th April at Goafest.

when Baba Ramdev takes his place on stage. Let him see white at Goafest. Let the message echo loud and clear, how much we love and respect ASCI

It does not matter if you are not at Goafest. You can still support ASCI by wearing white. Share your picture on social media with #ProudOfASCI #Livegoafest 

I expect seniors in Industry to also WEAR A TOUCH OF WHITE WHITE and send the right signal of being Proud of ASCI and supporting it.

I hope ASCI questions the invitation to Baba. I hope CCC (Consumer Complaints Council) members raise their voice against the lack of overt support, understanding and collectivism in the industry.

If Baba and team are misguided and don’t know of ASCI code, they can e-learn. Please do watch this video to know what ASCI is and how it works. And if you can, do tell Baba what you think!

BLOG/17/2018  first appeared in MXMINDIA.com under the weekly column KotMartial

The post Why inviting Baba Ramdev to Goafest a wrong call? appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

What we are now discussing is the misuse of data collected under ‘Facebook quiz – This is Your Digital Life’ pushed by Cambridge Analytica. And all of us, the gullible, social enthusiasts will recall our willingly participating in many such quizzes and stunts.  We have for ease of simplicity used the convenient ‘Login with Facebook’ option in for many other sites and platforms. Each time agreeing to a certain degree of profile data access and share.

It is true that Facebook knows more about you. It can far better predict your possible reaction to situations. And they will most of the time right. It is all okay until the time that data is traded, accessed and used without the direct permission of users.

If you trust Facebook, there is nothing to worry.  Google and Yahoo have always assured us of being proactive.  Remember,  ‘Koi Halwai Nahi Bolta Uski Mithai Baasi Hai’. No sweetmaker will ever tell that his ‘sweets’ are stale.

The users always had some idea of how much the social media platforms know about them. It was clear that it is some of the best segmenting tool available for targeted addressing of a message. Along with a high-frequency media and on-the-fly management, it creates a quick adaptive environment, a tool available for misuse. Human intelligence with self-learning algorithms and machine intelligence makes for best non-intrusive subliminal interference and influence.

That puts the users in a tight spot. They have in many ways aligned themselves with the Facebook’s purported mission of global transparency. At every stage, they have been giving away rich profile data and easy access to 3rd party apps. They have set themselves for easy manoeuvrability.

As expected, for some time people will stop using the option to use the Facebook ID to log in to digital interactions. There will be few #QuitFacebook #DeleteFacebook moments. All of this will die an abrupt death when some new shit hits the ceiling.

The answer is not quitting Facebook, but intelligently managing controls on what you share. It is about not accepting the unwarranted requests.

The era of self-regulation is dead. Gold Standards remains a concept. The consumer control that has been demanding and creating new social framework will define data use too. It will have to create far stricter and effective laws to protect from data misuse.

We users must not lose the momentum. We must question every possible platform and practice before accepting any new definitions. We must reclaim our lives and avatars in digital space.

BLOG/18/2018- appeared first at MXMINDIA.com

The post Cambridge Analytica FB tip of the iceberg. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

OLIVE CROWN AWARD – a nice experience.

The 8th edition of OLIVE CROWN AWARDS held at Astor Ballroom, St. Regis, Mumbai on 6th March 208, were one of the most well-organised event industry events I have attended in recent past.

Olive Crown Awards has a well-crafted soul and purpose. It is India’s first ever award for creative excellence in communicating sustainability.

I failed to capture my appreciation in the weekly column or blog. To set it right, here are my observations.

THINGS THAT MADE IT

Firstly, the show was almost on time, and that was a good start. Most of the audience took the hint seriously and had a touch green on them. The invitees reaching early, networked peacefully with an operational bar. The IAA representative speech was crisp and precise.

The host of the evening gave precise instructions to the winners. It helped to speed up the proceedings. There was hardly any absentee in winners. The equipment and AV worked without glitches. The seating was well arranged, and enough for the invite-only show.

Not to miss the very interesting call for entry campaign; which also won an award.

SPECIAL APPEARANCES

The entertainment (Shankar Mahadevan Academy) was in sync with the cause. There was hardly any sign of disturbance when Sadhguru walked in while the function was in progress. The conversation on ‘River Project’ with Sadhguru moderated by Sidharth Vats was lively.

Sadhguru statement “When we get to a certain pace of activity in life, we have a fundamental responsibility to positively impact the lives around us” resonated with the audience. Even his conversation was not allowed to overshoot the allocated time. The experience loop closed with some excellent food.

WINNERS- MILESTONE IN THE JOURNEY

Just for records, ‘Reliance foundation won the gold in the corporate social crusader of the year category’. Isha Foundation was awarded the ‘Green Crusader of the Year’. Ogilvy & Mather bagged the ‘Campaign of the Year’ award, and FCB Interface bagged all the awards in the unreleased category.

The winners are mere reflection and dots in a journey. The work is more important to me. A more than 100% increase in the number of entries from 8-9 countries tells us that we are on the right path.

SCOPE FOR BETTERING THE EXPERIENCE

Not everything was right, and here are some suggestions.

The IAA members should have designated reserved seating. At any given point of time, preferably there should not be more than two presenters on stage. Is it possible to do away with giving sponsor representative the stage time? Please brief the presenters on their role and expectations. Mark their position on stage, so they do not end up blocking the AV or clumsily try finding their place on the stage. Maybe a simple solution is to raise the height of the screen.

Ask entrants to send a slide to go up on screen, in case they win the award. Maybe some explanation on the winning entries will help the audience to appreciate them better. Getting the winning entries and case studies on IAA site will be a good idea. Reconsider, unreleased cinema category; it does not make sense. Redo, please redo the IAA AV.

CLOSURE

Kubra Sait

Appreciation of IAA Olive Crown award function must mention an integral contributor to the show experience, the lively energetic, smiling Kubra Sait. She kept the crowd engaged with her banter and got them to applaud at regular interval. She orchestrated the energy levels within the hall admirably. Her familiarity with the industry seniors, organisers and the event added to the overall experience. She seemed well prepared and rehearsed for the job. Kubra Seth, you have one more admirer of your talent and skill set.

VOTE OF THANKS

Thanks, Ramesh Narayan, Megha Tata, Pradeep Dwivedi. Jaideep Gandhi, Neeraj Roy and rest of the IAA team and members for a well defined and executed award event. I am sure Olive Crown awards will grow in its intent and popularity in the coming years. It does have the industry respect.

BLOG/21/2018

The post Why I iked the OLIVE CROWN AWARDS! appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Will GOAFEST 2018 add a twist to this tale?

I am attending Goafest 2017 on 5-6-7^th April at Grand Hyatt, Goa. It is a work-in-progress evolving with time. It is a place where many stories take shape, find an end, and some starve for the next chapter. I am waiting for the possible twist in my story that started two years back.

GOAFEST 2016. THE START.

It was the Saturday night, the last night of the Goafest 2016. The after party was in full swing. It was around 2 a.m. I was near to the registration area with few friends. I, of course, was a bit tipsy.

There I saw her coming out. She realised she was short of cigarettes. I ask me, and I lend her one. We start a conversation. For the next 90 minutes, we cover a range of topics. Blame it on few more beers and vodka that night, I don’t recall her name, and most likely she doesn’t remember me. However, I know she was in the digital space and planning do an MBA from one of the IIM’s. At least that’s what she said.

PRE GOAFEST 2017

I use the 142-character tweet to announce my desire to meet her. ‘Dear young lady, if you are attending Goafest this year too, Do connect. And yes, you can find me around 1230, you know where”.

GOAFEST 2017. THE MIDDLE.

I was not expecting much. The results were beyond expectation. There was a twist in the tale.

My message, the invite and the desire were in the tweet, on my blog, and my weekly column on MXM. I was trying to address an audience of one. It was a wild swipe. Mission impossible in every word. However, few exciting possibilities kept raising nasty naughty unanswered questions.

GOAFEST 2017. THE FIRST NIGHT. 6TH APRIL

Nothing happened on Thursday night. I was at the reception area between 1130 p.m. to 1230 a.m. There was no one to meet.

GOAFEST 2017- DAY 2. 7TH APRIL

Next day I tweeted an update ‘Who Nahi Aayi’.

My identity was open. My article carried my picture. And I had no way to tag her. All I had was a faint memory of an overtly tipsy lady in mid-twenties, standing in a light-coloured dress and sharing the smoke. She had a light dimple on her left cheek. Maybe I was a now imagined thing.

In the afternoon, I got two e-mails. They were cryptic suggesting a meet-up. It confused me. Was someone making a fool of me?

GOAFEST 2017. NIGHT 2. 7TH APRIL.

I avoided the award function and slept in the evening. Later I went to the bait area; where the registration counters were. I killed time, taking small swigs from the beer bottle, and lazily smoking a cigarette while my eyes cautiously scanned the area.

After three bottles of beer and four cigarettes, I gave up. I was sure; it was a prank. It took the long walk back to the room.

A short SMS hit my phone. ‘Meet me tomorrow the same place. Do not reply or call. Have left for my hotel’.

I checked the true caller, the number belonged to Priyanka ( name changed). I decided to follow the instructions. Tomorrow was the last chance to meet-up.

GOAFEST 2017, DAY 3

8th April went in a furry of sessions. I was waiting for the night.

It was 1215 a.m. I checked my stock of cigarettes and then hurried to the reception area.

This girl (Meeta) was sitting in the corner. I strategically stayed at a distance and lit my first cigarette. She walked up and asked if she could borrow one. It was like a code. My eyes lit up. However, I knew she was not my Miss2016. The conversation this time was smooth and unhurried. We spoke of work, Goa, IPL, creativity, knowledge session, women empowerment and many other uninteresting things.

STORY ABHI BAAKI HAI DOST

I did a double take. Another girl (Priyanka) came out from the party hall. She looked around and approached us. She calmly said ‘Finally, so do you have a smoke to spare’. I smiled and pushed the pack forward.

We did the introductions. Priyanka and Meeta were meeting for the first time. The girls were bored of the party and same set of friends through the last 3 days. I anyway was alone with no one for the company. They knew about the tweet. Surprisingly (I believe that), they had independently sent me the cryptic emails.

Last night they had seen my harmless dedication to the cause and decided to meet. Maybe it was single re-tweet by Pratap Bose that did the trick.

We ended up in my room. There were enough cigarettes and beer.

We finally called it a day at 2:30 a.m. they had an early flight to Mumbai.

I selfishly believe original MISS2016 did not attend Goafest 2017.

GOAFEST 2018. Will there be a twist in the tale?

I like meeting and sharing stories. Miss2016, I will be there, meet me if you attend this year. It is true for Priyanka, Meeta and anyone else who wishes to catch up.

If you have a story from Goafest or you want to just catch up, tweet at S_Kotnala or connect on Facebook. You can usually catch me around 11 p.m. – 1230 a.m. at the same place.

This is a true story. Not the complete truth. But the desire to catch up is true. Life anyway is Perception adulterated with reality.

There is another story on the side. We have Godman Turned Tycoon, Baba Ramdev as keynote speaker at AAAI and ADCLUB led celebration of creativity; GOAFEST  on 5th April 2018. He is known for consistently flouting/challenging and disregarding the ASCI guidelines.I am wearing a TOUCH OF WHITE in support and appreciation of work done by ASCI. Do join me from wherever you are, wear a touch of white and post it on social media with #ProudOfASCI

BLOG/20/2018- First published in MXMINDIA.com

The post An unfinished tale at GOAFEST? appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Show your appreciation and support for ASCI, WEAR A TOUCH OF WHITE WHITE on 5th April 2018 at Goafest.

Tomorrow is the inaugural session of the 13th edition of Goafest, the Khumbh of Indian Advertising. I expect every work awarded or displayed at Goafest confirms to the ASCI guidelines, which is the outcome of Industry collective wisdom.

Baba Ramdev will be addressing this august gathering as a keynote speaker on 5th April. I have no issue with Godman Turned Tycoon. He has redefined marketing and branding in many ways. He has been successful with a range of product categories and is one of the largest clients in town.

However, Baba Ramdev has demonstrated an utter disregard, lack of respect and confidence in the collective self-regulation and an incredible consistency in challenging ASCI guidelines. It has called ASCI as unconstitutional. Patanjali features in almost every quarterly list of offenders and keeps doing what it wants. It seems to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) of poking ASCI.

And that’s the reason for strongly objecting to AAAI and the Adclub inviting Baba Ramdev to Goafest.

It seems, we not only tolerate unrepenting repeat offenders, who disregard Industry guidelines, but we celebrate them. There should be no place for such offenders within the industry. I am not sure if Patanjali feels the need to be part of Industry.

Goafest is the opportunity to demonstrate cohesiveness within the industry and strengthen ASCI, which is doing exemplary work in and for the Industry.

Show Your Support To ASCI By WEARING A TOUCH OF WHITE On 5th April at Goafest. 
Let everyone get the message echo loud and clear, how much we love and respect ASCI.It does not matter if you are not at Goafest. You can still support ASCI by wearing white. Share your picture on social media with #ProudOfASCI #Livegoafest

I hope seniors in the Industry also WEAR A TOUCH OF WHITE and send the right signal of being proud of ASCI and supporting it. Don’t hide your support with a white handkerchief of white socks, show it  #ProudOfASCI

…………………………………

Disclaimer. These are my personal views. #ProudOfASCI

BLOG/19/2018

The post Support ASCI, WEAR A TOUCH OF WHITE on 5th April at Goafest #ProudOfASCI appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

How did advertising Industry fail to address the elephant in the room?

I campaigned for ‘Wearing a touch of white’ in support of ASCI at Goafest 2018 with a lot of conviction and less of confidence. It was also a protest against the apparent lack of collectivism in the Industry and Baba Ramdev’s consistent blatant violation of ASCI guidelines.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM- SOURCE -INTERNET

We failed. We lost an opportunity to address the elephant in the room. With Baba liberally talking on the subject of Patanjali advertising and branding, the Patanjali-ASCI conflict was the most logical question. We let Baba get away. We surrendered to the power of a large advertiser and failed to force the issue.

Baba answering something in his witty style and us failing to logically question and counter it was never the worry. Maybe, it was just the ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ attitude of the wise men of the industry that helped the Baba cause.

In my view, the support to a cause needs to be fearless, and it must come from within.

I am excited that a large number of delegates including industry seniors acknowledged the need for collectivism and support for ASCI. The predominating black attire by some members of the fraternity did not dampen my spirits.

I am thrilled with my discussions with delegates. Many delegates and friends humorously pointed to their white lanyards as symbolic ‘Touch of white’. And I knew I had got the message across. When an industry veteran said ‘thank you, you have done something right and handled it in the right spirits’, I knew I was on the right track.

THE OTHER ELEPHANTS!

My encounters with Goafest delegates raised many questions, and I don’t think I have all the answers.

Before anything else, I accept my failure for not objecting to Acharya Balkrishna speaking in the same forum last year. They also questioned the purposive wisdom in having Baba Ramdev again from Patanjali as a speaker the very next year. I don’t have all the answers.

Delegates wanted to know what ASCI has done to help educated Patanjali and wean it away from a behaviour that’s injurious to the industry? Why Patanjali, one of India’s largest TV advertisers, is not a member of ASCI? Is Vermillion, the agency, not an ASCI member? And did the Patanjali creative by one top agency violating ASCI guidelines? Are the media that continues to run the campaigns objected by CCC, not ASCI members? Has Patanjali ever withdrawn or modified a creative after ASCI objection? Did ASCI member media organisations ever refuse to carry the tainted brand communications? I don’t have the data, understanding or the answers.

The new generation of advertising professionals questioned the scope and enforceability of ASCI decisions. They were surprised. Is the ASCI membership not mandatory before a brand turns an advertiser? Should ASCI certification not be made compulsory for everyone working in the industry? Who has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring right guidelines are created and implemented? Do management, communication and advertising institutes teach ASCI guidelines? I don’t have all the answers.

Did Baba indeed sue ASCI? What is the status of the legal cases by Baba where ASCI is involved, or advertising is the centrepiece of debate? I don’t have all the answers.

Is Patanjali status as a significant advertiser holding industry guidelines to ransom? Is there more than what meets the eye? I don’t have all the answers.

I tried seeking the answers from ASCI. And what I have is this “Many thanks for your email. We truly appreciate your support for ASCI. With regards to your request to respond to questions related to Patanjali, we would like to inform you that the matter is currently sub judice so, we would not be able to comment.’ I Understand, I will not have all the answers.

PERCEPTION ADULTERATED WITH REALITY.

In the absence of clarity and low in the awareness-interest-desire-action ladder, there are more questions and misplaced perceptions.

Some point out to the recent ‘No condom ads before 11 PM’ case. They see the ASCI act of reaching out to the ministry and getting the directive as constraining the industry. They want ASCI to find solutions and act as industry facilitators.

People call ASCI a toothless tiger. Maybe it’s time ASCI starts a dialogue with the industry beyond the website, tweets and the ritualistic CCC (Consumer Complaint Council) press releases.

Some did ask me if ASCI supported my campaign? Did anyone from ASCI contact me? Is my stance endorsed by ASCI? And I could only point to ASCI liking my tweets. Dammit, I don’t have all the answers.

I KEEP THE DEBATE ALIVE BECAUSE I HAVE NO ANSWERS.

Sanjeev Kotnala

I work with conviction and commitment. I am personally for more powerful ASCI. I am for every person, media organisation, media agencies and creative agency to be ASCI member. I am for detailed ASCI sessions at management schools. I am even for blacklisting, boycotting, shunning unrepentant frequent violator of the guidelines, be it the creative agency or the media organisation that continues to run them. You can’t just blame the client for everything.

Wishful thinking. Fantasy. The absence of compelling and binding action leads to frustration.

If nothing happens to the violators, other brands will not be able to continue the battle in the marketplace and consumer mind space with their hands tied. And later it will lead to an end of self-regulation.

I have only one answer to give: I don’t have all the answers.
…………………………………….
Sanjeev Kotnala is a Senior Brand and Marketing strategy advisor, coach and facilitator. With a basic degree in engineering followed by a PGDM at IIM Ahmedabad in the ’80s. Other than consulting a cross-section of marketers, Kotnala is also Adjunct Faculty and Advisor at MICA.
………………………………………
The article was first published in mxmindia.com with an editorial comment. ” Editor’s Note: When we invited Sanjeev Kotnala to write a weekly column for MxMIndia in August 2014, we did that for his unique all-round perspectives on the media. In recent weeks, Kotnala has had a point of view on Ramdev being invited to Goafest, and, frankly, it didn’t occur to us too. Perhaps only those indulging in financial irregularities are considered persona non grata. There are some who feel that by carrying his articles on the issue, MxMIndia supported Sanjeev Kotnala’s campaign. We didn’t. Though we supported his views. We support the institution of Goafest unconditionally and whole-heartedly. For us, it’s a point industry captains should take note of…’
……………………………………
BLOG/22/2018

The post Advertising Industry ignores the elephant in the room. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

The 13th edition of Goafest lived to its promise of being more productive and better than the last edition. There were visible, and determined efforts to make it a better experience. Goafest remains a work-in-progress with a promise of ‘Best yet to come’ – and I will take that.

This article is not a Goafest report card. Like earlier articles in 2017, 2016 or even 2015, it is more of a reflection based on personal observations and feedback from other delegates. Hopefully, there are some inputs to make the next edition even better.

WELCOME CHANGES IN ABBYs

Based on the detailed discussions with industry leaders and more importantly, listening t the young professionals, in its 50th year, the Abby Awards made impactful changes in the structure and process.

The categories are rationalised from 250+ to 160-odd categories relevant to the current industry ecosystem. Abby introduced the concept of ‘Master Jury’ across categories to ensure judging by the best in the field. And on popular demand, bringing back the often-hated and debated ‘Agency of the Year’ across the main categories in a far more transparent fashion.

ABSENTEES

I have been on record to say that we must not worry about who is not entering the awards. However, we must accept that other than the jury the competition also plays a definitive role in defining the awards. The absence of O&M, Lintas, Leo Burnett, JWT, Taproot, McCann, Creative Land Asia and Publicis does hurt the image and stature of Goafest. More so, there is not much left to damage when the absentee enters other awards.

THE KNOWLEDGE SESSIONS AND INDUSTRY CONCLAVE.

The industry conclave on Day One has retained only its name, and no longer serves the purpose.  Maybe we have realised that it is not the place to introspect and anyway we do not take any concrete action.

The content mix of Goafest is morphing with intent. There is a lot less of advertising and increase in other elements like music, sports, glamour, and politics, Bollywood etc. Though these are essential to give the fest a wider perspective and delegates some breather, they must be like salt in food and not the complete meal. It is a dangerous shift. Let’s not blame the non-interest in advertising of delegates. Remember it’s all about content.

Baba Ramdev, the natural performer, honestly played to the gallery.  He knows the pulse of the audience. His sense of humour and bold statements coming form success and confidence in the vision and purpose of the brand resonated with the audience.

Baba resold Patanjali as a value-driven organisation set for definitive future growth and glory. Patanjali as per Baba is leveraging honesty, dedication, purpose, knowledge, experience and emotions for wealth creation. The fight for Made-in-India and hence anti-MNC ‘HUM MNC KO DHO DALENGEY’ found favour with the audience. Baba further pumped the sentiments with explanation ‘the blood in the veins is Indian, even when the majority of you all work with MNCs or have clients as MNCs’.

His act was far better than any stand-up comedy. To have the crowd engaged and involved for 90 minutes is an art in itself. Hats off to him. He ended his session with the expected and much-seen trademark tips on KAPALBHARATI and SURYA NAMASKAR. More on him on Wednesday.

Dean Donaldson and Jonathan Tavis of Kaleidoko made their presentation as a conversation. Like the Milton hypnosis language pattern, they laid the foundation with the known elements of digitalisation before unleashing the concept of Geno-targeting, Geno-segmenting and Geno-marketing based on the current understanding of DNA framework and genetic construct being predicting and defining similarities and differences in the global family. I am sure that it was a scope-expanding session for most of us.

Rapha Vasconellous representing Facebook CreativeShop  yet again at Goafest) made the similar pitch on people needing to follow the 70-20-10 principle of immediate- interactive and immersive content for any idea,  building communities, experimenting and doing things differently. The end – a pitch and presentation of Facebook – Blueprint the free learning platform was a repeat too.

Rosy Yakob, Co-founder GeniusSteals, pushed for collectivism in solution creation based on the argument that no solution today can be the result of a single person’s efforts. And for us to create the environment of collectivism, we must have mutual admiration and appreciation, willingly share knowledge for all to benefit, embrace diversity and distribute credit and seek the wilds and weirdest.

Amelia Conway, directorm Adolescence, made a short but impactful presentation. Adolescence is based on a simple insight that only a teenager can best understand another teenager. The advertising fraternity attempts with the solution based on research and understanding are still what they want kids to want.  It does not come across as an honest attempt.

There were some other presentations too. Pepperfry presentation by Kashyap Vadapalli was a journey through the evolution of the brand. Cameron Worth of SharpEnd presented the possibilities and a picture of IoT, a world of connected devices.   Faye D’souza delivered a crisp and impressive presentation of Mirror Now delivering on the promise of ‘You First’. Wain Choi, Chief Executive Officer at CJK-Valley in conversation with Rohit Ohri presented few cases and demonstrated that ideas and creativity are not dependent upon budgets.

PERSONALITIES

Too many sessions with non-advertising content make Goafest look less like an advertising festival.

Sparsh Shah*, the 14-year old teenager who uses a wheelchair made the audience emotional. Born with 40 fractures and doctor’s gave him two days to survive. Today he is the face of differently abled people globally. His request of advertising community to be inclusive in their communication is a well-directed and timely reminder.

Jonty Rhodes is a much-loved cricketer and cricket is a religion in India. Anand Narasimhan of Times engaged him in a conversation started with the latest Australian  ‘Sandpaper gate’ fiasco. Jonty was open in saying that most of the teams try to change the ball conditions within the acceptable behaviour but doing it the way Austrian team tried was pure stupidity.  The discussion on Choker tag for the South African team, politics within, his retirement world cup, ball tempering and leadership styles were engrossing.

Colonel Rajyavardhan Rathore: Politician, Olympian and an ex-army man walked out as the winner of the session with Times Now interviewing him. He was open and straightforward enough (as much possible). He defended Times Now’s probing and incisive questions on Brand Modi (he likes referring to him as a phenomenon) and drop in the Lok Sabha seats with the bypolls. His conviction and explanation of Khelo India movement assured the audience of the government decisive initiative being productive in time to come.

Sidharth Malhotra*,  representing the youth brigade, passed the test of brand and marketing. The Bollywood charm and openness in his conversation worked in his favour. Sania Mirza* I am told was open, straight to point in her session. Her comment ‘My name is Sania Mirza, and my children will be named Mirza Malik, not just Malik’ found much favour with the audience.  Nawazuddin Siddiqui in conversation with Anu Kapoor was a waste. It had some pointers and a recap of his journey from a humble background to stardom.

PERFORMANCE

Usha Uthap’s performance on the opening night of 50th edition of Abby’s was an apt audience, occasion. It was also her 48th year in the singing career. She performed a day after the sad demise of her elder sister demonstrating her level of commitment and a lesson on professionalism.  While Baba knew the pulse, she knew the beats to mesmerising.

Neha Bhasin on the second day was equally bright and hardworking but somewhere the magic of the first night was missing. Towards the end of a long drawn performance though, she did get the crowd on her side.

Khusboo Grewal on Day Three had the audience jiving and fully involved by her energetic medley of songs. Her moving into the audience and interacting with them made the performance that more engaged.

AWARD FUNCTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS

Well done on this front. Other than a few minor glitches, they were well-conducted. The ‘Master Jury’ did return few categories with no metal, which may be discouraging to some but good for the fest in being stringent in their evaluation. It was nice to see Publisher’s Abby sandwiched between Usha Uthap performance and the Media Abbys giving them a bigger audience.

The Exhibition display area had a repetitive display of work across categories. May be we could experiment with mounting one integrated display for such entries and list the sub-categories it has qualified as a finalist.

Awards must not go beyond 10 pm even if we are forced to start a bit early and compromise on knowledge sessions. If I were a sponsor of the after-events party, I would want a penalty clause for delay in awards closure.

DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITIES

Being on time is as much delegate’s responsibility as it is of the organisers. The opening morning session, the post-lunch session and awards delayed start were primarily due to delegates entering or returning at their own pace. The organising committee made every attempt and would have been more successful in managing time with delegates support.

Treat it as your festival and hence give equal recognition, appreciation and respect to the other award winners. Do not walk out of the hall after winning or if the category you represent is awarded. Or maybe it’s time for Goafest to keep doors closed until the end of the function.

WORKSHOPS

I have heard good feedback on both ‘Facebook’ And ‘Mindscapes ’ workshops at Goafest, and we should look at increasing the number of workshops in the coming years.

PARTING SHOT.

Last week, I shared an unfinished tale from Goafest 2017, and expected the story to move forward in 2018. Sorry to disappoint, but there was no twist in the tale. No fresh encounter. However, I am an optimist. And who knows what happens in the next Goafest on 4th-5th-6th of April 2019.

Thank you, Goafest Organising Committee, Awards Governing Council, Jury members, participating agencies, brands, AAAI, Ad Club, sponsors, speakers and the delegates for making Goafest successful.

As I did not attend the sessions marked with *, the feedback is based on conversations with other delegates.

……………..

Blog/23/2018

The post GOAFEST, Meets Expectation – Promises to be better appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

‘So we have a new agency of the year’… my chirpy greeting to an industry veteran while leaving Goa’s Grand Hyatt got an unexciting almost conversation closing reply  ‘You wearing a nice red shirt, and the jeans are good too’.

I realised it was not a good subject to discuss. The dejection was complete.  The excitement of the IPL inaugural match came handy to bridge the chasm.

But it is worth spending some time on the subject. We are pushing Creativity In Advertising into the list of most endangered art in business communication.

RIGHTFUL WINNERS

Abby is a transparent award system. The agencies earn points on legitimate advertising released within universally known rules. It is an award that is brand-, category-, size-, cause-, medium- and effort-agnostic. It aims to primarily focus and award uniqueness and relevance of the expression to the clients business.

The Master Jury at Abby putting their name to the creative awards included Prasoon Joshi, Agnello Dias, Amer Jaleel, Arun Iyer, Alok Nanda, Abhijit Avasthi, ‎Bobby Pawar,  K.V. Sridhar,  Nitesh Tiwari, Prashant Godbole, Raj Kamble, Raj Deepak Das, Santosh Padhi, Senthil Kumar and  Swati Bhattacharya.

Yes, like every other mega-award, there is no limitation on entering the work across multiple relevant categories and winning. And no restriction if a digital agency enters print craft. There are no restrictions, and a debate on it will lead nowhere.

You cannot fault an agency winning basis pro bono, legitimate just-for-awards work, campaigns for an unheard client or winning across categories that are not part of their perceived competence arena. If one has reservations about it,  then one must change the rules rather than find fault with the agency’s desire and ambition to win.

I believe, the absentee agencies alone do not define the level of creativity in this country.  The issue is important but not good enough to cast doubts on winning agency’s efforts. I endorse Ashish Bhasin’s observation ‘Everyone who is going home with metal from Goafest 2018 is truly deserving of victory, and I congratulate every one of them for their incredible wins. It is truly deserved.’

The only solution is in making awards more exciting and challenging along with getting maximum agencies to enter their best work.

PROBLEMATIC IMPRESSIONS.

The net impression voiced by many is full of negativism. It seems creativity is confined to safe and presumably non-controversial ‘Cause Marketing’ and ‘NGO’ space.  The creativity in Indian awards does seem to be over-skewed at the moment.

CAN’T BLAME CMOs.

CMO’s are under relentless pressure to deliver results. The QSQT syndrome and consumer shifting loyalties make them vulnerable to the extent of being creativephobic. Their ability to take a risk, amplify valid insight and to take punt creatively is severely restricted. And, if they do get a brilliant idea, that is relevant, original and impactful, they are professionally human enough to run with it. 

PIC- mxmindia.com

CAN’T BLAME AGENCIES.

Creative agencies have multiple agenda. Their success and growth are linked to revenue results and is at the mercy of the client CMO and top management.  The weak spine makes no efforts to push the envelope.

On the other hand, the brand buzz and awards are business leveraging tools. They also impact employee satisfaction and pride.

Today, an ethical misadventure can lead to significant collateral damage.  The game is played and won, without breaking the rules. Hence, the question of ethics and morality does not arise.

Not equating pro bono or social service campaigns with creative developed for corporate brands is being myopic in approach. Every one of them is a brand and a client the moment they pay for their creative development and exposure. It does not matter and is never the criteria for evaluation, if the client is small or large, focussed or diffused, regional, local or national.

Yes,  there is enough ‘only for awards work’ in the industry. Some clients appear to disappear after the awards season. There are new charities that are one-time wonders. The genuineness of work cannot be questioned beyond the specified rules. Where guidelines are violated with impunity, don’t expect unsaid norms, ethical and morality guiding agencies to enter what is loosely called genuine work.

CAN’T BLAME ORGANISERS.

The organisers cannot find a solution to a global problem. Please do share, if you have a solution. The organisers need to be fair in evaluation and application of rules. They need to create a jury that is respected and ensure that the voting is unbiased and uninfluenced by external factors. Hopefully, we do not have issues on this subject.

There are rules, and then there are escape routes. Globally organisers have tried their best to avoid unexciting morale-dampening incidents. They can narrowcast the net on the size of business, time of exposure, value and frequency of exposure or any other parameter unless they redesign the complete awards. The advertising club has done so with the Marquees awards, Afaqs with FoxGlove awards, and IAA has successfully done it with the Olive Crown Awards, IndIAA Awards and IAA Leadership awards.

BUT THE EQUATION IS  IMBALANCED.

The smaller clients and NGO are a fertile ground for creative expression. They are willing to take a punt.

One can’t fault agencies unearthing these wonderfully cooperative organisation willing to sing the tune and help them expose creatively powered expressions.  It becomes a release valve against the rationalised murder of creativity in many boardrooms.

The only problem is a long-term issue. Such escape routes instead of providing an exponential positive upward shift can potentially force us into a downward spiral. If it happens, it will further mar the industry image and create rifts that will be impossible to fill.

CREATIVE AWARDS – CLIENT SIZE CORRELATION AND A THEORETICAL ISSUE.

It seems that size of the brand in the real marketplace and creative award-winning potential is negatively correlated. Even, if the high revenue brands win, they do so on tactical, festivities, CSR oriented Cause marketing, ground activation and sporadic non-revenue initiatives.

There is a rhetoric question. Why does creativity die a natural death in regular brand building campaigns? Presumably, the brands address the same target audience with the award-winning creative and the brand-building campaigns. In that case, one of the approaches is not right. Or one of them knowingly ignores consumer understanding. And this is the birth of ‘Only for awards’ campaigns.

It is acceptable to infer that the campaigns backed with mega organisational budgets and where the CMO puts the neck on the block is the right one.

The argument that there are other awards for effectiveness, relevant and impact is misdirecting the debate.

NO EXPECTATION. NO SOLUTIONS.

I never said there is a solution on hand. The award has evolved via negativa. It’s all about knowing that something is wrong than to be able to fix it. Actions that remove are more robust than those that add because addition may have an unseen complicated feedback loop.

While this is a fear that traps most organisations and Industry bodies. We must applaud the organisers to have taken some positive steps in the directions. Not all of them are popular in the industry.

I do not expect an early solution. You can’t correct this situation with awards continuing to be a measure of creativity without efforts, inputs, longevity and results.

I believe, there is enough reason to introspect and keep the debate alive. There is no elephant in the room. Maybe the churn will lead to moksha.

PARTING SHOT

Meanwhile, I heard the industry veteran say: I have told my team that the next three month agenda is to find, pitch and cultivate clients like the one that won. I refuse to play football with IPL rules.

That was an entirely human reaction. I wish him success as it keeps the light at the end of the tunnel super bright.

The post Who to blame for SOCIAL Skew in creative awards win. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Is CEAT facing issues with its talent management? Or are there work culture issues?

In the current recruitment market, candidates are worried about the choices they make. There are numerous unanswered questions before them. Everyone wants to know more about the organisational culture and values in detail. Most of company culture knowledge is a result of feedback from friends, relatives and their network/ interaction/experience with the organisation. It does come with tremendous credibility.

In few cases, company culture is so evident, overt and known that there is no need to publicise it. Tata and Reliance are two such examples. Each has reasons not to shout about it.

Every organisation has values, norms, rules and processes. When internalised it gives birth to an accepted and acceptable way of behaviour which then gets immortalised as the culture of the company. CEAT, in one of the rare occasions, has taken to address some issues head-on and reflect the desired perception.

CEAT #ThingsThatHappensAtWork starts with a premise that in most corporates, evils like gender bias, bureaucracy and lack of transparency or credit stealing is now an accepted and expected evil in the work environment. But, then sorry, it does not happen at CEAT.

There is a stretched humour in execution. Purposely the simplest of examples have been used to demonstrate #ThingsThatHappenAtWork and that the only thing beautiful about the communication.

Now ‘Does Not Happen at CEAT’  is a hard stance to take. It is hyperbole that is tough to believe. However, it’s hygiene promises that do have a chance to be a differentiating factor. Till not proven, the audience will say, ‘Tell me something new’.

CEAT claims the subject of these themes is based on insights from employees. And, if these did make the final list, I as HR, would want to investigate more.

The acid test of such a communication is usually with ex-employees. It works if and only if they endorse what is projected. Maybe CEAT is culturally perfect. Perhaps it is isolated and vaccinated against the known corporate evils.

Anyway, the subject needs more than just a TVC. It needs further expressions to support. Otherwise, it will fail to cut ice.

Low attrition rate, long induction process, humane policies, sexual harassment policy and implementation success, intolerance to malpractices, Gender ratio, training and development are some of the subjects that can be used to reflect the true reality.

Anyway, CEAT does not feature in the Top 100 companies listed in ‘Great Place To WorkMaybe be it is not in their culture to participate in such surveys. Perhaps this is a step towards making the cut. Whatever the reason, someone did seem to have a good time conceptualising and making these DVCs.

PARTING SHOT: A friend who is part of HR and Change Management in an MNC has a lighter take on this communication. She said, may be Ceat made this for internal communication as ‘What we Don’t Do/Tolerate’, and some smart marketing wired person flipped the whole thing! And why do I think her guess could be right?!

…. BLOG/24/2018…… First appeared at MxmIndia.com

The post Will the DVC’s help CEAT on talent front? appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Can lack of Wifi and Mobile connectivity be an advantage?

Recently I was at Coconut Hut at Divegar on the Konkan belt. It is a small cosy resort with 20 rooms and a swimming pool right at the centre. It has no WiFi. If I was to know it before arriving at the resort, I am sure; I would have cancelled the booking.

Can’t think of life without e-mails, Internet and WhatsApp!

One day into our stay, we realised how beautiful it is to be disconnected. We as a family were having a far better conversation and real togetherness after a long, long time. We were redefining quality time. Disconnecting to connect is the correct way to connect*.

PIC – FREE IMAGES SARAH BRUCKER

It’s impossible to be UnConnected in today’s world. People maybe lonely but are no longer alone in the virtual world of extended relationships. Availability, Accessibility and Affordability of the digital connectivity and services is hygiene factor in professional and personal life. We do crib about it. However, we are addicted to it.

Even a temporary absence of digital connectivity can create withdrawal symptoms as we see in case of drugs and alcohol.

In such a situation, will you pay a premium for being UnConnected?
Can no WiFi and lack of mobile connectivity be converted into an advantage?

So, You disconnect to connect with each other including self! There are restaurants that have banned mobile and laptops so that they no longer replicate the effect of office space and help create more face-to-face human interaction. Some of them have reported revenue hike due to more effective use of space and orders. No one has been charging a premium.

To gauge the magnitude of the problem, try searching for resorts and vacations ‘without WiFi’ or ‘No WiFi’ and Google keeps giving you results for free WiFi. I am not referring the Digital detox vacations, where you go for a forced disconnect. I am interested in judiciously preferring to UnConnect over the digitally connected world.

Will you pay a premium for rooms that prevent the digital waves reaching you? Will digital proofing of rooms be as rewarding as soundproofing? Will the digital detox centres open up just like Vipassana camps?

I hint at more than just banning mobiles, laptop and a lack of WiFi connectivity. What about being super UnConnected without TV, Radio and newspapers? Maybe that in the real sense is a vacation**.

Will you be willing to pay a premium for it, just like you do for Starbucks for giving you the third workspace after home and office?

We have helped create a situation where we are under constant surveillance and hence remaining connected. Our social media and digital signature are prints that can help anyone reach us.

The digital giants know a lot more about us than we know about ourselves. In reality with data mining, self-evolving algorithms, super understanding of patterns and cycles and Alternate Intelligence, they are better at predicting your reaction in a situation. They know how we think, our rational behaviour and irrational impulses. Maybe they can predict even our involuntary responses to known or new situations. We are party to creating this web of knowledge.

Maybe we will willingly pay for a VR/MR experience to taste and the UnConnected before we subscribe to it.

Will you pay a premium to be UnConnected to remain in a cocoon and away from everyone, A place where only you can reach self. Place where omnipotent advertising cannot stalk you. Where intrusive/immersive digital assault cannot engage you.

Frankly, in a super pervasive digital era, UnConnect is the next premium.

Have you been to such UnConnected places, do let me know so that I can add to the list.

…………………………………………….

If you are adventurous enough or one needing the real UnConnect Vacation, take few simple steps to decrease your anxiety. (1) Do Leave out-of-office messages on email. (2) Activate voicemail and leave the out-of-office message. (3) Provide a backup contact in case there’s urgent work. (4) Talk to your colleges and share plans for your vacation including the UnConnect part. (5) Provide guidelines for expected emergencies. (6) Provide a circuit breaker; a way you can be reached in real emergencies and define them. (7) If you think you think the organisation cannot work without you- do slot in windows of connectivity. Schedule one or two check-in times with a co-worker so you can call for brief but productive updates

.………………….

* I will not lie. The detox was not complete. We found a triangular space near the reception area where you could feel the two bars of a 2G tower on your phone, if and only if you stood facing southwest and kept your phone 4 feet above the ground tilting towards the large coconut tree. ** Coconut Hut- Diveagar, Lotus Eco Resort- Konark, Ravla Khempur Heritage Hotel, The Windflower Resort & Spa Bandipur and Den Corbett seems places with low connectivity and no WiFi.

BLOG/26/2018

The post Will you pay premium to be UnConnected! appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Seeing the message ‘You have been unsubscribed’ gives that momentarily feeling of Moksha. You think you have won the battle against spams and personalised unwarranted e-mails. It is Maya, an illusion. The same domain rises like a phoenix and starts spamming you sooner than you can say ‘Om Namah Shivaya’.

Visiting ant banking, insurance or automobile site for comparison or information gives birth to multiple product lines sending a barrage of emails flooding your inbox. You blink for a moment in your journey, and they tag you as a potential consumer who has permitted them to communicate digitally. You feel like Bhisma Pitamah in Mahabharat. You are in unless you opt out.

THE MARKETERS ARE THE BAHUBALI OF THE DIGITAL-LAND, TO THEM, A CONSUMER NO DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN A NO.

PIC PIXABAY.COM/THE_DIGITAL_ARTIST

Think India too need to have EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) equivalent. It is all about EXPLICIT CONSENT and POWER TO MANAGE. The companies collecting Personally Identifiable Information ( PII) must do so with explicit consent for a well-defined purpose. PII includes information like email addresses, birth dates, government-issued identity numbers, credit card, bank account information, IP addresses, mobile device numbers, and biometrics.

Under GDPR, the consumer must consciously OPT-IN instead of the current NEED TO OPT-OUT process. The marketer must not trap the consumer by any process that is not transparent or open to debate and misunderstanding. in the process. The onus of making everything clear rests with the marketers.

Expect the consumer who is already irritated with the relentless onslaught of unrelated irrelevant messages and uncontrolled digital trash to be extremely strict and act pricy for the sharing PII information or give permission to connect.

The marketers will need the consumers’ consent for sending discount offers, promotional messages, subscription feeds, newsletters, cross-selling offers, use consumer social media data and much more.

FREEDOM FROM MASS EMAILS AND DIGITAL STALKING!

The marketers need to work hard now and regain the trust and faith of the consumer or have an offer that is lucratively tough to refuse.

GDPR comes into action on 25th May 2018 and governs the area of European Council. In addition to the explicit consent, it gives the consumer the power to manage their preferences at any point in time.

GDPR will force the marketers to evaluate every consumer experience, in case they want the digital conversation or relationship to continue. Maybe it will make a few of them more responsive to direct consumer speak or on social platforms.

A REAL WIN-WIN SITUATION IN MANY WAYS.

The marketers will have to make that much additional effort to understand consumer needs, seek approval before proposing a business alliance and stop treating one time smile as a right to a life-long affair.

Everything is not against marketers, it rarely is. It is merely a wake-up call. It hopefully will help differentiate and sharply define the emergence of a stronger real consumer-brand relationship.

MARKETERS MUST SEE GDPR NOT AS A HINDRANCE BUT AS AN OPPORTUNITY.

It is time to make a difference. Time to deliver more and stop paying lip service of consumer experience and delight. Time for real big data analytics to provide options that make a real impact on consumer’s life. Deep dive introspect and answer the most critical question, what will prompt consumers to say ‘Yes’ to keep digital channels open. Thus the art of niche segmenting may get a boost.

Digital ads will have to work extra harder. They will have to be entirely relevant. They will in many cases become the marketers’ application to explicit consumer consent. The marketers will then need to consistently deliver ever an evolving competitive consumer experience that pulls the consumer to give progressive consent to enhanced touch points.

POSTSCRIPT.

In addition to the Gold standard asked by the digital advertising users- the marketers, we need General Brand Image Protection Regulation ’GBIPR’. Cribbing or negative consumer comments, be original, or add-on must originate from real experiences.

Currently, travel and service review portals do it half-heartedly and on trust. A reviewer is asked to tick the box and thus certify that the review is genuine and based on real experience. Let’s push it a bit more. Let’s insist on proof of experience like booking reference/pictures etc. In the absence of valid evidence, the reviews should remain unpublished or be presented under unproven experience, and the reviewer is blacklisted.

I know, the consumer within all of us will react violently to such a suggestion. But, what’s the harm in doing a test run? Maybe reviews with proof will be logged under certified reviews. I think it will be a reason enough for the potential consumers to believe and push brands for a better experience?

Here is the possibility of another Win-win solution. The scorecard then will read Consumer -1- Marketer -1. What about turning the argument on its head. Make reviewing without a first-hand experience legally punishable. Why should the consumer have all the fun!

BLOG/27/2018

The post India Needs GDPR; Because A No Should Mean No. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

How brands benefit from synchronisation their engagement on Twitter and TV?

Most audiences engage with their mobile while watching television. There is always a second screen in play. This viewing pattern was earlier seen as a problem before someone decided deep-dive to understand the impact and use it to advantage.

Recently after the hugely debated but successful Volkswagen second screen impact, we are seeing brands engaging TV audience with simultaneously or synchronised activity on the second screen.

Volkswagen- The greatest Interception ever

Volkswagen “The Greatest Interception Ever,” asked its fans to tweet #VolvoContest, during other car brands’ Super Bowl commercials and nominate a friend or loved one to win a new Volvo XC60 luxury crossover. The brand said ‘While other car companies are showing you what matters to them… we want to know who inspires you, who loves you, who matters most to you.’

More interaction followed by Volkswagen asking selective tweets why they nominated someone and finally selecting five winners. It won at Cannes too, and the brand said ‘a nearly 70% sales lift attributable to the effort.’

Now, we have Goibibo with their GoCash campaign is wanting you to keep the app open and Vodafone wants you to tweet during the breaks in IPL match telecast. There are 45 breaks. 45 questions. 45 fantastic prizes every match and that may not be the end of it all. Many other brands want you to engage and interact with the two screens simultaneously.

The Second Screen effect.

Nielson study initiated by Twitter showed a moderate co-relation between people using Twitter while watching television and a higher brand favourability and purchase intent. These audiences pay more attention to the advertisements on TV than people watching only the TV.

It opens up an opportunity for brands to increase brand campaign effectiveness by engaging the audience on two screens simultaneously. It suggested that by synchronising TV and Social media intervention ( Twitter) and getting a second screen effect, the brand can get better results than running the campaign on both channels independently.

The second screen enhances the effectiveness of the first Screen.

Twitter went further with Neuro-Insight to understand how and what of this second screen impact neurologically. The experiment looked at engagement (the emotional connection between content and viewer) and memory (how information is encoded and stored). The study showed that adding twitter makes the TV experience more engaging and memorable. Twitter users were able to correctly recall slightly more TV ads than those watching TV only. These matched another such study conducted by Neuro-insight in Australia.

It observed that when the audience engagement with the TV programme dipped at some stage, the brain started looking for options and they switch to the second screen because they got bored or lost interest. They started tweeting about the show and the engagement than peaked while interacting with the personal device. And when they come back to the first screen (TV), they engage more actively- as the second screen has catalysed their mood, and they are interacting at a deeper level.

It argues that Twitter provides incremental reach and more with the first view as the audience is most engaged when they are start scrolling through the content. It helps to reach to the younger audience primarily in the 18-24 year band. And this guided audience allows for higher on-target reach in comparison to other media with a more broad-based audience.
Time for the brands to seriously relook at their social and TV campaign alignments and maybe reap enhanced benefits. Till then, happy tweeting.

BLOG/31/2018

The post How brands converting second screen problem into an advantage? appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Life is crazy, demanding world of MAdTech professional; Media/marketing, Advertising, and technology. In addition to the pressure and demands of the organisation, there are many that are self-created. There are so many equations and variables to be balanced in an otherwise unpredictable environment.

We live in a sea of uncertainties. There is with no assurance of outcome. Everything other than death is a mere probability. Moreover, that is not a comforting thought.

We are busy chasing dreams and seeking perfection in our plans, actions, behaviour, reactions and output. We fail to recognise that outcome is merely a milestone in the journey called life. Everything is work-in-process.

Honestly, just like your Brand-I, life is perpetually in a beta mode.

PIC Pexel.com/daniel-frank

Beta is the second phase of software development. In beta mode, everyone is busy experimenting and learning. It is about uncertainties, openness to feedback and willingness to find a solution. It is for seeking improvement in strategic thinking and enriching experience with enhancements.

It is about knowing nothing is stable. It is about not expect anything and everything to work correctly or as per expectations. It is about not creating stereotypes and not taking a decision based on immediate impressions. It is about seeking repeat experience and data.

It is about believing everything can be bettered. That there is no perfect version and there will never be one. It is about seeking not chasing completeness, knowing we will always remain incomplete.

Beta is all about evolving with time.

Beta version accepts things as they are. It relishes work-in-progress tag visualising the future. Still, there is no space for complacency.

People who enjoy beta mode know, we die the day we stop learning and evolving. It’s different; we may still be alive.

Once we accept a Beta environment of our life, it becomes easy to admit imperfections, mistakes and errors. There is an attitude change. It is no longer a blame game but a lookout for improvement. The barriers and failures are minor aberrations in the path to success. We welcome them with open arms.

We create problems when we seek illusionary perfection.

The beta approach is all about progress. It does not matter, what is the quantum of improvement, till there is progress. It teaches us to appreciate smallest of achievement and success. It forces us to seek a stronger foundation for our logic and assumptions. It pushes us to break assumptions, myths, mental blocks, norms and maybe rules, in the process strengthening our self-belief.

Life in a Beta mode is relaxing yet exciting.

It is no longer a wait for a disruption to announce our arrival. It is the newly acquired calmness in the sea of welcoming uncertainties; then it is easy to think strategically.

We never fail in a beta mode, because we learn with every failure.

Once we realise the advantages of the Beta philosophy of life it changes the spectrum. The more you think about it, clearer we are of our Brand-I, more happier we are, and then we realise; Life is only worth living when we are in a beta mode.

BLOG/32/2018

The post Life is only worth living in a Beta Mode. appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

The call-for-entry campaigns may not be reflecting the true picture. In fact, awards will be better served if they concentrate on few other things to maximise differentiation, relevance and impact.

The rising cost of entry, the controversies surrounding awards and the perceived value is forcing many agencies to evaluate their options of awards to enter and even cap the number of entries. Business situations are polarising opinions. In future, it is possible that few of the respected award shows may make way for the new ones to dominate.

Today differentiation among awards and the respect is a lot more relevant. Awards like the Marquees, Emvies, Effies, Olive Crown and Cannes have no issue as they stand firmly differentiated and to some extent unique in their calling.

Every award event has interest in the number of entries. Not only do they reflect in a favourable revenue statement, they also are an indication of the respect they command and the hunger entrants have to win it. Entering an award shows acceptance of format, stature, judging and scale, while absenteeism may not signal a rejection of the concept.

Awards also follow a product lifecycle. Hence, they need to work continuously to remain relevant and keep the aura alive. It needs acceptance and approval from numerous interested parties. At every possible opportunity, it needs to rejuvenate itself by taking critical popular or unpopular decisions.

The call-for-entry campaigns thus play an important role. It is a presentation of the award’s self-reflection as ambition.

The award has really arrived when it no longer needs to shout. When the expanding lists of potential winners chase it. When the participants wait for the announcement to block their diaries in anticipation. And when making to finalist list is a news and thing to boast about.

Otherwise, awards need to regularly deep-dive to find the pain points of the numerous stakeholders and promise to resolve them. They need to recognise changing trends and tweak the process and evaluation.

The perceptions adulterated with the reality of experience take time to change. Net, awards remain in the perpetual loop of course correction and the call-for-entry campaigns speak a different language every year.

Awards get the campaigns they deserve?

Most call-for-entry campaigns are full of hyperbole, exaggerated appeal and unfulfilled promises. They lack accurate self-reflection and fail to answer the question of their relevance or differentiation. They attempt to create high expectations that later only end in disappointment.

Building an award is not an easy task. It has to navigate a treacherous journey from concept creation, planning, stakeholder approval, immaculate execution and consistency in delivery.

Awards need a concept to exist.

Unfortunately, many remain un-differentiated and lack relevance with the target group. The first few years of test run seeks stakeholders’ validation creating an interest to participate.  If everything goes well, the award is able to create a loyal group willing to defend it against every possible claim and negative perception. The award then gets elevated within the fraternity, and few of them reach the pinnacle.

The stage of nirvana and moksha in awards is when it is so relevant and impactful that all the award has to do is to announce the dates. And even then, the need to continuously monitor emerging trend and morph as per industry expectations remains.

Awards rarely reach the moksha stage.

Every year, the awards must visit the drawing board and validate their relevance. They must redesign and redefine their core. Cosmetic addition-deletion of categories, process tweaks and a policy direction is never the solution.

Sometimes, being democratic is the problem. Awards need a strong, charismatic leader with full authority to lead the change. Awards controlled by associations and industry is ill-placed to make significant shifts. No one wants to risk the displeasure of any significant stakeholder.

Here are some examples of call-for-entry campaigns from well-known awards. Judge yourself, if they do justice to the awards or reflect the reality. Is that the best the awards can manage? Evaluate as a representative of the target segment.

Here is the 2014 campaign of Kyoorius. I loved the meet merit idea. This one is titled DANCE while defining the new award in town. You can watch the other two PENCIL, and CAT on YouTube. There was an edginess to the concept that did justice to the concept and held your attention.

The Olive Crown campaign presents the concept powerfully and creatively lifts the image of the award. It also won an Olive Crown award!

The Kyoorius call-for-entry campaign 2018 takes on all the talk surrounding the other major award in town. It seems to be listening to the stakeholders and understand the underlying issues. The answer is presented in a loud, confident voice. It will now have to live to the expectations.

Now it’s different that we have a similar sounding campaign from ‘Eagle Award’ in 2012. Personally, I loved it.

Goafest call-for-entry campaign in 2011 banked on an Industry saying ‘Ideas are everywhere’. It is questionable whether it was the right campaign and what was its impact.  Maybe awards will be better off with post-research of their campaigns in addition to town hall with the stakeholders.

Here is the simplest of them, the YOUNG DIRECTOR award. It announces the awards and asks you to go and find out if you were interested. It is a risky, bold proposition. However, I think, it talks to the TG in a right tone. Maybe it did get the young directors to seek more information.

Not to forget the ‘legend’ advertisement for Pepper Awards. At least the proposition is upfront.

The campaigns are a self-reflection. They reflect how the organising committee sees or want to project them. It indicates the committee’s prominent self-doubts and the reason for confidence. The call-for-entry campaigns cannot address most of the issues. The forces behind the awards, keep trying to force a superlative misdirected imagery in an attempt to address basic issues. It usually ends up with disappointment.

An award that is relevant, impactful and established needs no major campaign to pull the entries.  The tricky part of relevance and impact starts raising their nasty head after awareness builds up.

We must understand that though the awards are always work-in-progress. They are in a beta mode, continuously evaluating the relevance, respect and impact in an attempt to remain faithful to the industry needs. The stakeholders and the participants want to see the final version and hence every time the call-for-entry campaign has to work that more harder.  Maybe time, that enough attention was paid to call-for-entry campaigns to reflect the true picture.

BLOG/33/2018

The post Do Call-for-Entry campaigns reflect reality? appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

Attempts to create Brand’s Unique creative style is a dual-edged sword.

Every creative team dream to create a unique communication style deeply associated with a brand. Something so unique, it becomes the default signature style of the brand. It redefines brand tonality and the brand-consumer connect.

However, creating a unique style of expression, tonality, storytelling or a strong association with a person or character is a dual edged sword for a brand. Few brands, which succeeded in this area, are consistently sensitive to their responsibility. Instead of getting cramped, these brands have learnt to exploit the constraints such associations impose on the brand.

Tata Sky latest campaign #HarSceneKaMazaaLo leverages India’s favourite brand ambassador Shri Amitabh Bachchan playing a character resembling his role in the recent film; 102 Not out.

Playing the role of a Bengali movie critic who holds nothing back, he interacts with easily recognisable scenes and character from Indian Cinema across screen formats. The campaign features famous Sindoor ki kimat , Khamoosh, Babu Moshay, KKK Kiran and Singham dialogues and acts. It lacks the humour quotient and underutilises the inherent potential of the concept and the actor. It even alienates few of the potential subscriber*.

Not sure what holds Tata Sky back. The brand in its earlier work has demonstrated how well it celebrates unrestrained creative expressions.   Watch the acting classes advertisement series. Watch the main DVC centred on Ramleela or the DVC that shows AB practising facial expressions. They are entertaining work resonating with the audience.

I may find few subscribers to the view that brilliance of Amitabh Bachchan is limiting the scope of creativity for Tata Sky. Here is another work, the Rs 199 Dhamaka pack and suddenly the doubts start raising its head.

There is no point comparing current communication with the era when Aamir Khan was the brand ambassador. Tata Sky creative expression and execution far better leveraged the talent of Aamir’s talent. He portrayed multiple roles like salesman, saloon guy, Sardar or Milkman and thus was more endearing to a substantial subset of consumers.

Think Tata Sky needs to rethink its brand ambassador strategy. At least for the Tata Sky this series of communication, the brand needs to interact with its audience playfully but in a younger and vibrant avatar.

SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES

Meanwhile, brand FLIPKART has extended the hugely successful format of Adult Kid. It is a unique expression style strongly associated with the brand. They have been treating the subject and the characters with sensitivity and newness preventing staleness to develop. You can watch every TVC many times over and not feel bored.

Here watch Flipkart Fashion or Big Billion Day where kids and adult both roles are played by kids.

In the recent ‘tested furniture’ advertisements, Sofa or Trampoline or Table or Tabla, Flipkart remains as lovable and endearing as always. Maybe the brand can consider creating this unique style into a TV Serial.

Some of the brands successful in creating unique expression style are Vodafone with Zoozoo, Voltas All-Star AC with Murthy and AIRTEL with the Airtel Girl.

If you now wish to have a signature style of expression and tonality, take the route at your own risk.

*Based on my interaction with TV viewers across the segment

BLOG/34/2018

The post Tata Sky fumbles with #HarSceneKaMazaaLo appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

The ‘Mafia’ at the associations governing Media, Advertising and Marketing in India.

“There is a mafia out there, and the dons play musical chair with understated self-appreciation and mutual admiration”. This was in the loud booming voice of one of the soon-to-retire industry senior.  It was not the first time I am listening to such a comment.

It is late in the evening, and we are a few drinks down. The naturally self-evolving crib session is on. His point is simple to understand; all the positions in the advertising industry associations seem to rotate between a handful of people. It appears that no new blood is joining the system.

Typically, I discard such comments. They reek of unfulfilled dreams and ambitions. They echo deep sentiments of a champion breed that has failed to enter the ring.

Few youngsters on the table with free beer wetting their parched throat in Goa concur with the statement.

“Yes, there are no young faces.” A few ayes happened all around.

“Yes, it is the same bunch everywhere,” another added

“One year they are on this panel, and the next year in the other association.” The PYT on the table sums it up.

I believe I have a fair understanding of the situation. I appreciate the work the office-bearers in the associations put in. It is a tough act to find the time when they have their other jobs and responsibilities.

pic- pexel/gratisography

ANY SOLUTION

“So, what do you want”, I poke the youngster. “I think you see a problem there. Don’t the associations have elections.” I am unable to find the real trigger for the outburst.

“Na, Na, Kotnala don’t take me wrong”… this is from one with the fresh blood. “Elections happen, but you would know, they are a sham. Every year the team gets elected unopposed.”  He makes a gesture with his finger that says a lot. “I am serious there is a musical chair going on. You can get in, only if you have the organisational and financial backing and… there should be some decency in the whole process… people should find something more productive to do… and some should retire.”

“Unopposed mean there are no other candidates in the field, it is not the fault of  the elected representatives.”

“I knew, you are naive, but what you refuse to see is plain stupid. Understand, the mafia won’t allow you to stand for the post. And you dare not be on the wrong side of the mafia. It can be a CLM (Career limiting move).”

“You are creating a picture as if there is a D-company. As if musclemen stop you from standing in the election.”

“No, you will not understand what I am saying. You write your column and are politically right. I expected you to know better. But then why would you get into this dirty politics,” the young blood insisted.

The eyes of the senior who initiated the conversation are rolled up without the customary drag. He interrupts: “I remember, once there was a young agency head. He had dreams. He wanted to make industry associations more productive, accountable, transparent, efficient and effective.” The senior allows the pregnant pause to settle down and continues: “And he tried everything. He did not withdraw from elections. He collected proxy votes. He challenged, and he fought like no one ever has, but he lost.’

“He lost by one vote if we are talking about the same guy”… I know who he is talking about.

‘Yes, just by one vote.  That was the last real elections in the association.” The beer was working overtime with the senior. “You know, we must have something like that committee in cricket for the industry bodies too. Suddenly everything will change. We will see new blood crowned. Retire at 60. Can’t hold more than one position. Can’t hold the position in an association for more than two terms. It will be fun.” He adds: “And I am not going to bell the cat’.

“No, I think the reason is different.” I am not in agreement with the argument and the direction the conservation was moving.

“No one wants to do this thankless job. No one takes these events and awards head on. You guys crib like everyone else. I bet you are not even members of the associations where you want to change. I bet you have never been a volunteer or managed something of this nature.” I am warming up to debate and have the attention of everyone on the table.

“Everyone is an expert. There is never any appreciation… people only crib. The youth like you have a problem with current industry leaders, but tell me, where are the new leaders and visionaries? Name me one young blood capable and willing to do two jobs at the same time? The new generation wants instant glory and gratification. It is easy to sit on the fence and criticise. Have anyone of you ever shown interest and inclination to be part of the association, learn and be part of initiatives. I am sure the seniors will be happy to take any interested youth with potential under their wings and groom as future association leaders. They are more than a willing mentor to ensure the continuum of good leadership.”

My outburst faces silence from the table. There is no echo of the sentiments. I know, I am in a minority.  No one wants to get in. No candidate is willing to invest time and energies and seek a position of responsibility. Everyone wants to be a SKSwamy, Pradeep Guha, Nakul Chopra, Sam Balsara, Ramesh Narayan from the day they join the industry.

People come to these association events and crib. They fail to appreciate the hard work that goes into the whole project. They don’t take the membership of associations, and they want leaders of their choice, they want representation. The Ad Club, IAA, ASCI, ISA, AAAI members count is not reflective of the size of the industry.

There are very few like Vivek Srivastava and team, who I believe has changed the face of Delhi Ad Club. I have only heard good things about them. Maybe one day I will catch with the team in Mumbai and understand what made the turn-around possible.

In the absence of anyone who is willing, wanting, waiting to take on this thankless job and be a future leader at these industry associations, I wholeheartedly subscribe to the ‘Mafia’. Long live the Dons.

BLOG/36/2018

The post Mafia at advertising associations in India appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.

THE CONSUMER SEEINGS THINGS DIFFERENTLY.

My UBER driver has just cancelled the short booking. It is not the first or the last time. Last week the Uber driver at the last minute decided he was not interested in a ride to the international airport.

I cribbed, I talked to the bot. I sent emails. All I got is a stupid message.

‘The customer service is our top priority. We have registered the  complaint. We will take action against the errant driver associate.’

That’s it.

More poking and escalating the complaint gets some supervisor on the line. He politely and professionally informs me that as a company Uber does not feel the need to share with the customer the action it takes in the complaint. I am expected to trust them that they will take action. Is that not expecting too much at 6:16 am when your 5:45 am pre-booked Uber has refused fare, and there is no other cab available to help you catch the flight.

Ola and Uber the story is no different.
One brand has a call centre uninvolved ‘I care a damn’ voice and reaction.
The other asks you to interact on screen.
The customer is just another engagement number identified by the booking id.

IS ADVERTISING AN ANSWER TO PROBLEMS AT GROUND ZERO.

At this stage, Brand Uber wants me to believe in their campaign ‘Badhte Chalein’ featuring Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli. In the advertisement that is splashed across the front page of a large English Delhi in Mumbai – only Virat seems to imbibe the philosophy.  My issue is not whether Virat uses Uber. We all know like many other celebrity endorsements he may not be a regular user of the service. The consumer is amusingly blind to such questions.

The campaign leaves much to be desired. The print and digital mailers sound more promising and have some appeal to the customers. The TVC fail to evoke any emotion.

FROM WELCOME TO WILL-IT-COME.

The citizen of Mumbai (and most metro towns) welcomed taxi aggregators with a sigh of relief. Till then they were at the mercy of private operators or the Kaali Peeli as in Mumbai. The low rates, the comfort of a taxi at the door, pick up any place, the map assisted driving, paying fair prices and many more pluses pushed for a quick trial and building of loyalty bases.

The security issues, the rash drivers, the last minute ditchers, the cancellation frauds, the now shabby cab interior, failed experiments with entertainment and other such experiences are pushing people to reconsider the service and brands.

Not that there were no good experiences. However, we all are human, and hence we put our expertise in cribbing and complaining to best use. No surprise,   the social media is full of complaints and hardly have anything good to say. The brands are refusing to listen and understand.

WHEN TWO BIG STAKEHOLDERS; DRIVERS AND CUSTOMERS, BOTH ARE UNHAPPY.

It’s not that the drivers associated with the brands are any happy. Other than the quick settling of accounts and in one case assurance that the brands are quick to react and take action, the drivers have no reason to be happy. The constant decreasing per driver share and possible earnings is a big point of concern. The claim of stonewalling request and no-discussion attitude is not appreciated either by the customer or the driver.

In this scenario, the explanation of company philosophy and the campaign by Sanjay Gupta, Head of Marketing, Uber India sounds only poetic: “Uber connects millions of people in India to their destinations each week. That said, each trip represents more than just a physical journey – it’s a step forward in the larger journey of their lives. This is not just a brand idea – it’s happening on the ground, across India, every day. This brand position is as intrinsically human as the millions of people who ride with us each week, and each of their pursuits. … “(Comment from an article published in MxMIndia)

If only the brand can investigate, listen and invest in to take some proactive preventive actions, build in processes for driver compliance, service assurance and a bit more of transparency on its complaint handling- they will be a winner and may not need a campaign.  The campaign at this phase is slightly misplaced and mistimed.

In the absence of ‘Customer Delight,’ such campaigns are merely providing the creator and brand custodians of some brand action.

The brand Uber may want to be beyond transportation from Point A to Point B. It may wish to reinforce itself as an enabler of opportunities for hundreds of thousands of driver partners and riders in India. However, that comes after customer delight and essential service deliverables becoming an assurance not a cause for anxiety.

I do hope that brand realises the challenges it faces. Moreover, the brand no longer can distance itself from the driver’s behaviour and customer experience. They cannot hide behind the lame excuse of drivers not being employees of the company. They have to recruit appropriately, train, monitor and act in their quest for excellence. Currently, it seems they have set themselves a very low benchmark.

If the drivers and the consumers have to see every journey as a big or small step in an inspiring journey, the brand has a lot to do. A campaign is no answer or assurance when the losses are mounting every day.  The battle of ‘Badhte Chalein’ need to be fought on the roads across customer touch points.

BLOG/37/2018

The post Advertising not the solution for UBER problems appeared first on Sanjeev Kotnala.