Friday, November 20, 2009

Presenting the new brand...

Earlier, full-on advertising was restricted to Deepavali, Christmas, Pongal and other festivities - 50% discount on this, 99% discount on that etc etc. Then came Valentine's day, Friendship day, Neighbours' day blah blah when Archies, Hallmark and others made tons of money asking people to gift their loved ones.

Telecom is one sector whose advertising is not restricted to any season - They obviously cannot say "Talk more this Deepavali" or "Wish your loved ones on New year's". Be it Aadi or Amaavasai people talk anyways. So these guys thought of something 'innovative'... they have created an 'occasion' for you to talk. Presenting the new brand in town - 26/11.

Post 26/11 - R R Patil is back, Kasab is still being interrogated, Karkare's bullet proof is still missing and nobody is doing a damn about it including people like me who show their angst writing blog posts at 7 in the morning. Honestly, I don't know what I can and could have done instead of thinking about slapping a certain section of the society, all day. I am angry... so bleddy angry! And adding to this are people using the 26/11 anniversary to promote their brand.





Talk between 'this' and 'that' time and we give the money to the Police force and supporting this is one 'poignant' 'heart wrenching' 'moving' 'in your face' commercial.

"Atleast someone is doing something and what's your problem?" you may ask. If the cellular brand was so interested in the welfare of the Police, they could have quietly donated X amount of money and 'talked' about it later.

I really really wish I could talk about more such stuff happening around but, for a lot of reasons, I can't.

14 Responses:

R's Mom said...

You are so right...Whats the point of showing off like this...Give the money...Adopt an orphanage...Donate dough to the police welfare home or something...dont, for heavens sake, dont convert emotions of millions of people into marketing gimmick...okie done..thanks Blogeshwari for letting me vent out these emotions :)

Mambalam Mani said...

elaam america paathu kettu, seerazhinju poraanga.
nalla vela, hindi la iruku ad. paadhi mela purila so less blood boil :D

Meera said...

Sooo true Bhavani. Its brand '26/11'. Its so sick that Im embarassed for all those riding on it!

Arjun J K said...

Well said!

ambi said...

I also felt the same when I saw that Ad yest. Cheap publicity - what an Idea..? Thooo.

Is that a video embedded..? For me it's a blank white square. no probs.

Anonymous said...

it's really disgusting... instead of being bothered about real issues. don't the stars have brains, can't they show some discrimination. say i can't do this... they don't really need the money.

Sathya said...

just another Gimmick...so many corporates more than wat idea has come up wid, in a much silent and humble way...and much wid business angel, they ve this offer only for idea to idea users...so sad..publicity stunt...nothing else...

RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN said...

We are so insensitive.

Meera said...

Its quite sad to see that Idea Telecom can only think of making money using the carnage that happened. Athuleyum enna 8.36 to 9.36.. big fundoo thinking. And Mambalam mani is right.. ellame ingerthu than poguthu.. these people wud get sensitive at the drop of the hat!!

Sreekrishnan said...

On the other hand shows the pathetic state of Police force. Can police come out and say we do not need that?

Public Interest Litigation ?

Gulmohar said...

Precisely said...Happened to see the ad today.. It was so damn embarrassing.. Man these guys wanna gain using such a incident.. Shame on them... Feel like slamming the brain behind...

@mambalam mani: Dont you worry.. it will soon be in tamil too (other langs also) when you switch on the tv the next time... Why will anyone they leave a chance? What say?

Dilip Muralidaran said...

I agree with you maami. Each man his own, Idea's 2 minutes of glory to make money dancing on top of corpses that became on 26-11.

Sony said...

Making an ad is a terribly expensive ordeal... especially with A-list actors and prime time TV slots. they will hire a competent Ad agency who will spend a major chunk of the budget on a full on research and study to see if the campaign pays off... including simulations and all that jazz. They're not putting it out there and "hoping" it works. So in essence this is what the "average consumer" wants. I find that preference sick... rather that the company that's attempting to exploit this preference.

Amol Patil said...

I completely agree with you. I too have written a similar post on my blog here: http://www.amol-patil.com/idea-talk-for-india-hour-a-marketing-gimmick/

Please go through it :)