If I were to tell you
that an elephant can endorse a product, will you believe me? Unless you are
from God’s own country of Kerala, you will pooh pooh my thought. There, an
elephant is a brand. Each elephant has a name by which people know it and even
have fan clubs dedicated to them. So the chances of an elephant becoming a
brand ambassador of some product cannot be ruled out.
In Delhi, if you put up
a bill board saying “Welcome ilaya thalapathi”, chances are that people will
think it’s a jumbled word puzzle. Lift that bill board and put it in Chennai
central, you will need to call in police assistance to control the crowd.
The local train of Bombay has a character of its own. There are 3 lines for the local train network - Mostly
locals plying on WESTRERN lines have a bit more upwardly mobile crowd owing to
the fact that all the upscale areas are located in the western suburbs. The locals that
ply on HARBOUR lines are relatively less crowded and have more youngsters boarding them and
the CENTRAL line locals belong to the commoners. If you were to advertise a ‘Fiama
di wills’ shower gel or any other premium product, you might rather do it on a western
local than on a central one.
If you were to set out
to sell chilled colas during November in Bangalore, you will come back with
your bottle cases unmoved and worse, people asking for cough syrup along with
it. At the same time, drive to the ‘Rayalseema’ part of Andhra and you will see
your bottles evaporating.
In Calcutta, if you
want to portray foul smell and you do it by putting up the picture of a giant fish
, you are getting it entirely wrong for fish is a delicacy there and so much
acceptable that in some parts, it is even considered vegetarian.
The field of Advertising
has always been a fascination. In a time frame of 30 seconds, one need to
communicate an idea, the creative challenge involved can lit up the neurons
like fireworks. It becomes even more complicated when it comes to a country
like ours with a multitude of subcultures! Each state, district and city has its
own idiosyncrasies. Apart from the obvious gift of creative mind, I think it is
in understanding these subtle nuances where the success of an advertiser lies.
Arun Babu.
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