Addendum is a fortnightly column that takes a sometimes hard, sometimes casual, sometimes irreverent, yet never malicious look at some of the new or recent advertisements and comments on them.

The light touch

Why let your insurance policy dictate how you plan your life? When the grandmother of the bride expresses her desire to see a grandchild soon, the newly married groom thinks fast and gives a precise date about 10 years into the future, explaining that this was when his insurance policy would fall due and he would need the extra money to take on the extra responsibility. That’s the cue for the TVC to explain the unique features in Bharati AXA’s Young Indian Plan which gives you the flexibility to plan when you require money for the important landmarks in your life, like a marriage or the birth of a child. The film created by Grey Worldwide uses a slightly light-hearted approach in the form of the groom’s acting to handle a serious subject rather effectively. It ends reinforcing Bharati AXA’s tag line that loosely translates into ‘re-defining life insurance’.

One of a kind

I guess the advantage of being an ITC is that you can really pull out all the stops if you want to advertise something. Classmate is a stationery brand from the ITC stable and what better time to advertise their products than the “back to school” period? Their TVC created by Rediffusion is a 60-second tribute to the art of telling a story lovingly, without the usual tyrannies of budgets and time to constrain you. Great sets, a large cast of children and a nice script that plays on the tendency of all adults to make children aspire to model their lives on some icon, or even themselves. You see exceptionally talented young kids being stereotyped as the “next” Einstein, Michael Jackson, Obama, Bradman or Ali. Each time the comparison is made one sees the child’s face fall with disappointment. Then you hear a child’s voice saying “instead of being the next somebody, can I please be the first me”? And that, with a mélange of great shots leads on to the essence of the communication, where you are encouraged to celebrate your own uniqueness with the best in stationery, Classmate. As I said, this is a film that every creative person would have loved to make. It really looks like something made with an open brief and a wider open wallet. Nice.

Well done

When a piece of advertising brings a smile to my lips, I guess more than half its job is done. When I want to see it a couple of times, just to enjoy it, its total job is done. Who cares if I am not the probable audience for the product? I could recommend it or even gift it. I’m talking about the Micromax Fun Book. The TVC created by Taproot shows questions related to academics being asked by teachers and parents, and replies being given with gay abandon as the students break into a gig while answering a seemingly serious question. The approach to a tablet that is primarily aimed at the student community is as refreshing as it is cheeky. It’s a modern take on the “healthy yet tasty” approach and it really works. We’ve always heard of information and entertainment converging. Well, in the Fun Book from Micromax, there’s pure infotainment. I am happy that the slightly goofy tone of voice one remembers Micromax with is being carried forward in this TVC. Looks like a fun thing to own or gift.

Pizza? Pasta?

So what do you do when a chain with a name like Pizza Hut wishes to promote 11 types of pasta? No, you don’t open a sub-franchise called Pasta Hut. You get JWT Gurgaon to create a nice-looking, feel-good commercial that concentrates on the pasta. Pizza Hut knows that Indians love Italian food. It is amenable to vegetarian options, is gentle on almost all palates and is easy to relate to. So having established themselves in the pizza dining space, they are expanding the choices available at their outlets. I guess they are almost Italian food eateries now. It is a sound strategy. If you just wanted pizza you’d call one in, maybe Domino’s. The strategy just needs to get past the well-known name Pizza Hut has and its association with just pizza. But what the heck, you don’t complain when you board a turbo-prop ATR-branded “Jet” Airways do you. Just dig into the pasta, anything you like, Italian, Chinese or good-old desi style and slurp it up. And to me, Indian style is not grabbing your friend’s plate as shown in the TVC, but enjoying the taste of pasta as you cleverly transport it to your mouth with your fingers. Who needs a fork or a spoon?

The footy bandwagon

This column mentioned Pepsi’s shift to football. Now, Airtel has jumped on to this fast-rolling bandwagon by launching a talent hunt across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to select some “rising” stars who would be sent to train at the fabled Manchester United Club’s school where they would be exposed to international talent scouts. Their TVC for this initiative has been created by Ram Madhvani and shows three young boys, in the three countries respectively training to be the Airtel aspiring stars. I’ve said this before, and I’m saying it again, BCCI better take note of the serious growth in football mania. And while we are talking seriously, how about some serious football training on a proper large scale inside India? Airtel, Pepsi, are you listening? We are just beginning to reverse the brain drain. Now we are putting in place the brawn drain. Yet, a very well-thought through and well executed TVC.

Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant. addendum.brandline@gmail.com

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