The Good Client Manual

Been a while since I got around updating my blog and looks like will be a while. Found this very interesting note recently. The story of my life perhaps!! :)

Caution : Dip ahead

The one thing every budding marketer must “have” a lot of, is common sense. And the one thing every budding marketer must “learn” is presenting this common sense in a way that it appears dramatically uncommon.

This is what “The Dip” does best. Tell you what you already know or should know without sounding very obvious. I am a Godin fan. Just because I feel his writing style is very non-flamboyant yet wins you over. This book is a one sit read. Small package, a mind grenade.

Atelophobic by nature, I have always feared mediocrity. So the pages of this book for me were like shots of adrenaline with lime and salt! Being a cut above is not easy. All through high school getting to an aggregate of 60% is not too difficult, but every single point after this is like extracting blood out of stone. This trough sets the future Stanford alumni apart from the good looking rascals. This trough is “the dip”.

The read is simple and jargon free except for the liberal use of marketing argot comprising of words like “cliff” and “cul-de-sac”. This book prescribes the clever intuitive way of gauging your own potential. Simply put - If you don't have the potential to be the best, find something else.

Being a start-up myself, I know how essential it is to pull through. But pulling through is not the answer every time. Whatever you do, if making it to the top is not your point one agenda, you are as good as not trying.

During my CPA days, I set out a different career dream for myself. Work with one of the accounting top 5 (Pre-Enron of course), start in the mail room if need be, but retire as a partner! Then I saw the “Top 5” become the “Big 4” (and that's another blog post) and advertising happened. Life's much nicer to me, and gave me a chance to actually be one of the top 5 with a little shift of industry in question. The dilemma of making it or not, is not a luxury I give myself.

This little dynamite of a book might not be the answer to all your questions, but it will definitely get you asking the right ones. Read only when you are driven, motivated, ambitious and dateless on a Saturday.

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NOTE: The Mumbai attacks left me very perturbed. I am appalled by the state of Indian democracy and am left wondering if autocracy is an option!!!

Amusing Review of the day

"Take Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach and Mark Twain. Combine their brains and shave their heads. What's left? Seth Godin."

Jay Levinson

Author of Guerrilla Marketing

Really looking forward to reading "The Dip" tonight.

Dear God, please bless all my clients with Alzheimers for a day and while you are at it, choke the airtel network in Rajasthan... amen.

Click on Seth's head to follow his blog.

Now, take the bus to America!

What's in a name? Everything if you are in advertising and a lot if you are a village called Lordiya in Rajasthan near Jodhpur. Now catch a bus to India's own America and be surprised! The inhabitants of this little town with houses sporting works of Karl Marx, Engels and Lenin are proud to called their soil “America” on account of the attitude of its people and their affluence!

"Our self-confidence is the reason people started calling our village 'America'," says a retired schoolteacher, resident of 65 years. Salute such confidence.

There are tales of this village having kicked off the Communist movement in Rajasthan and then there is the folklore of the name Lordiya being ominous or unfortunate. Whatever be the reason, the spirit of the 1500 or so residents is unrivalled. Needless to say the “America Wale” are very well feted by the people of nearby states.

Keeping up with the election spirit, this year the INC candidate for the state assembly elections from America is called “Om Joshi”. 

And because I am mostly as curious as the cat who was killed, I 'googled' Mr. Joshi to see the extent of his campaign strategy in the social media and what I found had me in splits! (No offence to Mr Joshi on facebook.)

Re-Branding Zero

To unveil a new strategic vision and brand identity, Bharti Enterprises launched its new television commercial this week. Though this is yet another “i-love-my-India” JWT commercial, it is beautifully done and does manage to arouse the patriotic senses but I feel they lost the 'fresh identity' plot somewhere. 

For me Bharti and Airtel advertising talk has always been synonymous with kids (lots of them), A.R. Rahman tunes, Gray tones, emotions, patriotism and did I mention kids?

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and group CEO, Bharti Enterprises said, “As Bharti enters its next phase of growth, we have a new vision to make Bharti, India’s finest conglomerate by 2020. Bharti’s brand essence of “Big Transformations. Brave Actions” will define all our actions and drive forward this vision. Our new brand identity and brand logo reflect this philosophy.”

But Mr Mittal, I fail to see the “Big Transformation” you are talking about in the advertising atleast. If there's no change, the whole exercise and such great advertising is rather pointless. Bharti in my eyes is still the Indian telecommunication brand that wants to transform India just like the yesteryears.

Re-branding in my opinion is the most thought provoking yet daunting task for an advertiser. Having read about the Consignia “royal f *%# up” (must read) I can only begin to imagine what if the name of some of the brands I am a religious devotee to were to change. Diet Coke, Colgate, Nokia, or HP. Changing their names would be like badgering my brain cells brutally and persistently.

Re branding is more than a mere change of a logo or corporate colors. Shed negative connotations, take-over, merger, repositioning, whatever be the purpose - the brand must ensure the change steeps deep into the company, and is an all inclusive exercise involving everything from the brand's people to its culture. You are getting a second chance, it is as precious as a river full of oil. Burn it or churn it.

Re positioning a brand could very well be a huge opportunity for smart innovative players who are able to communicate subtly without alienating old customers. But think carefully or you just might undermine the previous marketing efforts. If you think that changing the name of a breakfast cereal or a shampoo won't effect the consumer, think again. Change the name of my Kellogg's and the new brand can drown in 'Mother Dairy' milk forever.

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Post Script

One of my favorite re branding exercises in India was the Hutch-Vodafone takeover. Full marks for clarity of message!

Would you pay for Poo?

Not unless the Poo belongs to Daniel Craig and his body comes attached with it. A certain dot com begs to differ.

The two words every advertiser must swear by are : ANYTHING SELLS! All you need is the knowhow. I came across this page on a website today that put “Elephant Poo” on sale. The advertising read:

Grow an angel rose (Rosa chinensis) in odourless elephant poo.

In the wild, elephants eat and then scatter a wide range of seeds in their dung, providing an ideal nutrient-rich place for young plants to grow. This dung is taken from UK zoos and safari parks and is treated to make it germ and odour free.

Simply sow the seeds, water the box and watch the roses grown. When bigger, plant out in your garden.

In the box

Bio-degradable box (9cm x 6cm x 4cm) with elephant poo

Angel rose seeds

Full instructions

An elephant can produce one tonne of dung per week. You can grow a lot of roses in that.

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Clever example of strategic positioning and smart advertising!

What's next – Branded Wild Boar Earwax!!?

PS: If you are allergic to elephants, they also have Rhino and Reindeer Poo variants!

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Post Post Script and Important Note:
Ever since the first time I laid my eyes on a Snoopy comic strip, I wanted to have one of my own! Thanks to bitstrips, I am now the proud publisher of AGENCYMONK, my regular trips to adolescence and the love for comic art.

Viewpoint

Idea #24573 to survive the recession. 

Don't bother watching Fashion. It's over-rated. 

Marketing Lessons from the US Election

So. Much has been said about this win being historic! From a relative unknown name to a household name to a candidate for the presidential election to POTUS! Theres a marketing lesson for all of us in Obama's campaign.

Obama set out to build a tribe. The traditional vote bank was not enough for the new president. The young, progressives, internationalists, african-american formed the new tribe. A tribe that he ensured identified with him. The result, a historic turnout.

Look at the numbers – 95% black (no surprises here), 66% Hispanics, 56% Women, 66% under 30's and a whooping 71% first timers (thanks to the new-age campaign!) - voted blue!

A massive half a billion dollars were raised for the campaign. Spent thoughtfully across all media. Traditional and emerging. Web 2.0 (I love it even more now!) led the digital thought process.

Obama announced his candidature in early 2007. All those a part of the rally that followed soon after were asked to give their email addresses, zip code and phone numbers to the organizers. (Smart!) Needless to say, the valuable data bank was exploited to its max potential both online and offline.

This Ad Age Marketeer of the year set forward a fine example of integrated marketing and made his campaign so accessible by creating tools to let people get engaged so very easily.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, My Space, LinkedIn, FaithBase, Eons, Glee, MiGente, MyBatanga, AsianAve, DNC, PartyBuilder. You name it. The online media mix was flawless. Race, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexuality did not matter.

And with President Barack's direct orders, this online reach-out was merged with traditional door knocking. The online-offline flip was so successfully carried off by the campaign managers that the tribe Obama created connected with him personally and any attack made on him was an attack made on them.

In my opinion, the biggest mistake McCain's campaign did was attack Obama incoherently and consistently. When you are attacking the leading brand, you ensure your strengths shine. Instead of focusing on his strategies and values, all McCain did was talk about Obama. Obama instead used McCain's tactical mistakes to portray him as an erratic leader and trounced the republicans on his way to victory.

This was indeed a very bad time to be a republican. The one thing an ailing US economy did not want was another Bush administration and McCain or his campaign failed to prove “the red” otherwise.

Disclaimer : I don't fully agree with some of Obama's policies but yes 10/10 for the brilliant campaign!

Post Disclaimer : My favourite part of the campaign was the Sarkozy prank call to Sarah Palin. It had me rolling on the floor laughing. She did cost more than just a few RED votes!!

You Wish!

Things you will NEVER hear an advertising professional say. (Though you secretly wish they did!)

CEO
“There will be no meetings today on productivity or leadership. All directors and managers can ACTUALLY be at their desks and get some work done.”

VP – Client Services
“I humiliate my account supervisors in front of the client only to establish superiority and feed my over-inflated head.”

Client Services Director
“I produce all the garbage the brand managers want and ensure the client continues paying bigger, better fees every year.”

Client Services Executive
“No.”

Creative Director
“Yes.”

Art Director
“I screwed up. I am sorry.”

Graphic Designer (Female)
“Today, I am going to read the brief before I start work on the campaign.”

Graphic Designer (Male)
“I love pink.”

Senior Copywriter
“I am not the next Salman Rushdie.”

Trainee Copywriter
“I am not the next Aravind Adiga.”

Media Planner (Female)
“I PMS round the clock.”

Media Planner (Male)
“I PMS round the clock.”

Interns
“May I stop wiping your behind?”

Namaste! London International Awards

While browsing through this year entries for the London International Awards, I came across the Indian entries that have made it to the list of the finalists. Needless to say, dominated by names amongst the top 10, this finalist showcase had some rather interesting work with the Leo Burnett Luxo Highlighter Campaign being my favourite with 10 nominations.

4 Indian advertising agencies - Leo Burnett, O&M (Mumbai and Bangalore), JWT & Creative Land have been shortlisted amongst the finalists at the London International Awards. Not just that, the awards juries also included some big names from Indian advertising. 

Indian Advertising in the international arena has a long way to go but has surely and steadily carved a niche for itself on the global map and has in very little time sprouted from small-scale to a full fledged industry. 

Last year, JWT, Leo Burnett, McCann & O&M brought home 9 statues. Of the 17,660 submissions, only six percent (6%) reached finalist status. Of those select few, 1.4% attained Silver statues and only 0.5% were awarded Gold statues.

How the creative drama unfolds this year, remains to be seen on the 10th November.

More information : www.liaawards.com

Indian Entries at the LIA

Photos: www.liaawards.com (Click on images to enlarge)

Category : Design

Sub Category : Direct Mail

Agency : O&M, Mumbai -

Client : Asian Paints - (Glow Paints Cinderella)

Sub Category : Posters

Agency : Leo Burnett India, Mumbai 

Client : Luxor Highlighters (Che, Charlie, Hitler)

Sub Category : Stationery

Agency : O&M, Mumbai 

Client : Dr Pramod Niphadkar (Visiting card 'Balloon')

Sub Category : Use of Illustration

Agency : JWT, Mumbai 

Client : Rolling stone magazine, India (50 Cent)

Mumbai Rolling stone magazine, India (Bob Marley)

Mumbai Rolling stone magazine, India (Jim Morrison)

Mumbai Rolling stone magazine, India (Madonna)

Sub Category : Integrated Media

Agency : JWT, Mumbai

Client : The Times of India

Category : Non Traditional Media

Sub Category : Ambient Outdoor

Agency : O&M, Mumbai

Client : HSBC

Category : Print

Sub Category : Art Direction (Campaign)

Agency : Leo Burnett India, Mumbai

Client : Luxor Highlighters (Che, Charlie, Hitler) (Above)

Sub Category : Business to business

Agency : O&M, Bangalore

Client : IBM

Sub Category : Consumer campaign

Agency : Leo Burnett India, Mumbai 

Client : Tide Detergents (Lipstick, Ketchup, Ice cream)

Sub Category : Copywriting

Agency : Leo Burnett India, Mumbai 

Client : Luxor Highlighters (Che) (Above)

Sub Category : Office equipment 

Agency : Leo Burnett India, Mumbai 

Client : Luxor Highlighters (Che, Charlie, Hitler) (Above)

Category : Radio

Sub Category : Campaign

Agency : O&M, Mumbai

Client : Videocon Integra Wide-screen TV (Gunshot, Soap opera, table tennis)

Category : Television/Cinema

Sub Category : Campaign

Agency : O&M, Mumbai 

Client : Neo Sports (Gas, Rusty nail, Presence)

Sub Category : Low Budget

Agency : Creative Land Asia

Client : Mintrox (Convict, Bride)

Sub Category : Media Promotion

Agency : O&M, Mumbai

Cleint Neo Sports (Rusty nail, Gas) (Above)

From Word of Mouth to Web 2.0

Whether you are closely or loosely related to the advertising industry, you are most likely to have been bitten by the WEB 2.0 bug and the hoopla surrounding it. If you have your finger in the WEB 2.0 pie, “Tipping point” is where you start using it! Malcolm Gladwell puts forward possibly the best way to understand the dramatic transformation of a fashion faux-pas into a trend setter.

I can never get over UGG boots (appropriately named) and how everyone from Pamela Anderson to Lola Kutty to Yellow Monk owned a pair.

You can't possibly be an swanky advertiser if you don't know what the terms “Maven” or “Connector” mean. And you can't possibly be the CEO of a swanky advertising agency if you in the flesh are not one of the two! (Maybe I should call my blog The Yellow Maven for starters! ;) 

But while I was turning through the final pages of the book, the only thing that struck me was the acute similarity between the laws of word of mouth epidemics and the freshest, fanciest “it” word Web 2.0. 

My read was followed by another. Chris Anderson's The Long Tail. The natural and technological successor to the above. The book that possibly killed 'mass' culture and gave hope to enthusiasts who believe that Guantanamo Bay Punk Rock is not a myth but a real Genre of music! I happened to read the two back to back without realizing that I had just begun to wet my appetite!

Long tail is by far the best predecessor to O'Reilly's WEB 2.0 - the term that I predict will forever transform the way any advertiser or marketeer thinks! If I could bottle the blood of some tech and marketing pundits, Tim would definitely be on my top 5 list.

I would largely recommend to buy, borrow or steal the lot together and read not necessarily in that order.

PS: And as a tribute to Mr Tim O'Reilly, I am typing this post on Open Office! Currently testing it for integration in my organization and looking forward to kicking Microsoft's monopolistic derriere! :)

When the going gets tough

This whole economic set up of a global meltdown and turbulent times ahead has divided the population into two. I call it the 82-18 divide. Hindustan Times / CNN-IBN polls suggest 82% of respondents to a poll worried about the economic condition of the country. The upside, there still exists that 18% who sees the glass half full.

I am a start-up because I am an optimist and not vice versa. How bad can it really get! Small businesses have a different growth curve compared to their largely fund counterparts, and if the pundits out there say, this is the time to struggle, we haven’t actually seen it otherwise!

Why there lie good times ahead if you are a new or a small business in the services sector?

You are flexible: Imagine having to make 2000 employees redundant as compared to making your team of less than 20 work some extra hours daily. Some hot pizza from Domino's and an inspiring speech about the persistent recession and hanging on will do the trick.

Its finally an employer’s market: The talent is FINALLY available AND ready to negotiate. Note: Resources and attrition are amongst the top 5 growth problems faced by smaller businesses.

You need to save every penny and spend wisely: Like you shouldn’t when there is no recession???

Demand for cheaper alternatives: You always believed your services were as good as the market leader. Now is the time to prove it. Bigger organizations are looking for competitive prices and value for money. The axe is on all department budgets and the preferred vendors are all being re-evaluated for value.

Alternative sources of capital: Money is cheap. Yes, with the stock and the real estate drying up and no longer a lucrative investment opportunity, the money still needs to be invested. Talk to an angel investor and show him the returns, he will take notice. The risk is smaller in comparison and the returns – when you are competing with a negative return market, how difficult can it be.

Its time to get real: And the most real organizations are start-ups. They don’t have a choice.

And then if you are a brand communications agency with assumed capabilities to sell your clients product, there has never been a bigger demand for your services! You are cheap and they need you! Go get ‘em! Let’s lay the foundations of some more O&Ms, LOWEs, JWTs possibly put together!

The top-most qualities needed by any entrepreneur by far are clarity of vision and confidence.

Yellow Monk Drawing Board

Be Cool. Be Kanye West.

A magic pill can turn you into Kanye West. Piece of bull? Ostensibly not! The proof is right here:


All you need to “transform” into Kanye is pop a magic pill. To order call 1-877-BeKanye, or better still, if you prefer one-way communication to avoid sheer embarrassment, there is BeKanyeNow.com. Still not convinced? See the TVC below.


If this still doesn’t have your attention, you either don’t know who Kanye West is, or you live in Far Far Away Land. The answer to the puzzle is right here.

“In an Absolut World!”

And why do I talk about Absolut so often. Well the festive season is right around the corner ;) and a political correction to that would be, their global agency TBWA does an impeccable job every time. Standing true to their tag “Disruptive ideas expressed through media arts!”, their work exhibits a premier class marketing mix of ambient, viral, new age and traditional marketing.

Absolut-ly Disruptive

A follow up on my previous post perhaps, but expressions like Ambient Media, Virals, Experiential Marketing which were nothing but marketing jargon until a few years back have now been firmly established as standard terms within the advertising industry.

Call it natural progression or evolution, this phenomenon is here to stay!

Experiment with Experiential.

Innovate or die - The mantra of the never-been-more complex advertising world. With the arrival of fresh emerging media and 360 degree communication, ensuring your brand does not lose its connection with the consumer has never been tougher. Brand managers and marketers have a new buzzword. Brand experience is the new black!

The only aim is to step outside the mass media setting. Brand managers are constantly looking for innovation and out-of-the box ideas and traditional ways of marketing have certain limitations. Traditional media may create brand recall, but today are not enough to sustain a brand.

Saffola took a unique path to celebrate the world heart day. The registrants who could register via SMS did not only receive a coupon for a free cholesterol check but also literature seeking to educate the consumer about heart health and care.



Needless to say the brand made more than a recall point. Everyday we experience a new strategy that makes more than an impression.

A more recent campaign being Nivea MTV What's Your Sport!, engaging participants in fun activities while at work or college. Reinforcing the essence of Nivea deodorant that gives consumers the confidence to do just about anything – anywhere.

photo - agencyfaqs.com

Experiential has moved beyond free samples and testers. It’s about communicating the essence of the brand with a more personalized, memorable experience.

My favourite experiment with experiential is the launch of Absolut Cut in Australia. Not for the love of the Swedish Spirit ;) but for mere execution! To launch its new product Absolut Cut, the brand leased two bars in Sydney and Melbourne, got a party rolling and put photo exhibitions. Visitor to these bars received a bottle of Absolut Cut and an opportunity to contribute their photos to the exhibit thus establishing a viral element.

The idea - consumers are left feeling empowered and important. The gains to the brand just follow.