Breaking Records

Below is a SET Max e-mail that landed in my inbox on 28th March - days after our fiasco at the Cricket World Cup 2007.

Now that India is out of the tournament (was it ever in?) the channel still wants to give viewers a reason to be glued to TV. And the reason is - records. The point seems to be "So what if India's out. There is still great cricket being played, runs being scored, wickets being taken and records being broken!"

Great 'pitch'! In fact the question in the copy makes me discover some records that the mailer seems to have missed listing.

And ofcourse not! There were more records broken than are given in the ad:

* Advertisers backing out inspite of commitments. ("It’s a different ballgame now" FE, 25th March 2007)
* Brands holding back adverts with cricketers - which they spent millions on to make.
* Marketers re-visiting their dependance on cricket and its stars.
* Cricketers replaced by movie stars in ads during a Cricket World Cup.
* Cricketers being dropped more by advertisers than BCCI selectors.

As the copy reads..."This is just the beginning. With about a month of high quality cricket still remaining, many records, both on-field as well as for for television viewership will tumble."

Amen.

A TVC like.no.other

Was forced to watch cricket at a night over with 14 cricket fanatics / jerks. It happened to be ...ahem... India-Bangladesh at World Cup '07. Much to others' displeasure, I was in a good mood irrespective of whether it was a wicket falling or a boundary scored. Apart from beer and "good cricket" there was one reason for my sitting through the ordeal of six deliveries between the commercial breaks - the hope that i would see the complete Sony Bravia TVC.

I should have realised that the original version of 'bouncy balls' is 180 minutes long and would perhaps outlast our batsmen at the crease. Sadly, the one shown was stripped of it's creative appeal (music and visual) and execution excellence to a mere 10-seconds that failed to make the point in the stylish, charming and powerful way made by the original. Created by Danish director Nicolai Fuglsig who sent 250,000 multi-coloured balls bouncing down the streets of San Fransisco, the ad is a Cannes winner (and was a frontrunner for the Grand Prix in 2006).

...To announce the arrival of the BRAVIA LCD and 3LCD range, we wanted to get across a simple message - that the colour you'll see on these screens will be 'like no other'. reads the website made especially to showcase the ad. It also gives trivia and allows sneak-peaks at the new TVC with massive paint explosions all over town.

...a "really simple, visual celebration of colour". More fun than even a Billion Blues.

Anyday!

'Touching' ad

Isn't this ad by Australia Post really good advertising?

We all know the marketing problem - growing irrelevance of 'snail mail' to users of the Internet - which comprises essentially of young people.

As a result, postal services in developed nations had reason to be worried about their future. Add to that their monopolistic nature that had made them complacent about survival being given a reality check by specialized service providers.

Coming back to the ad, what is refreshing in it is the beautiful execution that more than supports the strategy - position 'paper mail' as the way to make an emotional connect.

Which is what effective advertsing, i feel, is about. Using creativity in aiding strategy to solve a problem. Makes you want to be in advertising. Makes you want to write a letter.