lightbulb power !!!!

I just came across this video and it made me think about how the world has never been this idea oriented before. Ideas are literally the new currency. Just recently we were in the knowledge economy. Today we live in an "ideas economy". That's one thing i thought about.

The second thing is that audience participation is the most wonderful thing to have hit the new media scene.

I mean JUST look at how anybody from anywhere can raise up a storm about their brand/service amongst potentially millions of people!

Check it out. Its a 'backwards music video'. The idea for this was one amongst the 1000's that were sent in by regular people.

When you see the video, it is unlikely that you won't want to see the same video forward. So for that, they ask you to go to this link: http://sleepbetter.org/home/. And violla! you find yourself reading all about how to sleep better (and possibly placing an order for their brand of pillows)

:)

The answer is "yes"

The answer to the question that formed the title of my previous post is, as per my instinct, "Yes".

To help me with this argument,I came across a book by the late Mr. C. K Prahalad called "The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid".

The book includes several case-studies of corporates that have earned great profits by doing good!

I think every big corporate company should follow this principle to simultaneously eradicate poverty while earning profits.

The entire book is available online on googlebooks. But, for those who'd like a hard copy, I found it at Landmark for Rs 650/-. My guess is that it should be easily available at any good book store in India.

Can doing good make business sense?

This is a question I have always pondered over. My inclination is to believe that it can. The movie Rocket Singh released in Dec 09 explores this subject and proves how it indeed can help your company in getting an edge over others. Let me not give away the plot. Please see it if you get a chance.

And now, here's a real life story about a factory in the Domninican Republic that supplies college logo apparel for universities across the US.

This factory has undertaken the initiative of paying it's workers a "living wage" — in this case, three times the average pay of the country’s apparel workers. A living wage is generally defined as the amount of money needed to adequately feed and shelter a family.

Now, the question is whether students, alumni and sports fans will be willing to pay $18 for the factory’s T-shirts — the same as premium brands like Nike and Adidas — to sustain the plant and its generous wages.

Will this factory owned by Knights Apparel thrive? What do you think?

You can read the NYT article to know more about this unique factory including the point of view of it's workers.

Would love to know your views...

"My favourite ad" award for 'yeh nok jhok...'

"Yeh nok jhok" is how the hindi jingle for the latest Limca ad begins. Roughly,the phrase refers to playful mutual teasing.

If you see the TVC you will get the meaning a little better, just from the visuals.

In December 2008, the previous Limca TVC had inspired me to start a 'my favourite ad' award on this blog. I had conferred the first ever 'my favourite ad award' to the Limca TVC featuring Sushma Reddy. You can see that TVC in that post. I have given out the award to numerous ads since, and this time I am happy to give the coveted trophy to the current Limca TVC.

What a delicious confluence of poetry, art and advertising - once again!

This ad definitely has the quality I look for in a TVC for this trophy - that of never tiring you of viewing it.

Okay and here's my tribute to the poetry used in the ad:

I shall translate it for the enjoyment of a larger audience.

Such playful banters - the fountains conspire it...
The cool sighs, the cool sights - why don't you own them once again?
Why don't you wake those sleeping desires
And celebrate a fresh relationship?

Why don't you soak your dreams in the freshness of these fragrances?
why don't you help yourself to a few thrills from these sweet-sweet moments?

Limca - get soaked in freshness!

And while it sounds beautiful in English, in Hindi it is a 1000 times more endearing!

Only problem is that I hate the taste of the product. :p But I don't mind a glass of this ad anytime!

"My Favourite ad" award for the strongest and lightest ever

What a concept! To be strong and light at the same time. Trust Samsonite to introduce such a product.

But what inspired me to write this blog-post is the TVC I saw of it. I was floored.

A man cartwheeling, holding the suitcase. I doubt there is a more simpler and more creative way to demonstrate lightest AND strongest. The art direction of the commercial is a total bonus. Deadly combination of beauty and brains. Pardon the cliched usage.

See the ad here. The cleverest and prettiest ad ever. Dare I say!

Intolerance to memorising

I have spent the last 1 and half months (roughly) in close proximity to my grand-parents. I see that they lay heavy weightage on memorising things. Phone numbers, distances, maps, relationship-connections etc.

I see that my grand-dad prefers to make a rough draft before writing a letter or filling out an application form etc.

I remember being the same until a few months (or is it years) ago. But now, the internet equipped computer age which allows me instant access to information, editing and spell checks makes me intolerant to the erstwhile systems.

I no longer see virtue in or feel the drive to deliberately learn things by heart. I no longer want to jot down things I find interesting - recipes, songs, names, addresses - not even phone numbers.

When I meet someone interesting, I normally google or facebook their contacts.

My thinking is that the human race is slowly going to use lesser and lesser of their memory cells.

This will either make the human brain (and head) smaller over generations or it will enable the human race to sharpen other aspects of the brain - analysis, creativity, inventions. (thereby keeping our appearance the same)

What do you think?

So, what else is new?

I have been seeing this on Indian television channels. Every single brand of mens' deodorant makes advertisements that follow the hackneyed Axe-effect concept. Okay, not every single brand. Park Avenue comes to mind, with its "don't be invisible" concept. Hats off to the brand and agency behind. They managed to find a different yet relevant stand for themselves.

Then there is wildstone that at least attempts to create an entirely different setting - spicing it up with some desi flavour.

What me-too advertisements do is simple. They provide free advertising to the brand that originally adopted that stand. The different brands don't register in people's minds unless they see entirely different stories in their respective advertisements.

There is a brand of deo that is currently running an ad featuring a man, seated in a movie theatre watching Bipasha on screen. He unbuttons his shirt and wham! Bips steps right out of the screen and walks up to this man, attracted by the deo he was wearing of course.

I have seen this ad a reasonable number of times and always thought it was an Axe-effect ad. Only yesterday did I happen to notice that it was a different brand. (and I can't recall which one it was now). It made me think they were doing AXE a big favour by doing exactly what they do.

I am disappointed that Airtel does the same with its newest ad. Their ad features a little girl ...a little girl..ring a bell?

Surely, you couldn't have missed the telecom brand that has been "happy to help" a sweet little girl trying to do silly things like take a shower in a cubicle by the sea or bake a cake (at her age!) etc.

I have huge respect for Airtel's iconic "express yourself" and "if only we talk to each other" ads. Even their daily ads with the little boy on his toy phone and the Madhavan-Vidya ads are charming and stand their own ground.

So dear Airtel, why this now?

(their current "keep your friends close" ad featuring the little girl, causing me to complain is not yet on youtube. So, you will need to catch it on TV)

Picture courtesy: getty images