Mktg - India;Marketers favourite Ads

Neeraj Chandra VP — Sales, Marketing & Innovation, Britannia Industries

Brand: Pepsi Campaign: Nothing Official About It Overall score: 9

It was amazingly tactical, yet so strategic... and so effective. It brilliantly built towards Pepsi’s desired positioning with its irreverence. Refreshingly enjoyable, the competitive initiative of a major sponsorship was not only neutralised, it was turned on its head.

Sandeep Tiwari Head – Marketing Videocon Group

Brand: Vodafone Campaign: Hutch to Vodafone
Overall score: 8.5
From being non-existent to creating an overwhelming brand presence in no time, the campaign was bang on. The smart execution facilitated a smooth exodus from Hutch to Vodafone. Brand stature The brand recognition created was commendable ; despite being a new brand altogether it was in the reckoning with Airtel straightaway. It has the DNA of a big brand and gave that feel from day one.

Short-term impact The company stressed on ground-level activation and backed it up with strong ATL support.

Long-term value The company carried out the initial groundwork with perfect consistency . The Vodafone stores, glow sign kiosks are classy and were built in quick time. All this will yield dividends for the company in the long-term .

Ranjivjit Singh Chief Marketing Officer Microsoft India

Brand: Happydent White Commercial: Happydent White Palace
Overall score: 9

Happydent White is a good example of an MNC FMCG brand that has cut through a tough Indian mindset and emerged a winner. Chewing gum products in India have traditionally been targeted at children and at best youth. While not really being a socially acceptable etiquette in India, gums like candies are considered to be harmful for dental health. And here we had Happydent White trying to sell chewing gum which was supposedly good for your teeth! Given these cultural constraints, the brand team at Perfetti did an amazing job to re-define the category and demonstrate an incredible connection between the brand and the “health” pay-off (smiles) the product delivers . It really would have been an incredible experience to be the Brand Manager on this campaign! I’m impressed with the conviction that the brand team must have had when they heard the ‘idea’ from the agency. Given the challenges faced by the category, the campaign did an exceptional job of category creation. Not only did the execution grab attention, it offered a great balance between presenting the functional aspect and maintain the ‘entertainment’ value that’s so vital to the impulse category.

Brand stature Yesterday, it was an unknown brand with some dental benefit; today it seems to be on everyone’s mind. It has managed to put fun into dental hygiene

Short-term impact The campaign helped create a new category. I’m impressed with the strong ‘Indian’ cultural idiom and insights that helped establish an affinity with the audience.
Long term value It has attempted creating and maintaining a platform (sparkling white teeth) for itself, which seems to be recalled very well.

Anisha Motwani Executive vice-president & CMO, Max New York Life Insurance

Brand: Cadbury Commercial: Asli Swaad Zindagi Ka Overall score: 7

The company had a challenging objective — to amend category behaviour and induce adult consumption of chocolates. To change category behaviour one needs to work that much harder. The commercial succeeded in fulfilling this strategic intention. It was clutter breaking and did justice to strategy and execution. Brand stature The commercial works at the idea, execution and strategic level. Since all three are aligned it makes for a good message.

Short-term impact It cut through clutter, drew attention.
Long-term value To change category behaviour one commercial is not enough.

It has to be followed through with sustained campaigns/ marketing activities. Something which I think the company failed to do in full measure.

Gaurav Gupta Director — Marketing General Motors India
Brand: Cadbury Dairy Milk Campaign: Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye

Overall score: 8

Cadbury has managed to widen the category itself by building social acceptance for chocolate consumption among adults. Not only that, Cadbury has managed to increase the number of consumption occasions by successfully killing the notion that chocolate consumption is linked to ‘special’ occasions only. Now, any ‘shared’ moment is a moment to celebrate and life is about celebrating every moment . And we Indians do not know how to celebrate without sweets.

Brand stature Cadbury’s has been the market leader in the chocolate category for years. It has effectively evolved from being an ‘elitist’ brand to a brand that the masses can instantly identify with.

Short-term impact Traditionally, chocolates have been known to be ‘only for kids’ , a reward /bribe for children. Cadbury’s has changed that over the last decade or so, through its various, interlinked and memorable pieces of communication (like ‘Khanewalon ko khane ka bahana chaahiye’ to ‘Kuch meetha ho jaaye’ ).

Long-term value To compliment its campaigns Cadbury’s has also strategically introduced lesser value SKUs, which have faster offtake and add to its market share. The company has been successful in penetrating newer, non-traditional markets/segments.

Simran Sablok National Marketing Controller Levi Strauss Signature

Brand: Fevicol Campaign: ‘Shadow’ , ‘Fisherman’

Overall score: 8

This was a campaign that made an industrial product into a household name, with a distinct identity. The communication was so mass that it cut across classes , towns and SECs. The campaign used humour to good effect without going overboard.

Brand stature The category was cluttered with a number of adhesives and no brand preference. The challenge was to create a brand out of a commodity. And the Fevicol campaign did just that. People started to ask for it and the brand became generic to the category.

Short-term impact It gave the company the confidence to branch out into product extensions like Fevikwik and experiment with smallersized packaging.

Long-term value It made the brand name synonymous with adhesives. It also gave rise to a number of me-too brands with the suffix ‘-col’ .

Sameer Satpathy Head – Marketing, Marico

Brand: Asian Paints Campaign: Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai

Overall score: 9

Buying a home is an emotional decision but paints was a category outside the periphery of consumers’ lives, associated with painters and part of furniture & fixtures category. By connecting to the consumer emotionally rather than just at a functional level, the campaign made paints an inherent part of consumers’ lives.

Brand stature The brand stature was already high but this campaign pushed it up a few notches. The competition was not able to respond to a statement like that.

Short-term impact It increased salience and top-of-mind recall for the brand. It was an excellent piece of communication that resonated with consumers and moved people emotionally.

Long-term value It increased preference for the brand. Asian Paints moved from being a trusted brand to a loving and trusted brand. It helped the brand evoke a sense of warmth in the consumer’s heart.