Continue reading »]]> While you can take this post as support for “free speech” and “protection of our right to privacy on the internet” I am doing neither. I am simply taking forth the point I made in my previous post on careless emailing.

The truth is, everything you say or do on the internet is real. While the medium may be virtual, the implications and repercussions are real world! Your candid blog posts, your moody Facebook status, your random tweet or retweet can get you into real trouble.

Because today more than ever before, the internet is an extension of our conscious and unconscious minds. It representative of mass social behavior and trends within… with individual collectivism and variations being demonstrated 24/7/365.

Take for example, the curious case of Paul Chambers, who’s harmless emotional tweet at being stranded at an airport, led him to get arrested on a terrorism charge!

According to accounts carried on Green’s blog and in the British media, the 27-year-old was alarmed when heavy snow closed Robin Hood Airport, from which he was due to fly in order to see a friend he had met online.

In a message posted to dozens of followers on January 6, he stated: “Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get [it] together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”

The tweet might have faded into the obscurity of internet had it not been discovered by an airport duty manager browsing the internet five days later. The manager forwarded the offending tweet to his station manager, and – even though the threat was deemed “non-credible” – it was passed on to police.

On January 13, a week after the post, Chambers was arrested and questioned. The case file notes that “there is no evidence at this stage that this is anything other than a foolish comment posted on Twitter as a joke for only his close friends to see”, but he was charged and convicted in any case…

Read the rest of the story here via Sydney Morning Herald

While on one hand the authorities acted zealously to take action on the matter, the incident sparked a snowballing outrage across the internet by regular people all over the world who re-tweeted the original with an “IamSpartacus” hashtag! At last count there were over 5,000 tweets coming out in support of Paul Chambers, making it one of the top trending topics on Twitter!

One example: From @Aprilly

And the Tweet from the Airport in question (?!)

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police, which originally arrested Chambers, scoffed and said “no” when asked if police planned on arresting any of Chambers’s online fans. But she refused to answer when asked why the thousands of jokey threats to blow Robin Hood Airport “sky high” would be treated any differently from Chambers’s original tweet that resulted in his arrest.

Now if you think this cannot happen in India, think twice. No I am not talking about the extralegal nonsense around long journey of Rohinton Mistry or the legal high-handedness in the arrest of a CEO in an MMS case but the fact that anything you say online can and will be held against you in a court of law!

The fact is you cannot make loose comments online without the law looking in on you, as is mentioned in this related article in Times of India -

If you thought only the English law was humourless and that in India doing a Chambers would not get one arrested, then you are wrong.

“A threat is a threat, irrespective of the context it is made in,” says Sanjay Pandey, an IPS officer and e-security expert lauding the action taken by the UK court. India’s Information Technology Amendment Act of 2008, Section 66 A says: “Any person who sends, by means of computer resource or a communication device, any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years with a fine.”

Pandey, like the UK judge, felt that the tweet was menacing and so the arrest, well-deserved. =The only difference is that in India, the arrest would happen only if someone informs the police about such a post.

Read the whole article in Times of India here.

Now that you got the point, check out the original source of the phrase “I Am Spartacus!” here!

Related Articles

• Twitter users re-tweet Paul Chambers’ “bomb threat”: #IAmSpartacus (boingboing.net)
• I am not Spartacus – any airport threat should be taken seriously, whatever the platform (matthewparsons.net)

Continue reading »]]> As part of a monthly review of Indian advertising and marketing which I do for a far-east publication, I have been watching Indian political advertising very closely for some time now. I specifically mentioned the review, because if it wasn’t for it, I would have simply missed/ignored the ads… which is what I think most  people have done.

The Goop, The Bad, and the Ughly!

Most of the political advertising being released all around today is dramatically inane, and looks like it is targetted specifically on the blind spot of intelligent minds.

One slice-of-life, fits all

Most of the political have the same AV feel that comes from splicing disparate images shot at different times, to ‘lifted’ filmy tunes. The rest, particularly the ones by the opposition parties, blatantly challenge common sense and suffer from an acute lack of identity.

I am particularly apalled by the ads with talking heads sharing their pains and complaints about the economy, and how they’re going to vote for a party that has promised to change the economic situation!

Add to this are the one line ads by one party which actually promises to reduce prices and increase unemployment. Without taking us back to a closed economy of 20 years back, or worse enforcing communist doctrine, how are they going to realise such promises?!

Which brings me to the point of this post…

Who are these agency genius’ thinking up these ads?! They either have no clue of economics, don’t live in this world, or believe the people of India don’t have a clue of economics and have parked their brains on another planet!

In case it still hasn’t sunk in, it’s the economy, stupid! The economy is a sea of constant movement, with waves of progress, inflation, depression, and other economy elements incoming and outgoing from time to time.

Even though India is a relatively secure island in this unpredictable sea of global economics… it is not exempt from the international gales and storms that surround and cross its shores time and again.

To blame a political party for recession or rising interest and prices and other issues like terrorism that are rife all over the world is plain stupid. And you don’t need an economics degree to understand that!

Anti-incumbancy? Or anti-reality?

People who think they can cast away rising prices, inflation, and the recession by casting a vote against any government are stupid. And political parties that feed this belief are simply misleading the public, and should be led to the exit door.

Of course, parties in power (at the centre and state level) are doing their best to highlight their achievements – which again are partly thanks to the economy, partly due to the liberalisation started by the congress, and yes, partly due to the parties in power themselves.

The recession, prices and such economic issues are best addressed by good corporate governance, banking systems, pricing strategies… the problems we face today may be due to weak government regulation worldwide, but mainly due to corrupt and incompetent corporate management!

The real issues for electing a government in my mind are just two:

1.  Corruption all around: especially in the municipal organisations, the RTOs, the police, the list is endless… and of course corruption in politics.
2. The Communal and Caste Divide: we cannot choose a government based on religion or caste. the thought itself makes me shudder at the irresponsibility of such an action.

I just hope when people are out there voting, they’re listening to the voice of common sense in their heads, not the idiotic ads in the media.

Continue reading »]]> Okay, I see Breaking News on CNN that the organisers of IPL have decided to hold the tournament outside India. Simultaneously, I see Narendra Modi slamming the government on the security reasons that have led to this decision.

Of course, Modi is not alone with his vulture-like behaviour, as I see the rest of the non-ruling political parties jumping around and blaming the government for what is clearly a decision of the IPL organisers led by BCCI and Lalit Modi.

WHY? WHY? WHY?

Why cannot Lalit Modi and BCCI be a little patient and waiting for the elections to get over, instead being selfish and self-centred for wanting to stick to the dates in the middle of the elections!?

Of cource, it would be stupid of me to ask, why are opposition political parties blaming the government?

But why are fans across the country falling for what seems like selfish blackmail of the BCCI, and manipulation of political parties!?

CAN WE PLEASE THINK CLEARLY FOR A MOMENT?!

Of course it will be a huge shame if we cannot hold IPL in India due to security reasons. We are a stronger nation than most, and are very capable of taking care of ourselves and our people.

But everything has its limits of stretchability. Imagine our already stretched and under-armed security forces not only having to deal with a long-drawn-election schedule, but also having to do double-time to protect sports stadiums across the venues, hotels, and other gathering spots for fans!

Of course if IPL moves out of India because of security fears, it will mean we’re bowing down to terrorism. We must hold the tournament here, and show the terrorists we are not afraid.

But who took the decision to move IPL out? It wasn’t the government, it was the impatient BCCI that took the decision. The government just told them to wait till the elections are over..!

I BELIEVE THIS IS ALL JUST BLACKMAIL AND MANIPULATION, and we the people are unwitting pawns in the scheme of things.

BCCI knows the Indian public will be aghast, and blame the government. The BCCI knew that the opposition will act in the manner that it has. The BCCI probably hopes the government will now go out of the way to facilitate the matches on the dates Lalit Modi and Co want.

Narender Modi and Co have finally found a stick to beat the Congress with… instead of beating themselves up as they have been doing over the past couple of months! They finally have something to say, which people across the country will foolishly fall for!

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? CRICKET OVER DEMOCRACY??

Both the Modis can take their apologies and anger and… um, well, find something sensible to talk about for a change!

We have general elections once in 5 years and we need to focus on getting that right. Democracy is more important than any cricket match in my book, no matter how many Bollywood stars dance a jig in the stands.

If we want to see the matches in person, and in India, let’s just delay the IPL till the elections are over. Or watch it on TV in the comforts of our home.

Get real people! Let’s get our priorities right!

Continue reading »]]> “Ouch!” That’s the first thought that struck me as I picked up the newspapers this morning. No I am not referring to the coverage of the FM’s interim budget, but to the full front page ad for State Bank of India in the leading and very-expensive-to-advertise-in newspapers.

The full-frontal assault hurt for two big reasons:

1) You don’t spend this kind of money to advertise anything in today’s market scenario – especially to promote a brand we’re all well aware of.

2) The creative sucks as it reeks of a lie – SBI claims to be “The Banker to Every Indian”. Sorry to bust your bubble, but that is just not true. SBI is not my banker, and neither is it the banker for many, many people I know.

With this false claim, you the bank (SBI) and the agency (Interpublicity) are asking to be slammed by ASCI and every other body/person who monitors untruths and false claims in advertising.

Admittedly SBI is a huge bank. A respected one at that. It also has a long history with many Indians. And I personally have been a fan of its intelligent and insightful communication over the years.  But to make claims like this current one doesn’t help SBI’s reputation of trust. And to do it in this wasteful manner, is adding insult to injury.

Continue reading »]]> Every now and then I spot incoming links to my blog, from a site called Business Way which I discover is using my content as is, to attract traffic. And I am not alone in getting my stuff streamed without credit – there are other sites too – there are sites from the US and elsewhere whose content is being streamed here.

Business Way is some wierd link farm with no apparent source of revenue, except for the credit links at the bottom which lead to some finance and brokerage firms, which I think also keep changing.

They seem to be drawing a lot of traffic and comments, and by talking about them and by linking to them I am probably doing what they wanted in the first place.

Whatever it is they’re up to, looks like no good. So if anyone has an explanation, do let me know.

Related reading from a previous similar experience of intellectual theft:
Stop Thief! & Update: Content Theft

Continue reading »]]> The other day I was in small electrical shop in Shakarpur market, and was looking for an power extension board – “give me the best quality” I requested.  The shopkeeper smiled with pride, and then with great flourish revealed to me his “best quality” extension board.

No it wasn’t Philips, Bajaj, or any such familiar name… but instead the box read “UttamBrand” (name changed). Seeing my confused look the guy now looked at me with disdain… “yeh naam aapne suna hi hoga..? best quality hai… sab bade-bade company inhi se letey hain aur apna chhap lagate hain…” (you must have heard of this brand… it’s the best quality… all the big companies buy from them and brand them as their own).

“Yeah right” I said, then realising I had no other option and I needed it urgently I asked about the warranty/guarantee… and quick came the response “Main hoon na!” (I am here as guarantee).

I stared at the guy like I stared at the plumber, the tile repair guy, and the local kirana shopkeeper before him who tried to pass off something of dubious lineage and quality to me as quality “guaranteed by them” !

“There’s this crazy Indian belief that you have to take someone’s word – even if you don’t know them. How often we see it abused by people who haven’t met before and will never see again…”

I think this is the same belief that drives some brands and their CEOs to star in their advertisements and endorse their brands – “Buy my brand, main hoon na!” they claim.

Admittedly, when the late Dhirubhai Ambani did so, he did with a lot of credibility and the stature of a company that had done very well. And when a packaged masala company shows its patriarch in their advertisements there is some credibility because the brand and its patriarch are well known.

For the rest, I think its just absurd self-promotion.

Here’s my list of the adventures and misadventures of CEO brand endorsers.

CEO Brand Endorser No. 1 – Masala Man

The Old Man in the MDH Masala Ads. He’s lovable, likeable and seems credible enough to appear in their packaging and ads.

He’s okay, way to go old man!

CEO Brand Endorser No. 2 – Thumbi

note the thumb!

I call him “Thumbi” for his trademark action in every ad he appears. If you look closely at his photo in the press ads, you’ll find his name and designation in small type.

Yeah, I am talking about the CMD of Country Club, “thumbing” his way through the end of each of his ads.

His sudden, out-of-the-blue-and-context appearance in each ad is a bit absurd… But being the CMD of a club where you expect personalised attention even from the top guy, you get used to it, and can live with it.

CEO Brand Endorser No. 3 – Colonial Leftover
Okay, so here’s this white guy talking to us from a television commercial. And he says that we don’t have to spend any money on maintenance with his cars, because his company will take care of that. And then, he puts his hand on his heart!!!

Whoa! Whoever recommended that the expat CEO of GM should appear in their ads needs to get their brains examined.

I can imagine it working for Rattan Tata and Tata Motors,  but know he never will take this road. But has anyone heard of this guy (Sorry sir, nothing personal)?

What’s his context – market leadership, innovative thinking, celebrity status..? Do you think his being a “gora” is going to impress people? I remember another senior guy from the same company also appear in ads before. What’s the plot??

I know agencies need to suck up to their clients… but I am sure there are less obvious ways to do it!

CEO Brand Endorser No. 4 – High on attention
Thankfully liquor brands are prevented from advertising overtly on television. Or else we’d have to see this dude in our faces a lot more.

I am speaking of the head of a liquor company who used to appear in their radio ads – giving his name and all – and asking people to drink responsibly. “Yeah dude. Where’s your responsibility to common sense?”

Why should I listen to you? Is it because I see you hanging around models and famous people in Page 3 parties and pictures? Is it because they pose with you because your company sponsors the events and for no personal connect with you?!

CEO Brand Endorser No. 5 - Pehle Khushi, Abhi Gham
I almost forgot about this one… But there was this marriage between Karan Johar’s company and NDTV or something. So we had the lovable Karan (who we all love as a film-maker) appearing in ads talking about how this relationship was like “family” and that their channel was going to really make us happy…

Is that family still around..? I have no idea, but would love to know…

But I think Karan should stick to making brilliant feature films. Leave the ads to the lesser mortals.

EndNote to myself:
I have to remove the “Blatant Self Promotion” tag on this blog.

Continue reading »]]> Somewhere towards the end of my career as an “advertising professional” I realised the business of advertising had become more about “getting billing” and less about “adding value” and it was the key reason I switched to being an independent consultant.

I don’t blame them really, because most ad agencies are reeling under the double-whammy of a) constantly fragmenting audiences which they’re not designed to address, and b) reducing commissions which they’re not geared to live with.

And nowadays when I receive SMS Alerts about “new business wins” by ad agencies, I cannot help but laugh at the ridiculous and delusional messages ad agencies put out every time they sign on a new account. None of these messages and follow up press releases have any bearing on reality, or the task which they’re really signing on for…

“TUV Communications wins 50 crore XYZ Business” or “ABC Worldwide wins 100 crore Brand123 advertising account”.  It’s like everyone’s trying to outdo the other with “look! my budget is bigger than yours!” rather than speak of the impact of the brand and the task ahead and what it really means for the agency and brand.

The follow up press releases are cliched and meaningless too “We are delighted/honored to handle the business says the Agency dude…”  invariably the Client is not available for comment… or if there is a quote it will be that “the agency was chosen for its fresh thinking and ideas…”

Hmm. Really? What a surprise!

Well, how about some real honest messages and quotes like the following:

“TUV Communications wins mandate to turnaround XYZ Business amidst tough market odds. While the number of 50 crores seems large, it is really media spend, and the agency will only get about 7.5 crores out of which it will have to manage a team of about 15 people in an office with huge overheads.

While the finance guys are excited at the thought of new revenue, and the servicing guys are excited about how the brand will look on their CVs, creative guys haven’t yet realised they will not be able to do anything new, but turn out the same old crap the brand has done for the past 5 years.”

or alternately how about a news report like this:

“Four agencies – AB, CD, EF and GH win over 200 crores IncredibleBrand business. They all have different mandates – one will do the film, the other some print ads, one will do the leaflets and one will spend the year trying to find something to do. However none of them can offer what the category and brand really needs – a digital strategy!

No agency is going to get media commission, rather a tiny fee from which they will have to feed over 50 employees on the business between the four of them!”

So what’s the real deal? Who are they kidding? Or are ad agency folk to used to selling puffery, that they fail to see it when it lands in their own laps??!

Continue reading »]]> In the battle for mindshare and market share, some companies in India have gone out of their way (way, way out sometimes) and hired celebrities to endorse their brands.

While some celebrities have done a fantastic job (as actors and as endorsers), the rest have just ended up wasting a lot of money, and insulting consumer intelligence.

For your viewing pleasure and intellectual exercise, I have rated 5 of Bollywoods top male stars who are also Brand Ambassadors. Naturally, No. 1 is who I think is the best, and No. 5 is the one who needs to give it a rest!

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Bollywood Male Celebrity Brand Ambassador Number 01: Aamir Khan

When it comes to Bollywood stars endorsing brands, this Khan is King by far. Whether he is endorsing the brand as Aamir Khan himself (Titan) or whether he simply plays an actor in the TVC (Coke, or Tata Sky) he is brilliant. Each commercial is a delight to watch (like his films) and am sure is a “heart-and-mind magnet” for consumers!

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Bollywood Male Celebrity Brand Ambassador Number 02: Abhishek Bachchan

This AB baby is the darling of many a commercial. Brands like Motorola have milked his real personality (on and off screen) to the hilt, and used his uber-cool, easy-going, like-able and aspirational character to max in their commercials. And Idea Cellular has got AB the actor to pull off brilliant scripts, brilliantly!

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Bollywood Male Celebrity Brand Ambassador Number 03: Akshay Kumar

You don’t get to see this super-star in many commercials (which is why he is not closer to the top). But when you do see him in ads, he is credible and pure delight to watch! This dude gets all our Thums Up!!!

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Bollywood Male Celebrity Brand Ambassador Number 04: Hritik Roshan

Film opens on a dull and boring situation (choose any context depending on your product).
Enter Hritik.
Hritik uses product (place your product here).
Hritik starts dancing and camera focuses on his curls and boo.. err biceps.
Everyone dances around the product and becomes happy.
Cut to pack shot.
Cut to close up of Hritik saying the brand name and tagline.
Repeat for any mobile phone/computer model.

Why can’t brands and agencies use Hritik’s great acting skills like the team on Parle Hide n Seekdoes!? Why cannot they come up with brilliant ideas and scripts, instead of using him like some cheap “item number”? Sorry Hritik, nothing personal, but looks like the Ad/Mkt professionals around you need to get their act together!

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Bollywood Male Celebrity Brand Ambassador Number 05: Shah Rukh Khan

If you didn’t know who SRK was, and you saw him for the first time in an Ad, you would never believe he is the guy they call “King Khan” or the “Badshah of Bollywood” – because sorry to say, far from being King, he comes out as nothing better than a court jester!

Bad brand-celebrity matches. Lazy ideas. Bad scripts. Tacky productions. These are the unfortunate ingredients of SRK the brand ambassador.

HP/Compaq and ITC Sunfeast in particular need to take a leaf out of Pepsi’s book- perhaps the only brand that knows how to use King Khan properly. Or at least if you cannot replicate Pepsi’s intelligent creatives, at least try to use him in a ludicrously entertaining manner like Hyundai does!

..

Footnotes to Brand Managers and Agency people:
01. Celebrity endorsement is not an idea, it is at best a ‘strategic first step’. You still need a good script and an idea.
02. If you have a Star in your TVC, get a good TVC Director. Not just one who isn’t overawed by the star, but also one who the star will listen to.
03.  And before you do both the above, ask whether the brand really needs it… or are you just a celeb-slut looking for your delusionary brush with fame?

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Continue reading »]]> I was checking a few airline sites the other day, when I came across this banner advertisement on the Delta website – obviously targetted at Indian flyers… or is it? I for one, who is proudly Indian, don’t find it either amusing or attractive…

“Naan Stop”??! Is this supposed to in jest..? Playing on a bad ‘so called Indian pronunciation’ as shown in many a bad Hollywood comedy film? Or are they trying to say something about flying non-stop to the land of Naan – a local bread like food? Or is it just a bloody typo!?

Whatever it is, it doesn’t suit a brand like Delta.

Click on the image above, to see a screenshot of the entire web page.