Reflections

Confidence vs. Arrogance: The Tone Problem in Modern Advertising - How many people in marketing actually stop and ask: what is the tone of my advertising? This seemingly small question is in reality lying at the core of advertising. Your advertising doesn't just communicate what your brand sells; it communicates what kind of brand you are. Furthermore, the consumer doesn't separate your brand from the behaviour of the people representing it in your advertising. And that is where the tone comes in – what you say, how you state it and in what context – all three are vital elements to brand communication       Take a step back from the job for a second. Put yourself in the audience's seat. You come across an ad whose central characters — through their expressions, their hand gestures, the whole setting — carry a feeling of being superior to anyone not using the product. Or the ad looks down on the competition, openly or through implication. Now ask: how does that reflect...

Two Words That Stopped Me I recently came across two Marathi advertisements that used the words "हैराण" and "झिजणे". Both stopped me — not because they were grammatically wrong, but because neither sounded like the Marathi an ordinary Marathi consumer would naturally speak.        That is where my mind turned to autotranslation and technology. It is the age of technology even in advertising, and it has known benefits — there is no argument to that. But the same technology is also creating shocks in the system, as well as giving rise to problems. The bigger issue is that the industry seems to be blissfully unaware of the downrange as well as the immediate challenges being raised by the entry of technology into this field — a domain that was, hitherto, purely creative-based, human-based.   The Real Danger ...

I was enjoying my morning read of the Business Standard, when my eye fell upon a story – Facebook and Google helpedanti-Refugee campaign in Swing States, Business Standard, Friday 20thOctober . I  noticed this story, and marked it for later contemplation. The recent saga over Twitter usage by  Indian Politicians brought my mind back to this story – and its many implications. While the ethical & moral implications are also present – but most vital is the implication of this, and similar happenings we may or may not be aware of, for us the people as well as for democracy. Image Credit - Google Search It is one thing for a politician to openly come on Social Media – quite a few have done it quite successfully; they lay their views, attitudes, national plans, ideals, problems etc – like one Indian Politician. Others use Facebook, and especially  Twitter in their own names to further their own views etc. There is nothing wrong with that – in fact, that is act...