AD Fight

Few weeks back Horlicks came up with an ad which compares Complan and Horlicks on various parameters including price. Last week Complan retaliated with another ad saying Horlicks was cheaper since it used cheaper ingredients. This ad fight reminds me about the cola wars. They got so explicit that they went over the top to prove their superiority to the rival drink. The viewers had fun following the fight all the way.

Gone are the days when the competitor's product label was made hazy when used in an advertisement. Now it is all khule aam. Desperate measures of desperate companies or new age advertising?

My observation: most of the popular ads are the ones which appeal to the viewer emotionally. The ads per say are getting more and more creative (sometimes too creative! You cannot guess the product till they actually show it) and bolder (recent Condom ad).

Thanks to DTH, now there are lot more channels to switch to when ads are shown. Unless it is a gripping cricket match where people cannot afford to miss even one ball or kids who watch ads as they do cartoons, there are very few people who stick to one channel for a long time.

One of the latest trends is serial ad – where there are multiple ads with a story woven around the product (ponds ad). Another trend is to use latest movie either as a spoof or as a promo (samsung-gajini). Good creative stuff, I say!

With the changing technologies, the marketing channels are also changing. One can access unreleased ads on YouTube. One can use print ads on internet. One can use blogs or spam mail or website or online games to promote products. Who needs expensive TV ads? These days companies do a pre-launch and take quick surveys (Lays chips). Advertising has become more interactive and has come a long way. Yet there are miles to go in these days of changing technology before they can create everlasting ad concepts like Amul or Cadbury whose message spans generations.