Healthy competition is always good. With India's booming population and a rising standard of living, people
are now moving towards a competitive and economically viable living,everything from the very basic
groceries through home appliances to bigger stuff like cars and homes.
Things get dodgy when companies start making overly aggressive and often distractive adverts to win over
rivals. Some years ago two of the biggest companies of the world engaged in an ugly war where they
derided each other with a string of advertises most of us are familiar with. It all started with a spoof on
Hrithik in a coke ad and then to the hilarious "grow up tonic" ads by Pepsi.
Currently the war, albeit a lot more subdued, is between malt food cos. Horlicks, Complan, Boost among
others are contending for the top spot in the market. Some promise "Double growth" in height while some
promise immunity. A simple wiki search gives statistics as to how each of these claims is largely exxagerated
and mostly bluff. The Horlicks ad is particularly funny.
Walk while you talk. Tell me about it. I almost got killed once trying to cross the road while on phone. Creditto Tata for thinking out of the box but seriously talking on the phone and walking just don't work. And in noway does it help lose weight. Even more ridiculous is the new one where they're preaching using
cellphones in place of paper as an eco friendly measure. While most of it is actually being done now, getting
rid of paper all together is still a long dream. Idea, why don't you guys start sending postpaid bills over sms
intead of wasting paper on envelopes? Some one pat me on the back, what an Idea hai sirji!!!
Airtel made a jumpstart with Rehman's tunes and was an instant success. the new DocoMo which made a
huge debut started on a aeee oooo aaa oooo note which sounded funny at best. Idea and Vodafone did
good too. Curiosly, international giants are seeing big bucks in India, first DocoMo which is Japanese and
now Etisalat from the gulf. There are too many networks now with 'iressistible' offers and perks. However
data services are still very weak. BSNL and vodafone charge phenomenal rates for GPRS while Airtel-once
the best-has upped it's fares too. Internet connectivity is still far from perfect. No marked improvement in
call quality and the fact that they fail when needed the most.
Ads are getting catchy, innovative and cheekier. The new Fastrack ads(move on, move on...) are cheap and the ones for more'personal' stuff are totally revolting. Who can forget the Amul macho ad broadcast last year. The tagline drew widespread flak and it had to pulled off air soon. For those in the dark, it sounded familiar to the title of this post. And then there was the one showing a burning Iron...
And what the hell is the problem with the deo promos? They stink. Pun intended.
Need of the hour. Quality, After sales Support and sensible promotion.
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