Incito MentisA blog by Syed Abdul Karim

Coca Cola, the iconic brand that sits at the top of the 100 most valuable brands list according to Interbrand, is making a big push into the musical array in 2011. For a sugary drink that is not really good for anyone holding the top spot really goes to show the power and position of the brand in the minds of the consumer. If you come to think about it all the strategic moves by Coca Cola are aimed at creating a blue ocean of uncontested market space. Of course not everything they have done has been successful – case in point, Coca Cola Blak – the coffee flavored cola beverage. But by and large Coke was a beverage like no other at the time of it’s creation. In fact it was the only beverage in the world which had about 60mg of cocaine in every serving up until 1903. Rumor or True? No one knows. But time and time again they have done some wonderful things, like sponsoring one of the world’s most iconic TV shows – American Idol, thereby further entrenching their equity and association with music. Even the decision to work with Weiden + Kennedy was a great strategic move. To go for the hottest and not just the biggest. They have done some great brand building work for Coca Cola. Owning something broad and general like happiness was never going to be easy for anyone, but Coke certainly comes out on top in this space. From Happiness Factory to Open Happiness, W+K and Coke have produced some great creative across media.

And here we are in 2011 with another hot new initiative by Coca Cola – branded music. It seems that this is part of a larger strategic push that should unfold through the year. For now they have created a song supported by TV spots which is ruling the radio waves and conventional TV all the same. It evokes that moment when one gets carried away enjoying their music, singing along and feeling like a star. But first check out the video to “Can you feel it tonight” by One Night Only. Then see the TV spot adaptation below. Good stuff!

We are talking about a Lamborghini here. Does it need a pitch? Who does not want to own a Lamborghini? Those who can afford an Enzo or those who already own the last two I guess! Why would you need to make a TV ad for a Lamborghini? Probably the same reason why I am writing this blog. Do something so great and awesome that people end up talking about it. Probably that’s why.

I have seen a lot of TV Commercials. The memorable ones usually make a good thing really great. This is one of them. What makes it great? The key insight. If I were to imagine the brief for this ad I believe the insight would have read something like this – “What makes something great depends on what it is being compared to”. It is all about the ‘power of the relative’. You put something in a different context and suddenly it looks different. I have seen a number of behavioral economists talk about this concept. Allow me to illustrate:

You want a buy a pen that costs $20. You learn there is a place 30 minutes away that is selling the same pen for $10. What do you do? Most people would go for the $10 pen. Similarly there is a suit that you like and it costs $1000. Again you learn that about 30 minutes away another branch of the same store sells the suit for $990. What do you do? Like most rational people you would go for the $1000 suit. This is the power of context. The same $10 would be saved for the same effort of driving 30 minutes away but because of the difference in context a completely different decision is made.

This is what the creative team has done here. They have used this power of context to their advantage. It’s not about comparing a Lamborghini to a Ferrari or a Porsche. No sir! It is about comparing the opportunity to own a Lamborghini to something rarer than giving birth to a Nobel Prize winner or being able to successfully climb Mount Everest!

And therefore as a result, they have managed to make something hot even hotter. This is the power of context. An extremely valuable tool for great advertising I think.

How do they do it! It’s simply amazing what Doritos did for the Super Bowl 2010. 116.2 million viewers watched the Doritos – Snack Attack Samurai spot, making it the most watched television commercial of all time!* WOW!

The brilliant thing about this all is that everything is user generated! That’s right! Doritos simply created a platform and the users did the rest. Anyone with an idea could write it, shoot it and submit it. It was that simple. If they became one of six finalists then they got $25,000 each. The six were then put to vote. The Top 3 were aired as Doritos commercials for the Super Bowl 2010.

To top it all, if they got ranked in the Top 3 on the USA Today ad meter as well then the first place would get $1,000,000, the second place $600,000 and the third place $400,000. If all three took the Top 3 slots then everyone would get a $1,000,000. And so they did, the Doritos Underdog spot took the second place. Two 20-something aspiring filmmakers walked away with $600,000!

I found this entire contest very interesting because Doritos got it right at multiple levels. For one, Doritos engaged the filmmaking community by building on the premise that a great idea can come from anyone! Secondly, they engaged America to participate and vote for the best commercial, thereby taking the idea to the masses and creating interaction!

Lastly, the thing that I found most brilliant was the simplicity of the brief. “Go for action-packed. Or go for funny. It’s up to you.” It is all about Originality, Creativity and Appeal! No big ideas, No big strategies. All the commercials have taken a ‘creative leap’ on a simple message – People who love Doritos don’t want to share them with anyone.

As a creative strategy there was nothing new there! The power is in the creative itself. My personal favorite is ‘House Rules’! “Keep you hands off my mama! Keep your hands off my Doritos!” LOL! Check it out!

Doritos – House Rules

Doritos – Underdog

Doritos – Snack Attack Samurai

* According to the Nielsen Company

Uninor, a joint venture between Unitech a local real estate giant and the Norway based Telenor Group, launched their mobile network service in India. In a market cluttered with about 13 operators (including at least 7 major operators) and a half billion connections already sold, Uninor has a tough task ahead of them. With Etisalat also expected to join the ranks branding and differentiation is going to be an enormous task!

Perhaps not quite so for India with it’s strategic branding and insight-led advertising history. Over the last two decades riding on the wave of an ever-booming popular culture which is now reaching epic proportions in terms of global reach and impact, one can expect great strategic thinking and creativity from both sides of the table – client and agency teams. And that’s been the case for the launch of Uninor as well.

With the other half a billion expected to take up a mobile connection in the next 5 years, the battle is far from over. And this is what Uninor has set it’s eye on and they have done so with an inspiring message that talks to the young ambitious Indians using real and everyday language. A nation aiming to play a bigger game in the global arena, the Uninor brand positioning taps this insight well and brings it down to one individual with “Ab mera number hai”  (which roughly means “My time has come!”). With this positioning they have occupied what I call the “Heroism” space as per Luciola’s Proprietary Telecom Branding Tool - TeleCompass. This space is about building on the “Winning/Success” platform. What’s interesting is the fact that they are not depicting clichéd images of success as we see so many brands doing but really sharpening it and making it real. Here are some of their latest TVCs to give you a feel of the brand idea:

Reposted from the Luciola Blog

The concept of storytelling in advertising is a concept as old as advertising itself! Yet so many TV Commercials produced today ignore this wondrous and entertaining approach to communicating a message. Lately I came across two very good TV commercials that tell a story about a brand and do so beautifully! One is for Jameson Whiskey and the other is for Topline Kiss Chewing Gum. Have a look!

What can we learn from this? As a planner I would say the Topline Kiss is genius at multiple levels! I think the idea that someone thought of a gum for kissing is brilliant in itself. It is unique and puts everything in a whole new space. The second leap comes at the strategy level. The task here was to simplify and focus on the benefit. I think somewhere in the creative brief there must have been a key insight which went something like this, ‘A great kiss is long, intense, never-ending!’ and thus the idea of “for unbreakable kisses” must have been born! Kudos to all those involved! It would be great to get the creative brief from the team behind this!

As for the Jameson Whiskey ad! I think it is a very simple ad based on the “Taste” benefit. Something which we have seen in at least a million other commercials. What makes it stand out is the dramatization of this benefit in 30 seconds and doing so in a way unique to the brand. The characterization of the John Jameson! I wonder what the brief would have been like. I believe all the credit here goes to the creative team to crack an over-used benefit of taste in an interesting way!