Posts Tagged Advertising
Onam – Facebook is where to advertise.
Did you know that Onam is a ten-day affair? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam. Lekshmi says it’s more than 10 days (she should contribute at Wikipedia!) and that the season spans over a month. No wonder that the August edition of the afaqs reporter had a cover page takeover by Manorama Online, a good one month in advance of Thiruonam (September 9th).
The ad copy claims Malayalees will be on their website during Onam and that theirs should be THE website to advertise on during the Onam season. The site will definitely have the biggest gathering of Malayalee eyeballs but apart from their regular website visitors, I doubt they will have seen any spike in visitation during Onam.
From the many Facebook updates I see, the Malayalee was certainly on Facebook wishing everyone and checking out what everybody’s up to. A restaurant owner in the USA should be on Facebook to get all those “I am craving for an Onam sadya” updates converted to happy customers; customers who’d easily come back knowing our craze for good avail/ porota beef roast/cappa meen curry!
Wishing us all a very happy, prosperous and blessed Onam season.
Mohanlal – golden star
No I’m not talking about his unquestionable acting prowess (strictly read acting as only acting without the bollywoodish attachments of muscle-dance -sunglasses!). This is about Mohanlal being seen so much in TV advertisements, especially those having to do with gold. Sitting 10 minutes on any Malayalam channel you are likely to catch one of below advertisements:
- Malabar Gold (jewellery house)
- Manapuram Finance (financing institution specializing in loan-against-gold)
- Kerala Grand Shopping Festival (fest. with 101kg of gold to be won)
So in one ad you have Mohanlal recommend that you buy Malabar gold and a minute later you have the same man advising you to pledge your gold to Manapuram and avail easy loans! The other day I saw a reality comedy show make a joke of this too.
The latest news is that Asianet’s awarded the ‘golden star’ to Mohanlal – is that because of the many ‘golden’ advertisements? Lalletta can I manage your endorsements? I have zero experience but I’m so sure I can do a better job!
Celebrity endorsements gone awry – a classic case from our very own Lalletan
Mohanlal says buy gold
Mohanlal says pawn gold!
For effective SMS marketing
SMS marketing to the publicity-deprived entrepreneur is like the Gold rush to the small-time miner. You have an easy mine of gold found at very low cost, mined like crazy without a process or a plan, profits reaped, other miners join in for scale, more competing miners rush in and before you know it the gold mine is empty.
Today the cell phone user is inundated with marketing SMS and it is increasingly difficult to catch user attention. Check out my friend’s frustration on the number of mobile spam he receives: “51 unread SMS in just 3 days!”
Just like how gold mining improved in the prospecting, extraction, purification and transportation, mobile SMS marketing has to find ways of getting effective – finding the right, needing audience, at the right time and with the right message. Here is a quick checklist before you send out that SMS:
- Who is in your database of mobile numbers? Have you got their permission? Even if it means reading through every entry and investigating, make sure you know your list.
- Make sure your SMS has a value offering, not just an introductory SMS. e.g. “Reply YES to join the XYZ 25% discount promo“
- SMS is very personal. Never send an SMS without the customer’s name being mentioned.
- Get the message worded perfect. I loved this one from this site.
“Beat the queue! Show this text at Metropolis Nightclub before 10pm tonight and we’ll take you through the members’ only entrance. Free single shot at the bar with this text.”
Any club in Chennai reading?
- Always include an ‘unsubscribe’ or opt-out option such as “reply STOP to be removed“
- Never send the same SMS twice!!!
- When you have many messages to be sent(highly discouraged though), never have the SMS sent in a flurry, space them out over time.
- make sure your website has a mobile friendly version
Here is one that I received recently, it did not follow much of the above list but it caught my attention and it stays in my inbox!
Dear Customer,
Stay Indoor to Get Outdoor!
Bicycle service at your doorstep – BSA Hercules Care,
Call Toll Free 18001022324.
Mon to Fri (9 am to 5 pm)
“Stay indoor to get outdoor”… I liked that 
Cartoons for advertising and communication
Cartoons are loved by everyone, of every age group, of every social/economic/cultural background. And that includes marketers and advertisers! Amul’s ad campaigns are one of the most long-running and anticipated ads in India… Whether it’s the very recognized Amul baby face or the good product quality, it’s always Amul butter and cheese in my fridge.
The cartoon medium is probably the easiest, quickest and most powerful way of communicating even a serious message. Check out this signboard I captured at the Madras Crocodile Bank. It not just passed on the message clearly, but put a smile on every visitor’s face too.
‘Dil titli’ Airtel ad – thumbs down!
I felt so strongly on this one I had to blog! Airtel’s marketing made a big mistake with the latest ad on “superior picture clarity” for Airtel DTH . These guys always had feel-good ads – the husband-wife relationship with Madhavan and Vidya Balan, the beautiful father-daughter ad with papa showing sweet daughter the stars over a phone call, the two kids playing football across the border.. The latest one has Saif looking for his childhood sweetheart, finding her thanks to “picture clarity” and then finally dumping her for Kareena just as she walks by. C’mon guys, Airtel is all love and warmth, not this idiocy! And don’t tell me you are trying the “hep/hip youth” angle here!
Indian Thanksgiving?
It’s Thanksgiving in the US today.
I asked myself have we no such day here in India? That’s when I realized that we are supposed to be giving our thanks on Onam, Pongal & Makar Sankranthi. Instead we are all so excited about the new clothes, gadgets, food, sweets, gatherings etc. that comes with the festivities.. I don’t recall any Ad campaigns that focus on the ‘thanksgiving’ part during any of these festivals. Instead it’s just “50% off”, “buy one get two free” and other plays on numbers. Someone should do a campaign on the ‘gratitude’ aspect of these festivals, bring alive the goodness and love within society and yes get some good sales done while they’re at it. Marketing is a powerful act, in getting profits, for your company as well as society.
Here’s saying Thank You to all my friends who’ve encouraged me on my writing here. If I ever get more regular at this, here’s an even Bigger Thank you!
Helpline @ an eat-out
The ‘Business Definition’ of Helpline as given in dictionary.bnet.com is “a telephone service operated by a company that offers customers product information, advice, or technical support“.
But aren’t we so used to seeing the word “helpline” next to names of hospitals, trauma centers, call-centers, information portals?.. This was the first time I met ‘Helpline’ with fish curry, mutton masala, butter chicken …
Dominos uses – “Hunger Helpline” , full points to them !
The Kenyan Keralite- How can Google Adwords approve this ad!?! December 22, 2011
- Onam – Facebook is where to advertise. September 11, 2011
- Biz Manager to Chief Strategist June 12, 2011
- Mohanlal – golden star January 2, 2011
- Ten signs you’re losing your friend to the Internet November 16, 2010
- SLAs – for differentiation & positioning July 31, 2010
- You have to be the First-Announcer in the Internet age March 1, 2010
- Congrats Premchand! February 18, 2010
- Implementing IPv6 November 30, 2009
- marooned, n lovin it! November 10, 2009