Indian Advertising

Today's episode of Power-Trip (program on Sahara ONE channel hosted by Shobha De) was an interesting one. The guest for the show was Piyush Pandey - one of the leading creative directors in India - currently heading the agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). As an avid reader of ET Brand Equity, I often came across his name and how he went about creating some of the best ads in the country. You can catch a glimpse of his work in the following ads

• The Liril waterfall ad in 1980s
• Chal Meri Luna ad
• Fevicol ka majboot jod hai - tutega nahi
• National Literacy Mission (Purab se surya uuga... )

These ads give a good idea of his power of observation and his brand of advertising which tries to emphasize more on how the product/concept can benefit RK Laxman's common man. According to him the last ad was the most challenging one, due to the fact that it was trying to sell a concept and not a product.

When asked about his contribution to the popular Hutch Mobile ad (The cute and cho chweet 'dog' following the 'kid' everywhere he goes), he gave a modest reply: "My biggest contribution was that I did not interfere with it".

I also admired the fact that he does not believe in aping western models and cloning them to sell the product in India. In India, you will find a rich set of stories and anecdotes that can be twisted to sell a product. You just got to have a creative bent of mind to realize this. Crompton's latest punchline for selling fans is a good example of this - Raag Toofani Crompton Ka, Rishta Zindagi Ka.

While telecasting the Zee Cine Awards show, today Zee TV unvieled a new logo and motto. While the logo has now become more colorful (thanks to Holi), the motto of Zee TV is equally catchy and brings a quick smile onto your face. It says Jiyo Zee Bhar Ke !.