I always been a Fan of Extreme and Self- Negative Promotion

Brand advertising or its TVCs always attracted me. When DD metro was talk of the town which used to feature movies on every Friday and Saturday and people used to see movies while shouting upon the TVC intervals; I used to enjoy those TVC intervals irrespective of their proper interpretation. I remember that my first favorite ad was of Pepsi when Aamir slips into a shop to steal a Pepsi Bottle while shop shutter is coming down….. It was thrilling…Finally Aamir impressed the girls (one of them was Aishwarya Rai who was not Miss World at that time) in the Ad…and I loved that slogan of Aamir.. “ YEHI HAI RIGHT CHOICE BABY AHA”…(Its matter of time that Aamir opted for Coca Cola later on). The slogan which was song by Remo Fernandes got wide popularity. However I liked their later slogans too like “ Nothing Official About It”….. Few knows that Coke was the official sponsor of the 1997 Cricket World Cup held in India (along with Pakistan & Sri Lanka)….. this was the first AD which I interpreted correctly. Since Coke was the official partner of Cricket World Cup (which is a big opportunity for anyone to brand itself) and Pepsi was not officially connected with the world cup. So what best could be the idea to catchhold the young generation. ..Obviously there was “Nothing Official about Pepsi” but it clicked well. The idea was to connect with the young population and their then mindset and I understood correctly that its not TVC ..Its a Brand War.

When I read today’s news of how Nokia all of a sudden getting out of choices for the younger generation; the above chain of episodes circulated in my mind. Somehow Nokia did not foresee the trend and attitude of the present generation which is easily being understood and tapped by Virgin, Spice and Micro Max. Today’s generation is trendy, highly stylish, full of ‘esteem needs’ and lives on EXTREME. This extreme style of living of present generation needs to be understood more. Gone were the days when “self-negative advertising” was always kept out of discussion. And..see..now, how it is being explored by few smart brand promoters. The Micro Max Ad which is an extreme self-negative promotion…..but a HIT in the generation…. “ REALLY SORRY for Launching Micro Max”…. Not to forget the case of Virgin Mobile when a group of friends plays mischievous with each other…. Appreciated the efforts of Nokia who taught us about using mobile and its applications.. but somehow we are growing faster mentally than what Nokia apprehended.

Hariom Tyagi

htaygi@viamediahealth.net