Effective Advertising and Creative Advertising

" Effectiveness and Creativity are NOT step-brothers"

" Sehwaag ki Maa Ka Message ", this campaign ( for Reliance Infocom launch) was thrashed by several critics and rated as one of the worst advertising campaign by several magazines.

A brilliant example of creative bankruptcy.

BUT, creative advertising does not mean effective advertising. Lets have a re-look at the " Sehwaag...." campaign.
1. It was one of the most talked about campaign of those times
2. Reliance enjoyed the top-of-the-mind recall after this campaign
3. It established brand Reliance among the masses (now Reliance is trying really hard to change its image)
4. I remember one of my friend screaming his lungs out, " India need Sehwaag ki maa ka message", when Ricky Ponting was belting Indian bowlers all over the park during 2003 Cricket World cup final (this campaign was launched in 2001).

This campaign sucked, if creativity is the judging criteria. But for me, its one of the most rocking campaign in the history that made Reliance a household name.

Lets talk about Happydent's new campaign ( the one in which an entire city is illuminated by Happydent) which was conceptualized by one of the most creative person in the Indian advertising industry. The entire industry went ga-ga over it, it created waves in several ad festivals and recieved critical acclaim as well. BUT, did this campaign help Happydent increase its marketshare? Was this campaign creative.....yeah, without any doubt.

Was this campaign effective.....Let's discuss.

Emotions in Advertising

"Advertising is an art of manipulating the emotions of the people".
Products have rationales, brands have emotionales. This was one of the most important learning that I had during my post-graduation. Thanks Sumit!!, for putting this into my head.
Unfortunately, most people do not differentiate between a brand and a product. What is fastrack selling? Watches, accessories....no. Fastrack is selling fashion.
What is the brand Reliance all about? It's about ambitions and dreams. Tata is selling trust, volvo is selling safety.
Advertisers, apart from being creative, are the experts in exploting these emotions of human beings. Advertisers know that selling a product to the consumers is difficult but selling emotions is not. Remember Hutch (Vodafone) pug!!