Good causes,great gimmicks

Democracy and womens empowerment are just some of the themes that companies are using to sell everything from cellphones to washing powder

A man’s photo,which has been recently garlanded,hangs on the wall of a big house. His wife sits on a sofa,shelling peas sadly. A bunch of party workers sit around her and the woman carries on a half-hearted conversation with them. A party worker says,Bhabhiji,bhaiyaji ke baad,aap hi ko kursi sambhalna hai. She is not very happy with this. Just then,one of the partys aides gets a message on his cell phone. Super Idol kaun? The aide,annoyed,says to the phone,Kaam ki baat pooch na janata se? This is when the idea strikes and he tells bhabhiji,Aap kursi sambhaliye.

This is one of the fist ads of the Idea campaign that focuses on the janata ki awaaz or voice of the masses. After this,ads show a man getting on a boat when he gets an SMS that asks whether there should be a bridge built on the river. He replies saying yes. Many people across the town SMS in the affirmative,and the bridge is made. Shift to bhabhiji,who is now the chief minister. She nods and says,Janata ne kahan haan toh haan.

From whether there should be a dry day to whether a hotel should be constructed on farmland,all these questions are put to the public. This ad campaign for the Idea cellular network has managed to get the brand plenty of attention,as it uses democracy as its major selling point. Nikhil Rao,group creative director at Lowe,the ad agency behind this campaign says,We are trying to show the transfer of power to the people,the true form of democracy. It seemed like a seamless way to get the politicians to do what the people want.

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Another ad that uses a similar concept comes from Axis Bank. The film opens with a close-up of a small girl looking intently at a candle. The voiceover says,Go beyond lighting a candle. This 15-second commercial,made by Meridian Communications,came out in the wake of the 26/11 attacks. The bank asks people to help the families of slain security personnel by donating to a special account in the bank.

The candle is the most used format,it is the first thing people did in remembrance of the victims. So we took off from that. We said,youve taken the first step,now go ahead and do your bit to help, says Subrajit Kar,head of Mumbai office,Meridian Communications.

But the question remains: Do these ads actually make an impact on viewers? Santosh Desai,CEO and MD,Future Brands,says,Idea profited in the 18-month period they have used this campaign,though the last three-six months have been more of a challenge. The idea for their campaign works,but they have to be able to sustain it. It requires a high level of maturity to get a brand connected with big issues that affect the consumers.

These ads do make for interesting conversation topics but can one use backdrops of tragedies or political issues to sell products and services? This device,of course,has been used before. Tata Teas Jaago Re ad,which asks people to vote,and the Ariel ad that shows a girl in the Army ready to take on the enemy and mud stains with equal gusto are recent examples.

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These tactics help advertising agencies to rescale the outlook for their brands. In the consumer sphere,you scale up important issues and give the brand a larger part to play in the consumers life. The flipside is that this can look like a façade. The brand should not come across as scavenging off social issues, says Desai,adding,the ad should say that a brand is not just about advertising,but it is about what it does. The Tata Tea Jaago Re ad did its job right with the website that viewers are asked to log on to. A visit to the site shows a person how to get registered to vote.

It may,however,be difficult to see companies building any back-end machinery to support their ads. Media buying agency ZenithOptimedia,a unit of Publicis Groupe,has reduced its growth forecast for advertising expenditure in 2009,as companies will try to save costs due to the financial slowdown. Though most advertising houses in India have not reported loss of clients,it is still not a cheerful phase for the market. The slowdown itself may be a backdrop for an ad soon,with banking ads already saving sone ke daath (Union Bank) or pondering on papa kho gaye tho? (HDFC Standard Life Insurance).