Sunday, May 18, 2014

Big Bazaar's High Decibel Advertising plan

It is said, image once built can not be altered so easily. This is what Big Bazaar trying to do with its new advertising campaign. The objective is to shed away with "Sabse Sasta" proposition.
However this is not coming at a small cost. 
BB has hired DDB Mudra communication to create 52 week ATL plan. BB is expected to spend 100 crore over the course of next 52 weeks.

Every week a new TV commercial will be aired. Each commercial will focus on a new product or new business line of BB.

The underlying theme of all the Tv ads will be that "Big Bazaar Making India beautiful". All the ads are targeted at young India who is fashionable, trendy and aspiring.

Please find few of the commercials, which have hit the Indian TV



This is the second commercial.



No way the agency has done a wonderful job in depicting the Indian values and simultaneously showing the aspirational aspect. The ads touch the chords of the viewers by its light music, conversation and characterization.

However there is another school of thought, is it necessary to create 52 different advertisements every week. What is the objective? 
Is product promotion or business line promotion?  Definitely not. If that would have been the case, the agency would have stick to 4-5 different products and promoted the BB brand only.

Then the objective of creating BB as the fashion or shopping destination,  in my mind, is also far fetched because 52 ads, 52 weeks, every week new characters, new themes, new products. The recall value will not be high. People might remember ads but not the brand.

We have to answer the question that what could agency and the client have done better in this case?
The intention is right to change the image in the minds of the consumer then sticking to one theme and one brand i.e. BB for 52 weeks would have been a better bet.

May be showing the width of products,  no. Of stores or may be product quality or may be best trendy stuff or ultimate fashion destination but effectively communicating the same theme might be a better way to change the image. Simply by communicating the sale tagline "BB making India beautiful" will not fulfill the purpose. 100 crores could have been spent in more focused and sharp way.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Story of a Round Table: " A table of equal opportunities"

10 months ago in Aug 2013, I joined a team, which was led by the professional who has more than 20 years of work experience in the Retail industry.

In an organisation,  where senior executives are provided with separate cabins with wooden interiors and classy artwork. This man's cabin had wooden round table of almost the same size as that of the room.

There were 6 same type of chairs, which can be used by anyone.  The room was used for the team meetings, external meetings etc, a culture which is never seen and heard of in the said MNC.

Now the real story of the round table and its teaching


1) By having the same set of chairs, there was "Never the other side of the table" 
Both the CEO and the team were always on the same side and that too the customer's side.

2) On this round table, "Questions were never asked but answered" and that too jointly.

3) Recently the CEO decided to move on to a different role outside the organisation and he shared his thought behind the round table, that his intention was not to give equal space to everyone but to hide his inadequacies from everyone. A team where everyone is a specialist then "let the team decide the course of action".

4) By deciding to have the round table he certainly "didn't have the pressure to know all the answers" and that too correct answers.

5) I must say it takes lot of courage to relinquish your seat to accommodate others but then it is how leaders are born.

He says, "even if you have one follower who follows you when you are not around, then you have become the leader." You don't need tens and thousands of fans to become a leader