Coarse print

Guess where I found this friendly message pasted?

On a prominent wall at Crossword! And no, this was not a single aberration. I found these sheets pasted at several places inside the store.

A bookstore is the last place one would associate with assassination of grammar. Besides, this is a bookstore that was once famous for its witty lines. By its own admission, Crossword wants to "encourage people to stay and browse" but such messages surely don't match that intent.

This is a huge challenge with chain stores. Each store has its peculiarities and often needs individual messaging. How does a chain build competencies and systems so that a Store Manager has better ways of communication than putting up such notices? These innocuos-looking A4 printouts can cause great damage. They score high on eyeballs (well, they're intended to) and can blow brand essence out the window. And then somebody, somewhere will once again start asking research questions.

When the visual is the villain

This is an ad for a fund that promises to make your money work harder. The bloke's walking blind into disaster with a pile of boxes!

If this is how one made money work harder, I'd rather my money remained fast asleep.

Finally, someone has had the guts to say it

In the of rush to expand customer base, it is now commonplace to offer "promotional offers" to new customers, while existing customers continue to languish, shackled by old contracts. I have always had an issue with this and have blogged out it earlier [(Customer) Happiness is a state of being, Marcom Wishlist for 2010].

According to a report in the DNA , Mr R R Nair, Chairman, LIC Housing Finance Limited, had this to say in reaction to the news of many banks withdrawing their teaser-rate home loan offers:

"Any discount of more than 50 basis points (0.5%) on a promotional basis is not good. This means your existing customers are paying much more than the new customers. You are creating a different class of customers."

Whether teaser home-loan products are harmful is an issue best left to finance experts, but that a corporate leader has agreed that it is wrong to shortchange existing customers in the frenzy to get new customers, is welcome news, specially when he belongs to a Industry that is notorious for promoting this practice.

All is not lost.

Wanted: More Social Heads

While we have been obsessing over tweets from Shashi Tharoor and Priyanka Chopra, a silent revolution has been brewing in the Indian corporate world.

Business leaders are realising that there're no better ambassadors of their brand than them, and the age of putting up walls around you is virtually over.

Anand Mahindra, the Vice Chairman & MD of the Mahindra Group, has been quietly setting an example on Twitter. While many new age companies and their CEOs have embraced Twitter, most traditional behemoths shy away from it, ostensibly for fear of backlash especially from irate customers, or because they are clueless about it.

In this scenario, Mr Mahindra's Twitter page (@anandmahindra) is a welcome breath of fresh air. He shares interesting tidbits, and most importantly, responds to queries and provides solutions.

Here are some examples of his Twitter conversations:

Marcom Wishlist for 2010

1. That telecallers stop parroting "Is there anything else I may assist you with?" to conclude the call
   "Do you need any other help?" is shorter, sweeter and makes me feel I'm talking to a Homo Sapien.
    
2. That the same telecallers cut out the "Thank you for calling Abracadabra Magic services" part
   I know who I have called. Just end on a happy note and let me get on with life.
    
3. That the word "promotion" be banned from all Marcom material
   It's promotion for the company/brand. For me--the customer--it could be an offer, a deal or some such, but not a promotion.
    
4. That the term "Presenting Sponsor" appear only in sponsorship brochures and presentations
   For the man on the street, "Pahalwan Body Oil presents Kushti Kishton Mein" is more intelligible. If you do need a descriptor, use "Brought to you by" or "Presented by" but not "Presenting Sponsor". It's your internal lingo, please don't unleash it on me, the aam aadmi.
    
5. That TV and radio shows stop the breathless muttering of taglines along with the sponsor brands
   "Brought to you by Locomotive Mustard Oil--Har boond mein train ki shakti, in association with Balramgarh Shakkar - Live life with sugary sweetness" is like forcing the taglines down my throat and that ain't sweet.
    
6. That contractual service brands save the best offers for their existing customers...
   and not make them feel cheated by offering new customers the same service at 50% "promotional" discount while the trapped ones continue to pay a premium for being loyal.
   [Hint: Think home loans, pest control services, club memberships...]

I know the last point is not within the purview of Marcom, but what the heck, this is a wishlist, right?

Have a great 2010.

Mustache Magic

Many many years ago, a certain mustachioed gentleman changed the way Fevicol went about advertising its white adhesive. Last week, the brand celebrated 50 years of adhesiveness. The mustachioed gentleman and his cohorts (all mustachioed of course, but without the trademark handlebar) came up with this:

This is the latest in the series of brilliant commercials for Fevicol which have stuck around for over two decades. It all started with an ad for a different brand. The man behind the mustache reminisces:

"The very first ad that I ever did for Pidilite was not even for Fevicol; the 'Dam laga ke haisha' campaign was originally created by me for Fevitite, which was another Pidilite brand. I created the radio ad for it and took it to Madhukarbhai, his father and the team. They thought it was a fantastic idea, and suggested that I make a film around the concept. When I presented the film, they loved it. That’s when Madhukarbhai’s father said to me, “Fevitite is too small a brand for a big idea like this. Take the money all over again and shoot it for Fevicol," and that was the beginning of everything."

Here's that Fevitite-turned-Fevicol ad:

May the magic continue!

Coke can, but will it?

A design concept titled COLORLESS by Harc Lee is being profusely applauded by netizens.

Here's the designer's take:

"A convex logo substitutes colorfully sprayed can. Naked can help to reduce air and water pollution occurred in its coloring process. It also reduces energy and effort to separate toxic color paint from aluminum in recycling process. Huge amount of energy and paint required to manufacture colored cans will be saved. Instead of toxic paint, manufacturers process aluminum with a pressing machine that indicates brand identity on surface."

Prima facie, it looks like a great idea. Besides the environment friendly angle that the can projects, it looks stunning too.

It'd be interesting to watch if Coke actually puts the design on the production line.

Hat Tip: TheDieline.com