Published in e4m published on Feb 15, 2022
Idea, creativity, emotions:
What it takes to make a good advertisement
Some ads remain etched in
our memories forever while others are blink-and-miss. Ad veterans share what
goes behind making a memorable ad
Remember Fevicol’s sofa ad?
It showcased the 60-year-journey of a sofa, a silent timekeeper. It was used
for years, its upholstery was changed umpteen times, but nothing
happened, all thanks to Fevicol.
The film was made so
beautifully that no matter how many times it played, we felt like watching it
again even though it was 90 seconds long, quite lengthy considering it was an
ad.
That’s the power of the
idea behind a beautifully made ad film.
Is the idea supreme or
brand objective?
But how does one define
what is a good advertisement? According to KV Sridhar (Pops), Global
Chief Creative Officer, Nihilent Hypercollective at Nihilent Limited, we
recognise a good ad “when it has a simple idea, a relevant insight, memorable
story and beautiful execution”.
For example, the Ariel film
that showed a father apologising to his daughter for never helping out around
the house could connect with the audience as this is what was happening for
very long – the women doing the bulk of household chores, though things are
changing now.
Manisha Kapoor, Secretary
General, (Advertising Standards Council of India) ASCI, said an advertisement can be
considered good from the point of view of the advertiser when it delivers on
brand objectives.
“A good ad would usually
inform, entertain, provoke, or nudge — essentially elicit a response that can
be considered favourable. Today with the explosion of media, the biggest
challenge ads have is to hold the audiences’ attention and not be relegated to
one of the many forgettable pieces of communication one glosses through daily,”
Kapoor told this writer.
“Of course from an ASCI
perspective, we believe that being authentic, honest and fair, while being
creative, is the winning combination in the long run,” Kapoor said.
Most of Tata Tea’s ads in
the Jaago Re campaign initiative left a lasting impact on our minds as they
touched sensitive issues right from corruption, bribery, women empowerment,
safety and voting rights. The credit, of course, goes to the ideas of all the
creative minds.
Shivaji Dasgupta, Founder
and Managing Director at Inexgro Brand Advisory, felt that a “piece of work
that entertains while conveying a valuable message can be termed as a good ad
film”.
Airtel’s ‘Har Ek Friend
Zaroori Hota Hain’ campaign instantly connected with the youth as it conveyed a
message. Because, we all need friends in every phase of life and this is a
relationship that we choose.
A good film rewards the
attention you pay, said Niranjan Natarajan, Creative Director,
Bangalore Urban. It tells you a story, uplifts your emotions and leaves you
enriched and better informed. It moves you to action or commits you to a path.
A choice you take, Natarajan explained.
“I like the John Lewis
Christmas ads done in the UK. They've been consistent, warm and raised the bar,
year after year. That's difficult to do,” Natarajan said.
Evoking emotions
When one talks of emotion
and warmth, a Cadbury ad comes to the mind. In 2020, when Covid struck, Cadbury
in their Diwali campaign promoted a number of local stores that lacked digital
presence. The aim was to lighten up the stores that found it difficult to
survive during the first wave. That year, Diwali was not just about
distributing sweets but to show solidarity with others and the brand did just
that.
Elaborating on the
topicality of ads, Sumit Vashisth, Creative Director at Ogilvy, said
a good audio-visual piece of communication tickles, prickles or mingles with us
for a few seconds.
“What makes it memorable or
etched in our memories is how it struck a chord with our state of mind of the
times we are or were in. Trends, economic, social, political and cultural views
that resonate or break the clutter also make our communication relevant to the
consumer and the communication medium we are using,” Vashisth said.
In his book ‘Nawabs Nudes
Noodles’, Ambi Parameswaran mentioned iconic ads from 'Only Vimal' and 'Jai
Jawan Jai Kisan' to 'Jo biwi se kare pyaar' and the controversial Tuffs shoes
campaign.
Ambi wrote how Dada became
Dalda, how a pressure cooker’s gasket system has been sold as a gauge for measuring
a husband’s love for his wifey. Why ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’ worked as
an ad.
As an audience we often
remember the taglines of popular ads that struck a chord with us. Vashisth
recalls, “I have grown up liking ads from Amul’s ‘Piyo glass full doodh’
jingle, Dhara Oil’s Jalebi loving boy, SBI Life Insurance’s old couple telling
‘Heere ko kya pata tumhari umar’, Maruti Suzuki’s ‘Petrol khatam hi nahi hunda’
to currently Cadbury supporting local retailers in ‘Not just a Cadbury ad
campaign’.”
Some ads become immortal
But why do some
advertisements remain etched in our memory for long and some we forget?
If we go on a flashback
mode to the ads in the old Doordarshan days, everything seems so fresh in our
mind. Remember the cute ‘Dhara’ cooking oil ad where a little boy changes his
decision to leave home on hearing that ‘jalebi’ is being made?
Or the jingle of Hamara
Bajaj, Preity Zinta under the waterfall in the Liril ad, Sachin Tendulkar in
‘Dil Maange More’ Pepsi ad, the tune of Vicco Vajradanti, the devil in the
Onida TV ad and the girl dancing in the cricket field in Cadbury Dairy Milk’s
film?
That’s the power of ideas,
said Sridhar. “When you see a great idea, it’s difficult to forget -- eg;
Fevicol, McDonalds, ThumsUp, 5Star, etc.”
Be it Deepikaji of the
Nirma washing powder ad or Lalitaji of Surf ad of DD days, they connected so
well with the housewives.
Kapoor says what we connect
to remains with us. Some ads speak to us at a personal level, or speak a truth
that resonates with us. “The deeper this connection, the more memorable the ad.
Ads become iconic when they make deep connections for a large segment of
people. They get etched in collective memory, and become a part of our
vocabulary and popular culture.”
Maggi was launched in the
mid-80s and is the favourite of most of us today. Many ads were made but those
who grew up in the ’80s will always reminisce those memorable lines in the
first ad, “Mummy Bhookh Lagi Hai” and “Bas Do Minute”, the moment they hear the
word Maggi.
“Truthfully, the quality of
the entertainment is what makes messaging stay sticky,” Dasgupta says.
Creativity is keyword
We all went on a nostalgic
tour watching the recent remake of the iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk ad, where, in
a role reversal, a boy was shown dancing on the cricket field watching his girl
perform well.
What about creative talent
in the advertising world? Is there a dearth of talent that we no longer
have such memorable ads?
The sheer volume of ads we
see today, and the fact that we are consuming many of them on personal screens
rather than viewing them as a collective, makes it more difficult for newer ads
to gain the iconic stature of some of the classic ones, Kapoor explained.
“But powerful human ideas,
expressed well, have the potential to connect with us at a fundamental level.
And these would be the ingredients of iconic and unforgettable ads,” Kapoor
said.
Sridhar said talent in our
country is plenty but there aren’t enough colleges or seniors to guide them.
“Today most of the creative talent that can narrate a good story have migrated
to Bollywood, eg., R Balki, Ram Madhvani, Nitesh Tiwari, Gauri Shinde, Amit
Mishra, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari … the list will go on..”
Asked about the ads he
liked most, Sridhar said, “From the old ones, Fevicol's entire series and from
the current lot, ‘Swiggy’.”
Often we hear about ads
facing backlash on social media. Some brands even have had to withdraw their
ads.
Last year, a Tanishq ad on
interfaith marriage triggered a backlash on social media with some accusing the
jewellery brand of promoting 'love jihad', after which the company withdrew the
film.
So, doesn’t such action
affect creativity?
Dasgupta said it actually
thwarts creativity as public opinion, especially when vitiated, is a deterrent
for the imagination. “But equally, creators of ads are responsible for being
societally accountable and there can be no compromise.”
Tickling our brains
If we talk psychologically,
when we watch a good ad film, it’s like a feel-good factor to us. It brings a
smile to our face. And it exactly does the opposite when we see a bad one.
During the cricket world
cup, many brands release ads to boost the morale of the Indian team, be it
Pepsi, Nike, adidas or others. These ads not only support the Indian team but
also increase the enthusiasm of the audience.
“We are all well aware that
good and bad experiences are part and parcel of our lives,” explains Mimansa
Singh Tanwar, Clinical Psychologist, Fortis Healthcare.
“When you are exposed to
any positive events within your families, workplace, social sphere and larger
community, you experience positive emotions and there is a boost in your
feel-good factor and vice-versa. It has an influence on your feelings, thoughts,
judgement and behaviour,” Tanwar said.
The writer is an
independent journalist and video content creator based in Delhi-NCR. Runs a
YouTube channel Think Positive: Live Healthy
Idea, creativity, emotions: What it takes to make a good advertisement
