Its amazing to hear that Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India has roped in Akshay kumar for a whopping 50 Crores for 5 years. However, my personal opinion is that the brand association does not fit too much. I mean a Pulsar or a CBR can have Akshay Kumar. But not Honda Yuva.

Akshay Kumar has been known to portray tough characters in his commercials, especially Thums up or to have a superb comic timing.  However, Honda historically has been known to target the hearts of its audience through emotional marketing. Thus, neither of Akshay kumar’s advantages will be exploited by Honda. And on top of it, the opening ad is not that great. Akshay Kumar’s narration sounds a bit slow and the ad shot does not bring anything new to the table. Its just what Honda has been doing over the years – Value focused ads to build its brand.

There has been no out of the box effort from HMSI as it is especially necessary now that HMSI has to establish its own brand equity and create a good brand recall. For this HMSI needs to think of some really creative ways to advertise its product. Just by changing the celebrity, changing the wordings but keeping the same theme of winning the consumers heart is not going to work every time. Nowadays, customers are more used to a sense of humour in ads or an ad which is unique.

In the end, whether or not HMSI will be able to get its ROI after such a big investment in Akshay kumar will depend on the products it launches in the next 5 year as well as the message it sends to its target audience.

A truly touching commercial from the Mercedez Benz team targets two birds with one stone. On one side it shows that it is loyal to its owners, and on the other side it also says with confidence that it has been around much more than any of competitors. The message of the ad is clear – Mercedes is a car you can rely on for ages and for generations to come.

Because, just like you are faithful to your car, Mercedes is faithful to you.

Many of you might not be aware of the movie “Winners and Sinners” of Jackie chan and Samo hung. If you have seen that movie, then you will laugh at this re packaged Chingles ad. I mean, where is the originality?

Lets first have a look at Chingles. A chewing gum coming from the DS group which is most prominent for one of the best mouth fresheners in India “Pass Pass”. The DS group wants to expand into further segments of mouth fresheners and hence the introduction of Chingles.

Supposedly, Chingles has been introduced after a year of research and development. Its a chewing gum with two unique variants which are not currently offered in the Indian market – Nimbu and Saunf. Although there are a number of variants in lime, there is none in Nimbu.

About the ad – An exact replica of a scene in winners and sinners albeit with a little twist. A guy provokes a friend to pull the leg of another. The friend tells the other guy that if he eats chingles, he will turn invisible. This guy trusts him, eats chingles, believes that he is invisible and straightaway heads out to a girls bathroom. This is where you are supposed to split in laughs but unfortunately even a smile doesnt come on your face.

To show the complete absence of originality – heres a video clip of the movie from Winners and sinners. Tell you what, you will find the movie clip much more funnier than the ad.

Its summer time. And its evident that Britannia wants to come out of its hibernation to showcase some of its products. What better way than to take on the competitors most distributed product second to butter – Cheese and Milk.

It is now taken for granted that overthrowing Amul from the butter market would be a really tough task. Hence companies are concentrating on the next best thing where Amul is still a bit slow – Cheese and Milk. The cheese market has been proven to be huge especially in western countries. However, consumption pattern of Indians is still more inclined towards Butter. Furthermore, recently the wellness streak has brought down the sale of both – Butter and Cheese. Thus companies like Britannia which are 2nd in these products would like to be on top through advertising their products.

About the ad – The message of the ad seems simple enough. A grandpa acting like a little child with her grand daughter and both trying to get their hands on Amul cheese without anyone knowing. The mom comes in, sees them both and then offers them Britannia milk along with the cheese laden with some veggie toppings. The milk looks delicious and sweet.

All through the ad, you expect the name Amul to pop up which is synonymous with milk since the days of the Smita Patil campaign. This ad too has a homely feeling and shows a happy family. The tagline matches word perfect with the theme of the ad “Zindagi men life” – meaning Britannia brings life in your otherwise normal living.

Hoping that the ad brings good results for Britannia and keeps it in the public mind and at top of the shelf.

Intel brings you the new ultrabook series which is sure to take on the MacBook Air market. The intel ultrabook is super slim in the make and has features which will make bulky laptops a thing of the past. This is the exact communications being given by the Intel ultrabook through all the different media that it is using.

Interestingly, Intel is now planning to launch at least 35 different variants of the Ultrabook. The ad shot by them is superb although it does not focus much on the product. On the other hand, the amount of emphasis given on the sleek model makes sure that people who like flexibility will think of Intel ultrabook. Intel being a household name will attract many more eyeballs as compared to Apple. The distribution of Intel is also stronger which will further help Intel in making its ultrabook series a hit.

The sad part – Will have to throw my laptop away soon coz i really wanna get my hands on an ultrabook.

The moment you start watching the ad, it brings a smile to the face. Seeing such an old and sad song from the mouth of kids really tickles your funny bone. The kids want to go out and play cricket. But because of the heat they are not able to head out. Thus they are very sad and are singing such a sad song. The answer – Glucon D. And the result – Happy kids

One of the key competition factors in the insurance business is the trust on the brand. The reason LIC has been working so well is because over a period of time it has developed a very high brand equity where Insurance is concerned. The backing up by the government also helps in creating brand equity for LIC. However, Max new york life insurance now seems to have realised that besides brand equity, another thing which can attract customers is TRUST. And that is exactly the value which Max new york is targeting.

The communication seems to be very clear – Our sales representatives do not lie to you. They would squash the devil inside and would tell the truth and wait patiently for your answer. If you notice, not only is the devil shown to be ignored, but in each ad, the insurance person is shown to be waiting patiently for the customer to finalise. This aspect targets another factor involved in insurance sales which is high pressure by sales executives and thereby sales resistance by customers.

Today there are so many calls which each company makes for purchasing insurance, that insurance has created a mental block in peoples mind. People feel that insurance agents would be breathlessly running behind them for signing up for an insurance policy. The Max new york life insurance ad proves otherwise. It shows that their sales executive is ready to wait patiently while the customer takes his own time to sign up for the insurance policy. The customer can also read any terms and conditions as well as can ask any questions which he feels relevant and the sales representative will give the correct answer. What further can you ask from a service brand?

The ad seems to be well shot and narration is superb. The best part is the devil who has been disguised very well. He actually looks both – scary and hilarious. The voice over is excellently done and gains immediate attention. In the end, the main actor looks very convincing and honorable and therefore immediately gains our trust.

Hoping that the devil is actually crushed for Max new york life insurance and that it finds a healthy growth in its customer base in the near future.

Tanishq comes out with a beautiful ad to target the middle class who always have a pricing phobia towards diamonds. Lets face it. Traditionally diamonds and platinum have been at the peak of the purchase pattern. I mean, if you find a guy who doesnt fear buying 10 diamonds, you know you have just met a millionaire. Thats the kind of perception people have towards diamonds.

Now offering these diamonds at 10,000 to 25,000 rs is an awesome offer. However, it needs to be packaged in the right manner. Obviously, this product is targeting the middle class. And pitching together the husband and wife is as classic an ad as it comes. Gifting jewellery to your wife is always gonna empty your pockets. Especially if the gift is a diamond.

This same price phobia is shown by the actors who portray the husbands in the ad. And the script is hilarious. As the wives are buying the diamonds, the husbands think of ways to pay off for it. They might have to cancel their vacations, sell their mobiles or even take extra tuitions to pay off for the money lost. The dialogues such as “Barbaadi bula rahi hai” will tickle you and make you laugh. And finally when they find that the diamonds are priced so low, they ask their wives whether that’s all they want or do they want more?? The smarties!!

But yes, when the ad ends, you will think about what would be the quality of diamonds at this price, which is not mentioned in the ad, and whether the offer is really worth it. It builds enough curiosity for you to visit a nearby Tanishq showroom. Knowing Tanishq, we can be sure that the promotional activity will be strong enough to convert leads into customers.

In the end, the message does convey that diamonds might become the new gold!!