Millions of us watch IPL. While everybody watches it for cricket, I must be in a handful who watch IPL only for the advertising fiesta which comes with it. As an event which garners the most eyeballs in India, this poses some unique challenges for marketers who are fighting for attention for their brands to stand out in this hyper-competitive space.
Invariably, and this IPL season being no different, I get disappointed with the quality of communication that one sees – the random use of celebrities, the lack of thought on what one’s brand stands for and the cookie-cutter approach of ads which seem to use the same “codes” and hence don’t stand out.
If you are spending on IPL, you might as well get a hearty bang for your buck. Well, the secret lies in unpeeling consumer insights and then crafting differentiated storytelling with a tadka of bravery. I have personally experienced this challenge while building Vodafone communication for IPL some years ago. Yes, the same Vodafone which broke IPL clutter with the loveable ZooZoos and the same Vodafone and partner agencies team which does not believe is starting celebrity-first but idea-first. More on that later.
One useful heuristic I still carry from my Unilever days on building effective communication was the ABCD mantra – effective communication needed to catch Attention, be intrinsically Branded, have a clear point (or Main Point, as we called it) of Communication and hence, have a Differentiated proposition or POV. On this above mantra, in these last two months, the communication which caught my attention and inspired thought was the Starbucks advertising built on the campaign idea of #ItStartsWithYourName.
You must have seen the ad which has a set of parents seated in Starbucks waiting for their kid, Arpit who seems to be estranged from the father. There ofcourse is a twist in the tale and I leave you to absorb and debate it. As a consumer (and as a father), the storytelling tugged my heart. I thought the casting was spot on and the dialogues of the expression of love between the father and the “baccha” could only be crafted if one is keenly listening to how we express emotion in India.
As a marketer, this ad immediately reminded me of Starbucks – not the coffee shop – but Starbucks – The Third Place. The Third Place between Home and Office. The place where this kind of a meeting could happen. Remember the classic scene from Deewar where Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor are meeting under a bridge – the only place where they can still meet, given their circumstances. I think there is gold in this positioning, especially if this resonates with audiences in India. Starbucks in India has recently crossed the revenue milestone of Rs 1000 Crores and 300+ stores and hence, if they seek to build more relevance (and hence, more footfalls) for Starbucks, this positioning could play a key role.
Hence, if you are seeking to stand out, think over the ABCD mantra in the context of the lives of your consumers in India. More nuggets in the coming weeks.
The author is one of India’s leading business leaders and a well-regarded marketer across diverse industries. All views expressed are personal.