Culture in Advertising
Back to the Hoary Past!: Tradition and Culture in
Modern Marketing
-- Suresh Garimella
Culture and tradition are back in action as communication tools with the marketers. Folk arts, traditional dance
and music, festival occasions, locations with cultural associations, mythological themes, etc., are all back for the
advertiser to exploit for commercial benefit. This article attempts to discuss recent developments in this direction.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Advertising through Celebrities
Celebrity Endorsements on Indian Television: An Overview
-- Meenal Dhotre and Sarang Bhola
Today many marketers are crazy about signing on popular celebrities to endorse their brands and are spending
billions on them. This appears to be the easiest way of drawing consumers' attention, especially in the context of
fierce competition in the consumer goods category, where there is a clutter of alternative brands and their
advertisements, vying for consumer attention. This article takes a look at the conceptual background to the subject and
delineates contemporary examples of celebrity endorsements on Indian television.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Indirect Advertising
Product Placement in Films
-- R Harish
Product placement in films is becoming increasingly common in recent times. This form of indirect advertising is
quite advantageous, as it provides an opportunity to communicate to a captive audience, which is in a receptive mood.
This is in sharp contrast to conventional advertising, where there is massive overload and clutter, and the audience tries
to avoid advertisements. Product placement is well-established in Hollywood films, where it has reached a stage
of maturity. Closer home in India, product placement in films is gaining ground and is heralding a change in
entertainment economics.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Online Advertising
Social Media Marketing: A Buzz on the Internet
-- Syamala Devi Challa
Online marketing has been evolving continuously with the passage of time. For a while, keyword campaigns and
banner ads used to be the choice for advertising in cyberspace. However, the development of online social networks and
the accompanying technological changes led to a new form of marketing known as Social Media Marketing (SMM).
The techniques of SMM help the companies, particularly the newly established and small ones, reach the mass
market rapidly and inexpensively. This article provides an overview of SMM including its characteristics,
advantages, disadvantages and the possible future.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Ethics in Advertising
Marketing Food Products to Children
-- Amitabha Ghose
The food and beverage industry views children as a major target market. As a result, children are now the target
of intense and specialized food marketing and advertising efforts, especially those related to junk foods. Marketers
are interested in children as consumers because of their purchasing influence and as future adult consumers.
While marketing to children is at present largely self-regulatory, the author feels there is a strong need for more
stringent regulatory mechanism in the Indian context.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Surrogate Advertising
Surrogate Advertising in India: A Never Ending Dilemma
-- B Balaji Satya Narayanan
In India, it is perfectly legal to manufacture liquor and cigarettes and sell them freely, but it is illegal to advertise
them through the public media. And this is precisely the context in which we are faced with surrogate advertising.
Though the law bans surrogate advertising, there is no practical enforcement as it is difficult to establish clearly that
a particular product being advertised is indeed a "surrogate product" and not a "legitimate business." The
solution perhaps is to explore the possibility of a ban on the further extension of alcohol and tobacco brands into
other categories.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Advertising – Industry Scenario
Life Insurance Advertising in India: Recent Trends
-- Kisholoy Roy
Historically, life insurance in India had witnessed very little advertising in the mass media; as it was largely sold
through insurance agents. Moreover, the need for advertising was not felt till the late 1990s, as there was only one player in
the market _ The Life Insurance Corporation of India. However, post 2000, there has been a rapid proliferation of
private insurance companies. As a result, they released a variety of advertisements. They have used testimonial
ads, introduced fictional characters and have adopted the celebrity endorsement route. However, regardless of the
format, innovative campaigns with distinct positioning to generate significant brand recall, and which also highlights
the importance of life insurance in an engaging manner, appear to be the most successful.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Advertising – Industry Scenario
Advertisement Strategy of Banks: Need for Radical Change to
Restore Customer Confidence
-- S N Ghosal
The global meltdown has completely shaken the public confidence in the financial markets. This is the result of
constant exploitation of gullible investors who were lured by exotic and unintelligible financial instruments with high
ratings, secured in collusion with the rating agencies. Advertising too has played its vicious role as all efforts were made for
the expected returns turning a blind eye to its latent risks.To restore confidence among investors in the financial
markets, the advertisement strategy should be transparent, informative and simple in its communication.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Advertising – Industry Scenario
Communication Sells!: Lessons from Airtel's `Big Idea'
-- Bedabal Ray
There has been a lot of research, debate and argument on what should be the `Big Idea' or the communication
theme to promote a brand. Many companies have successfully maneuvered Big Ideas well and strategized their
communication to become the world's most successful brands. Nike started with "Just do it", BMW has its tagline, "The Ultimate
Driving Machine", Tata Steel says, "We also make steel" and so on. This article takes a look at the communication strategies
of Airtel and other telecommunication service providers in the Indian market.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Rural Advertising
Issues and Challenges in Rural Advertising and Promotion in India
-- Anuradha
The rural market for many products is growing rapidly; and simultaneously, the tastes and preferences of
rural consumers are undergoing transformation. Rural advertising is, therefore, gaining ground in today's competitive
world. The products that are offered to rural consumers may or may not be different. But the way they are marketed has to
be carefully thought out. To cope with these challenges, marketers use a variety of advertising and promotional
techniques and also media which are unique to rural areas.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights reserved.
Case Study
Big TV's Take-Off on Digital TV's Teaser Ad Is it Ethical?
-- Sandhya E and Anu K
The year 2008 witnessed remarkable growth in the Indian direct-to-home television services market. At the same
time, increase in the number of players made the situation more competitive. This led to the adoption of
unconventional advertising strategies to attract and retain customers. Reliance ADAG's Big TV made a sequel to the teaser ad
campaign of Airtel's Digital TV, which made it look as through Digital TV's teaser advertisements actually came from Big TV.
Digital TV's advertisements had not carried any information about the brand and product; and moreover, the brand color
of both the players was red. These aspects prompted Big TV to mimic Digital TV's teaser ads and take the opportunity
to promote its own brand of direct-to-home television services. Big TV's ad hijack posed a set back to the effectiveness
of Digital TV's pre-launch campaign. Nonetheless, Digital came up with a powerful post-launch campaign, which helped
in strong positioning of its brand and services. However, the tactics played by Reliance's Big TV prompted a debate
among advertising analysts. Was it ethical on the part of Reliance to hijack the competitor's teaser campaign? Would this
have a negative impact on Reliance's brand equity and business? Or was it a smart and prudent move and should it
be commended as good advertising strategy? How would this incident influence the future of teaser ad campaigns in India?
© 2008 IRC , Bangalore. All Rights reserved.
Book Review
Corporate Branding Perspectives and Experiences
-- Consulting Editor: R J Devi , Reviewed by S Murali
The book Corporate Branding – Perspectives and
Experiences covers both conceptual and practical aspects of
Corporate Branding. The book comprises very good reading material on global trends in corporate branding, branding
strategy, and steps needed to build, manage and sustain corporate brands.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
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