I wanted to post this article at least by 5th January 2013 if not on the New Year’s Day itself, but could not manage it; anyway better late than never so here goes. I have listed below ten of my favourite ads launched in India in 2012, they are not arranged in any order of preference; I also wrote about one ad which has left me bewildered.
1. Sprite: "Uske paas car hai..." and "Uske paas guitar hai..."
This ad is very entertaining and high on energy, an excellent way to get the message across that one who drinks Sprite is smart and quick thinking. I like the way the main model has acted.
The above picture is from the latest Thums Up TV commercial which is yet to be released. The brand Thums Up has been associated with action, courage and dare-devilry for quite some years; although I am not in favour of using celebrities I find that alongwith Akshay Kumar’s celebrity status his action hero image plays an important role in the brand’s positioning. All the three cola brands have been using celebrities for years; currently Pepsi is trying to appeal to the youth with its ‘Youngistan’ campaign perhaps trying to reposition Coca-Cola as fuddy-duddy like it occasionally did in the past. Coca-Cola in turn has been also trying to give itself a youthful image by using Imran Khan. Interestingly Amir Khan endorsed the brand earlier and now the baton has passed on to his young nephew Imran.
Thums Up also from the Coca-Cola stable has a positioning that is distinctly different; age is bypassed in favour of an association of with action, courage and dare-devilry. The brand does not use the celebrity as a crutch here. If in future the company decides to stop using a celebrity and instead uses a professional model, it will not matter much as long as the association with action, courage and dare-devilry continues.
