Brand Equity

One of the downsides of living in hostel, other than inedible food, is lack of TV hours. My mother tried to cut down my TV watching for many years but this was probably the only battle I won. Her prayers were answered when I joined Kharagpur and realised that even TV is one of the luxuries that I don't have. I do have 24/7 internet connection with a 100 MPBS LAN which lets us download various TV series from the big bad cyberspace but still I miss out on various advertising campaigns. I try to keep in touch through AgencyFAQs, but a few snapshots can never make the impact as a TV advertisement. During the India-Pakistan match I saw the advertising campaign for Voltas ACs. I know that it is a very old campaign but day before yesterday was the first time I saw it. Some of you might have even forgotten it, so here is a glimpse:

A slightly fat, short guy takes a run-up and delivers the ball infront of mirror. We can hear the excited commentator in the background who thinks that this person is no less than Shoaib Akhtar. The person then imagines that he has taken the wicket and does the infamous Shoaib's airplane celebration. He then mutters "Action Replay" and repeats the whole thing in slow motion. When the euphoria dies down he gives a huge sigh in front of his Voltas AC and the background goes "Kya hua agar aapke sapne poore nahin ho sake. Ab aap Voltas AC le sakte hain sirf Rs.9999 main."

I am not exactly sure about the advert but it was on the same lines. Do you think that this strategy is going to work for Voltas? This just makes people realize that they are nothing else but losers. As far as my understanding of people goes, they do not like to accept that they are losers. I agree that everybody has unfulfilled fantasies but no-one likes shit thrown in their face. It’s better to show them that they are Heroes and then convince them to buy the product. Better still; convince them that buying the particular product will make them a HERO from ZERO. The best; get Mr. Pandey working on your campaign.