Happy New Year

I was among those millions in India who would end up waking up groggy on the 1st of Jan. for a few years every year between 2005 – 2012 or so. The rave parties, get togethers and the whole joy and excitement of welcoming a brand New Year was palpable. From buying new clothes to a trimmed hair cut and what not, there was so much consumer spending around Christmas and New Year. With homes getting a tad bigger, households getting more liberal, party venues moved from hotels and public places to living rooms, esp. in the high rise apartments. Shouting “Happy New Year” from a balcony and wishing strangers was absolutely acceptable on that night (and the next morning!). Many years later I realised how stupid the whole thing was. Been a few years since I attained my “buddha” moment from being a budhu.

The 1st of Jan. is celebrated with fanfare globally, for it marks the dawn of a new chapter in the lives of people in many countries. For them, it’s the starting of a new Academic year for children, a new Financial year for businesses and a new year, with a change in season to embrace the goodness of nature. Lastly, it is also celebratory right after Christmas, a festival revered and celebrated by over half of the world. So, yes for them it makes a lot of sense.

Retailers worldwide run huge sale campaigns right from end-Nov – the Black Friday Sale all the way up to Cyber Monday Sale which has caught up in the past 20 years. People change their cars and bikes, deck up their houses, paint the inner and outer walls as spring & summer season beckons and shop for new clothes to suit the weather conditions. Many professional change jobs and several others retire around December. The entire construct is so different in these countries and has been that way for them. Works well too, I guess. 

However, India and Indians have embraced this trend almost meaninglessly as we try to ape the West in several ways. As long as we imbibe the good – such as environmental awareness, climate change, gender pay-gap among other things, it’s okay. But to celebrate someone else’s new year and go ga-ga about it – has become a weird trend.

For many years now, I celebrate “New Year” twice in a year – one on the 1st of April as the professional year begins. It’s also the change of academic year for my kids, so that’s a reason to cheer and motivate them to do better. A sought after time in the year for employees to look forward to a hike in Salary, expect a Bonus and perhaps, even a job change for many. The second is the New Year celebrated within our community – Ugadi – that phase of the Spring season based on the Lunar Calendar. At a personal level, it’s about offering obeisance to the Creator Lord Almighty and wearing new clothes, but nothing much beyond.

On the professional side, it’s a very important day to look forward to. The run-up begins usually 45-60 days in advance, with the making of the coveted “Annual Business Plan” (ABP), reworking on it several times and finally making the entire team buy in to your vision for the business – right from the Board and Top Management till the lowest cadre employee in the system. While the more organised Corporates and large companies go through this almost ritualistically, several mid-sized companies and SMEs usually tend to ignore the importance of “Strategic Planning”. When I say this, it’s not just about a dream number to achieve – be it any business. Rather, a methodical and practical way to build up the entire narrative – either top-down or bottom-up like a pyramid. But this is just so important, so we know what to do with the next 365 days. That’s a lot of time to achieve any business goal, honestly. 

The first day and the first few days of the new Financial Year is so important towards clear goal setting and creating measurable plans to execute them. While completing the ABP well in advance helps – one gets 365 days to achieve it, even starting off the process in early April is not bad at all. But not having a clear plan for every working day of the year is so important.

It’s better to have a clear plan, try one’s best to achieve it and still, fail to do so, rather not having a plan at all. I have seen several leaders grappling with business challenges through the year – one of it being unplanned on the way forward. 

Here’s wishing you all a healthy, wealthy prosperous FY 22-23 ahead. Cheers & Good luck. 

My trysts with Ad-film making

Yesterday, I completed making my 12^th Ad film, this one for my current employer Specsmakers. Though I always had a liking and flair for commercial cinema, the most I have come close is to write movie reviews. Never in my life did I imagine I would be part of 12 Ad films for 2 brands, one an established one with a great market presence and another, a budding consumer brand. Whichever way, it’s been a great learning experience.

It all began in 2020 during the peak of the first ever lockdown which was an outcome of an unknown viral disease which was popularised by its medical name SARS Novel Coronavirus, moniker name Covid-19. The country was shutdown for over 3 weeks since 27 March and the rest of the world was no different including Europe, Australia and everything in between, save for the US where the former President and many others reckoned that such a didn’t never exist – living in denial for long. 

I read newspaper reports of silly family arguments which led to extreme cases of domestic violence all the way leading up to suicides and divorce. The reason – disagreement to share household work. These were young couples, most of them who had not even crossed their 10^th wedding anniversaries. From a nervous breakdown due to not stepping out of home or socialising to concerns of job loss or loss of income, people were getting more depressed than ever. During late May, my septuagenarian parents tested positive for Covid-19. I took them to the Govt. approved medical isolation centre and dropped them off – eyes swollen and with an eerie feeling, whether I would see them ever after. To all our surprise, they both were discharged on the 3^rd day after a basic treatment even as the Govt. had to fill their beds with more deserving patients.

That’s when it stuck to me that I should do an AD film which would go on TV to showcase how Senior Citizens in India (and worldwide) went about doing their own things while the younger generation was complaining. The result was a TVC shoot feat. Pandmashree Dhananjayans, the ace dance couple from Chennai who popularised Bharatnatyam dance form world over. The couple shot for 8 hours, showcasing household work and enjoying Levista coffee & their own company! In a few months, we shot 3 Ads for Levista coffee to celebrate the association with Chennai Super Kings. The Ads which were played exclusively on TV channels and on Youtube went viral, garnering mass appeal and great brand presence. Later, we did 2 more ADs to celebrate the festival spirit and festivities as well as accepting WFH and moving on.

In 2021, when I joined Specsmakers, we shot 2 Ads, one of which was an industry first. The lead actor prompted people to buy a new pair of specs as part of their festival shopping which had some serious positive impact on our Deepavali Sales. The other one was two friends discussing about affordable specs continues to garner more and more respect for the brand.

And over the last 2 days, we shot six TVCs – yes, six of them in a tightly planned and executed schedule which wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation, strategic planning and execution of the Director and his capable team members. While all the 12 Ads have been directed by professional Ad film makers of high repute, I must say that I was actively involved in evolving the concept, writing the script, being at the shooting spot and making on-the-spot corrections and improvisations and of course, to plan their broadcast appropriately so the respective brands got their desired and deserved visibility and promotion.  Needless to say, never tried to ghost-direct the scenes while leaving all creative liberties to the Director, Camera & Lighting team, Costume Designers and the Actors.

Last but not the least, I also ended up acting in an AD film for Quick Heal anti-virus products which was released earlier this week. Though I desired to take up modelling 25 years back, it finally happened now! 

My most important learning from the creation of these Brand assets – either being behind the camera or in front of it, something for which I have not been formally trained, is that one can excel in any field of their choice including film-making, whether short form or long and at any age in their lifetime, provided we give our best to sincerely learn the techniques from scratch with dedication and latch on to the one who teach us. 

Practical experience that I have gained watching innumerous commercial feature films all these years have also helped me to appreciate the detailing and importance for nuances which have often come out at the sets and on the spot much to the surprise & delight of the crew!

Brands are timeless, Khans are not

If you have been following all the chatter on social media and top brand / advertising journals and magazines, the buzz is about the recent TVC feat. Shah Rukh Khan for Thums Up and the upcoming new TVC feat. Salman Khan for Pepsi. That the two have swapped their roles for their previously endorsed brands is one thing. But are they even relevant in today’s times is another. The last hit film of SRK was over 12 years back. I mean, a Box Office hit, that is. Salman, on the other hand is up with a new movie every 2 years for ID festival and gets attention across the world, though mostly from the hinterlands of India. While the collections in the first week of the film’s release have been ranging upwards of 100 Cr, 200 Cr & 300 Cr for Salman, that’s not the case for SRK, unfortunately. His core audience, the 90s kids are now having kids who are in their teens or twenties. The moustache-less handsome young man that SRK was faded away many moons back. His demeanour and confidence of Chak De! hasn’t been revisited by the ace actor ever after, for reasons best known to him.

So why would multi-nationals Pepsi & Coke risk their brand image with the Khans? 

After all, Brands are timeless but the Khans are not…

Ask any kid in their high school age group of today and there is a lean chance they would have watched DDLJ, HAHK or DTPH. If you are even wondering what these acronyms mean, you belong to a different era altogether. In the early to mid-90s, SRK endorsed Pepsi and took it across the country – from Board rooms to class rooms, office canteens to Tech Parks and beyond with his “Dil Maange more” campaigns alongside Sachin Tendulkar. On the other side, macho man Salman pounced with “Taste the Thunder” alongside ThumsUp, an Indianized cola drink which is supposedly more popular outside the metro cities. Over time, the two heroes and the other Khan, Mr. Perfect Aamir, endorsed the three cola brands including Coke among themselves. And then came the young crop of actors & sportsmen, mostly cricketers who took over and lead the campaigns.

In 2022, after many years of association with their preferred soft beverages, Salman and SRK have reversed their roles, moving in to the opposite camps, much to the surprise of their fans. The Ad-Industry and Brand veterans are divided in their views too. Salesmen of both companies are a confused lot, for having seen their current Brand Ambassadors in competitive camps earlier. The shopkeepers, mostly kirana owners are clueless how these things work. For the common people on the road, it’s yet another marketing gimmick by multinational companies spending crores of rupees to drive sales. 

The verdict is clearly divided.

Why would SRK, who has always been known for his soft image, even in his recent outings like “Love you Zindagi” portray a more mean image with his latest campaign? See the Ad here.

And with Antim, Salman proved to be the most macho among Bollywood heroes (perhaps after Dharam garam) and remains a bachelor at 57 years of age alongside SRK – yes, that’s correct. In 2025, they both would turn Senior Citizens! 

Why have the best of Marketing minds in Pepsi and Coke chosen this path? Have they run out of options in today’s sporting and entertainment fields? Absolutely not. Do they still believe SRK & Salman draw their own crowds and fan following? Perhaps yes. A big yes, at that. 

Salman’s fanbase is far wider than that of SRK’s. That could be a reason why Pepsi has now onboarded Salman, so they get to target the more mature audience, supposedly. On the other hand, SRK’s core fanbase has now entered their 40s and 50s, some in their 60s too. Perhaps, ThumsUp with Rum is a great combination. Also, ThumsUp could now be vying more familial attention. Maybe not. 

All said and done, Khans age, brands don’t. They will outlive this campaign anyway.