Mohan

Leadership StatementBefore the launch of Ford Fiesta in India, a research finding showed that Ford was losing ground in India

and it had to clearly reinforce its leadership position if the launch had to succeed. The launch of this car was

so critical that Bill Ford (Chairman, Ford) himself came to India for the launch. The following ad was released a few days before the launch and was very

well received by the corporate world and the general public. Bill Ford liked the ad so much that he had a

huge poster made for his office. That year the ad also formed the backdrop at all Ford stalls in auto shows

worldwide.

The Art of DisruptionFact: India’s most popular film start Shahrukh Khan was associated with Hyundai Santro for over 10 years. So much so the name Santro was synonymous with Shahrukh Khan.Fact: Hyundai was phasing out the Santro and introducing Xing. Fact: Research showed that the Shahrukh Khan- Santro pair was getting stale. Need of the Hour: Disruption. Campaign Idea: Hyundai sacks Shahrukh Khan. The campaign started off with a teaser commercial that ran for 15 days prior to the main launch. During these 15 days the PR engine went into overdrive and heightened the enigma surrounding Shahrukh’s sudden exit from Hyundai.

The power of curiosityThe Ikon was Ford’s flagship car in India and Ford was eking out every last dollar by re-launching the same car year after year. When they had to re-launch it for the 11th year in a row, Ford decided to use “price” as the selling point. The car was priced at 499,000 Indian rupees and since no sedan in India had ever been sold before below the 500,000 mark, it seemed like a good strategy. A dipstick research showed that the Ikon was too old a car for the strategy to be successful in itself.Task: Make the price really tempting. Idea: To tease the audience by showing only a part of the price Insight: When you’ve seen a little, you want to find out moreResult: The campaign worked and the sale of the Ikon that year went up 27% over the sales of the previous year.

On the billboard, a life size cut out of the painter covered the second number of the figure

Direct Mailer – The postal stamp covers the second number of the figure

When one scratches here, the second number of the figure gets scratched out too.

Table mats at Pizza Hut. The Ketchup stain covers the second number of the figure

Riding on Cricket

Task: To launch the new MAK lubricant. Fact: Engine lubricants are universally a low involvement category. Strategy: Relate to the consumers’ aspirations of turning the impossible into possible. And there is no better time to latch on to this aspiration than the cricket season. Idea: Reinforce the strategy by steering clear of the engine-lubricant story and exaggerating the benefit.

Creating History

Task: Launch the new Ariel power brush. Fact: Men in India don’t do laundry. Insight: Men would do anything (even laundry) if it could result in some ‘action’. Idea: Bring romance into washing.

Slide Show

Task: Advertise the new sliding rear door of the Mazda 5Strategy: Highlight the benefit and not the product. Idea: Use the opportunity to not only bring the sliding door into focus but also make the phrase “zoom-zoom” relatable to the consumer.

Simple relationships

Task: During the wedding season promote the Hyundai Santro as the ideal wedding gift. Fact: In India it is common for the bride’s father to give an expensive gift to the bride or groom. Strategy: Appeal to the heart and not to the head.Idea: Use the opportunity to highlight the relationship between father and daughter.Result: What started off as a one off ad snowballed into a full-fledged campaign that explored different relationships.

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Sleight of Words

Task: To advertize the new Rick’s bar at the Taj (5 star hotel). Fact: Liquor advertizing is strictly prohibited in India. Idea: Use provocative words in a way that gets the job done without invoking the wrath of the censors.

Playing to their tune

Task: Bring the Mazda 2 to a new target group. Strategy: When speaking to youth, speak their language. Idea: Place the car within their passion points.