At a time when Campaign India is whipping a frenzy over its oddly-compiled A-List, Rajesh Pant has put out a timely reminder of the Original Titans of Indian advertising. For the lazy types, here's an extract from that piece:
"Vinod Mehta was a copy chief of Jaison’s (Oops!). He wrote a book and in it mentioned Kersey Katrak admiringly…as a person with whom he would have a one night stand if he was a woman!"
If that teased you, I think you should read the original article on the Original A-list.
Extracted from Campaign India. Posted by Anantha.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Album Art # 7
The 1971 seminal album 'Sticky Fingers' by The Rolling Stones had this eye-popping image on the cover. Loved and hated equally, this album art was conceptualised by Andy Warhol and designed by Craig Braun. This album also celebrated the launch of the new Rolling Stones record label.
The Spanish Government, however found the image offensive and didn't release the album. And thus came another cover - designed just for the Spanish market. That's the one below.
The Spanish Government, however found the image offensive and didn't release the album. And thus came another cover - designed just for the Spanish market. That's the one below.
Posted by Murali.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Would you hire your client?
How good would clients be in an agency set-up? That's exactly what Paul S. Gumbinner debates in his column. I guess in the West, there would be many client execs wanting to move to the agency. But in India, very few would want to - at least the ones I have met haven't espoused much desire to make the switch. Understandable, from the questionable work-life balance we have created for ourselves.
Read Paul's column here.
Posted by Murali.
Read Paul's column here.
Posted by Murali.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The truth about scam
Scam ads have got more attention than they deserve. Thanks to the notorious WWF ad by DDB Brasil. Suddenly, every award show worth its salt has been taking a self-righteous stance by denouncing the practitioners of scam. While the One Show has ensured a 5-year ban on agencies entering scam, D&AD has quickly followed suit by saying it'll adopt a 'name and shame' policy. Read this to get an idea of what I'm talking about.
But my theory is simple. Scam has existed for decades now. Singapore was the sylvan sanctuary of scam advertising, way back in the 90s. The so-called great ads that we saw and revered in the books that came out of Singapore, were clearly scam. The guys who created and won those prestigious metals from there, have become famous. They now preside over juries and are board members at prestigious award clubs. How the hell can these worthy men talk of sham in scam, after they have done it and seen it all? Bit funny isn't it?
Posted by Murali.
But my theory is simple. Scam has existed for decades now. Singapore was the sylvan sanctuary of scam advertising, way back in the 90s. The so-called great ads that we saw and revered in the books that came out of Singapore, were clearly scam. The guys who created and won those prestigious metals from there, have become famous. They now preside over juries and are board members at prestigious award clubs. How the hell can these worthy men talk of sham in scam, after they have done it and seen it all? Bit funny isn't it?
Posted by Murali.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
A Link A Day # 265: Indian Innovators
Rest of Orchard will be glad to know that we work with an organisation (Villgro) that focuses on spawning similar innovations.
Posted by Anantha.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
10 cliches on headline writing
The odds of spotting a great headline these days are limited. The charm of words that spelt magic on newspaper / magazine ads have become obsolete these days. Copy is dead, some say. But I'm an optimist and I think ads with persuasive copy will make its way back. And when it does, it's best to avoid the glorious cliches.
Felix's column in The Denver Egotist about headlines and cliches is a must read. Here we go.
Posted by Murali.
Felix's column in The Denver Egotist about headlines and cliches is a must read. Here we go.
Posted by Murali.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
A Link A Day # 260: Cream of the Crap
The Tracy Awards is a new site that features the 'crappiest advertising' on the planet. Now, one man's poop can be another man's pulav. So not all ads are that pathetic. It's a highly subjective submissions-based site where no one has to give any logic for naming an ad as crappy. What The Tracys has is an excellent logo and a content model that's sure to raise a stink.
Posted by Anantha.
A Link A Day # 259: Indian Language Fonts
You must have read about CDAC and its Indian Language Development for Computer Applications (ILDC) initiative. I was quite kicked when I read about it. But when I visited their site to download the fonts, I was utterly disappointed. They've made it so complicated. The language used is very sarkari. The fonts are buried somewhere inside and there' are no crystal clear instructions about the other loot up for grabs. What I gather is fonts in 22 languages are available for download. One needs to have enormous patience to download all the fonts as they are distributed over so many pages. Why can't these CDAC guys learn web designing? Why can't they pick a trick or two from sites like dafont? Anyways, I did learn two things after visiting the site: the sanskrit word for home is grihaprusht and the patchai tamil word for downloads is padhivirakkangal!
Posted by Anantha.
Posted by Anantha.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Why we should stop calling ourselves an advertising agency
The word 'agency' in a marketing / advertising context is fast losing its charm and relevance with marketers and brand custodians. The sooner we realise this truth, the better it is for our business. On one hand, you have specialists like brand consultants and design gurus and on the other you have the consulting wings of accountancy firms, whom marketers turn to (and compensate lavishly) when they have a problem. So, what happens to the poor old agency folk?
Wayne Arnold in his essay, tells us why agencies henceforth should be called agents of change. Read on.
Posted by Murali.
Wayne Arnold in his essay, tells us why agencies henceforth should be called agents of change. Read on.
Posted by Murali.
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