The Hindu Business Line : `Ads need cultural connect with South'

THERE is a big need for better cultural connect in advertising for the South. The region is one of the largest markets for products but most of the advertising it receives is not tailored to it, according to Mr R. Narayanan, Director (Channel Planning), Ogilvy & Mather.

In his inaugural address on `Driving the Growth Curve South' at the launch of the Business Line Club at Vael's Institute of Business Administration, he said that much of the idiom, most of the songs, costumes and character traits portrayed in the ads often do not make much sense to Southern audiences.

According to him, audiences in Tirunelveli, for instance, got a totally different message from Pepsi's Yeh dil maange more slogan - it made them think it was something to do with mango-flavoured buttermilk as the Tamil words for mango and buttermilk are similar, and the Mountain Dew commercial saying Cheetah bhi peeta hai had them wondering if the cheetah had something to do with Sita.There were many features of Southern markets that marketers could exploit, said Mr Narayanan: In 2001, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were the first and third most urbanised States; in 2011, the entire South would be the most urbanised after Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Savings potential is higher in the South. Also, people in the South live in larger houses, which implies the availability of more space to house white goods. C&S TV penetration is higher in the South, there is a sizeable ownership of cars, and cinema penetration is higher than in the North.

It is necessary that advertising be created by people with local knowledge of the region and its consumers, with creative talent that can think local, he said.

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