The Hindu Business Line : Whither ad-people?

Ad people like Prasoon Joshi and Rensil were seen occupying pride of place for some truly outstanding work in cinema. Whether it was Rang De Basanti or Fanaa, one could see the creative brilliance of the men from the advertising industry. Then why oh why is it that one sees the ad guys having to resort to scam ads in order to express their excellence?

Is it something to do with the client, you think? Are the Bollywood clients more amenable to let creativity rule than the corporate types? Will the corporate marketing gurus learn any lessons at all from Bollywood?

Zee Awards

After the pretty good show that the usually dowdy Screen put on, every awards show is now on notice. Zee, of course, is continuing with its differentiator. It holds its awards show outside India and lets the desis see it on, where else, Zee TV. Meanwhile, the star-struck NRIs are more than happy to dole out large amounts for the tickets that are sold for the awards function. Add a hefty sponsorship, and the event could actually earn some good old-fashioned profits.

Incidentally, this time around the show is supposed to be in Malaysia. Now all they have to ensure is the presence of their favourite star Shah Rukh, and the Malaysians will do anything to get into the function area.

Ad awards

What about the advertising industry awards? The AdClub seems to be on course and has even announced the date for the Abby awards. Meanwhile, there doesn't seem to be too much noise from the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) camp about its Goa Fest. We are waiting with bated breath to attend the show in February. They said February, not we.

Star wars

In quitting mode: Sameer Nair and Peter Mukherjea

You will probably never get to the bottom of the wars at Star TV. The industry is confused. OK, one always knew Peter Mukherjea was in a quitting mode, but why Sameer? A competitor rubbed his hands with glee and idly speculated that Sameer was hedging his bets. If KBC did not retain the eyeballs it will no doubt grab in the first month, it would be curtains for the man who put together this deal. At that stage, Sameer could say, "Well, I wanted to quit anyway." If it did well, he could just stay on.

We don't believe this theory one bit. Another competitor wondered what NDTV would designate Sameer if he joined them after some time. They already have someone called CEO you know. And this business of two CEOs was what started all the trouble at Star in the first place.

Well, there's enough grist for the rumour mill at a time when things were getting boring.

Face-off

Lenovo had an interesting commercial to show the face-recognition qualities of their computer. A bearded, disheveled-looking Saif Ali Khan cannot be recognised by the lady of the house, but is recognised by the Lenovo. Said a wag, "Looking the way he did, the lady probably didn't want to recognise Saif anyway!" No credit to poor Lenovo, then!

25 years of The Week

The postponed celebrations for the popular magazine The Week were held at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. The Mathew brothers, Philip and Jacob, were their usual hospitable selves at a function which was very well attended by Mumbai's advertising crowd. Speeches were mercifully kept to the bare minimum. Arvind Sharma of Leo Burnett said a few kind words and the rest of the evening was devoted to fun and celebration. Just the way things ought to be, you would agree.

IAA

We told you the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) would get active. By the time you read this it would have held the second in its series, `International Indians', at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, with Subha Barry, a Managing Director of Merrill Lynch, as their speaker. Watch this space for a detailed report next week.

Victoria welcomes your comments at brandline@thehindu.co.in

Victoria

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