The Hindu Business Line : IAA new age initiative

The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has traditionally been a very small one. We know the IAA would prefer to call it an exclusive association and if one should go by the level of its membership, it could be right. The fact is, it has been active in fits and starts and the starts sometimes take a pretty long time to happen.

Well, this year has been a little different. After the International Indian lecture series, which was reported in this column, it seems the IAA has decided to take the "I" in its name seriously.

We hear from our usually reliable sources that the IAA is leading a high-powered delegation of CEOs and very senior executives on a study tour of new-age media on the West Coast of the US.

Our little bird tells us that some 25 heavies have signed up on this tour and will visit Microsoft in Seattle, Yahoo! and Google in California and Disney in Los Angeles.

We heard some of the names of the members on this delegation and frankly, were quite impressed. Looks like some people are taking the advent of new-age media into India rather seriously.

We’ll try and persuade some of our high-powered contacts to give us a first hand account of this exclusive tour (no, we are not being sent along to cover it). Watch this space.

AdAsia in India?

We’ve all heard enough about the AdAsia 2003 which was held in Jaipur. OK, OK, so it was hailed as the best AdAsia (yawn) and all that, and we will never be permitted to forget that, but looks like there is serious competition to that great congress coming up. No, we don’t mean that the Korean AdAsia will be able to hold a candle to the Indian effort, and we certainly don’t believe the Lahore AdAsia in 2009 will be able to recreate the magic of Jaipur in 2003.

We hear that India is bidding to host the 2011 AdAsia. No, we don’t know where it will be held, but rest assured you will be the first to know.

Now that’s great news. And we will keep our fingers crossed and hope India will win the bid in Korea this October and set the stage for a great congress in 2011. Well, if you ever needed it, there’s even more evidence that India is rocking as an advertising destination.

Campaign India

Meanwhile, there’s more action on the print front as well. Campaign India, the advertising and marketing magazine from the UK, is dropping anchor in India now. Well, who said the ad scene isn’t really rocking!

Brand India

We’ve all heard of the Silicon Valley jokes that portray the Americans as actually scared of Indians and their IT skills. Well, now even Riverdale High has its own resident Gujju Bhai. Raj Patel, Archie’s new ‘Indian’ friend, is a great example of how India in all its fascinating forms is permeating every level of the American psyche. For all those who grew up reading Archie comics, this comes as a delightful bit of news. We can’t wait to read more of this new comic character’s antics. And that’s probably why the ingenious writers of this long-running comic strip probably decided to introduce an Indian in the first place. Incidentally, Raj Patel is not the first Indian to make it to an American comic strip. Our favorite Dilbert comic strip has a lovable nerd called Asoka in it.

Air India/Jet language

Air India and Jet Airways signalled the launch of their prestigious flights to the US with a blast of publicity. For Jet it was a new continent to explore. One it had been waiting for with bated breath. For Air India it was a new aircraft and a makeover. If the language and tonality of communication suggests the ethos of a brand, we notice something very interesting. Air India had the Minister of Civil Aviation Patel “flagging off” the non-stop service. All the news reports carried this. The Jet launch had celebrities such as Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi “greeting” passengers at Mumbai airport and Naresh Goyal greeting them at Brussels with chocolates and laddoos.

Talk about a difference in language and tone between a Government babu-run airline and a private sector airline. You know who comes first where.

Happy Independence Day!

As India turned 60, note the bold new consumerist face of the country. For a change, many companies offered 60 per cent discounts on everything from airline seats to hotel rooms. Well, marketers need to capitalise on any event, don’t they?

Vic’s Pick - IDBI

The IDBI Home Loan TVC really appealed to the Victoria team. A great sequel to the earlier winner. Emotional, well made and with great music. IDBI and its agency, aapko salaam!

_ Victoria

Victoria invites comments at brandline@thehindu.co.in

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