Big and Stupid

The Goliaths rule the world today. Well almost!

They control the networks and the software platforms. And even the template of this blog. They control our thoughts and search engines as well!

But some brands/ marketers/ companies are smart enough to successfully camouflage the ugliness of their monstrous size with attitude, rampant PR and clever brand speak. And then there are the 'Big and Stupid' brands. The 'Big Moose' archetype! Looks like the newly launched 'Big FM' is one of them.

The 'Big Noise' that the ADA group Radio Channel is making suffers from a surplus of media budgets and a deficit of ideas!
Yes, they are going to be 'Big'. A 45 station pan-India foot-print. By early next year, Big FM will be present across India from Srinagar to Trivandrum and Surat to Guwahati.

That's good! The channel is also going to invest upto Rs.40 million for transmission equipment, infrastructure and licensing!!

But, dear Tarun(Katial-the COO of Big FM) please invest in better creatives and brand strategy as well!

One couldn't have missed the splash across most newspapers today. Haven't seen the TVCs if any. It triggered some thoughts...

1. As I said, there is a fat media budget without an idea. I think 'Radio' is a very personal medium. Almost like a close friend. Don't know how 'Bigness' as a virtue enhances personal experience/ the brand.

2. Whats the role of a tired looking Abhishek in the print ad? It's not even the best looking Abhishek wall-paper! Maybe if they had taken Amitabh, it would have made some sense as 'Big FM' would have been brought to us by the 'Big B':-)

3. Jigar(my colleague at David) pointed out that the campaign breaks with the headline - 'Bachpana Chhodo, Aa Gaya Big FM. Ironical that they had to break this on Children's Day:-) Maybe, this small fact just escaped their collective 'Big Minds'.

4. Radio is not 'chai'. So, the tired-sounding tag-line 'Suno Sunao, Life Banao' actually has no real insight/ meaning/ even slogan value!

5. I can understand 'Big' being a virtue if the offering is a mart like Big Bazaar. The promise could stand for the 'economies of scale passed on to the customer' or the big convenience of finding everything under one roof!

But in a personal medium like radio, 'Being Big' is just an irritating and irrelevant way to announce your arrival.

Tarun, I know you have a 'Big Budget', but what you really need is a 'Big Idea' to make your brand sexy! And perhaps a small agency:-)

What do the advertisers get in exchange4media?

Well above is the screen grap of exchange4media...Since there is hardly any content on this page, I have never really bothered to look at any of the ads...

I think the scientific term for this is inattentive blindness:-)

Dainik Jagran, Vanita, Radio One, Radio Dhamaal, Big FM, Dainik Bhaskar, Jagran Solutions, Sahara One, Radio Mirchi, Outlook - that's some 10 brands trying to get my in-attention...LOL

Clutter is as bad in virtual real estate as in the real world!

I feel it's the worst designed media web-site...But maybe exchange4media has high-resolution retinal scan to measure effectiveness and eyeball-enthusiasm:-)

The Valence Levels of Creativity

I took the above picture from the magazine - Entrepreneur. Well, if you haven't ever read it, do read some back issues...I quite liked the selection of business stories and articles...

Coming back to the picture. A middle class mom(in the US) had this brilliant idea of a seat bag for her son...It's a normal cloth bag with two partitions where the kids can keep their books, pencil box and other stationery!

It's such an obvious stuff. Yet nobody had ever thought of this. First her friends, then the school, then some other schools in the neighbourhood started asking for the seat bag. This enterprising woman then decided to patent the seat bag...And in the process built a million dollar business around the seat bag!!

I have often thought and I guess have discussed on this blog about the valence levels of creativity...Often as we get immersed in the small 60cc ad or the 30sec TVC, we get so self-obsessed with our clever copy that we feel there is little creativity beyond our narrow silo. Well, maybe we can't compare creativity in communication/ media with creativity elsewhere...But then again, it's all part of one creative game!

What about attempting the valence levels of creativity. I discussed this with Bianca and asked her to put all things creative in concentric circles. The most creative at the core and the least at the periphery!(Actually the reverse of electron valence levels, where the electrons that lose energy fall nearer to the core!) Lets see what she comes up with...

Am creating my own valence set! And surely the seat bag will be near the core ahead of loads of advertising including e-Serve and Big FM:-)