Bheja Fry. Phir Karo Try!!

Pepsico delivers another advertising dud. The new 7UP commercial, BBDO's opening shot is quite a let down. You can view the TVC on youtube here...

Though, I like the Bheja Fry. 7Up Try tag-line, found the plot bland and straight from the 80's! Countless fizz and non-fizz brands have done similar stuff to death...Don't know why they couldn't get a smarter rendition...

The little that I know of youth brands...
1. 38 trying to be 18 won't work.
2. Cool and dumb don't bed together!
3. Recycling works well for the environment, not for ads.

4. We live in an age where 80% of the brands are young. So, the really young@heart brands must lead the conversation. Through new stories, fresh insights(a la Sprite), new technology...Or simply a great(expensive) execution like the 2cr Thums Up fillum!!

But, maybe BBDO deserves the benefit of doubt. It's their maiden over.
So, Bheja Fry. Phir Karo Try!!

Facebook : Counterpoint

My online friend Satish at Naked NY commented on the Facebook Indigestion post...Said that my Facebook experience could be at dramatic variance with the teen sentiment/ relationship with Facebook!

So, I asked a young friend of mine to put her thoughts around the subject...Here's her take...

My virtual umbilical cord (and no, this is not about the progress in medical technology!)
"The age of the global citizen...half my childhood buddies are all over the world...i know at least one person in every continent(maybe even Antarctica..i wudn't be surprised) friendships made for life...with only a geographical barrier...bridged by something as technological as the internet."

"Technology and relationships don't mix, like cold steel and heartfelt warmth maybe? Well, I'd beg to differ."

"School friends, college friends, colleagues, friends' friends, a lot of alliances you would best forget but there are just as many that matter so much."

"My best friend in 6th grade who left for boarding school in Shimla. Or another bestie who moved home to Japan when i was 14. My first crush who has lived in Colombo since we were 12, but i got in touch with again 7 years later...all thanks to Facebook."

"With such fast paced lives and with everyone in a different part of the world it's difficult to catch up for even a cursory drink, making the Boozemail application one of the largest used on Facebook."

With newsfeeds giving you a play by play update on your friend's lives(which you can update the settings of to ignore lesser acquaintances, and bring your inner circle into the limelight) to building an entirely virtual social life for the simple reason that, having a real one that functions the same way, is plain impossible.

"Facebook is what binds me to my old friends and actually helps me get closer to people I never got a chance to bond with earlier. You may realise that you and a casual friend may have similar interests from the groups you join, the applications you prefer, and a million other things considering Facebook is so customised you can read a person's personality just by visiting their profile page. for eg. Leena and I studied in the same class for 6 years in school, casual friends, but she only realised i was a fellow fan of The Doors when she read my status message. It simply said, 'Bhavna is: stoned immaculate'"

"Friendships are born out of sticky situations, escapades, lurid stories brimful of laughter and tears. Getting caught for bunking maths class and playing basketball instead or talking about your dreams and your passion over a cup of coffee while watching a beautiful sunset cannot be recreated even with the best graphics."

"We bond through sharing good times and the not-so-good (rather horrible, horrendous and torturous) ones and this is not an emotion that transmits through an LCD screen. So when you think about it, Facebook is nothing close to the real thing, but it's one hell of a replacement when the real world is out of reach."

Thanks B for sharing your thoughts...

ROI on Tribes and Other Bakwaas

Was generally checking out other planner blogs here...Stumbled upon the Diginative by Fran Hazeldine, a London planner.

His recent post/rant is on the Discovery Channel Tribe promotion...

I agree with Fran, I don't think Discovery got the essence of tribe.(The copy and the tonality is so outta place) Looks like they have trivialised the concept...While I do not recall an Indian example, this quick ROI approach to youth marketing is a global malaise.

These days I am particularly wary of clients who want to capitalise on 'social networking', do a 'cool' promotion or want to use 'youtube' for their brands...

Many of them are blatantly ignorant of the Web 2.0 spirit, hugely insincere in their intentions and their short-sightedness sucks big time!!