Of Ads & Offers

Everyday we watch TV be it the (stereo type) saas-bahu serials, sports channels or any other. I remember an ad on one of the news channels. It was with Sachin with a yellow shirt saying life is like cricket... blah blah blah... another one in which SRK & John fighting to autograph a stupid looking bloke, to be finally called "Uncle"… "mujhe accha nahi laga…"

Today advertising/promoting your product/commodity is more important as compared to its quality/service. Every channel, every 5 minutes has an ad about some or the other thing. Earlier at least news channels were being spared but, now I guess, news is being telecast between ads.

Technically speaking definition of advertisement would be where a one-way communication through a medium which is being sponsored by the seller. When I say medium it includes television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and billboards. Some crazy people have gone to the extent of body advertising. By advertising a product, some feel any thing and everything can & will be sold.

The best part of advertising comes on the Indian Television channels. For the very smallest and simplest of products there is a lot of emotion, love attached to it. Does it actually help in improving the product's image? I'm not sure. But none the less there is. Say a simple thing like pet food. People have gone to the extent of introducing flavored pet food. What's next? Flavored energy drink for pets?

Coming to the point of emotions & all, just before & during the world cup of cricket remember there was a series of ads saying Hoo Haa India! Aaya India! After a dismal showing of the Indian cricket team, I don't remember seeing it. It was totally taken off air and posters were pulled down overnight. The companies didn't want to associate themselves with a bunch of "losers". They quickly took to movie stars. They are a safe bunch you see! Not much of national pride associated here. Pretty safe huh?

When one talks of movie stars in ads one can't forget but to notice every other product from chocolate to skin care cream, hair oil to pain balm, polio campaign to cement, there is a common face & a pretty familiar one, yes it is the Big B. some times I feel we've had an overdose of him. Thank god they don't rope him for ladies beauty products! Phew just imagine… The other two stars giving the Big B a run for his money in TV ad campaign are Sachin and SRK. Most of the ads are senseless & do in least promoting the product. Uncle zara iside dena... Move on... GHve way to younger people. We have had an overdose of you in cricket matches and your movies respectively.

Long time ago I remember seeing an ad on TV. It was very simple one well presented. It was a old chap fishing in the country side early morning, villager comes singing some tune. The old chap hushes him. The villager puts 4-5 drops of some liquid on a iron rod sticks it in the lake. Next minute he has caught 5 fishes & leaves happily. If I'm correct this won the best Ad for a couple of years. Why can't, if not all most of the ads be like this? Some measures of sensibility or at-least which help boost the image of the product.

Now to tell you another example: I was watching this BBC Entertainment channel; there was an ad of the Audi A4 sport variant. Such a wonderful ad, it hardly had any emotion or crass to it. Just all about the vehicle and comfort of driving it. It was a refreshing one.

I for one believe that an ad must be made such that it captures your imagination or gets you thinking. Not just senseless emotion, not promoting the product just for the heck of it. We have so many good ad men in our country. Guys wake up get your brains to work. Give us some good ones which will be remembered for a long time to come.

Apart from the television advertising, the next biggest one is advertising on net. Everyday we get so many promotional mails; every other site today is being sponsored, Google and Yahoo to name a top few. You can view advertisements based on your choice of search, your interests. But there is a problem here if you don't know how to benefit from this; it's as good as gone astray

After advertising the next big thing is Offer/Sale.
There is an MRP, cost price, selling price, profit and discount associated to a product. Every product is manufactured at a particular cost, overpriced to a preset sale price add to it sales tax, this tax, that tax, what tax, what not tax… to get MRP. Now all this excess money will give people in the supply chain a hell lot of money.

Just for example, say person A has a business setup of his own. They are retailers of products B & C in a small town. Now would you believe he makes a whooping amount by just being the retail dealer? I.e. gets stuff from a guy higher in the supply chain & transfers it to smaller trader. For doing just this one is paid a whooping amount.

So wondering what has that to do with what we are discussing? Well the roots come from there. If one of the blokes in the supply chain says ok I'm having a huge stock, I'll sell it at lower price to make up my loss, the guy at the end of the chain gives you the buyer what he calls discount. I.e. he is still making money but to you it seems like a huge amount because you don't realize how much more you end up paying. A similar network works in the Am-Way and other such products too. All the posters saying discount, sale and offers are nothing but selling you things instead of keeping them in storehouses.

Another thing that can happen is the guy who is selling you a product first overprices it and then gives you some discount. This again you are at a loss. Oh just don't forget to read the terms and conditions of the sale. Which will invariably say: objects once sold can't be returned. I.e. you're a goner.

Nowadays these offers have become so common that even airlines are giving offers! Domestic & international travel has become so common & economical that airlines can afford to give discounts & offers. What this is doing is heating up the air & room for survival for is shrinking… So soon there will be a situation that there are only a couple of players & the others have gone bankrupt or moved out to another sector. Finally it is the customer who pays the price.

Well as long as the things are in our favor why worry about what might happen sometime in the unseen future. As long as we are paying at least something less or apparently less; as long as it gives us a feel good factor, it is time to enjoy and savor.