Many many years have passed and winds of change have swept aside generations since Cliff Richards sung Why couldn?t I, why shouldn?t I, fall in love with you, but it still remains a wonderful song of the joyous abandon and ageless youth of a lover?s heart.
Oh that heady sensation and that oh so romantic charm of being in love all over again the moment you cast your eyes on the pretty face next door. Age no bar, company no bar, boys will be boys, come what may and do what may.
Boys will be boys, is a golden rule which applies almost universally. They would always be disorganized with things, always impatient and always ready to fall in love or should I say pretend to be in love.
Loyalty apart they are always open to the idea of a casual flick and a side stepping romance to blossom, after all we are always young at heart or seemingly single and more then ever ready to mingle. Why are we like that, but this analysis will have to wait till another day? I am sure it would make up for some fun writing and interesting reading.
What makes me talk about boys, their nonchalant attitude and their overzealous eagerness to plunge into love even before the drop of a hat? Well that?s the theme of the advert I am going to talk about. Our man the ever so vibrant Kamal Chopra (of Shanti Fame) is depicted as the consummate male, and the theme of the ad is the love at first sight he seems to develop for the vivacious and charming Kavita Kapoor (of Saans Fame).
The ad was shot by Mahesh Mathai of Highlight Films for Nexus Enterprises, the ad was conceptualized by Prasoon Pandey, who has since then moved on to form his own production house called Corcoise Films.
It shows Kamal and Kavita in an open-air restaurant. Kamal is attracted to Kavita who is sitting alone; talking to someone, Kamal mistakenly thinks its him she is talking to. When he approaches her, he is shattered to know she is talking to someone on the phone, he failed to notice that and to add insult to the injury she mistakes him for a waiter and says one black coffee please.
The ad would go on to win the Lion at Cannes International Advertising Festival.
The theme of the ad is simple and subtle. It was made to launch Ericsson?s smallest mobile phones in the Indian market way back in 1996 which was still an age when having a mobile was a status thing and a cherished possession. So the ads are focused on and talk about a certain social class. And it is also a love story.
So the environment had to be conducive for falling in love. That’s why the Mediterranean feel, the open-air restaurant and the gloss as the setting of the advert. Says Prasoon I have to take people for a ride, remember. So the script drives the feel.. The ad relates to the upper middle class and the executive people of those times only who were thought of as having the need and the money to have a mobile.
Costumer product connection is shown brilliantly in the ad. Eventually it is the consumer who is setting a certain trend. There are so many distractions for a consumer; she is forever skimming through things. If the ad has to grab her attention, you don’t have more than two minutes to do so.
The time line of the ad is very important, the scriptwriter might have millions things to say but he should always remember that the attention of the viewer is fickle and hence the ad has to make an impact before the viewer loses interest. The Ericsson ad was able to convey the message very succinctly in the time frame and in a very classy manner something which appeals to the audiences it targets.
Execution of the idea is what differentiates an ok ad from a good one. The ad entertains and has human drama, something which doesn?t fail to amuse the audiences again and again. The ad has a high point of opportunity to see and doesn?t suffer from the fatigue factor.
Fatigued ads are any ad maker?s nightmare and their aim is always to come up with something, which is not just watch able time and again, but also something, which sells the product, they showcase. After all what is the point of making a brilliant ad, which fails to sell the product?
The ad is laced with what Prasoon calls the layering effect, concentrate on the core layer which is the theme of the ad but at the same time have many layers to the ad, and hence it keeps the audience intrigued.
In this ad for instance, it takes some time for people to figure out that a glass shatters in the background when the guy’s heart breaks. The more the layering, the more enjoyable the ad becomes, and the less the fatigue setting in.
Film making read ad making is like telling story to a kid, you build it up bit-by-bit and you keep him interested. You tell him everything in one go, it falls flat and he doesn?t want to hear it again. The ads Prasoon further says should not open on an establishing note because then you tell the story in one go robbing the charm of the ads. Remember his fevicol egg ads for that matter?
Memorable without exaggeration is the golden rule for all ad makers and the Ericsson ad of all underlines this axiom so very aptly. An advert should be memorable and it should be talked about after a long time as well, but at the same time it should not harp too much on the theme and the product to make it boring.
Over exaggeration leads to dissatisfaction after the purchase and there by leading to bad word of mouth advertising. So the advertisement should be impressive and meaningful and understandable making the customers to move to the higher stages of readiness to buy.
An impressed viewer gets converted to a customer and a happy customer becomes a brand ambassador of the product. Thus a good ad is the first step towards creating a brand ambassador. The golden rule applies nothing sells like word of mouth publicity.
Subtle and not over the board comedy has been used smartly in the ad. The oft repeated line one black coffee please has been employed brilliantly. It just underlines the point that it?s not always necessary to do different things, sometimes its better to do the same things differently.
The viewer relates to the ad, as most of us have been wannabe Romeos at some point in time of our lives. The predicament of Kamal is something, which most of us have experienced and it strikes a chord somewhere.
Even people who haven?t been in such a position like the plot, as it seems so believable and day-to-day thing. Ads should always speak the language the audiences want to hear and that?s what differentiates a good ad from a bad one. A good ad doesn?t have to try too hard for that while a bad ad tries so hard to do just that and it falls flat.
Footnote: The adverts were made way back in 1996 and its popularity can be gauged from the fact that even a decade after its coming, people still talk about the ad and have nice things to share about it with people who haven?t seen it.
Hats off to the creative team for coming up with a winner in this one. Folks who haven?t watched it please do try and find it from somewhere and watch it, I am sure you would love it.
Also a word of caution for all those wannabes please check it out before you make the same kind of pass as our man does in the ad and ends up making a complete fool of himself.