Hum us desh ke vasi hain, jis desh mein Ganga behti hai. Hum usi behti Ganga wali desh ko mutti mein karenge - Anonymous.
After seeing a spurt of reviews on Reliance Ads, I too did an analysis of all Reliance Ads, a Projective one though, analyzing the possible impact Reliance could have on various industries in the future. Presenting my observations, thoughts & analysis (In case Mumbai MSians are wondering, why am I into so much of ‘Observations’ for the last couple of days, blame it on the Whisky I had at Maddy’s Place.)-
Impact on Corporate World
That a few years hence, Corporates would launch a Papa Kehte Hain Scheme as part of their HR Policy. Under this scheme, employees above a particular grade (M4 as in my company) can utilize 60 minutes of their weekly schedule for narrating bed time stories to their kids. This is to facilitate these employees who work for more than 14 hrs per day, and are eventually in the company itself during the bed time.
That the HR Policy would also say: Employees can avail this scheme for not more than 2 kids (legal or illegal) during their association with the company. The company will also foot the bill (in case Reliance hikes it from their current levels, which is very much expected) for these calls, as long as they are within the prescribed duration.
That HR would also launch a Privilege Communication Protocol Policy which would clearly highlight which Grade(s) Employees have the privilege to receive calls from their kids during a Board meeting, and which Grade Employees can receive and leave the meeting for narrating stories.
That its easy to envisage that this would be followed by a Karlo Bacchha Mutti Mein recognition award, for those Papas who manage to put their kids to sleep within the allotted time. This performance data would be monitored through SAP and would be reviewed annually during the Appraisal..
Impact on Bollywood
That if Mukesh Ambani wanted to sponsor a scene in a movie showing his product (as is the current craze now, eg. Paas Paas in Yaadein), he would have opted for a remake of Deewar, where Amitabh during the concluding phases of the movie comes to the temple, to meet is moma dear. The scene would be shot thus: Amitabh despite being bruised manages to reach the Temple earlier than his moma. Seeing that his Mom is not there, he painfully lifts a Reliance Mobile from his suit & Says Maa ! Main aa gaya. Aap Kahan hain Maa. (Mukesh! Don’t Cry. What an emotional scene. CUT!)
That if this scene hadn’t appealed to him, Mukesh would have probably asked the dialogue writer to script another immortal scene thus:
Amitabh: Mere Pass gadi hai, bangla hai…. Tere paas kya hai?
Shashi: Mere pass Maa hai….(and then with a sly smile continues)..aur Maa ke paas Reliance hai. (Applause ! Seeti!!)
Impact on Matrimonial ads
That even the most liberal n open minded Matrimonial ad would read ‘Seeking alliance from anyone qualifying as a Female in the genetic sense. Age, Religion, Caste, Physical Appearance, Mental State - No bar. Girl even from Chandini Bar is not a bar. Only Bar: Shouldn’t have Reliance Mobile’. Coz how much ever you say Papa Don’t Preach, a girl’s Papa wouldn’t lose an occasion to do so!
Impact on Cricket
That I feel John Wright will be relinquished from his services, and instead Shewag ki Maa will be appointed as the Coach. Her only duty would be call the players playing in the middle using a Reliance Mobile at critical junctures of the game. That if the scheme is found successful, Saurav ki maa, Yuvraj ki Maa, Rahul ki Maa, Sachin ki Maa can also be trained for similar job profiles, so as to have the Maas from all 4 directions of the country, to form a Reliance ki Maa - a Strategic n Integrated match winning combination.
That this also means in future, India would start blaming the Maa for their failures, rather than the Pitch or other external conditions. I hope these Maas know how to operate a mobile, otherwise our guys would perish in the middle waiting for their Maa to call.
That this also makes me wonder Kiski Maa calls the Australian team?
That I would request the BCCI to send Kisika tho b Maa to the WestIndies, Coz thats my fave cricket team (even now) and they are going through their most abysmal phase.
My Impact for the Competition
That if I were from a competition vendor, I would make my ad which shows the Papa calling the Kid (pro-active Papa) to tell a bed time story. And when the kid asks ’Papa why are you calling to tell a story?’, the Proud Papa says, ’Kyunki Bete, I will get late in this traffic which is limping right now, coz Reliance has dug the roads here’.
Finally, a few theories about these Reliance ads
That Reliance Ads have used EMOTION as the theme for their ads, which is the most sought concept now for most media campaigns so as to ensure consumers relating to a brand & retaining a ‘top of the mind’ brand recall. A study on Consumer Behavior will infer use of the following theories:
Episodic Memory : Where the marketer associates the product to an event in a person’s life (eg. Marriage, Bed time story)
Affiliation: A concept based on a Consumer’s External social motivation (McGuire’s Psychological Needs Theory), which creates purchase motives based on Relationship. (Maa-Son, Paa-Beti etc)
Stimulus Generalization: Where knowledge of a company / Brand is generalized over its other products. Reliance is trying to play on the Brand Name, and also using Causation by using picture of Dhirubhai Ambani!
That all these concepts come under the category of INTERNAL INFLUENCES of Consumer Behavior.
INFERENCE
That Reliance has used a marvelous concept for a Mass Media Campaign, but they have dug their own grave as far as gaining meaningful emotional connect is concerned, by portraying lousy Situational contexts.
…..ab Meri Maa bula rahi hai, NO! she doesnt have Reliance. Maa ! Main aa raha hun Maa !!