Luminous – Losing luminosity

UPS and Inverter manufacturer Luminous is anything but brightening its brand image through its ad campaigns, starring Sachin Tendulkar.

Luminous’ ads are a lesson on the DON’Ts of advertising.

Click to view ad of 'Luminous

To have The Maestro sitting in a shiny leather jacket and talking to the camera is hardly leveraging his brand power to the company’s advantage. I have mentioned this before and I will say it again - when the chosen ambassador is bigger than the brand itself, the ad has to be centred around the ambassador and what he/she does best, not the other way round. Another grave mistake in the ad is Luminous inverters appearing in the foreground and Sachin (in person and his images) are in the background. The message given is that Luminous is bigger than Sachin. Even if the target audience does not analyse the ad this way, the portrayal makes it hard to believe the message.

Sachin is not a salesman, so having him blurt out the advantages of an inverter is hardly convincing to the target audience.

Sachin Tendulkar is not an actor. In another Luminous advert, to have him sitting on a couch with a bat in his hand and delivering a monotonous dialogue, again, is anything but credible. The audience would probably not even believe a star actor who delivers an unanimated message, let alone a sportsman with limited acting skills. We are not used to watching Sachin sitting on a couch and talking to us. We are used to seeing and believing him when he is playing in full fervour or is talking passionately about the sport he was born to play.

Sachin Tendulkar is a cricketer and his ads need to portray either him in action or his love for the sport or the values we know him for – honesty, patriotism, family man.

It would be wise to learn from innovative advertisers like Coke and Adidas. Coke has rolled out 6.5 million ‘Sachin’ cans. This is the first time that a celebrity has decorated coke cans in the sub-continent. The VP of Coke India said, “We are making an exception for one of India´s great legends.” which clearly indicates his intention of wanting Brand Coke to tag along with Brand Sachin, not the other way round.

Adidas came out with an exemplary advert which was centred on the idea of a whole nation coming to a standstill when Sachin plays a stroke. The entire ad shows distinct scenarios portrayed one after the other but they had one agenda – they were focussed on Sachin. Adidas had product placements in only selected scenes and on the billboards behind Sachin while he was playing the stroke. Adidas was always in the background, to leverage off of The Maestro, who was the main subject. If huge brands like Adidas and Coke portray Brand Sachin to be bigger than them, then the not so huge Luminous brand should be going the extra step.

Having said that, two things that Luminous has done right is to come up with a catchy punchline like “Jispe desh kare bharosa” and to sign up Sachin, who probably fits the bill best. The delivery, however, lacks punch!

Sachin is amongst the most expensive sportsmen and the first thing a company wants is to get the biggest bang for its buck. Luminous is hurting its image and bottom line by pumping big money to only come up with ineffective adverts. Let’s hope the future will be more luminous for Luminous !

Hail The Wall (published)

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Hail The Wall that stands so tall 

Among performances that appal

He saves his team from downfall

He makes the rival’s victory stall

He watches every single ball

He gives each day, each innings his all

He is not afraid to make the tough call

Hail the Wall that stands so tall

Rahul Dravid is diligence and application personified. Even today, at 38, The Wall stands tall. He is arguably the toughest competitor in the 5-day format. He has been instrumental in forging 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners for Team India. He was introduced as the new face of the Gillette Winner program and compared with the likes of Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry. That speaks volumes about his class as a Cricketer and his contribution to the game. To eclipse the likes of The Master himself and several other worthy nominees across the globe, the Dravid Brand not only exudes class but also sheer grit and reliability.

Rahul Dravid is a batsman for the cricket purist. He treads cautiously at the start of every innings, looks to get his eye in, understand the behaviour of the wicket and then build an innings. Batting for two days in a test will see this man not continue from where he left off on Day 1 but start afresh on Day 2 to build another innings altogether. Rahul Dravid has earned the nicknames Mr. Dependable and The Wall for those very reasons. He has moulded himself in such a way that he naturally plays by the book and thus makes every shot look technically correct. He is always counted amongst the most reliable players. Till Dravid is at the crease, India knows that it is in safe hands…speaking of which, Rahul Dravid has the safest pair of hands on the planet, having bagged the maximum number of catches by any Test cricketer.

Rahul Dravid is a master at adapting. He is the only batsman to have scored a century in all Test playing nations. This clearly exhibits his superior ability to effectively adjust and alter his approach according to the conditions, with limited practice games.

The Corporate World has a lot to learn from Rahul Dravid. His ability to adjust seamlessly to varying conditions could be equated to changing a company’s strategy according to market conditions or the competitive landscape. His willingness to don distinct roles, whether it is that of an opener, a middle-order batsman or a wicketkeeper illustrates the merits of changing one’s role according the team or organisation’s requirements. If there’s anyone who knows how to back himself, enjoy the contest and give the opposition a run for their money, it’s Rahul Dravid. His steely resolve has time and time again exhibited the great distances that self-belief helps covering and the milestones it helps achieving. Even when lacking support, Dravid has come out trumps and brought India out of many a sticky situation. There have been innumerable performances that have not only lifted the spirit of the team but also dampened the spirit of an initially confident opponent. Motivating your team with words can never be as effective as motivating your team with actions. However tough the opposition, however trying the conditions, however low the odds, Dravid has always been a force to be reckoned with.

The fact that Dravid has always made the opposition earn his wicket makes him all the more a prized scalp. If I had Goliath as an opponent, I would back Dravid more than David to win the contest.

3 much cricket (published)

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England just finished cleaning up the Indian team in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test at Trent Bridge, and to be frank, it figures! Ever since learning about India’s schedule post the World Cup, anyone would think of it as an utter overload.

To begin with, what was most disturbing and spectacularly unfair to the World Cup winning team, the spectators and the citizens was the terribly insufficient time given to celebrate and let the historic win sink in. After all, Team India had regained the World Cup after 28 years, Sachin Tendulkar was the centre of attention throughout the matches that involved India, Yuvraj Singh played the tournament of his life, Dhoni was taken on a giddyingly high pedestal with orchestrating the biggest win and even the theme song was in the local language of the winning team (much like the song in the FIFA World Cup). There was so much to celebrate! Although there was enough intrusive advertising during the games, the sponsors must have definitely felt that they missed out on leveraging the win since the IPL started soon after.

As was expected, the IPL did not attract the kind of eyeballs that it did the year before. There definitely were some nail-biting finishes but nowhere close to what was expected or what the previous years had seen. As luck would have it, the one match I went to witness from the stands turned out to be arguably the most boring (read low scoring) match of the tournament.

The IPL was soon followed by the tour of the West Indies, which involved a T20 game, 5 ODIs and 3 Tests, all within 5 weeks. Most of us would have expected a better result than 3-2 in the ODIs and 1-0 in the Tests but I guess we’d take a win either way. However, scheduling the gruelling 2-month tour of England only 9 days after the conclusion of the Windies tour was downright excessive and inconsiderate.

It is rather amusing how commentators repeatedly mention the importance of having enough practice matches before diving into the real competition but it all falls on deaf ears. England has starkly contrasting match conditions to the sub-continent but having only one 3-day practice game before kick-starting the 4-Test series defied logic and sense, until one thinks about the ‘moolah’ being raked in during the ‘real’ games, through tickets, advertising and merchandise. Alas, money wins again - such disdain towards such a beautiful game would surely pain the purists amongst us!

BCCI definitely has a stronghold on the game of cricket and looking at the fixtures for the year, it clearly wants to maintain or strengthen it even further. However, a hectic schedule is rather unhealthy for Team India and the Gentleman’s Game. Come to think of it, this is probably why there aren’t too many gentlemen left. Players really need enough rest to be able to invigorate themselves and perform to their utmost potential. Not only is that good for the game but also for the team and the millions of admirers.

2 much of anything isn’t good, but this a notch higher – this is ‘3 much cricket!’