The Gurus... on how they cracked the Big Idea!

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Up next is the great Leo Burnett. While he totally endorsed Bernbach’s view on “saturating oneself with product knowledge,” he took it further. “I believe in solid, in-depth interviews of people I am trying to sell to. I try to get a picture in my mind of the kind of people they are, how they plan to use the product, what motivates their purchase-pattern and triggers their interest-area?”

Burnett then moves on to reveal a fascinating secret that even intrigued the likes of David Ogilvy… a great big folder tucked away in the lower left-hand corner of his work-desk, called the corny language dossier! “It’s like this. Whenever I hear a phrase in conversation – or any place – which strikes me as being particularly apt in colourfully expressing an idea, bringing it to life or accentuating the smell of it, I quickly scribble it down and shove it in the folder. Then, about 3 or 4 times in the year, I run through all the stuff, chuck out a lot of it and retain those that seem relevant to the kind of work we’re doing. I write a memo to inform the creative group and staff about this. So my ear is always tuned for putting usual things in unusual settings/relationships that – both – get attention and aptly communicate the big, core idea. I also have another bulging file. I call it ads worth saving and it’s an on-going thing, been with me for some 25 years! I go through them too. Extremely rejuvenating, both …”

Who better to round-off this amazing tell-all discourse than the legendary David Ogilvy. What did he do to make his stuff rock? “I try and loosen up if I’ve got to write some ad or get some ideas, otherwise there is a likelihood of feeling sterile and un-inventive. Many people – and I am one of them – are more productive and fertile when they’ve had a little to drink. I find if I drink 2 or 3 Brandies or a good bottle of Claret, I am far better able to write. I’ve also found the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, a useful start-up for ideas.”

He then warms up to present a fascinating insight. “The posture that I take when I finally close the door and have to write an ad is this: I always pretend that I am sitting beside a woman at a dinner party and she ask me for advice about which product she should buy, why and where she should buy it. So then, I write down what I would say to her! I try to make it interesting, engaging and personal – I don’t write for the crowd; rather from one human being to another in the second person, singular. And I try not to bore the woman to death by trying to make it as real and personal as possible. Incidentally, I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. My best ones certainly have. They have a sense of conviction, passion, validity and power of persuasion that is unquestionable…”

Right guys, got it? Thus spake the legendary gurus. Now, suitably inspired, get back to work. What? Starting problems? Oh God!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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They say fall of Wall Street giants will not have a bigger impact on Indian markets.

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They say fall of Wall Street giants will not have a bigger impact on Indian markets. But with a sectorial review things may sound different, says Sunanda Roy

A humorous Internet one liner says, “Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good evening’, and then proceed to tell you why it isn’t”. Well, see any edition of any business news these days and you would get to know how true it is. Moreover, down on its knees the global financial market is providing them more than enough events to further validate the hypothesis mentioned above. Back home in India the domestic stock market too is leaving no stones unturned to help the news channels. But then, blame the modern era of highly integrated financial markets for this, which have ensured a negative impact of the US turmoil on the Indian stock market. Fall of the Wall Street giants, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG – as if they are exemplifying what the ‘Domino effect’ is all about – quashed whatever little confidence investors were left with after the mayhem that they witnessed earlier this year. But the million dollar question is, did it actually impact India enough to draw a prolonged red line on the Dalal Street? Perhaps, that’s the priceless answer all investors are looking for at the moment.

So far, the overall reaction is quite soft – nobody has predicted any long term harassment on the Indian capital markets. Going by the words of Sandeep Nayak, Senior VP & Head – PCG dealing, Kotak Securities, “The Indian stock market will suffer from the contagion effect of the global crisis and move in tandem with the American markets for the short term.”

But then, how can one forget that the Indian stock market is still a slave to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). They have always reacted to FII movements, be it when they have pumped in money or when they have sucked out. And currently, the global financial crisis has made them take a flight back from risky emerging assets (equities and commodities) to safe havens like the US treasuries and bullions. Pankaj Pandey, Head of Equity Research, ICICIdirect.com avers, “As Indian markets are too FII sensitive, this pullout, as already seen, will continue to suck out liquidity from the Indian stock markets. This year itself, FIIs have pulled out close to $8 billion from the equity markets and since then the Sensex has corrected by 30%. Hence, one can asses the impact of FII liquidly in the markets.” FII pull out will not only keep the downward pressure intact on the bourses, it will also keep them volatile. Chances of volatility being persistent also increases manifold owing to relatively low volumes, bad market depth and breadth and distress selling by retail investors. It’s simply for the fact that absence of foreign money will see the market trade range bound along with some nibbling done by the domestic insurance and asset management companies.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

It is not easy...

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Mahesh Chauhan,
President, Rediffusion

“It is not easy...”

“It’s not easy for a client to change his agency. He makes a certain investment in an agency and change means that he’d have to invest all over again in a new agency. It’s not easy. So, unless there is a strong cause for a change, led by maybe non-delivery or non-performance, the client will not change his agency. But on the other hand, the CMO is no longer under 1-5 year time cycles. He is virtually evaluated on a 1-3 months performance. The pressure is humongous. If an agency partner is not up to that speed then the CMO has no option but to look at other more promising agencies.

If you were to flip this argument and look at it from an agency point of view, I genuinely believe that the agency game hasn’t really evolved here. We have virtually become vendors of the creative product which is mainstream, traditional and not really hi-tech. Clients come to me for TV, print, radio, outdoor and go to somebody else for digital solutions. This de-bundling and media fragmentation, led to fragmentation of agency products too, which led to a lowering of the agency value, from a client point of view. So if the client is not ascribing so much of importance to you, as compared to a holistic communication consultant (as in the past), the threshold is lowered - agencies themselves have lowered it. Therefore you see that there are more pitches happening today than ever before, from a purely statistical point of view. But, the savvy marketer still believes in – and maintains a longer term perspective of his relationship with the agency.“

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...