• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Cause and effect

Is some smart marketing sense at work behind those `do good' ads that corporates are increasingly using?

P.T.JYOTHI DATTA

It has always been considered `propah' for corporates to have an active social conscience. However, unlike earlier, companies are veering away from merely sponsoring any odd cause now and then. Now, they are hitching their commercials to a public interes t message which falls within the realm of their operation.

Whether it is Maruti Udyog Ltd's (MUL) spots on traffic and environmental concerns, MRF's ubiquitous Smile campaign, Shell's spots on the environment or Bacardi's `Mixes with everything but driving', Cipla's messages on Asthma or SmithKline Beecham's adv ertisements on Chicken Pox -- the message is loud and clear.

`Infomercials' or commercials that innovatively use the television medium to highlight social concerns are here to stay. But are `infomercials' just that -- informative commercials? Or is there genuine concern behind such promotions?

``It is more than just image-building, it is part of the company's corporate ethos,'' says Rohtash Mal, Chief General Manager, Marketing & Sales. `In-your-face advertising' is not something that MUL uses, according to him. ``It is a much larger issue and the advertisements are used to support and communicate the intent, with only a fleeting reference to Maruti. It also happens to be a Maruti ad.''

Consider one of Maruti's spots on what is a familiar scene in urban India -- talking into a cellular phone while negotiating a treacherous city road. It shows a yuppie talking to his girlfriend on his cell-phone as he speeds through traffic. Lost in his conversation with her, he jumps a red-light, swerves to avoid two men carrying a ladder across the road and turns into the wrong side of a one-way street. All this while the girl on the other end of the line initially refuses to m arry him, and then eventually agrees. Elated at her acceptance, he fails to see the truck coming at him. His final words are, `I can already hear the wedding bells ringing', and the spot ends on an ironic note, with his cell-phone resting on a bouquet of roses.

This is one of the 36 short films commissioned some time back by MUL as part of its drive to develop socially relevant communication related to traffic and driving habits, environment, pollution, safety measures and vehicle maintenance. The spots, produc ed by Rediffusion DY&R and a host of small producers, were featured on Doordarshan and continue to be aired on Zee, says Sunila Dhar, MUL's Manager - Marketing.

Further justifying the corporate ethos point, Mal adds that MUL's social initiatives include distributing handbooks on safe driving in conjunction with State Transport departments and setting up the Institute of Road Traffic Education. Maruti also plans to go online with similar campaigns, he says.

Bacardi-Martini India Ltd's 15-second commercials, done by McCann Erickson and produced by Dhar & Hoon, show Bacardi with a variety of mixers such as Coke, tonic, orange, lime and soda. The mood of the commercial, at first pacy with quick cuts and a catc hy beat, comes abruptly to a halt with the shot of a petrol nozzle and the sound of a car screeching to a halt. The commercial ends with the line, `Bacardi mixes with everything but driving'.

Talking about the rationale behind the ad, Mahesh Madhavan, Bacardi's GM - Marketing, says: ``Though the brand is seen as being vibrant and fun, there was a need to bring seriousness to the issue. One can enjoy oneself, but one also needs to be responsib le.''

The ads aired early last year on ESPN and Star Sports were discontinued, even as Bacardi promoted its other brands. ``The frequency of the commercials was reduced, as the message is very direct and hence not watchable over and over again.'' However, he a dded that these ads would be aired again in July and September this year, traditionally a lean period for advertising.

The Indian campaign was an extension of the global one. The latter, in the print media, showed caps of different drinks and finally a steering wheel -- with the same tagline on mixability.

Using the same yardstick to judge Bacardi's mixability message and the UB group's spots -- where Vijay Mallya talks of responsible drinking -- critics point out that they are ``mere attempts to buy respectability'' and equate them to the sta tutory warning on cigarette packets.

Unfazed by such observations, Madhavan points out that responsible drinking is a culture that the company promotes even among its employees. ``In our UK office, employees found driving after drinking, particularly after a promotion, are given the red car d (read sack). They are encouraged to take a cab or even book into a hotel, but not drive after drinking.'' In India, there is a similar unwritten ethic, he adds, though violation does not result in marching orders.

Sunil Sachdeva, Director, Capital Advertising, the agency that recently landed the Maruti corporate account -- agrees that ``there is a desire in companies to be seen as good corporate citizens. And in Maruti's case, where they are market leade rs, it makes perfect sense to promote safe driving habits.''

Commenting on Bacardi's spots on responsible drinking, Sachdeva points out: ``To be fair to them, it is not a farce, it is a good thing to promote good drinking habits. After all, if the liquor manufacturer does not do it, who else would?''

Arguing along the same lines, H.V.Subramaniam, co-founder of Capital Advertising, adds: ``It is sound business strategy. Bacardi could have well put out spots merely promoting its brand, instead it has spent money to talk about responsible drinking habit s.''

Some analysts, however, insist that pharmaceutical companies put out information on illnesses only to promote their products as a cure. SmithKline Beecham ``did not feel comfortable'' talking about the rationale behind its `infomercials' and Cipla too de clined to respond to the criticism.

Using the beginning of the millennium as a perfect time to put out a socially relevant message, MRF Ltd aired the `Smile' campaign, with eminent personalities such as supercop Kiran Bedi, Amul's Verghese Kurien and agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan . The print and TV campaign, encouraged pleasant motoring, besides wishing motorists a happy millennium.

According to Philip Eapen, Executive Director - Marketing: ``The objective was that driving on Indian roads is becoming a tedious experience and if we show care and courtesy towards each other and smile, driving on Indian roads will be made a much more pleasant experience.''

Taking the message beyond advertising in print, television and on hoardings, Eapen points out that it was taken to about 50 schools across the country. About advertisements on similar lines for the future, he said that it would depend on how the situatio n evolved. However, the company is contemplating a book titled `Smile tonic for Indian Roads'.

While corporates insist that such `feel-good' ads have generated goodwill among consumers, critics say companies are merely pushing their products. On whether these are merely ads for ads' sake, MRF says: ``We leave it to the public to decide whether or not this campaign is genuine.''

The jury is still out on that one.