The Mysterious Games we Play

It was a complete Mystery; I was flummoxed at the news article after reading it, ‘HUL foxes P&G through successful Ambush Marketing’.

It was a great outdoor marketing campaign by P&G in Mumbai, and I think it did get foxed and frustrated by HUL, but the outcome of the whole melodrama that followed is still uncertain.

There were huge outdoor hoardings, model bus-stops, and full page print ads by P&G to create excitement over Pantene and its new packaging. Carefully ironed out, or so P&G envisaged. It was too open to attack, and Dove took the bold step and stepped into the fray. Kudos to HUL for getting it done ‘within a day’. I think it was more of a, ‘done within a month’ than ‘a day’. Competition intelligence as they call it, has definitely come into play here. HUL was waiting for the bait to get hooked on. But still, a campaign rolled out within a few weeks is commendable. (Brand executives would concur)

But did it achieve anything for HUL? Brand connotation with the ‘Mystery Shampoo’ is and will always be Pantene; Dove did nothing to change that.

All that HUL visualized was a retort back at P&G through the necessary buzz within everybody’s mind. They achieved the buzz, but inside the marketer’s head. The consumer was left lurking during the delivery of the Dove message. (‘There is no Mystery, Dove is the No.1 Shampoo’)

Marketing circles were talking about it for weeks, I should know, I was there. But the real consumer, the actual user of the brand & the product didn’t see any value in the fracas between HUL and P&G.

Sadly, this event might in the short run; temporarily, end such campaigns, where the consumer is kept at the edge of his/her seat before the prized message is communicated.

Increasing Ad Effectiveness

Magazines
Increase Readership of Your Message - Run Two Ads in the Same Issue.

Repetition is the foundation of communications.

Studies have shown that more readers see ads when they are repeated over time, but how do readers respond when an advertiser runs two different ads with the same sales message in the same issue?

Logic would say that adding a second advertisement to an issue would bring additional readers to the message.Some readers who read the first ad would pass on the second, and some who didn't read the first ad would stop and read the second. If the unduplicated readership of both ads is higher than the readership of the first ad, then the second ad brings incremental readers to the message.

In the case above, taken from two 1-page, 4-color ads running in a single issue, 46% of respondents read the first ad and 38% read the second. The unduplicated readership though, shows that 63% of respondents read at least one of the ads. Running the second ad increased readership of the message by more than onethird over the first ad.

Running two ads in an issue can help maximize readership of a sales message (Assuming the Ad is ofcourse good by itself). Utilizing this strategy is ideal for:

• New product introductions (Dove, Zero Damage)
  
• Immediate release information about product improvements or updates
• To support a sales push or promotion (Airtel)
  

Indian Context: Billboards

The Dove "Zero Damage" campaign has been running throughout India, especially in the metros. It follows a similar concept to the magazine example given above.

Marine Drive in Mumbai is filled continuously at a space of about 100-200 m with repetitive, but different Dove ads. Each communicates the same product, yet is hits the consumer again and again. Thus the cumulative unduplicated viewing percentage among consumers would be very high.