The Creative Leap (from the Brief)

For every ad I see, I have a tendency to work back its brief.

While doing this very act, I found two pieces of creative which seemed to have the same brief but with quite the difference in interpretations, though in different parts of the world.

Brands in question: Real Activ (India), Innocent Smoothies (U.K)
Brief in question: Stop having junk food. Product is a healthier alternative.

Check them out.

JWTIntelligence 10 Trends for 2011

While most trends presentations are long and detailed, here's one that lasts all of 2 minutes and 15 seconds. JWT Trends Group along with the Nursery has compiled this video as a teaser of top 10 trends that brands should look out for in 2011.



Click here to purchase the full report.

Marketing Lessons from the Mad Men

I’ve started watching Mad Men. For the uninitiated, the show is based on an agency of the 1960s called Sterling Cooper that was based in Madison Avenue, NY. Though the agency of the ‘60s looks nothing like an agency set-up today, the characters are quite stereotypical – the Creative Director who can do no wrong, the cool Account Executive whose writing skills are the envy of even the copywriters, the managing partner who remains an enigma to the rest of the office... and so on.

The point of this post, however, is not how well an agency of the ‘60s mirrors our agency today but how, even though the show is about the agency community in NY in the ‘60s, it seems to market itself like a 21st century agency. How have they done that? By having a presence that goes beyond the realms of the show itself, and I’m not talking about just the usual “About the show”, IMDb listings or online access to the episodes on their official website.

They have created:

"Trendy" India

Trends can be described as ongoing cultural movements or developments. To continuously stay relevant, brands need to be cognizant of cultural movements that their consumers are part of. Planners from JWT India, along with Ann Mack, Director of Trendspotting, JWT NY, in their effort to help their clients stay relevant in a burgeoning marketplace have identified Indian-metro-specific trends that are shaping the Indian consumers in metros and tier 1, tier 2 cities. The chosen trends focus on the fall-outs of new urban lifestyles, delayed marriages, and new codes of moral conduct.
While identifying these trends is important, it is equally important, if not more, to understand the various drivers of the trends, their significance and their relevance to brands, the players involved in the trend and its potential implications.

For details on the trends, a presentation or a session over coffee and donuts, to discuss how these trends may add value to your business through new product and service ideas, communication ideas or even packaging and SKUs, contact:
Shujoy Dutta [Delhi]
Navonil Chatterjee [Bangalore]
Shaziya Khan [Mumbai]
Mythili Chandrasekar [Chennai or Kolkata]