issue #18

Indian advertising is going through a sea-change these days. Ads have always
been ahead of the race in terms of creativity, quality of content and execution
with respect to the film and television industry and have in fact shaped the
nature of movies and serials. Still, in the past few months, Indian ads have
turned sleekier, whackier (Pepsi's Oye bubbly's singing navels) and more bold
(the recent Kwality Walls ad) than ever before!

Of course add to that the new avenues that companies are taking to advertise
their products. Pepsi has come out with a whole album with its ad jingle and the
'song' even features in a countdown show! ( Speaking of countdown shows, it was
a welcome change to find the theme music from the movie Black listed along with
regular bollywood numbers...the times are really a'changing. )

Jumping onto the bandwagon, tv soaps are also featuring their theme songs on
music channels as singles and albums which are climbing the charts! Further on,
the movie Kaal has tied up with a nature channel to broadcast a special show on
it's theme - the jungle; a wonderful way of riding on each other's popularity.(A
year back whoever would have thought of a Bollywood movie being featured on a
nature channel?).

To top it all up, talks are on for a new tv channel devoted to just ads!
Wonder what they will feature during the breaks!

All in all the Indian ad world is a happening place right now.

-sumandatta
(editor)

PS: This week on vibe- shorts | rags2riches | victuals | critique