Movies, Music, Marketing, Martial Arts & the Muse

Ogilvy Dakshin's success reiterates a truth a lot of people knew for decades, which is that the advertising created in Mumbai, never connected emotionally once it crossed the Vindhyas. There was a perfunctory South Indian version dub done in case of some national brand advertising where lip synch issues came to play. Cultural cues were given the wide berth. For instance a well known detergent brand used the "pagdi" or the head dress which was a symbol of pride in the North very effectively in its Hindi version, but this simply( zimbly) went over the South Indian heads, were the cues could have been different like an upturned moustache or the shoulder cloth which is part of the apparel.
There was also a rich treasure trove of local sayings, practices, songs and cues which were lying untapped. When the likes of Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Joshi and the likes came to the fore romancing the Hindi language with rustic touches, the country responded and many advertising usages became part of the sub-culture. This however is yet to happen in the South where there is a history of conflict to do with language.
This initiative from Ogilvy to set up a Dakshin Division is insightful and well advised. Care should now be taken to now pay heed to the regional differences here. Malayalis have a sensibility which is self effacing and diametrically opposed to the loud dramatic themes that rules in Tamil Nadu and the Telugu idiom has its own flavour. What runs in Namma bengaluru may again be quite different:)

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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Sexy Looking Anchors on NewsTV. Good for ratings bad for memory?

An interesting link on the impact of sexy looking female anchors on News TV. They seem to boost ratings since the men log in, but loose out on impact since men do not seem to remember what they said.. or so claims this "research". I guess the impact of good looking male anchors on female news audience would also be the on similar lines? Not sure if this research covers that.. :)CLICK HERE

For entertainment channels, I guess looks may backfire if the audience and the anchor are the same sex. Here an ordinary looking anchor who does not threaten the audience, but is able to empathize with them, would seemingly work. Oprah Winfrey rules the ratings and has an army of housewives of all color and creed as part of her fan club. Her clout certainly does not come from an hour glass figure and a plunging cleavage:) A lot of people claim that many actors and actresses who are not particularly good looking in the conventional sense, tend to do well in the visual media for this reason:) It goes by the nomenclature of "boy/girl next door looks"!

However if the anchor and audience belong to the opposite sex...the connect may be instant and the eye balls may pop out and stick :) Mandira Bedi was not popular with women and did not bring in the female numbers, but did something for the male audience in India in the pre-match segment. What Mandy baby did during the pre-match segment was taken up by the cheerleaders during the match much to the chagrin of the bowlers and fielders on the ground:) For the same reason possibly, female presenters at the sports desk seem to be quite popular:)